Nina laughed. One hand lazily lifted from the water, fingertips drifting across Geralt's cheek. "You're damn right it isn't."

She took a deep breath and let it go slowly. She was quiet for a long moment, listening to the sound the water made as either of them moved, however subtly. She listened to the sound of Geralt's heart, his breathing.

"Matthias thought I indulged too much. How could I possibly be a soldier, he said. I like to sleep late, I take long, hot baths whenever I can get one. I'm hardly all hard muscle. Even Zoya never got on me about any of that and she found fault in everything else I did."

Maybe because Zoya Nazyalensky, she knew, liked lavender oil baths whenever she was in the Little Palace.