Chapter 97: Warm Chest
Chapter 97 — Warm Chest
The corridor felt quieter after everyone left, though the mountain never really felt empty anymore.
Nia walked beside Kael with the warmth from the kitchen still lingering in her skin while the scent of roasted meat and tea slowly faded behind them. Their footsteps echoed softly against the stone. Somewhere deeper in the mountain, a door closed, and water moved faintly through the channels feeding the bath system.
The sound pulled a smile from her before she noticed it, and Kael glanced down.
"You still look pleased."
"I am pleased."
"You've used it three times."
"And every time has been wonderful."
His mouth shifted slightly.
Nia pointed ahead.
"That's because it's amazing."
"The bath?"
"The fact that we built a heated bath inside a mountain."
"We built a room."
"We built a room with hot water."
"Mm."
She laughed.
The bath chamber waited at the end of the corridor, warm air drifting through the doorway as soon as Kael pushed it open. Nia stepped inside first.
The stone still held heat from earlier in the day. Moisture beaded faintly along the walls nearest the pool. The lanterns cast a softer light here than elsewhere in the mountain, their glow reflecting across the gently rippling water.
She crouched beside the pool and dipped her fingers into it. The water had cooled slightly since dinner, but it remained comfortably warm, and behind her Kael closed the door with a sound that settled heavily through the room.
Nia sat back on her heels.
"We should put shelves over there."
Kael looked where she pointed.
"For what?"
"Towels."
His gaze shifted toward the folded stack. "There are already towels."
"There are never enough towels."
"We have six."
Nia stood, already looking around the chamber with renewed purpose. "We'll need more."
His expression suggested he did not agree, which probably meant she was right.
She continued around the edge of the pool, studying the walls again.
"We'll need hooks somewhere."
"For the towels?"
"For clothes. Towels. Whatever else ends up in here."
Kael watched her for a moment.
"The room has existed for less than a day."
"And I've already found several things it needs."
His hand settled against her waist as she passed.
"You're redesigning it."
"I'm improving it."
"You helped build it."
"Which means I know exactly what's wrong with it."
His thumb moved once against her side, and another smile found her before she could stop it.
They changed and stepped into the water. Heat wrapped around Nia at once, and she released a long breath as she sank deeper.
Across from her, Kael rested one arm along the edge of the pool. Neither of them spoke for a while, and the quiet settled easily after a long evening spent with people who had filled the kitchen with stories, food, and warmth.
Nia stretched her legs beneath the water.
"I still can't believe you disappeared to replace a support beam."
Kael's eyes opened.
"The beam needed replacing."
"You were fourteen."
"The beam still needed replacing."
Nia laughed.
"There were other people in the mountain."
"There were."
"And none of them could have handled it?"
"They could have."
"Then why did you go?"
"I wanted specific wood."
Nia laughed harder.
"There it is."
Kael looked mildly confused.
"What?"
"That's the part Sera forgot to mention."
He waited.
"You'd already decided how to do it."
His gaze stayed on hers.
The corner of her mouth lifted.
"You weren't helping. You were carrying out a plan."
"I suppose."
Nia laughed again.
That sounded much closer to the Kael she knew.
She could picture a younger, smaller version of him without much difficulty, not only because of the stories, but because she knew the shape of him now. She knew the way he approached problems, the way he organized work, and the way he looked at a damaged wall as if repair had already begun in his mind before anyone else noticed the flaw.
His hand brushed her ankle beneath the water, a familiar touch that carried the quiet certainty of his presence.
"You've been smiling for a while."
"I was picturing fourteen-year-old you carrying lumber through a snowstorm."
"The weather was fine."
Nia groaned. "There is absolutely no chance that's true."
"It wasn't snowing."
"Sera would disagree."
"Sera exaggerates."
"You disappeared before sunrise."
"The wood was farther away."
Nia covered her face while Kael looked entirely satisfied with his explanation, which only made her laugh harder.
When she finally lowered her hands, he was watching her.
His gaze lingered on her face before drifting lower, and then he moved closer through the water. Nia did not stop to think through the invitation in it. She simply shifted enough to make room.
One of his hands settled against her shoulder while the other reached for the cloth resting nearby. Warm water slid across her back, and the roughness of the cloth contrasted pleasantly with the heat surrounding her.
Nia relaxed further against the stone as his hand followed the curve of her shoulder, moved across her upper back, and traveled slowly down her spine. Outside, winter buried the mountain beneath snow, while inside the bath chamber warmth surrounded her from every direction.
The cloth paused.
His mouth brushed the side of her neck, and she tilted her head before the thought fully formed. The next kiss lingered longer. She leaned into it while his hand remained at her waist, holding her close as warm water shifted around them.
Their conversation returned in pieces afterward, softer than before. The merchant's visit came up first, then Elder Bran, and eventually Nia circled back to Darius's increasingly unbelievable sled story. Kael thought Darius had exaggerated it. Nia suspected everyone involved had contributed a little.
The conversation thinned by degrees until silence had room to settle between them, the easy kind that no longer asked either of them to fill every moment.
By the time they left the bath, the lanterns had burned lower. Warmth lingered in Nia's skin, and her hair remained damp near the edges despite the towel around her shoulders.
The corridor outside felt cooler. Kael's hand found hers, and together they headed back toward their room.
The mountain had settled for the night. Most doors were closed, most lanterns dimmed, and only the quiet sounds of a living home remained. Water moved somewhere deeper within the mountain, and now and then a distant door or set of footsteps reminded her that other people still occupied the vast network of tunnels.
Nia stepped through the doorway without breaking stride. Familiar details greeted her as she entered: the blankets where she had left them, Kael's tools resting on the shelf beside the door, one of her combs still sitting on the table near the bed. The room carried the quiet comfort of a space that had begun to feel entirely familiar.
She crossed to set her towel beside the basket near the wall, and behind her the door closed.
When she turned, Kael had already moved closer.
His hand settled against her waist.
The room felt warm around them as Kael leaned down to kiss her. The kiss deepened gradually, unhurried in the way he had become with her when no one was waiting and nothing outside the room required him first. Nia's hands rose to his shoulders, and he drew her closer.
Outside, winter continued its slow assault on the mountain, but the sound never reached them. The lantern beside the bed cast a steady glow across the room, and neither of them seemed particularly interested in extinguishing it yet.