29| Keep Your Eyes To Yourself

He sighed. “I’ll join you later.” He nodded at the tent entrance. “Make yourself comfortable.”

The tipsiness left Mel and it felt as if she had been brought back down to Earth. She shifted towards the entrance and then stopped. She whirled around to face Bjorn. He had stepped away only to pause when he noticed Mel’s sudden movement.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“For a short walk,” he answered and then his brows lightly furrowed. “Why do you ask?”

“Oh, that’s good.” She mellowed and rubbed her arm, looking down to shuffle her shoes against the grass. She drew in a sharp intake of breath and glanced up to meet his eyes. “Do you know of a river nearby? I would like to wash up before I lie down to sleep.”

“You can do that the following morning,” he said deadpanned and Mel blinked, astounded. “What is it?” he asked, annoyance seeping into his tone at her reaction.

“I’m sweaty. You want me to lie down in this state?” She swayed her arms around herself, demonstrating the light patches of sweat on her clothes and the liquid shin on her skin.

He sighed and rubbed his face with his arms. He placed a gentle hold on her shoulder and nudged her into the tent, entering with her.

The thick fabric of the entrance flapped against her face as they went in, and Bjorn raised it aside with his other hand, letting it fall behind them once they were inside the domed structure.

It took a while for Mel’s eyes to adjust to the dim atmosphere and as the objects in the tent became clearer to her, she stilled.

“You had simply run off the minute we arrived,” he said softly above her head. “It would have been mindful of you to at least sort out your things before going to entertain yourself.”

Not too far from the wide cotton fabric spread of what was to be their temporary bed, her bags were neatly arranged along the edge of the tent, along with a small rug laid atop the wide fur carpet which served as the base of the whole tent. Beside the small rug was a pile of neatly folded towels with a wide bowl of water.

Had Bjorn prepared all of this?

Why?

Mel was stunned and she had no words to say. The moonlight that filtered in sparsely through the thick fabric cast a milky bluish tint all over every surface. It all looked so dreamy that her head nearly spun.

A tinge of guilt soon consumed her. But how was she supposed to know? She had grown up with servants at her every whim and tending to her every beck and call. Even with the explanation she had received about helpers here in Grime, the reality of where she was still hadn’t registered to her. She would have to start doing some things by herself, and there would be occasions, like now when Annie would not be able to assist her.

Come to think of it, she had just rushed off to the other women as they assisted the men in laying out the campsite, engaging them in conversation while watching them work. And Bjorn had been left alone to prepare this tent. How would that have looked in the presence of the others?!

‘I really have no shame…’

Embarrassment tinged her cheeks. It had felt so normal for her to sit down and rest while everyone worked about. And Bjorn hadn’t even complained about it. Not once.

He could have even just simply laid out the tent and left her to prepare her own washing basin out of spite, but he went out of his way to do it for her when it hadn’t been necessary on his part.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, fiddling with her hands. “I didn’t know.”

He let go of her shoulder and ruffled his heir, swiping it back. He exhaled. “It’s alright, you couldn’t be helped. It’s how you were raised.” She flinched at his words as if he had inflicted a wound but he continued, “There are no servants here, and I can’t necessarily promise you any, but if I weren’t here, your actions would have been an inconvenience to others.”

“Like to you?” Mel looked up at him, seeking his fair eyes for an answer.

He averted his gaze, at loss for words with her sudden eye contact. “No. Not really. You’re my wife. This is the least I could do for you.” Bjorn stiffened, realizing just what he had said, and Mel’s eyes widened. She hadn’t necessarily expected to hear that word from him, and with how he had said it so softly.

As much as she would like to deny it, her heart fluttered.

He cleared his throat and turned away from her, his forehead wrinkled in annoyance, especially at himself. He ought to slap his lips for saying that. “I’ll be out for a bit. That should give you enough privacy to clean yourself up.”

“Where do I pour the water?” Mel mumbled, slowly drawing each word. Her question may have sounded ridiculous, but it felt odd throwing out her bathwater in the midst of the camp, even if it was on the ground. This would be liquid she would have used to clean her body and to throw it out so publicly.

“Just pour it outside the tent.”

Mel blinked and her lips spread in a flustered smile. What did he just say? Just like that? She opened her mouth to speak but snapped it shut just as quickly before she said something foolish.

“Wha—what about you?” she started. She was at least curious about that. Or had Bjorn already cleaned himself up prior to this? “Are you waiting for me to wash before you—”

He grunted, “Already done that…” He then paused at the entrance, his hand holding up the tent flap. “Take your time.” He finally made his way out of the tent.

Mel immediately collapsed on the floor and let out the breath she had been holding. It seemed as if the space had been closing in on her and it had been two small for just the two of them.

She sat on the fur carpet, trying to manage her thoughts. She really needed to change, but she didn’t know how or even where to start from. She looked at the entrance, worrying if anyone would try to come in or not, but sitting there would just waste time so she picked herself up and undressed.

To her surprise, it had been far easier disrobing than she had expected. She couldn’t specifically remember how the helper had assisted her with wearing it, but she had initially worried she would not have been able to get it off.

Somewhat abashed, she knelt on the smaller rug and took one of the folded towels to dip it in the water like she had seen her servants do back at home. Only this time, she would be the one doing it for herself. It had been tricky wiping the mild sweat and grime off her skin but she had managed to pull it off. She beamed with the small achievement and dried herself off, moving onto one of her bags to fish out one of her dresses and wear it.

Fully dressed, she peeked outside the tent, and seeing no one, spilled the bath water outside. She debated where to put the wet towel and just decided to leave it in the bowl, only to stare at it after. She didn’t want Bjorn coming to do something again and then thinking that she was incapable of even doing anything.

Mel let out a groan of frustration and spread out the towel on the bowl itself. That would be sufficient enough for it to dry overnight or until the next day at least because there was nowhere for her to even think of spreading a wet fabric.

She made herself comfortable in the make-shift bed and drew up the furry blanket to keep herself warm. She stared at the domed ceiling of the tent, her mind oddly blank… or so she thought. She spent a few minutes staring into space only for her to realise that she was subconsciously waiting for Bjorn to come back into the tent and lie down with her.

“Oh, no,” she whispered and swiftly pulled the covers up to conceal her heated face.

This was embarrassing. Truly embarrassing! What was wrong with her? He had done all that merely out of courtesy and here she was wondering when he was going to join her in bed. Even if he did while she was awake, what was she going to do about it?

Nothing! Absolutely nothing!

‘This is ridiculous.’ She huffed and rolled over, wrapping the covers tightly around her as she squeezed her eyes shut and hoped for sleep to overtake her soon.

Her wish was not easily answered and she was left tossing and turning in bed until she lay still, tired. Just how long would he remain outside? She was certain quite a long time had passed now.