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“It is,” I replied in sign. “See that the healer is aware I might summon him tonight.”
“There isn’t much night left,” he observed.
“Hopefully it is enough.”
He followed me to Kate’s side. “Kate, might I present my steward, Durvin?” I turned to my steward. “Durvin, her Highness Princess Kate Moring of Solderland.”
My steward, a childhood friend and my closest confidant, bowed and signed his delight at meeting her, which I translated for her.
Kate hurriedly rose to her feet, staggering. Both Durvin and I reached to steady her. “I am so sorry,” she murmured before performing a wobbly curtsey. “I am pleased to meet you.”
Durvin’s worried glance communicated much of what I felt. The elixir wasn’t helping as quickly as last time. “Bring the healer,” I signed.
Durvin bowed to Kate and nodded briskly to me before excusing himself. Within moments, Kate and I were alone again. She sank to the couch while pressing her hands to her temples. Pain puckered her forehead.
I fetched her cup and offered it to her. “To cleanse away the aftertaste.” She nodded and accepted it, downing half in a single gulp.
Before she protested, I exchanged her cup for a plate of pasta drenched in a pesto sauce and olive oil. She ate only because I continually prompted her. Then, when half of a serving yet remained on the plate, she curled up on the cushions and fell sound asleep.
A moment later, the healer arrived. Merlon, my cousin and the most skilled healer in my entire kingdom, had been visiting when the curse hit, trapping him within my estate’s borders. If I chafed at the restraint, his nerves had been rubbed raw. The curse kept him from his work, his patients, and his studies. His white hair stood out wildly about his head as though he had been dragging his hands through it.
“She sleeps.” His brisk hand motions hinted at anger.
“The elixir doesn’t seem to be helping.”
He frowned down at Kate’s quiet form. “Her heart rate is steady, her breathing even, and the steward said you fed her.”
“And she drank half a cup of water.”
Merlon nodded curtly. “Then the elixir is doing its job. She needs sleep. Nothing more can be done until she gets it.” He met my gaze and then rolled his eyes. “You shadow elves are all the same, overprotective to a fault. I can examine her if she wakes before she returns home.”
“She hasn’t agreed to that. In fact, she has pointedly refused to be seen by a healer.”
Merlon huffed. “Then why summon me? I won’t do anything she doesn’t agree to, even if you order me to.”
“Because I hoped to change her mind.”
He sighed with great long-suffering. “Summon me when she is awake then, Your Majesty, and I will attempt to change her mind.”
I nodded and reluctantly dismissed him. Fetching a blanket from my chambers, I returned to find Kate hadn’t moved. Spreading it over her form, I claimed my own meal and settled on the grass next to the couch. It wasn’t quite what I hoped for the evening, but it was enough that she lived and would be well come morning.
As I ate, I considered all the ways I could persuade her brother to change her schedule and take better care of her. None of the ideas coming to mind were wise or diplomatic.
Chapter Six
Kate
I woke to the sensation of the sun warming my body. Soft cloth brushed my chin when I burrowed under my blanket. As I shifted, something heavy moved, sliding off my stomach and settling next to me. Fighting my hand free from the blanket, I reached for the weight. My fingers closed around a thin book. My eyes flew open. I didn’t read last night.
I blinked into the dimness. No sunlight greeted me. Only the shadowed recesses of my bedroom ceiling and the slight glow from the draped windows met my gaze. The maid hadn’t arrived to open the curtains yet. Despite this, I still felt like the sun was warming me, seeping into my bones and radiating deep into my soul.
Velvety softness met my questing hand as I sought to push back the blanket. The sensation made me look a second time. This was not my blanket.
Sitting up in a sudden scramble that made my head swim, I blinked down at the book in my hand. A midnight-blue blanket of the softest fabric I had ever touched covered me. It let off a gentle tingle of magic when I touched it, verifying my suspicions. The blanket was from Emrys.
My memories from the previous evening hung at the back of my mind, fuzzy and just out of reach. I recalled Emrys’ voice, movements in the night, and meeting a worried-eyed elf. When I tried to recall more, the thoughts slipped through my fingers like a fish escaping a net. One moment they were there, the next they were gone.
My head ached, but as tempting as it was to lie down and return to sleep, curiosity got the best of me. How had the night before gone? I recalled being so tired that I couldn’t keep my eyes open, but not much beyond that.
