Amelie grabs my hand. “What’s wrong? You look distressed.”
I press my lips together, eyes flashing toward Lorelei.
As if the fae can sense my sudden tension, she stands from the bed. “I should go tell the king you’ve woken.”
“Thank you, Lorelei,” I say.
Once the door closes behind her, my eyes find Amelie again. I let out a deep sigh. “Tell me what’s happened while I’ve been out.”
She cocks her head. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, what have you been doing? Have you continued carrying your knife? And your rowan necklace?”
She rolls her eyes and pats the sash at her waist, then lifts the strand of rowan berries from beneath the bodice of her dress. “Yes, Evie, I’ve remained well protected. Not only that, but I managed to keep you protected as well. See? I trimmed my necklace in half to replace the one you lost. Yours didn’t survive your little dunk in the ocean.”
My hands fly to my throat, and I find the familiar feel of rowan berries. The new necklace is noticeably shorter than mine had been, and only now do I realize Amelie’s is half as long as well. I must admit, I’m impressed by her consideration. I would have expected her to abandon the necklace altogether without me reminding her to wear it every day. “Thank you, Ami. Now, what else? Have you been alone with the king?”
“If you must know, I’ve seen the king for an hour each of the last three days.”
I try to sit straighter at that, eager for everything she can tell me. “What have you done together? Did he…do anything to you?”
She stares at me with a pointed look and puts her hands on her hips.
“Ami, I need to know if you’ve been safe with him. If he tried to hurt you—”
“Then what? What would you do about it?”
I open my mouth, but no words come.
“Look, I know you care about me and you’re afraid for the both of us. But you need to trust me to take care of myself sometimes. I’m not the same fragile girl I was four years ago.”
I tense. Four years ago. When I almost lost her. It began with a fae glamour and nearly ended with my mother’s folly. If it hadn’t been for Mr. Meeks, Amelie would have died. I shudder, breathing the memories away. It’s not something either of us like to talk about.
Still, she has a point. Amelie was never to blame for what happened to her back then. It could just as easily have happened to me. And this time, it did. This time, I’m the one who almost died. And if appearance is proof of circumstance, Amelie really does seem well. Her cheeks are rosy, her eyes are bright and alive. Perhaps I’m not giving my sister the credit she deserves.
I let out a heavy sigh. “I’m sorry, Ami. You’re right. I’ve been treating you like you can’t take care of yourself while I’m the one who keeps getting into these messes.”
“These messes? Have there been multiple?”
I blush, again reminding myself she knows neither about me meeting Aspen at the faewall, nor about our tense conversation in the dining room the night we arrived. “So, at the risk of sounding like an overprotective little sister, whatcanyou tell me about the past few days? No, better yet, what would youliketo tell me? What wonderful things did I miss?”
Her smile returns, and she sits closer to me, folding her legs under her. “As you know, the king insists I spend time with him daily. He’s not as bad as you think he is, Evie, although he’s incredibly dull. Pleasant to look at, but no personality. He mostly sits at his desk in his study working while I talk and drink wine and eat the most decadent confections.”
It’s hard to reconcile my experience of the king with Amelie’s. I can’t imagine he and myself sitting alone in the same room without it ending with my knife at his throat. Never would I picture him as dull. Hostile, arrogant, and impossible maybe, but never dull. Then again, my sister is much more agreeable than I am. “What else?”
She lowers her voice. “Well, there’s this handsome servant. I saw him yesterday when I asked Aspen to have some wine brought in for me during our daily chat. My goodness, Evie! I had no idea fae could be so beautiful.”
I want to shake my head but know the movement will jar my skull. Instead, I settle for a smirk. “Leave it to you to find romance in captivity.”
“It isn’t hard. Have you even taken the time to look at the males here? I can hardly remember what Magnus looks like anymore.”
“Wasn’t it just three days ago you were lamenting over not having taken Magnus to bed?”
“I can still lament such a thing while making room in my new bed. Metaphorically speaking, of course.You’vebeen taking all the room in my bed the last three nights.”
I laugh, but sober quickly. Again, it’s my turn to cut through Amelie’s optimism with my brutal realism. I lower my voice. “You do know your bed is already spoken for, right?”
She shrugs.
