A little taller than Anastasia, she was skinny. She was wearing a white shirt over which she put on a black overskirt until her bodice. The way she held and squeezed his hand, Anastasia's jaw clenched. She had never felt so envious in her life. How did the girl know him? She wanted to ask Ileus, but later. 

Others gathered around the counter where Robert was distributing keys to the room and giving them instructions as to where they were located. 

Ileus pulled his hand from the girl's, then presented her to Anastasia. "Anastasia, this is Lillete, Robert's daughter. Lillete, this is Anastasia." 

"Is she your wife or lover?" Lillete asked with a shock, but she recovered fast. "Or is she one of your recent acquisitions? When I saw you last a year back in Hannah's gambling joint, you weren't married." She paused and then lowered her tone, "I heard that you didn't want to marry!" 

Darla came along and looked at Anastasia with the same hatred. "Ileus, we really have to talk." 

Lillete' head snapped towards Darla. Her light blue eyes rudely looked her up and down. And Darla too stared back at her with a back-off stare. Lillete returned her gaze to Anastasia and she measured her up as well. Anastasia was annoyed and pissed off. Why did he have so many girls lined up like bees attracted to honey? She was sure that even this girl had a misplaced sense of possessiveness just like Darla. She sidled closer to Ileus and rubbed her cheek against his arm. 

"You are sleeping in different rooms, aren't you Ileus?" Lillete asked with a raised eyebrow as if challenging Anastasia. 

Before Ileus could answer, Anastasia said, "We would be needing only one room." She smiled and accepted the challenge. She traced Ileus's back and her fingers settled over his neck. She started rubbing his skin with her fingers over there. Ileus's body became tense. "Moreover, we would need a bath. Also bring us some food in our room." Anastasia didn't know what bravery had gotten into her, but she was done with women like her. 

Lillete and Darla looked at Ileus hoping he would deny Anastasia. 

Anastasia placed her other hand flat on Ileus's broad and muscular chest. "Do you not want to stay with me Ileus?" This was a show of complete possession. 

Tense, he looked down at her and said, "We need one room." 

Darla clenched her jaws so tight that Anastasia was sure she had broken a molar or two. As for Lillete, she just stomped back to the salon and brought the only key left. "Enjoy!" she smirked as she handed the key to him.

"We will!" Anastasia replied with a grin.

The room was not very spacious, but airy and Anastasia's eyes went to the bed. She sighed feeling as if she had fallen in love with it at first sight. There was a small fireplace in the corner of the room, a table with a chair and a small cabinet. 

Ileus deposited his saddlebag in the cabinet. "And what was that for?" he asked. 

She shrugged. "I am pretty exhausted with those women's misplaced sense of possessiveness about you. I mean did you like what they were doing to you?" 

"Do you mean that you staged that act for me?" he asked with bewilderment. 

"Yes, of course. It was for your well being," she said as she removed her sweater and hung it over a chair. 

His mouth fell to the floor. "And how does that translate into my well-being when you want to leave me all the time? I won't have access to other women at this rate. You have practically chopped all my chances with them!" 

"You won't understand Ileus," she replied with smugness. "Just thank me, okay?" She had to leave soon. But that would be thought later. "And now I really need a hot water bath!" 

Ileus shook his head as he tried to stifle his laugh but managed to smile. "M'lady, I'll see to it that you get it all soon."

"Good. Now off you go and don't return till I have taken a bath." 

Ileus chuckled and exited the room and soon enough, a servant came to light the fire. He brought food, a bowl of soup with the smell of squash and cream, freshly baked bread and cured eel, cut in strips and roasted. Anastasia ate every last bit of it and licked her fingers. While she was eating the servants filled the tub with steaming hot water. 

When Anastasia was alone, she stripped her clothes, walked to the tub behind the dressing screen and immersed her sore body in it. The way water moved around her, she felt very relaxed and could have slept in it if not for the fear of drowning. Using the soaps and lotions liberally over there, she washed her hair nicely. By the end of it, when the water was tepid, she stepped out and wrapped herself in a towel. Once she wore Ileus's shirt that she had placed on the bed before taking a bath, she pulled the chair and walked to the hearth. As she sat in front of it, she felt warm. 

She untangled the knots in her hair with a comb. Her eyes went to the place where she had kept her dagger. Anastasia knew that if she had to leave, then this was the most important weapon she was supposed to have. She got up to keep the dagger safely in the cabinet and then went to the bed... in nothing but his shirt. Ileus hadn't come, which made her wonder if he had gone to meet Lillete. Jealousy returned and she flipped on her belly.

That girl looked cute, a little rowdy, but Anastasia thought she must be her age or maybe younger. It seemed that Robert and Shawn were twins. Her mother had mentioned about her family and how they had left the village. It was a sad tale—one she didn't quite remember but she remembered being sad about it. 

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