Sam’s mouth parted but he didn’t find a comment. His eyes traveled the length of my knight’s body and then he put on an extremely zealous grin. “You know, I cannot wait until our wedding night, Savy,” he said. His voice was almost playful.
“Savy?” I croaked.
“Yes, my Savy.”
“No. Don’t call me that. I hate that.”
He stepped closed. “Then what may I call you, Princess? Love? Beautiful? Righteous?Goddess?”he asked.
I knit my brows. “All of those are equally horrible in different ways,” I said.
“Then I’ll find something else. Something special just for us, and I will spend the whole night proving how much your dedication to my friend means to me,” he said. “I promise you. We will ma–”
“What do you call Aggy?” I asked.
“What?”
“Agatha. Your Mistress. The woman you’ve been sleeping with, who isn’t me. Do you callherGoddess?” I asked.
He took the hit with dignity but he didn’t deny it. Instead, he made another visual pass over my knight and he said, “I don’t call herwife.And no one else will callyouthat. No matter who they are.”
I scoffed, tracking his gaze to my cousin. “I’mnotinvolved with Ser Willoughby, you clown!”
Sam locked his jaw. “Then why is he–”
“What an awful thought,”a tired voice moaned. “They’re cousins, you know?”
Our gazes left each other’s to discover Mr. Evergreen awake. His face was pained but he was undoubtedly awake. My heart leaped a thousand miles into the air, seeing him come to life. As he tried to sit up, the V from his shirt wilted, flashing the horrid gash. I flinched. Then sat at his side.
“Do not hurry, please!” I begged. “Take it easy.”
Mr. Evergreen tried to smirk. Sameer knelt by us, resting his hand on his friend’s shoulder.
“Cy, you absolute animal. I was worried about you,” he said. “Actually worried.”
“Aye. Christ, I hurt,” Evergreen muttered. He struggled to stretch, then gave up.
“I’d be surprised if you didn’t,” the Prince replied. “You had an infection. You’ve been out for the week.”
Sam moved closer, to the point that I had to vacate the bed, unless I wanted him in my lap. I stood, crossed my arms, and scowled at Ser Willoughby as if he could fix the inconvenience for me.
He frowned.“Did I miss something?”
I sighed, then rolled my eyes, leaning in.“Sameer thinks we’re having an affair,”I said.
“You did tell him we weren’t?”he asked.
I cocked my head at him.“I tell the Prince many things he does not hear,”I said. “You’re welcome to try if you think he’d listen to you.”
“A week?” Cyrus asked.
“Yes,” Sam said. “We were all so worried. Svana especially.”
Evergreen looked at me, then he exhaled and sank back into the sheet. “A whole week asleep,” he complained. “And yet I’m so tired.”
That made the Prince laugh. He said, “You’re the luckiest son of bitch I know.” He turned. “Princess? Come here, love. Where did you go? Come talk to our Cyrus.”
I stepped a little closer, unsure.
