Setzer closed the door behind him with a slowness of spirit and body that made him feel more than 100.
“Gods! What happened to your face?”
Relm hurried up to him, taking hold of his arm to lead him to a chair and set him down. As she gathered towels and medicine and set the water to heating, Setzer stared at the ground at his feet in a bog of confusion. How could all those weeks of expected passion come to nothing? I wanted her. She wanted me. She was the woman of passion and depth I had waited for! Setzer shook his head and rubbed at his face. He didn’t understand. What had dulled the fire? What had sabotaged her effect on his soul?
“Fine. Hold still. This’ll sting.”
And Relm went to work cleaning his split lip and the dried blood on and around it. The pain distracted Setzer from his confusion and settled his mind back into its numb oblivion.
“You don’t look so good, Setzer. What happened?”
Setzer flinched. Relm apologized but continued to work. “I don’t know, Relm. How I wish I did.”
She spared glances to his face between gentle strokes of the soft towel. “What’d you do to her, Setzer? Marée wouldn’t try and knock your block off without a reason.”
Setzer guided her hand from his lip as his gaze held hers. “Don’t concern yourself, Relm. It was simply a heated disagreement. Nothing more.”
“Yeah, well I guess she gets into those easy enough,” Relm admitted reluctantly. “Here, let me put this salve on so it won’t swell.”
Setzer released her hand, and Relm went in search of the promised Remedy. He was suddenly so tired. The past few weeks he’d been under constant bombardment. The expectation of passion with Marée. The mystery that surrounded her and her ship. The search for her in Zozo. Then the mystery and adventure with Terra and Ledo and mind control. Then, again, the expectation battled by the dread that he would never again see Marée. Then his visit with Maria. More confusion. More mystery. More . . . Setzer released a deep breath just as Relm entered the room again.
Her expression brimmed with concern as she tenderly dabbed the salve onto his lips. “I think you should stay here for a couple days, Setzer. So I can keep an eye on this.”
Setzer smiled and immediately cringed. “I will stay for dinner and a night, Relm, but don’t expect much more than that.”
“Yeah. I know. Wandering Gambler and all that.”
Setzer’s eyes twinkled. “I didn’t think the others would have told you that story.”
“Who says they did? Who says I didn’t figure it out myself? Who says I didn’t read it somewhere?” She sounded irritated.
Setzer restrained a chuckle as Relm finished applying the salve and wiped her hands on a nearby towel. “I meant no offense, Relm.”
She scoffed and tossed aside the towel. “Fine. Whatever. Come on and help me with dinner. Now that you’ve chased off Marée, I need the extra hands.”
Setzer found himself hoping he would see her again. To truly see if the feelings he had were gone.
“Hey, Setzer. Do you think we could ride around in the airship after dinner? It seems like forever since the last time.”
Setzer carefully smiled. “We’ll see.”
“That means ‘no’,” Relm said with a grimace. “Always has. Always will.” She sent him a glare. “Could we at least go visit Terra tomorrow? The kids’ll be wanting to see her soon. They’re already driving me bonkers with questions.”
Setzer smoothed a lock of her curls down and chuckled at the look on her face. “I’ll return to Kohlingen tomorrow to see how Terra’s healing and return with news either way. Is that acceptable?”
Relm’s expression was suspicious, but she nodded. “Alright, but you’d better not be doing any procrastinating between here and there.”
Setzer chuckled and followed her into the dinner room, but his thoughts wandered. Expectation. Procrastination. Two sides of the same coin. Two very different sides. Setzer’s insides twisted. And two very different women.