The bath room was warm. The fires were blazing and the recessed tub was already full with steaming hot water. Candles flickered around the bath, and the air was thick with sweet-scented oils. Willow smiled wryly to herself as she slipped off her robe and let herself sink into the luxurious water. She couldn’t help but compare this bath to the first one she’d ever enjoyed in this castle.
On that day she had been on the verge of collapse, not yet recovered from the stress of childbirth and grief, weak from months upon months of starvation and exposure. She’d been forced into cold water and drenched in sour wine and Sulphur, which smelled of rotten eggs. Her skin had burned, but at least the harsh treatment had removed all the parasites that had infested her hair and skin while s
