“We should give you a name,” I murmured, tracing my fingertips over its silken fur with absent-minded affection. “Something noble. Or mysterious.”
It blinked up at me, seeming interested.
“Alright … Milo?”
A definite huff.
“Zephyr?”
A disdainful shake of its small head.
I squinted at it. “Fine. Aristophanes?”
It buried its face under my collarbone in what I could only interpret as a dramatic protest.
“Gods,” I muttered.
I let my eyes drift toward the ceiling, then whispered, “Roz.”
The creature stilled.
“Roz,” I said again, smiling now. “It meansrenowned protector.”
At that, it gave a proud, satisfied little chirp and tucked itself even closer, as though the title had been its idea all along.
I laughed under my breath. “You’re practically the size of a peach pit,” I murmured. “But fine. Roz it is.”
The room was still red. The Trials were still before me.
But I wasn’t alone.
Not entirely.
And that had to be enough … for now.
Chapter15
Aknock yanked me out of sleep.
I jerked upright, limbs tangled in the blanket, heart thudding like I’d been caught doing something I shouldn’t. The door creaked open just as I rubbed the blur from my eyes. Only the faintest thread of light slipped through the high window. The torch had sputtered out sometime in the night, leaving the room in a soup of shadows.
A woman peeked her head in. I stifled a yawn and didn’t bother hiding the scowl that followed.
So Nomiki hadn’t been bluffing about dawn. Shame. I really could’ve used another hour of sleep … or five.
My fingers flew to my collarbone.Empty.
Roz was gone.
I exhaled grudgingly. I guessed it was better this way. If someone had walked in and seen that strange little creature curled against me like a sentinel, like I was something worth guarding … gods only knew what they’d have done.
Still, the absence felt colder than I expected.
“Traitor,” I muttered under my breath, dragging the blanket off and swinging my legs to the floor.
The servant who strode in was tall and angular, her robe the bruised hue of overripe strawberries, cinched tight at the waist with a bronze clasp. Her eyes flickered over me, cool and quick, but not as stern as Nomiki’s. She didn’t smile, but there was less bite in her silence.
“Up,” she said. “You’re expected.”
