Rowan's bed was indeed made for royalty. It gave me a night of sleep fit for a king. The soft material swaddled my sore body from beneath and lulled me into a dreamless sleep free of pain or worry. My body was too tired for nightmares.
But reality couldn't wait for me to face the next.
"Get up!"
The barked order had my eyes snapping open just as a bundle of fabric struck my face. I jerked upright, instantly regretting the movement with a groan as pain shot through my body. As I pushed the bundle away, the familiar material had me identifying it as the castle's signature dress for female staff before I even had a chance to rub the sleep from my eyes and look at it.
"Good morning to you too," I croaked out, irritated at being so rudely awakened from such a wonderful sleep. I wasn't sure I had ever slept better.
Except when Silas was at my side. His warmth had provided a soothing comfort that I didn't recognize until it was no longer there. It had lingered since the night he had run his hands over my body, healing it after a journey that it wasn't equipped to withstand. At first, I had thought it was a lingering effect of his magic, but then Rowan had healed me... I didn't notice it at first when the underlying comfort had returned with Silas, but when it didn't...
That's when it became so easy to break under the pressure of everything that followed, when the little comfort I had noticed was no longer there.
It was a wonder that I had managed to keep myself together for so long, pretending to play house in the woods with an old lady and her son like they hadn't made things worse. Why couldn't I have snapped and attacked one of them instead? I was sure it wouldn't have ended half as bad, especially since they had something they wanted from me. Plus, I was sure Silas would have responded with a lesson that would have prevented something like yesterday's spectacle from occurring.
"Get dressed," Rowan snapped, lacking the patience that typically accompanied his cold demeanor.
"Late for your morning marathon?" Though my voice came out sounding bored and unbothered due to the sleep that clung to me, I was anything but at the thought of another start to the day like yesterday's.
Seeing the urgency in Rowan's movements as he moved around the room gathering everything he needed only made the fear bubbling in my stomach manifest as physical discomfort.
Or maybe I just needed to use the bathroom.
"No." He looped a belt through the loops of his dark trousers. Buckling it with one hand, he reached for the shirt that lay over the back of the sofa that held crumpled bedding.
My eyes that were focused on his fast and efficient movements widened as they snapped to his chest, suddenly aware that it was bare. Unfortunately, the sight didn't last long. I barely got a glimpse of his exposed flesh before he pulled his shirt on and buttoned it.
When he rose his head from his agile fingers to look toward me, my eyes snapped up to meet his, trying to hide where they had been focused. The heat I felt warming my cheeks probably wasn't helping.
But the twist of guilt I unexpectedly felt for admiring his toned physique did.
"We're late for the Queen's summons."
My mind blanked at his words as all the warmth and color drained from my face. Fingers that had been absently running over the rough fabric in my lap stilled as my body grew stiff and rigid.
"No." I didn't feel my lips move, but the word left them as a soft yet firm whisper.
Strong enough to still Rowan's rushed movements. "No?"
