I rubbed my damp face. “Is it morning?”
“Yes. I came to change when you started thrashing like an eel.” Her eyes narrowed, studying me. “Bad dream?”
I averted my eyes. “It’s nothing.”
“Grandmother always said bad dreams are like weeds. If you don’t kill the source, they’ll just keep coming back.”
I grunted. If only it were that easy.
“You kept saying the name ‘Renwell.’ Same bastard that took over your kingdom?”
“Yes.”
“He do that to you?”
She pointed at my chest where my shirt had drifted down to reveal my scar.
“No. One of his Wolves did.”
Yarina’s nostrils flared with disgust. “I hope you gave him a worse one.”
“He’s dead.”Aiden killed him to save me.
“Excellent. How come you have one of their knives?” She pointed to where Mother’s knife glittered on the bed between us.
“It’s not theirs. It was my mother’s.” I sheathed it back at my waist.
She waited as if I would fill in more of the story, but I was in no mood to oblige. Besides, it wasn’t just my story.
“Regardless,” she continued, “I’d keep it hidden if I were you.”
I frowned. “Why?”
Yarina stood up and started rooting through the mess on the floor. “People know it as the weapon of the enemy. You’re already a Rellmiran princess and spy. Folks won’t take any more kindly to you if you’re wielding a blade made from the gods-damned stone our friends and relatives are mining in captivity.”
Fucking Four, I wished I could destroy that whole damn mine and Renwell’s plans along with it. If I’d become High Enforcer, that would’ve been my first stop. That and cleaning out the Den of any prisoners who shouldn’t be there.
But I was powerless. Just like I’d been in my dream.
“I’ll keep it hidden,” I told Yarina. “Unless Renwell happens to wander by. Then I’ll shove it in his heart where it belongs.”
Yarina’s golden eyebrows shot up. She grinned. “Now you’re talking. You know, I think I’m starting to like you, princess.”
“Not if you’re still calling me princess,” I grumbled, swinging my legs over the side of the bed and reaching for my boots.
She laughed and plucked a shirt from the mess.
“Do you need help?” I asked, gesturing to her arm in its sling.
“Absolutely not. But you can go rinse your mouth for me. Your breath stinks.”
I blew her a breathy kiss, and she pretended to gag, then elbowed me in the ribs on my way out.
Her teasing reminded me of Everett and Delysia. How we used to be with each other before we got older and slotted intoour predetermined roles. Things were so much simpler back then. And now...
My smile dimmed.
“You will never see them again.”
