‘What is it?’ Will asked. She darted past him as she headed toward the bedroom. ‘Aya.’
He heard the bathroom door click shut, her retching echoing off the marble.
He found her slumped over the toilet, her head braced on her arm. She looked so small curled up like that, her body trembling. Will kneeled behind her and placed a tentativehand on her back. She didn’t flinch. Slowly, he began to rub soothing circles there. The heat of her skin radiated through her shirt.
‘You’re overheated. You need food and water. And a change of clothes.’
Aya tensed as she emptied the contents of her stomach again. ‘Can’t eat,’ she rasped. He moved his hand to her neck, his fingers massaging the tense muscles there. It was a testament to how poorly she felt that she let him.
‘You didn’t vomit in front of the prince, did you?’ he teased, sitting back on his heels as she sat up a moment later.
‘Save it,’ she said wearily, dragging the sleeve of her shirt across her damp forehead. She looked like hells.
Will frowned, his eyes searching her face. ‘Did you eat or drink anything while you were out?’
‘I wasn’t poisoned.’
‘Can’t be too careful. Especially given the less than warm reception we received from Dominic. And if there are rumors that the Second Saint has been found, and Kakos has heard, who knows what they might do …’
‘Don’t call me that,’ Aya muttered, her jaw set as she stared past him. ‘And Trahir is our ally.’
Will’s brows flicked up. ‘Is that what Aidon was whispering in your ear on your little stroll?’
Her eyes were cold as they met his. ‘I know he’s marking me. I’m trained to recognize such things. I’m not a fool.’
‘No, you’re not,’ Will agreed as he pushed himself off the floor. He reached a hand down to help her, but Aya brushed him off, her face tight as she hauled herself up. He stayed near her as she moved to the sink. She looked a breath away from going unconscious.
‘I’ll send for a tonic to help with the nausea.’
Aya merely turned the faucet on, her gaze dull as it met histhrough the mirror. ‘Don’t you have Council business to attend to?’
‘That’s an odd way to say thank you,’ Will mused.
Aya closed her eyes. ‘Please just go away.’ The words were soft, and the exhaustion in them had his lips pressing together as he scanned her again. He stepped toward the sink, his arm reaching across her to grab one of the washcloths and run it under the cold water. A slight tremor worked through her as he placed it at the base of her neck.
‘I’ll see you at dinner,’ he said softly.
28
‘Are we drinking yet?’ Aidon asked as he strolled through the formal dining chamber, the marble floors so polished he could nearly see his own reflection. A breeze blew in from the five open arches that made up the back wall, the terrace beyond them basking in the dusk glow.
Josie turned in her seat and threw him a grin as she raised her wine glass. ‘Will and I were just getting started.’
Aidon nodded to the Enforcer as he approached his seat at the head of the golden table, his fingers making quick work of the buttons on his emerald jacket.
‘Why even bother with it then, Aidon?’ Josie asked as he flung it over the back of his oak chair and sat down with a sigh.
‘I couldn’t let you two look better than me, could I?’
His sister was indeed dressed for their guests in a resplendent suit of wine red, the jacket buttoning at her sternum and showing off her bare skin beneath. Will had donned his usual fitted black jacket and pants, his fingers tugging at the collar of his white shirt. Josie smirked. ‘Is our Prince of the North having trouble acclimating to the weather?’
‘If only I had your fashion sense, Josie.’
Her brown eyes twinkled with amusement, but the sound of the door opening had her whipping her head around as Aya entered the room.
She wore a dress with short sleeves and a loose bodice that cinched at her waist before dropping into a flowing, floor-length skirt that pooled on the floor. Aidon scanned theemerald-green fabric. The attendant had chosen nicely. They might as well have been a matching set.
‘Green suits her, don’t you think?’ Aidon muttered to Will as she approached.
