Page 61 of Blood of the Fairest

"There are other locks, Fairest. He'll fix it."

"I will," I agree quickly. "At once. I should not have broken⁠—"

"Is Snow White back?" she asks, not meeting my eye.

Although Verena plainly wishes the conversation to move on, she is still shaken. She hugs her knees closely, not moving from where she has shrunk in on herself against the wall.

That position says she fears me greatly.

I have never felt so wretched.

"Snow White has returned," I say quietly. Carefully, I rise and back away so as not to frighten her further. "The princess is resting in her chambers. The trip back from the Loomdark was…fraught."

That is putting it lightly.

Retrieving Snow White was difficult enough with the many monsters that prowl the Loomdark, but many outlaws and bandits also live near that dark forest. Several attacked us on the journey.

Though neither the girl nor I was harmed, it was far from a pleasant experience.

Verena nods. When she lifts one of her hands to examine it, I see that her knuckles are bruised.

A frustrated sound breaks from me before I can stop it. "Where did you go alone, that you had need to swing your fist?"

Eris is also surprised. "Did you blacken that man's eye before taking your fill of him?"

Taking her fill?

As in…

"You endangered yourself for sex?"

My words are sharp. I try to soften them. She is already terrified of me, and berating her is not my place—yet the thought of her going to such lengths for a lay distresses me in ways I don't understand.

"Did I not swear I would do anything you command?" I remind her. "From now on, any time you desire to be bedded, tell me to⁠—"

With a sudden ferocity, Verena gets to her feet to glare at me.

"Don't finish that sentence. I might be a goddamn blood-guzzling monster now, but I'll never be that kind of monster."

She turns away to flop onto the bed.

It's like watching a storm settle mere seconds after it has broken. Suddenly, she is burrowing under the covers, her voice muffled as she hides from the world.

"Thanks for bringing Snow White back. For future reference, so you don't clobber me again, I'm supposed to be the only person who can use that secret passage. Now get out. I can't even look at you right now, after you suggested that. Ugh."

I want to resist. I want to tell Verena she's no monster, apologize once more, and demand to know if she has any other injuries.

But my body is already moving, compelled to obey her direct order. A moment later, the doors to her chamber shut behind me once more.

It is a long and sleepless night for me, standing watch in the hall.

It was restless for Verena, as well. I know because I heard her rise several times in the night, only to hear the lost soul in the mirror whisper that all was well and to get more sleep.

Perhaps my proximity is what frightens her.

If so, it is founded.

All night, the moment I roughly tackled Verena in her disguise torments me. I hear her screams of pain in the faerie's prison—recall the tears dripping from her cheeks as she insisted repeatedly that she was not the queen.