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“You weren’t here.”
“I was nearby.” She paused, heading to the dresser by the side. She poured him a goblet of water and brought it towards him, taking care not to touch him as he shifted up in bed, despite how much he winced. Her free hand remained stubbornly at her side.
“I won’t be taking any more days off between now and your birthday,” she said, returning to the shadows.
Hawthorn broke his guzzling. “That’s a month away.”
“Your mother assures me I will be aptly compensated.” She stilled, the shadows stiffening around her. “The people that organised this latest attack, they knew about the guard changes, knew that I wouldn’t be around. So we need to be more careful, more vigilant. We’re restricting the staff, conducting more checks. No more revels, no more strolling into town—nothing.”
“Can we go back to death being an option? Because that almost sounds more fun.”
Juliana scowled. “We thought about going into hiding, or even faking your death, but with Faeries being unable to lie…”
“You’ve thought this all through.”
“I’ve had time to.”
A cold, hard pause spread out between the two of them. “I killed those people, didn’t I?”
Juliana nodded.
“I’ve never killed anyone before.”
She said nothing.
“I didn’t like it.”
Her eyes stared at the floor. “You were right to kill them. They would have killed you.”
“That doesn’t help very much.”
“I killed the other one. Just… just in case you were worried she escaped. She didn’t.”
He waited for her to say something else, anything else. It was like something had been stolen from her in the days he’d lost, like she’d reverted to the frost queen she’d been when she first came into his service. “You seem angry.”
Juliana sighed. “I am angry at myself.”
“For what?”
“For not realising Algernon wasn’t himself. For not seeing what I should have, for—this,”she said, gesturing roughly to his slumped form.
“This isn’t your fault.”
“I need to be better,” she insisted, and crossed to collect her sword. “Iwillbe better.”
“For another few weeks,” he added.
“Yes.”
“Juliana?”
“Yes?”
“Will you sit with me?”
Juliana froze. “I’ve been still for too long,” she announced finally. “Your mother will be here soon. I’ll be in the next room, training. I’ll keep the door open.”
“Jules—”
