Page 74 of The Crowned Queen

Otherwise the next time she woke up she might not be here.

Serafina exhaled slowly, understanding replacing the concern on her face. “As long as you can stay still,” she said. “And only if you don’t fight natural sleep, too. You need rest to recover.”

Araya managed a faint smile. “Just as bossy as ever.”

“And don’t you forget it.” Serafina squeezed her hand one more time before laying it carefully back down on the table. “Are you thirsty?”

She was already moving, crossing to a chipped basin and dipping a clean cloth into the water and wringing it out with stiff fingers, her hands strangely clumsy as she pressed the cloth to Araya’s lips.

Araya drank greedily, the cool water soothing her ravaged throat. But all too soon Serafina was pulling it away, dropping the cloth back into the basin despite Araya’s protest.

“That’s enough for now,” Serafina said. “You need to be careful. Take it slow.”

Araya scowled but nodded. She’d heard Serafina give the same advice a hundred times before, for injuries much less severe than having your back flayed open by an iron-braided whip.

“You probably have questions,” Serafina said. “I can do my best to answer them, if you want.”

She did. But not the ones Serafina was probably expecting.

Araya let her gaze drift over her friend’s too-thin face, lingering on the sharp line of her cheekbones, the dark circles shadowing her eyes. Her lips were torn and raw, as though she’d been worrying them between her teeth—but none of that compared to what had been done to her hands.

“What happened?” she asked softly.

Serafina’s fingers twitched, her gaze flicking down for a heartbeat before flashing back to Araya, a strained smile plastered across her face. “They broke them.”

Araya’s jaw tightened. “Bastards.”

Serafina laughed—the startled sound bursting past her lips so unexpectedly that she clapped both hands over her mouth, staring at Araya with wide eyes.

Araya’s own lips twitched, a strangled giggle slipping out despite her attempt to swallow it down. And then they were both laughing—tears streaming down their faces.

“I missed you,” Serafina said when she caught her breath, wiping the tears from her eyes. “So much.”

“You sent me away,” Araya retorted, but there was no ire in her voice. “With a brooding fae prince you didn’t even know⁠—”

“Not just any brooding fae prince!” Serafina protested. “Your mate! And the two of you seem to have worked it out, despite how it started. He’s been beside himself.”

“Has he?” Araya’s smile faltered. Serafina was mostly human—she could lie and exaggerate things as much as she pleased. “He blocked our bond.”

Serafina winced. “I made him,” she said. “He hated every second of it, I swear. But they were using you against him⁠—”

“I understand why,” Araya said quietly. “But...he’s not here.”

“That’s not—” Serafina cut herself off, her expression conflicted. “He hasn’t gone far, I promise. I think it’s hard for him. Seeing you like this and knowing he didn’t protect you from it.”

“There was nothing he could have done.”

“You and I know that.” Serafina’s fingers stroked the back of her hand. “He’s still figuring it out.”

Or maybe he just couldn’t look at her without seeing everything Jaxon had left behind.

“You’re tired,” Serafina said, rising to her feet again. “Try and get some rest. I won’t be far.”

Chapter

Twenty-Seven

“You don’t have to be here right now.”