I’d find it all adorable if it weren’t so early in the morning.
Sinna pokes at the pendant around my neck, which used to be my mother’s. It’s sitting in the hollow of my throat from our scuffle. But then she looks up, over my head. “Oh! Good morning, Da.”
WHAT.
Beside me, Nora chokes on a gasp and scrambles to her feet. “Your Majesty.”
Clouds above, we’ve woken the king. I fight to right myself so I’m not lying in a crumpled heap with half my hair in my face, but I have a forty-pound toddler on my chest. King Grey is probably thinking he should have locked me and Jax in the stone prison after all—or at leastme. When I try to lift Sinna off me, she giggles again, squirming like I’m trying to tickle her. She manages to knee me right in the ribs.
Amazing.This is absolutely what I need.
“Sinna.” The king’s voice is quiet, but a tone of command often hides in his words. It makes people pay attention, even his wily daughter. Sinna stops giggling.
His hands appear in my line of vision, and I’m surprised to see the buttoned cuffs of a riding jacket. So he wasn’t asleep after all. Before I can puzzle that out, Sinna reaches for his outstretched hands and he plucks her off me.
I scramble to my feet less gracefully than my sister, then hurry into a curtsy. I know half my hair has escaped its braid, and I don’t even want toconsiderhow red my face must be. My heart is hammering in my chest for a dozen reasons, and I don’t have the courage to meet his eyes. “Forgive me, Your Majesty.”
Nora scoots to my side and threads her fingers through mine. “Forgiveus, Your Majesty. Were we too loud? Did we wake you?”
The king inhales like he wants to respond, but my sister is . . . ?well, mysister, and she keeps prattling.
“We could take Sinna for sweetcakes if you like,” she offers brightly. “Lord Tycho told Callyn that there were sweetcakes in the kitchen everymorning. That way, you could return to bed with the queen. Oh! Well. Not to imply that you werein bedwith the—”
“Nora.” I give her arm a firm yank, and she gives a littleyip, but she falls silent.
In front of us, the king is silent, so I chance a look up, but his eyes are very dark, his expression cool and unreadable. Sinna is curled against his shoulder, her tiny fingers fiddling with a buckle on his jacket, but her childish innocence doesn’t steal one ounce of his severity. Actually, it makes him a bit more intimidating. Like he could put her up on his shoulders, draw his sword, and fight a war—all without thinking twice.
I swallow and jerk my eyes back down. “Sorry,” I say. “I know it’s early. We were trying to keep her quiet.”
“You didn’t wake me.”
I’m not sure what to say to that. It’s obvious that he was dressed, and he didn’t come from their bedchambers, so he was clearly attending to . . .something.
In our silence, Princess Sinna keeps fiddling with his buckle and says, “Well,Iwould very much like some sweetcakes, Da.”
His face softens a bit. Not quite a smile, but almost. “I’m certain you would. But I believe Mama would very much like for you to sleep a bit longer.”
“I can take her back to bed,” I offer, reaching out.
“I’ll do it.”
Oh. I lower my arms. I don’t know if that’s meant to be a dismissal or a rebuke—or if he’s just being a father.
“Yes, Your Majesty.” I offer another hasty curtsy. So does Nora, and then we step to the side so he can pass.
Maybe the king senses my sudden uncertainty, because he doesn’t move. “Thank you for looking after her. I know it’s a relief to the queen that you’re here. There have been a lot of rumors coming from the Crystal City, and with everything that’s happened, it’s difficult to knowwhat’s truth and what’s idle gossip.” He pauses. “I’m pleased that Sinna is enjoying herself.”
Sinna brightens. “Oh, I am! Princess Nora was teaching me to plait Cally-cal’s hair before I made them find me. Don’t you like it?”
Nora and I both snap our heads up. “I’m not really a princess,” Nora whispers, as if the king doesn’t know that.
But he’s looking at me, his eyes flicking to my hair—which I’m now remembering is a mess of attempted braids that are half undone and probably full of dust and tangles.
I quickly shove all the loose strands behind my ears. “I told Sinna this would be the latest style at court by the end of the week.”
He smiles as if he’s truly amused. It brightens his whole face, and for the first time, he doesn’t seem quite so fierce and unyielding. Honestly, he should smile more often.
Or maybe not, because as soon as I have the thought, I’m horrified to find myself blushing.
