Although…I did want to look nice.
“For now, you need to rest.” She cupped my face, holding me still. “You look exhausted.”
“I slept.”
“You were drugged. That takes time to get over.”
I shrugged because she was right. Despite sleeping all day, Iwastired.
She slid off the bed and went to my wardrobe, tugging out my sleep shirt and tossing it my way. “You’re drooping. Go in the bathroom and brush your teeth.”
“Yes, mother,” I said with a sigh that I followed with a little smile. It was nice to have someone I could confide in, someone I could be with while we got ready for a ball. I hadn’t appreciated that with Addie.
And now…
Trew said he’d be there. He might even want to dance. And then we could walk in the…
I stopped myself there because my heart was flipping and my pulse was galloping in my throat.
I liked that man much more than I should, but I wasn’t going to think about it now.
When I returned to my bedroom, Lexie had folded the covers down and stood beside the bed.
She pointed. “Lay down. I’m tucking you in.”
I grinned and did as she asked, even lying still while she drew the covers up to my chin and secured the blanket around my shoulders to make sure I stayed warm.
“Don’t even think about creeping to the king’s suite tonight,” she said sternly.
I huffed. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
Actually, if I wasn’t so exhausted, I might.
Leaning over, she gave me a kiss on my forehead, and my eyes started watering again. Addie hadn’t tucked me in, but my mom did when I was small.
I missed that very much.
“Sleep,” she said, stroking my cheek. “Tomorrow, we plan.”
The door clicked shut behind her, and I got up and locked it normally from the inside.
Back in bed, I stared at the ceiling, my sister’s laugh and Trew’s golden gaze chasing each other through my mind until sleep finally claimed me.
One brought grief, sharp enough to cut.
The other brought temptation, hot enough to burn.
41
ISI
Ididn’t sleep well because my mind refused to quiet.
I kept rolling over, the sheets tangling around my legs. Every time I closed my eyes, Addie’s laugh trickled through my mind.
And then Trew’s face would replace hers. Holding me in the infirmary, his face full of concern. Coming to my room and helping me through the storm with a silly story. His eyes blazing as he stood in my doorway, his shoulders squared like he’d come to wage war for me alone.
I woke with my pulse thundering in my throat, wondering if I’d imagined the way his magic softened when it brushed over me while wearing the gown.
