“Thanks for the food.” Kimu grinned as he walked out. “See ya!”
“Bye, Kimu.” I shut the door, locked and barred it, then went to the cold cabinet as I munched on the rest of my pie. I poured two mugs of water, shoved the last bite of pie in my mouth, then brought the mugs to the bed. “Water?” I handed Cyn a mug.
“Thank you.” He sipped the water, then set it down. “Are you sure you're all right?”
“Yeah. I'm annoyed and my nose aches, but other than that, I'm fine.” Then I frowned. “Juri was in a meeting when I got there. He said he was looking after things while you were gone. But it felt odd. It seemed as if he didn't want me to see who he was meeting with.”
“Are you suspecting Juri again?”
I shrugged. “Not of trying to kill you, but perhaps he's taking advantage of the situation. I don't know.” I sighed, set my mug on the floor, and pulled off my boots so I could sit cross-legged on the bed. Then I winced as a headache hit. “Damn, that must have been quite a punch.”
“Here, let me.” Cyn set his broad hands to either side of my face and massaged my temples.
My eyes drifted shut as I sighed. “That feels good.”
He rubbed my head a bit longer, then said, “I don't enjoy hiding.”
Flicking open my eyes, I met his stare. “I know you don't. But it won't be for long. You offered a bunch of Raltven a pouch of gold to find whoever is behind this. Believe me, they won't rest until they do.”
Cyn nodded as he dropped his hands. “Is that better?”
“Yes, thank you. How did you know to do that?”
“I get tension headaches a lot.” He pulled off his shoes so he could draw up his feet like me, but instead of sitting cross-legged, he slid back, propped himself against the wall, and extended his legs across the bed.
“Being King is stressful?” I moved to sit against the wall beside him.
“Sometimes.” Cyn grimaced. “Especially when people want you dead.”
“Hey, it's one asshole behind this,” I said. “It doesn't mean you're a terrible king.”
“I must have failed someone. I failed them so terribly that they want me dead. And I don't think this is one person, Ru. It has to be a group.”
“All right, then it's one group of people, and they're probably all crazy.” I winced as the headache came back. “Fuck, I think I need to lie down.”
Cyn instantly slid off the bed and helped me get comfortable, removing my belt so I could pull off my tunic. I slid out of my pants too, then crawled beneath the blankets. I was out as soon as my head hit the pillow.
Chapter Twenty-One
I woke up in the kitchen. Wearing only my underwear. And holding a knife.
“Ru?”
I spun, feeling as if someone else was moving my body, and lashed out with the knife. Cyn lurched back just in time.
“Holy fuck!” The knife fell from my slack hand.
It clattered to the floor between us as we gaped at each other.
“What the fuck was that?” Cyn asked.
“I don't know,” I whispered. “I think I was sleepwalking.”
“Have you ever done that before?”
“Not that I know of, but I live alone, so . . .” I shrugged. Then I started to tremble. “Holy shit.”
Cyn picked up the knife, put it on the counter, and pulled me into his arms. “Easy now. No one was hurt.”
