He whipped his head up. The sheer elation in his eyes bought me one last lucid moment. He opened his mouth to reply, but I never got to hear it, because the nightmare cracked my mind like an eggshell.
The darkness poured in, carrying me downward into the sooty, seething black.
24.
This time, awareness came on like a hammer strike. My head pounded.Boom.My fingers ached.Boom.
Except...that dizzying thump came from outside my skull, not within. Because someone was at my door. Banging.
Loudly.
I opened my eyes. “Ugh.”
Strong limbs tangled around me, but their laxity told me my bed companion was still asleep. I raised my head just as the door opened. A brown-haired man peeked in.
A frisson of alarm shot through me. “Merron? What’re you doing here?”
He surveyed my bedroom, whatever opinions he had about finding me entwined with Ky locked behind an opaque wall. He stepped in, probably figuring that since we were halfway decent, there was nothing keeping him in the hall. “Sorry to wake you. But I need to borrow His Highness.”
I blinked. My eyeballs felt gritty, like I’d spent the night fighting my way through a sand-laden gale. “Okay.”
Ky made a sleepy sound. I glanced up to find those luminous blue eyes fluttering open. When he caught me staring, he brought a hand to my cheek. “Mmm. A little early to be contemplating my perfection already, don’t you think?”
“We have company,” I stage-whispered, and cut a sidelong glance. “Company that’s here to borrow you, apparently.”
Ky’s attention slid to Merron, who stood straight-backed, his gaze locked on the middle distance.
Ky barely reacted. He didn’t even take his hand from my face, just lifted lazy brows and said, “Yes?” in the most regal tone possible.
Merron cleared his throat. “It’s the rot, Your Highness. It jumped the trenches and infected the lawn overnight. The stewards are down there digging and burning, but we need help, and...” He flicked a glance at me, then resumed his study of the wall. “Well. You happen to be an excellent trench-digger.”
Ky’s attention swerved to me again. “I am, aren’t I? It’s probably my most impressive talent of all.”
I mustered a smile and peeled myself away. Or tried. Ky tightened, his grip, and in the pause, I read a reluctance in his face, a tick of uncertainty that belied the easy words.
No one else would have caught it, but I did. “What? What’s wrong?”
“It’s...” He held my gaze, even as he addressed Merron. “Can I join you in a moment? I need a word with my wife.”
The head steward hesitated, his silence as good as any answer.
I searched Ky’s eyes. Wedidneed to talk, yes, but the rot superseded any of our petty secrets. If the coops or gardens or pigpens were lost, we’d be ruined. “Just go. This is way more important.”
He studied me for a moment, then pulled me close. “I will,” he said, low enough that only I could hear. “But I want you tostay away from Vick today.Faraway. I don’t think he’d actually lay a finger on you, but...I’d rather not find out.”
Surprise gnawed at my stomach. Here I’d thought he wanted to finish yesterday’s confession, when in fact, he was worried about my safety. “Okay. I promise.”
“Good. I’ll be back as soon as I’m able. Then we’ll talk.”
Suddenly, I wanted to cling to him. Beg him to stay. But I forced myself to swing my legs to the floor. This man would only be mine for three more days. Now wasnotthe time to start needing him.
“Your Highness,” Merron said tightly. “You’re needed downstairs. Now.”
Ky nodded, and that infernal half smile flickered, assurance settling over him like a mantle. He pushed aside my castoff chains—he’d unlocked me some time just before dawn—then rolled out of bed and hunted for his shirt, which he buttoned on.
“I hope you realize I’ll need some bacon, first,” he told Merron as he sailed into the hallway. “Not even I can perform acts of heroism on an empty stomach.”
Even after he’d gone, Merron lingered, his hands flexing at his sides.
