Page 74 of Of Bargains & Betrayal

I winced, but I couldn’t stifle the yawn it rolled into.

That had nothing to do with what Eilir had just told me either—Maksym’s imprisonment wasn’t shocking, but it was still interesting. I just couldn’t help the fatigue pulling me back into the pillows. Between the stress I just wasn’t used to and all my body had gone through, it was hard to deny how much of a waif-like damsel I felt like. A terrifying first in my life.

“And why did he end up being exiled?” I asked with another half-yawn. With a chuckle, I added, “Didn’t exactly have time to ask him about that at dinner when he spat it at me like it was a weapon.”

“Callum was an exceptionally cruel king,” Eilir said as, bless their tiny little wooden soul, they helped pull my covers up the rest of the way. “And he was a coward in equal measure. He feared his only child so much, he got rid of him, banished Max to exile in the Wastes and re-warded the entire kingdom against descendants of his own blood.”

“That seems a little extreme,” I mumbled. “What’s so special about Max that his father would be afraid of him? He’s so…skinny. Does he have m-ma⁠—”

A mote of shimmery dust floated through my vision.

I blinked twice, hard.

The glittering dust increased tenfold.

It coated my linens and hands, and when I glanced over at Eilir, the sprite was wearing a grimace, baring all their sharp teeth.

“Eilir…” I said slowly, but even the single word felt like a chore. “What did you…?”

“I’m sorry!” they squeaked. “Max was adamant you get plenty of sleep. They’re both very worried about you, you know?”

“Both?” I rasped.

If Eilir had answered me, I didn’t know, because my eyes slipped shut, plunging me into an utterly blissful darkness. I hadn’t ever known sleep to feel like the best hug I’d ever experienced—maybe not consciously, at least—but it wrapped its warm, intangible limbs tightly around me and pulled me deeper and deeper into⁠—

“PRINCESS! GET UP!”

My eyes flew open, and I shot upright as daylight and the furious buzzing of Eilir’s wings accosted me, my heart thundering in my chest.

“What the fuck?” I croaked as I rubbed my eyes and looked around.

Despite my half-assed attempt, I was having a remarkably hard time figuring out what the hell was going on. I could’ve sworn I’d only just closed my eyes, and I was still in bed, but it was no longer night. If the ache in my neck was anything to go by, I had a suspicion I hadn’t moved in hours.

“Get up, get up!” came Eilir’s squawk again as their branchy fingers wrapped around my wrist and tugged at me.

I tried to yank my arm back and ease back into bed. “Good goddess, what is going on? Are we under siege?”

Eilir did not appreciate my humor. They planted their hands on their hips and scoffed. “No, princess. We are not under siege. But Jasper will be here any minute to fetch you to start your training, and, clearly, you’ve forgotten that is very important.”

Oh, fuck.

All the bed linens nearly came to the floor with me as I clambered out of bed. My legs did me no favors as I stumbled to the vanity and then to the chairs by the fire, hunting for where in the hell I had abandoned my pants and my vest the night before.

“Oh, now she gets moving,” Eilir scoffed from somewhere behind me.

“Oh, don’t you oh me, sprite,” I shot back. “Not after you did…whatever the hell it was you did to me last night.”

“I had orders!”

“I had orders,” I grumbled under my breath as I retrieved my pants from the floor by the fireplace and fought to hop into them. “So does this mean that any time Maksym tells you to do something to me, you’re just going to do it, my wants be damned?”

“Princess,” Eilir whined. “You needed your rest! I had only your best interests in mind, I promise! I would do nothing untoward, I swear on my life.”

Sidestepping the buzzing gnat, I shook my head as I went for the wardrobe. “Well, thank goodness for that,” I scoffed. “I feel so much better knowing you only sedated me without telling me because it was in my best interest, as determined not by me.”

Eilir huffed a clearly annoyed breath but left me to root through the sparse articles of clothing stocked in my room. I needed to find something a little more appropriate than a ruffled blouse to wear for a day of training.

My options were slim but manageable.