No, that very same prince held me in his arms, murmured softly inmy ear, and told me I was more than enough.
Another week passed between nightmares and waking life. I often jerked awake from dreams of cold, dripping dungeons. My muscles loosened as I registered Thom’s warmth next to mine.
Thomas refused to leave me despite my protests about his own need for rest. He had a servant bring us decadent meals in bed, from roasted venison and pheasant stew to mashed beetroots and troll pudding.
And we conversed about everything. Thomas’s years in Junira. My tutelage under Master Carter. The rolling ache, the unfading bruises we both seemed to carry with us from day to day. We talked about the good we could yet do by working together—university scholarships awarded, laws changed, apprenticeships provided by the crown.
Each time, I shared as much as I could before my body ached for sleep once more. When my eyes grew heavy, Thomas would kiss me and press a thumb to my forehead, and the world would fade away again.
But this time, the darkness felt safe as I slipped into it. Perhaps because I trusted Thomas would be by my side as I slept.
Perhaps because for once, someone was looking after me.
And for once, I did not feel the need to earn it.
Thomas’s arm was pressed against mine, his breaths steady when an unfamiliar voice stirred me from my sleep. I squinted into the bright afternoon light that flooded the room. A fuzzy guard stood at the door.
My muscles clenched when he came into focus.
“Lyra.”
“David?”
He stepped closer. “You’re okay,” he blurted. “They wouldn’t tell us what happened.”
“I think I will be.”
David straightened as Thomas yawned. “Your Highness…” he mumbled with a bow.
“Did you have a message for us?” Thom mumbled. His fingers tightened around my waist. I muffled a smile at the protectiveness in his voice.
David clasped his hands behind his back. “The Grand Mage would like to see Miss Smyth. He’s with the King.” His eyes no longer met mine.
I sat up shakily, my body weak and already winded.
“Lyra,” Thom warned, but I ignored him, holding the edge of the bed as I stood. The sudden shift in weight caused me to stumble. My calves screamed in protest. Achiness bloomed up my body and begged me to sit back down, but I managed it alone.
Thomas reached for my hand, but I shook my head with a smile. I needed to know I could still stand on my own. I stepped closer to David who finally met my gaze. For a moment, the many strolls in the orchard, the stolen kisses, the warmth of our families together flashed through my mind.
Strange that those memories now felt like they belonged to another girl altogether.
“I wish you all the happiness in the world,” I told him. “Congratulations on the family you’ve found.”
His smile was bittersweet as he sent a quick glance toward the prince. “You, too,” he said.
I turned and reached for Thomas’s hand. It slipped easily into mine, warm and soft, and we left the guest chambers, my mind still foggy from dreams. He tugged me down the palace corridors and up the steps I’d climbed so many times as a mere chambermaid. It was surreal knowing I’d never clean a prince’s chamber again, never wake before dawn with a sore back and dirt beneath my nails. I’d spent so much time believing my future had already been woven for me.
I’d been wrong.
I snuck glances at Thom, at his tall, imposing figure, at the glasses he adjusted repeatedly as we approached his father’s study.
The guard at the door noticed us and stood aside. Without hesitation, or even a knock, Thomas opened the door.
I’d never been in the King’s study, his room being the responsibility of one of the senior chambermaids. The room glowed with sunlight, washing the draped tapestries in gold. The Grand Mage, the King, and Prince Theodore sat hunched around a desk in avid chatter, pausing as we entered.
“Son,” King Leopold uttered like a command. His purple cloak billowed around him as if it were a lion’s mane.
Prince Theodore jumped to his feet. “There’s our beloved frog.” He clapped Thomas on the shoulder.
