Fiona’s POV
Blinking rapidly, I wiped the water from my face with my palms and took in the look of the tall, lean woman standing in front of me with sharp eyes that bored a hole through me, dark hair pulled into a braided ponytail, and a faint scar along her jaw that somehow made her look even tougher.
“What… Who are you?!” I coughed out before taking my eyes off her to look at my half-drenched self and wet sheet.
“Proper woman,” she began in a deep, gravelly tone that didn't sound like she was feminine in any way, “rises before the sun and sets herself for the day. Not lying sprawled in bed like pampered pets.”
“Excuse me?” I asked, utterly confused, as my eyes shot to Mara, who stood frozen behind the strange woman, wringing her hand nervously at the hem of the sackcloth she had o
