“I’m furious with you, obviously. You shan’t be forgiven.”
I could listen to Leo laugh for a thousand years and not tire of it.
Evelyn tore her bread in half and handed one portion to Leo, who looked surprised but took it. Then she dipped her own bread into her soup. “Did anything happen while I was asleep?”
“The kings came by.” Leo tore off a piece of bread and popped it into his mouth.
“Both of them?”
“Yes. Your father was amused that you were still asleep.” Leo stared straight at her. “Notice that I saidamusedand notshocked. He even offered me a bet on how long your nap would last.”
“Did you take the bet?”
“I did not. I am a gentleman. Damien, however, may owe your father some gold.”
A spark of interest lit in Evelyn’s eyes. “Damien came back?”
“Only briefly. He’s been in and out all day.”
“What about King Gerard? What did he want?”
Leo ripped off another piece of bread with more force than necessary. “He tried to reprimand me for being alone in a sleeping princess’s room. He shut up when I explained I found you wandering the hospital in a daze, no guards in sight to protect you. Your father took my side on that one and gave me permission to stay here. King Gerard couldn’t do much after that.”
“I don’t know how you’ve worked with him for so long.”
They fell into silence for a few minutes while Evelyn ate her soup.
She heard Damien greet the guards before entering the room.
“Nooo,” Damien whined when he spotted Evelyn, throwing his head back in agony like she’d broken his favorite toy.
“What’s your problem?” Evelyn snapped.
“Twenty more minutes and I would’ve been five gold pieces richer!”
Evelyn gaped at Leo. “You were serious about the bet?”
“Of course!” Leo said. “But don’t worry, Damien. I would’ve woken her up with a minute left on the countdown, anyway.”
“You are an asshole,” Damien told his oldest, dearest, most loyal friend.
Damien hauled the armchair over to the table. He then snatched a cookie off the tray and shoved the whole thing in his mouth.
“Those are mine!” Evelyn protested.
“I stole one earlier and she’s only just finished whipping me as punishment,” Leo added. “You should see the scars on my back!”
Damien swallowed his first cookie before he took another one. He slowly licked both sides of it, then held it out to Evelyn. “Here.”
Leo howled with laughter. Evelyn refused to smile and glared at Damien instead.
“You are achild.”
Damien smirked at her and took a bite of his treat.
He looks worse than earlier. He hasn’t bathed or changed clothes. I think he rinsed his face with water at some point, but that made the dark circles under his eyes stand out.
“Have you been meeting with families all day?” she asked him.
