"I know that." It took an effort not to shout, to keep my voice calm and reasonable. "But if nothing else, he will feel better once he is cleaned."

They just looked at me. I glared back at them.

"Oh, for heaven's sake." I blew out a breath, grabbed a hold of my patience, and said more softly, "Gryphon, please. You seem to know your way around the house best. Amber will stay with me and see that I am fine."

Gryphon lowered his eyes to Dontaine and the two of them locked gazes for a long moment, with only the wet whistling of air breaking the silence. Then Gryphon inclined his head. "As my lady wishes." He glided out of the room.

I spied an adjoining bathroom and found one small hand towel and two thick bath towels in there. There were no cups, but there was a decorative ceramic soap dish. I ran the hand towel under cool water in the sink, wrung it out, and carried everything into the other room.

Going around the bed, I approached Dontaine from the front where he could see me, mindful of his uneasy state of mind. He stared at me, watchful, his expression as bland as he could make it. That same blankness of expression that I had first seen in Amber's face when he had looked at his Queen, Mona Sera. It was a look that said I'll take whatever punishment you mete out and not cry. I hated that look.

"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you," I softly reassured Dontaine. "I'm just going to wash the dirt and blood off you. I'll be as gentle as I can."

I sacrificed one fluffy towel, laying it over the wet bloody floor by the edge of the bed. I positioned the soap dish to catch the blood trickling down from his throat, and knelt before him. Then hesitated, damp washcloth in hand.

Touching Dontaine when he'd been coughing and choking had been instinctive. Touching him now, as he looked up at me with his carefully blank eyes, was different, harder.