Letti yanked the crimson curtains open in response, blinding me from the abrupt sunlight that shone through. I squinted, sliding my feet into the pair of black slippers she’d laid out for me. Such attentive care was difficult to appreciate when I was more than capable of tending to myself. But I was grateful for the company, surly as it was, and Letti seemed eager in all her duties.
“Once she eats, she becomes a bit more tolerant of others,” Felaf stated. “And more tolerant of my singing.”
Letti glared over her shoulder. “You can’t sing.”
Felaf grinned. “I can, just not well.”
I inspected the tray that consisted of colorful citrus, an assortment of pastries, and a steaming drink that smelled lightly caramelized and almost nutty.Coffee. It was too expensiveto import into Gemini, harvested mostly in the southern territories.
“Figured you’d need that after the night you had,” Letti stated.
I inhaled the beautiful, dark liquid. “How did you?—”
“Raithe,” Felaf clarified.
I flushed at the idea of him listening to me move around in bed all night. “Well, these make it a little difficult.” I gestured vaguely to my glyphs.
Letti frowned at this. “Raithe could have sent for me if you were in such pain.”
I shrugged. “Didn’t seem worth the trouble.” And it was mostly afflictions of the mind that kept me awake.
Letti sat down next to me and got to business, unraveling the bandages around my arms. I hissed, biting my lip.
“Mine took forever to heal.” Felaf swiped a pear off my tray and bit into it. She wiped the excess juices from her mouth with the back of her gloved hand. “The pain will endure if you don't let Letti help.”
“That food is not for you.” Letti tsked in disapproval. “You already had your own breakfast served.”
“I’m a guardian. We burn a lot of energy and need more food to sustain us.”
“That is your excuse for having a bottomless stomach,” Letti chided. Setting aside the wrappings tainted with spurts of my dried blood, she said to me, “We’re past the window of infection, so no more bandages unless you reopen any of them. You’re going to be itchy for a little while, so make sure you have this salve on hand.” She pointed to a jar filled with a clear, gel-like substance. Aloe. “I don’t want to hear about another sleepless night.”
“As if I could sleep on command,” I retorted as Letti went about undressing the rest of me.
“Guardians can,” Felaf quipped. “We learned how on the Martial Isles, the place where all guards and guardians hail from.”
“Exactly how long can a guardian go without sleep?”
“Twelve days.”
“Twelve?” I gawked. “What about air? Is it true you can hold your breath indefinitely?”
“Our lungs can expel water and other pollutants, retaining enough air to sustain us for an hour on average.”
“And that’s been proven?”
“If you’re trying to learn our weakness”—Felaf grinned—“you won’t find one.”
“No, you’ll findmany,” Letti muttered as she guided me into a loose-fitting black dress with a modest neckline that tapered at the waist to give it some shape.
Felaf laughed, a sound so genuine it had me smiling in response as well. Letti’s cheeks pinked. Felaf straightened and snapped her head toward the doors. “It’s Maryn,” she said. “Her advisors and the tutors are approaching.”
I straightened, glancing down. “Here?Now?”
“I imagine she means to catch you off guard. She can’t come in unless we permit it.”
Whatever game Maryn was after, I found myself up for the challenge. “It’s fine. I’m ready.”
Letti helped me slip into a robe. Felaf opened the door, allowing Maryn to enter with an entourage of followers. Two guards—a buff man with beady eyes and a tall woman with her head shaved—sneered in my direction. Maryn’s sycophants who took joy in dragging me to the council room the other day.
