Marked by the Four Beast Lords After Transmigration

The following afternoon, the rain from the night before had stopped, but damp still darkened the stone outside their entrance. Nia finished folding the cloth in her lap, slid it onto the household shelf, and looked toward the bath hallway.

Kael sat near the entrance repairing the binding on one wrist guard. Shen’s pale hair hung loose after washing, and he was leaning against the end of the preparation board.

“I want to soak before we make the evening meal.”

Kael glanced up. “Now?”

“Yes. Both of you.”

Shen pushed away from the board while Kael pulled the loose binding through the final turn. Nia waited as he tightened the knot and tested it against his wrist.

“I’m not in a hurry,” she said.

He set the guard on the shelf once he was satisfied. “Good.”

The bath chamber held a steady warmth. Water ran through the channel at the far side, and moisture darkened the stone nearest the pool. Nia hung her clothes on one of the wall hooks, stepped down into the water, and kept going until it reached high across her chest.

The heat was comfortable rather than sharp. Her muscles loosened as she stretched her legs along the lower ledge. Shen entered beside her and gathered his loose hair over one shoulder, with Kael coming in last. For a few minutes they washed without much conversation. Cloth moved through the water as each of them cleaned shoulders, arms, chest, and neck before rinsing away the last traces of soap.

Kael finished first. He rinsed his cloth, set it on the edge, and shifted toward the steps. Nia caught his wrist before he stood fully.

“Stay a while. I want to sit in here longer.”

He looked at her hand, then at her face before lowering himself again. His thigh brushed hers beneath the water, and his hand settled over her knee when she released him.

Shen moved closer while gathering his hair away from his face. His gaze paused near the left side of Nia’s braids.

“Your tie slipped.”

Nia reached back and found it halfway down the braid length. “Can you fix it?”

Shen moved behind her, gathered the loose section, and retied it before checking that the pull near her scalp matched the other side. Nia touched the newly secured end.

“Thank you. Since you are there, rinse between the rows for me. My scalp has been bothering me.”

Shen reached for the water bowl on the ledge. Nia separated the first few braids and held them aside while he poured warm water carefully along the exposed rows. She exhaled when the first stream reached the back of her scalp.

“More there.”

Shen poured again, then used a little cleanser between his fingertips. Nia kept the heavy braid lengths forward over one shoulder while he worked along the roots. When she lifted another section, Kael took the weight from her hand and held it above the water. She glanced sideways at him, then let him keep it.

Shen’s fingers pressed in small circles near her temple. An itch she had been trying not to scratch eased under his thumb.

“That place,” she said. “I was going to scratch it.”

Shen kept rubbing until she stopped wanting to. They did not wash the full braid length. He rinsed only the cleanser at her roots, and Nia helped squeeze away the extra water before gathering her braids over her shoulder again.

When Shen set the bowl down, Nia turned toward him. “Come closer.”

He moved within reach. Nia lifted part of his wet hair and smoothed it away from his neck.

“Your turn.”

“I already washed my hair.”

“Not like this. Bend your head.”

Nia wet her hands, worked a little cleanser into the hair at the back of his head, and used her fingertips against his scalp the way he had used his against hers. Shen lowered his chin to make it easier, and his eyes closed when she slowed near the base of his skull.

A smile pulled at her mouth. “You like this.”

“Yes.”

Nia continued until the tension at the back of his neck eased beneath her hands. Then she rinsed the cleanser from his hair and laid the wet length over his shoulder.

Kael had stayed quiet beside them. Nia turned and noticed a narrow dusty streak at the side of his neck where his first quick wash had missed beneath his curls. She took the cloth from the ledge, wiped it away, ran the cloth once across his shoulder, and rinsed it.

Before she moved away, Nia pressed her thumb into the thick muscle above Kael’s shoulder blade. It gave less than she expected. His gaze shifted to her hand.

“Too hard?”

“No.”

She used both thumbs this time, working slowly along the top of his shoulder while he stayed braced against the stone. The muscle eased by degrees beneath her hands. Kael tipped his head forward enough to give her more room. Nia kept rubbing until his shoulders no longer sat quite so high. When she stopped, he caught one of her hands and pressed his mouth to her knuckles before letting it go.

Kael shifted against the deeper wall when she moved between them, broad enough for Nia to rest her back fully against his chest. She stretched one leg toward Shen and laid her foot across his thigh. His hand closed loosely around her ankle beneath the water.

Nia let her head settle against Kael’s shoulder. Warm water covered her ribs, and steam dampened the short curls that had worked loose near her temples. Kael’s chest stayed warm along her back, while Shen’s knee rested lightly against the side of her foot. The channel continued its low rush. Somewhere in the corridor outside, a man passed humming under his breath. The sound faded, then returned faintly when he stopped farther down the passage before disappearing again.

Kael’s palm rested over Nia’s stomach. Shen’s thumb moved along the side of her ankle, and she closed her eyes.

After a while, Shen asked, “Do you want more water over your shoulders?”

“No. I’m good.”

He returned the bowl to the ledge. Nia listened to Kael breathe behind her. His chest rose slowly against her back, and his chin brushed the top of her head when he shifted.

“I used to stay in baths after I was already clean,” she said.

Shen looked over. “For how long?”

“Until the water got cold sometimes.”

Kael’s thumb stopped briefly against her stomach. “Why?”

“Because I liked it.” Nia opened her eyes halfway. “Sometimes I read. Sometimes I just sat there. If I had nowhere to be, I could stay a long time.”

Shen’s fingers resumed their slow movement around her ankle. “Alone?”

“Usually.”

Nia thought about her old bathroom, the locked door, warm water, and her phone balanced somewhere she hoped it would not fall. Sometimes she had taken a drink in with her and forgotten it on the counter. More than once she had added another little stream of hot water rather than admit she had been sitting there long enough for the bath to cool.

“I liked being alone too. I still do.”

Kael’s arm stayed heavy and relaxed around her.

Shen asked, “Today?”

“No.” Nia slid her foot a little farther across his thigh. “Today I want you here.”

Kael’s hand moved once over her stomach. Shen’s fingers tightened lightly around her ankle before loosening again.

They talked in pieces after. Shen mentioned the lower path was still damp enough that one of the herb carriers had changed shoes twice that morning. Kael said the shaded turn would take another day to dry if the clouds stayed thick.

Nia opened one eye. “Did the second pair stay dry?”

“For a while,” Shen said. “Then he stepped into the runoff beside the pottery path.”

She laughed softly. “That sounds painful to watch.”

“He looked down at his foot for a long time.”

Kael’s chest moved beneath her with a low breath that might have been amusement. Nia imagined the man standing in one wet shoe after changing specifically to avoid that problem.

“I would have gone home.”

“He kept walking,” Shen said.

Nia shook her head, still smiling. After that, Kael mentioned a pair of young route workers who had spent part of the morning moving one marker because neither liked the angle. They put it back when the senior patrol told them the first position had been correct.

Nia turned her head enough to look at him. “Did you say anything?”

“They had already moved it back.”

“That was probably wise.”

Kael’s hand shifted from her stomach to her hip when she resettled against him. Nia could feel the weight of Shen’s hand on her ankle and the broader pressure of Kael around her middle.

Her eyes grew heavy while she listened. One moment she was following the water channel and distant footsteps; the next, Kael’s thumb was moving slowly against her side and her cheek felt warm where it rested against his chest.

Nia opened her eyes. Shen was still beside her, though the ends of his hair had begun to dry against his shoulders.

“How long?”

“Not long,” he said.

Kael looked down at her. “Ready to get out?”

Nia considered the water around her legs, then settled her cheek back against him.

“Not yet.”

Kael adjusted his arm so she fit more comfortably. Shen shifted her foot higher on his thigh before resting his hand over her ankle again.

By the time Nia noticed the water cooling around her feet, the light beyond the bath entrance had dimmed. She sat upright and stretched both arms above her head.

“All right.”

Kael stood first and offered his hand. Nia took it for the steps and climbed out. Shen gathered the used washing cloths in one hand while Nia reached for a clean drying cloth.

She dried herself while Shen dried his hair and shoulders with another cloth and Kael used a third beside them. They dressed without hurrying. When Nia finished with her cloth, she handed it to Shen, and he used a drier corner to blot between the roots of her braids. She took it back and finished the last section.

Before they left, Kael hung their damp drying cloths on the bath hooks. Shen carried the used washing cloths into the main room and put them with the household washing, then washed his hands.

Shen sat near the hearth afterward, and Kael settled beside him. Nia chose the open space between them and leaned into Kael’s side while her knee rested against Shen’s.

They sat until Shen eventually stood to begin the evening meal. Nia stayed against Kael for a few more breaths before getting up to follow him.