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“What about in the morning?” the maid asked.
“He is gone before I wake.”
“Do you want to talk to him?” Opal asked.
“Of course.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “But he is busy. The health and safety of the whole realm is at risk.” A heavy sigh escaped me. “I want to help him, but I don’t know how.”
Elinor muttered as she pulled Sable onto her lap and hugged her fiercely. “Fine way to treat a new wife.” The pup wiggled around, attempting to get access to Elinor’s face.
I watched them while trying to fight off the unease that had been growing in my chest for a while. Strange to say after being married only for a week and a bit, but I missed my husband. The stolen hours in the garden those few nights before we broke the curse together were fading into memory. No matter how pleasant the recollections were, marriage required more than hazy reminiscences. I needed more.
“Opal?”
Lady Channing turned from watching Sable knock Elinor to the floor.
“How do I get to my husband’s study?”
~~~~~
Emrys
“The gardeners are advocating for the removal of the hedge maze,” Durvin mentioned from the other side of my desk.
“Tell them no.” I pressed my palms to my eyes to soothe the throbbing behind them. “And if they ask again, the answer is the same. They can uproot the rest of the garden for all I care. The hedge maze stays.”
Durvin stilled and the soft rustle of paper against parchment that had been a constant backdrop since lunch ceased. “Have you been sleeping?”
“Every night.” It had been my one pleasure. Slipping beneath the covers, wrapping my arms around my sweet wife, and grabbing a few hours of oblivion were the highlight of every day. The memory of Kate’s softness teased my mind. I wondered if a bit of sleep would take the edge off my stress headache. The pain decreased when I closed my eyes.
“Sire?” Durvin’s hand grasped my shoulder. “You drifted off.”
I shoved back in my chair, blinking in the golden sunlight spilling in through the windows. “Any word from Illeron?”
Stepping away as though nothing had happened, my steward returned to his stack of missives. “None. Last we heard, there were rumors of a magus traveling with a female matching the princess Alora’s description along the southern border. The spymaster sent shadow elves out to investigate, but they have found nothing yet.”
“I thought we had the best scouts in all of Reverie.”
“We do, sire,” Durvin assured me.
“How can they not find one magus?”
“It isn’t the matter of finding a magus, but one particular one.”
I groaned and buried my face in my hands. “Now is not the time for correcting me, Durvin. You knew what I meant.”
“Apologies, my king.”
“Accepted.” I massaged my temples. “Is Merlon back from his trip yet?”
“No, would you like me to send for another healer?”
I dropped my hands to the document in front of me. “No, I will just take a walk.”
“You agreed to meet with Lord Worhersce minutes from now.”
“Another elf who wishes to advocate for me to take a mistress and begin begetting children as soon as possible. And, let me guess, he has a daughter the perfect age for childbearing.” I stood from my chair and strode to the window. My tea soured in my stomach as I stared unseeing out into the gardens beyond my window. “For all the efforts these nobles are making to get me to indulge in infidelity for the sake of the kingdom, not one of them has exerted themselves to find the magus behind the crisis.”
“These few are not the entire court,” Durvin pointed out.
