“Okay,” I whisper. “Thank you so much, Sebastian.”
He tucks the blankets around me, but I can tell his thoughts are already elsewhere. “Now sleep.”
Chapter Ten
I DREAM OF FIRE. Of baby Jas in my arms. I dream of my mother’s desperate pleas for a stranger to heal me and the sound of her tears when he agrees. I dream of night so dark all I can see are the Barghest’s fangs as it lunges for my neck. I dream of silver eyes, and of Jas at five, telling me to count while she hides. Don’t peek! The prince will help you find me.
When I wake, I’m no longer in Sebastian’s chambers. Light pours into the room from a massive wall of windows. Two servants busy themselves around me—one at the foot of the bed, preparing a small breakfast tray, and the other filling the tub inside an attached bathing room.
Did Sebastian carry me here or did he have a goblin move me? It shouldn’t matter. It doesn’t matter. But after the way he carried me into the castle in his arms last night, it’s all too easy to imagine him moving me here while I slept. Too easy to imagine that tenderness in his eyes and him dipping to press a kiss to my cheek. I catch myself clinging to the image before shaking it away. Not why I’m here.
As I sit up in bed, the servant adjusts a bouquet of orange day lilies before turning to me. A human. She wears a plain blue dress that hangs loosely on her plump frame, her blond hair tied into a simple but sleek braid. I pat my own hair, which is no doubt wild from a night of restless sleep in a strange bed.
“Good morning, Miss Abriella. I’m Emmaline and that’s Tess,” the woman says, gesturing to the servant in the bathroom. “Would milady like a bath or breakfast first?”
I press a hand to my growling stomach. It’s been far too long since I’ve had anything substantive to eat, and though I’m accustomed to going without food, I’m pushing even my limits. “Breakfast, please.”
She beams at me as if I’ve just offered her a gift. “Good choice.”
Tess emerges from the bathroom, wiping her hands on a beige smock. Twins, I realize when I see her blond braid and identical smile. “Would you like your meal in bed or at the table?”
“The table is fine.” I throw my legs over the side of the bed and stretch, yawning. I was so tired and weak when I fell asleep last night, but this morning I feel better than I have in days—maybe months. The healer must have repaired more than the damage from the Barghest. “Do you have coffee?”
“Of course. The prince told us that you prefer coffee,” Tess says. She bites back a smile, and she and Emmaline exchange a meaningful look. “And day lilies.”
“We asked around,” Emmaline says, leaning in conspiratorially. “He didn’t request flowers to be brought to any of the other girls.”
“Or assign any of them their own rooms yet,” Tess adds, winking at me.
I don’t have to fake my surprise and delight as I approach the table. I run a finger across a soft orange petal. A renegade butterfly flutters in my stomach as I remember Sebastian tucking the flower behind my ear. I don’t want to feel anything for him, but how can I not?
I take a seat at the small table by the windows, pausing a moment to appreciate the heat of the sun on my face. I’ve always been too much of a night owl to care for mornings, but I’m so rested after a full night’s sleep that I feel almost optimistic.
Channeling my inner Jasalyn. She’d be proud.
I take a sip from my mug. It’s different from the brown water folks at home call coffee. This is thicker and more decadent. Layered—as if I can taste the sunshine that warmed the beans and the berries on the bush beside it. It’s as if my love of coffee before was only about its potential and I’m finally tasting it as it should be. But even this can’t distract me from the feast waiting for me. A plate full of pastries, colorful berries, a cup of creamy yogurt, and a platter of cured meats and cheeses. I take a flaky pastry from the tray and nearly moan as it melts on my tongue. I lose myself in the food as my maids busy themselves around me.
I’ve stuffed myself to the point of discomfort when I realize the maids have gone still behind me.
“Your Highness,” they say in unison.
When I turn, they’ve both frozen in low curtsies in front of Sebastian, who gives them a curt nod and warm smile. In truth, I expected the human slaves in Faerie to be drugged or mindless and treated like disposable tools, but if the twins are representative of life for humans here, my assumptions were completely off base.