Page 49 of How to Claim A Shadow King

I swing my legs out from under the covers, the cool air hitting my bare ankles. My heels and toes are still wrapped in the bandages Malakai meticulously placed there, a grounding reminder of the waking world.

I swallow hard.

The boundary between reality and dreams feels incredibly thin tonight.

"Aveline?" a voice murmurs from the darkness near the door.

I startle, pulling the blanket tight around my shoulders as a shape begins to coalesce from the deepest shadows of the room.

"What are you doing in here?" I ask, my voice groggy. I clear my throat and try to wake up.

"This is my castle," Malakai’s voice seems to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. "Am I not allowed to go where I please?"

"This is my room," I tell him. "In our castle, if you're to be believed." I say it, though it doesn't come out quite as petulant as I would prefer it to, but still thick with sleep.

I rub my eyes, my jaw cracking with a yawn.

I can see a smile breaking across Malakai's face in the darkness. "I was watching over you. You were crying out in your sleep. It's almost dawn. Go back to sleep, Aveline. I'll make sure no harm comes to you."

It shouldn't make me feel better to know that he's been standing there, watching me sleep. Even my sleep-addled brain knows that's not entirely normal behavior. Though what's normal for something like Malakai might be beyond my knowledge.

Another yawn forces my mouth open, and I roll over, pulling the lush fabric of the quilt over my head. "Goodnight, Malakai," I say, mumbling into my pillow.

He doesn't respond.

The next morning, I awaken to the weak fall sunshine and an empty room, except for Ter, who hops from the top of the four-poster bed and walks awkwardly across the linens, leaving bird prints in the plush material where he steps.

"Well, good morning to you," I tell him.

"Malakai told me to keep watch over you. He had an errand in town."

"An errand," I say, not completely awake yet.

“He went to retrieve a pair of horses.”

Oh. A grin spreads across my face, warmth spreading throughout my body at the thought of Malakai leaving his castle so early simply to do something that he thought might make me happy. "I guess I should get dressed then."

"He's going to teach you magic today," Ter says, his head tilted at me, one beady eye watching me as I pull the sheets to the side, revealing my legs and pointing my toes long as I stretch, then patter across the floor to the wardrobe.

"Oh," I say, completely unsurprised. Based on everything Hash and the witches seem to think, learning magic should absolutely be my focus. "Then why is he going to get horses?" I ask Ter, if only to annoy him with the questions.

"Who am I to guess what happens in the Shadow King's mind?" Ter says flippantly. "As for you, if you try to run away again today, then we will have problems."

"Is that right?" I ask, amused as I sit down at my vanity and run one of the tortoiseshell combs through my hair. The wardrobe doors open as I brush, and I hum to myself under my breath as Ter flits through the air and lands atop the mirror I'm gazing into.

"You don't have time to ride your horses," Ter tells me.

I pause my brushing and stare at him for a moment. "Why are you so cranky today?" I ask him. "I've only been here two nights now, and one wasn't even spent at this castle."

"And whose fault was that?" Ter asks, doing that birdie head cock and looking at me with that one beady eye.

I glare at him. He finally turns away to preen his feathers.

"I never blamed anyone for me running away but me, thank you very much," I tell Ter, resuming brushing my hair. One of the outfits I had made in town yesterday hangs on the back of the armoire door. "Good choice," I tell the house, watching the reflection of the garments in the wardrobe as I brush my hair.

"You're in a good mood for someone who doesn't have a lot of time to solve the problem," Ter says.

"And you're in a bad mood for a bird who's able to talk," I tell him sharply.