His head lolls my way. “I said, too many words, Princess. It’smorning.”
My mouth drops open. “You started this with all your talk of debts.”
“Debt. Singular.” He smacks his lips together. “You owe me breakfast.”
For several seconds, we merely look at one another.
“Breakfast?” I say.
“Yes. You agreed to have breakfast with me yesterday, but—” He opens his mouth in a colossal yawn, giving methe impression of a forbidding cave. “We were interrupted.”
I roll my lips together.Interrupted, is a tame way to describe yesterday morning. First, his sister, who I worried was a mistress, burst into the room, followed by Minister Abely, who very nearly lost his head.
“Indeed we were,” I say diplomatically.
“I will, of course, uphold my end of the bargain as well,” he says.
Tired of standing and shivering from the morning chill, I sit and gather some of the blankets to cover myself. The king keeps clinging to my wrist like a sticker burr. “I did not realize breakfast was a contractual agreement, Your Majesty.”
He looks flabbergasted. “It’s breakfast, Princess.”
With effort, I maintain a straight face. “Of course. Might you remind me of your part in the bargain?”
At that, his fingers uncurl from my wrist. “That you’ll not have to see hair or hide of me for the rest of the day.”
Ah, I do remember now, and at the time, that seemed like a gift. Before I can think how to respond now, the king reaches out and tugs the bell-pull.
“Wake me when they come,” he says, and cocoons himself in the blankets again.
I look at his huddled form another moment before rising and padding to the bathing chamber to relieve myself. When I finish, I stand at one of the massive mirrors within, shivering and hugging myself.
Mother told me not to get attached, for that way lies a heart never at rest. Cassandra essentially said the same, and though we rarely hear from my sister Ambril, she would likely agree, too.
Then why do I dislike the idea of not seeing him all day? I barely know him. I give myself a stern look in the glass. We spent a nice day together, and I’m craving familiarity; that’s all.
Isn’t it?
I run my hands down my face then continue staring into the mirror as if the answer lies there in the rumpled lines of the king’s borrowed shirt.
One hand comes up to touch the sapphire at my throat. Somehow, I forgot I was wearing it. I’ve worn it since the king placed it there, not even thinking to remove it for my bath. How odd.
At last, I turn from the mirror and march back into the bedchamber. Mother also taught me to take calculated risks. A king with at least some attachment to me would surely make a better ally, wouldn’t he?
“I’m not interested in your end of the bargain,” I declare to the heap of blankets in front of me.
Once spoken, the words sound a bit ridiculous, like a child explaining why they shouldn’t have to do their lessons. I’m not used to voicing my opinion uninvited. Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything. Maybe he fell back asleep and didn’t hear me anyway. I shift from foot to foot, the floor freezing beneath my toes.
“Then I ask it as a favor,” the king says, perfectly awake.
I frown. A favor? To not have to spend the day with me? Something pinches in my chest at the request.
“Is my company that distasteful to you, Your Majesty?”
I try to keep my tone lighthearted and aloof, as if I couldn’t care less. I’m not sure how well I succeed.
The kingactuallylaughs, the sound a full-throated, hearty thing, as if I made a stupendous joke.
“No, Princess.” He rolls over to face me, and his brow immediately furrows at my trembling. “What is the matter?”
