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Slowly, understanding colored Maywin’s earnest eyes, and she peered at me with respect. “What are you proposing, Luna?” she whispered.
“Well, as I just said, you will stop calling me ‘Luna’ or ‘Queen Zephyrine’ when we’re alone. ‘Zephy’ will suffice, just as Aradia calls Cade by his given name and Ryland does, too, in private—although he pretends he doesn’t when I’m around.”
I tittered.
Maywin balked at the thought, and I chuckled harder at her expression.
“It will take some getting used to,” I agreed. “But that’s what friends do.”
“I will try, Z-Zephy,” she sputtered.
“There! That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
“It was!”
I giggled and squeezed her hand again. “You’re also going to stop working and merely be one of my fae-in-waiting. I won’t have you doing menial tasks anymore. It’s beneath you, and I should have promoted you long ago. I’m sorry it’s taken me as long as it has.”
“Oh, Lun—Z-Zephy! I don’t know what to say!”
“Say yes… and say that you’ll finally pursue a relationship with that guard who you’ve been making eyes at for months.”
Maywin blushed crimson and looked away, but I forced her to look at me. “Maywin…”
“Yes… I will,” she blubbered. “I barely know what to say…”
“Just tell me that you’ll be my first fae-in-waiting.”
Maywin stared at me blankly, and I laughed.
“It’s like a full-time bridesmaid, but I only want you to be my friend,” I offered. “Also, it’s a paid position, and you will be compensated with a home in the palace for as long as I am queen.”
Maywin’s cheeks reddened. “I don’t need payment to be your friend,” she said. “That’s not a duty; that’s an honor.”
My heart warmed with her words.
“I truly love you like a sister, Maywin. I want you to have a comfortable life. Please just accept this position as a token of how much I care about you.”
“Thank you, Zephy,” she said and hugged me. She drew back, and her brows furrowed. “Who will be your maid?” she asked worriedly. “It will have to be someone you trust, someone—”
“You don’t need to worry about me all the time, Maywin. You’ve done a very good job of that for many years. Now, I just want you at my side as my friend.”
Tears misted her solemn eyes, and she nodded, visibly swallowing. “Yes,” she murmured. “I will do that.”
“Good. Then the matter is settled.”
The door opened and Cade sauntered in. “What matter is that?” he asked.
“Maywin will now be my first lady-in-waiting,” I declared, making the act official.
“How wonderful,” Cade said, nodding approvingly. “It’s high time she got a promotion with all the valuable work she’s done around here. I think we should move her into a better suite as well. I thought something closer to the guards’ quarters. What do you say, my love?”
I grinned mischievously at my mate, and he returned my smile as Maywin’s cheeks continued to flame. She mumbled something incoherently.
I nodded. “That’s a fine idea. Why don’t you see about packing up your bedroom, Maywin? We’ll have available staff help you move. See if Jasper is around, yes?”
Maywin almost ran from the suite, leaving Cade and me to chuckle amongst us as the door closed in her wake.
He sat at my side, brushing my hair aside. “How are you feeling?”
