Someone had an arm around her waist.
She twisted around and saw… Tarron. Asleep in the bed next to her. Under the same blankets as her.
She didn’t think, she just swung—thwap!went the fuzzy slippers against the prince’s face, and then she was kicking, shoving him away from her.
He rolled out of her reach, catching himself just before toppling over the edge of the bed. He straightened up, blinked several times, and then glanced toward the window. “What time is it?” he asked, groggily.
Sephia drew the slippers back, preparing to strike again.
He held up his hands. “Okay,stop.This isn’t what it looks like.”
“Then whatisit, precisely? Why are you in bed with me?”
“Put your weapon down and I’ll tell you.”
She kept a tight grip on the slippers but slowly lowered them to her side.
“Do you not remember fainting?” he asked, still eyeing her warily.
Her mouth opened… but quickly clamped shut again as she realized she didn’t know what to say.
Her thoughts were a blur.
Whatdidshe remember?
Her disguise wearing off. The potion. The shadowy beasts watching her. Her magic, trying to escape, trying to tangle itself up with those beasts…
She didn’t remember fainting, but her head was throbbing. There was an ugly bruise on her left arm, and that entire side of her body ached as if she’d fallen and hit the dresser and everything else on her way down.
Ketzal hopped into her lap and sniffed at the bruise on her arm. A gentle purr rumbled in his chest.
“I…I don’t remember what happened,” Sephia said as she ran her fingers over Ketzal’s silky fur. “But I feel terrible.”
The prince nodded, understanding. “I was worried about you. That’s the only reason I stayed in here.”
Worried.
The word sent a flood of feelings roaring through her—such a tumbling, confusing mess of them that she couldn’t decide which one was the most accurate. All she knew for certain was that the room felt unbearably warm, suddenly, and that her mouth was too dry for her to speak.
“And I didn’t mean to fall asleep beside you.” Tarron raked a hand through his hair, and more to himself than her he added, “It was a long morning full of exhausting things, I guess.”
After a moment of hesitation, Sephia tossed the slippers back onto the floor. She cleared her throat and said, “Sorry I hit you.”
“You have an impressively strong swing for a human,” he mused, rubbing the red mark she’d left on his cheek.
“Sorry,” she repeated, feeling a bit sheepish now.
He waved the apology away. Climbed off the bed, went to the window, and drew the curtains back to reveal a red-washed sunset sky. He cursed softly under his breath—presumably because it had gotten so late. Turning back to her, he said, “This was a poorly-timed nap. I need to go, but I’ll send servants in to see to you; if there is anything you require, simply ask for it. I’ll be back to check on you myself later this evening.”
She nodded in a dazed sort of way.
He left, and Sephia pulled Ketzal into her lap and continued to pet him while she tried to sort through her racing thoughts.
Soon, doctors and servants of all sorts were parading in and out of the room. She greeted them all with an increasingly tighter knot of terror in her chest—because they had to have suspected her at this point, didn’t they?
They mostly spoke in their own confusing native tongue, but she distinctly heard them mentionstrange, foreign energymore than once. It was only a matter of time before they were able to trace that energy to her.
And then what?
