Page 110 of A Touch of Poison
I failed to stifle mine, stretching into it. The moments before I’d passed out came back—him, Rose, trying to stop him barging into the Hall of Healing. “Elthea… what did you—?”
“She’s alive.” Any slackness in him shut down as his eyebrows clashed together.
I sighed my relief. The manticore venom had failed, but she was my only hope of a cure. Not to mention the fact I was fairly sure the Night Queen would blame me if Bastian lost his mind and killed her. His eyes had blazed with murderous intent on the hall’s steps.
“Good,” I murmured, eyelids drooping.
“You should sleep.”
“So should you.” I gave him a half-hearted grin as he pulled the blankets around me.
“I can sleep here just fine.” He settled back into his chair.
I meant to argue, but my mouth wouldn’t open and my eyelids sank shut.
* * *
The next dayI woke late, finding Bastian in the chair by my bed. The only sign he’d moved was that his hair was damp and he wore a fresh outfit—shirt and trousers in charcoal grey.
As I bathed and dressed, body sluggish, he brought breakfast to my room, pushing the vase to one side. Today it contained a fresh bouquet of white roses, petals edged with fresh green. Their soft scent drifted through the room alongside the array of pastries he set out.
“Dessert for breakfast?” I eyed the options—puff pastry folded with chocolate and hazelnut, lemon tarts made with flaky pastry, little egg custards, almond and raspberry frangipane, slices of apple in a pastry nest topped with apricot jam, and a bowl of fruit to one side. I didn’t know where to start, but my mouth watered.
He shrugged and poured coffee for us both. “The kitchens must’ve been baking today.”
Something about the way he said it—too light, too casual—made me give him a sidelong look. “They justhappenedto be baking a batch of various delicious pastries? Total coincidence.”
His mouth twisted to one side. “You know I can’t say yes to that. Fine. I requested them so you’d have something pleasant to wake up to. Happy?”
I grinned as I selected an almond and raspberry frangipane. “Ecstatic.” I didn’t know whether I was more pleased by the pastries or the fact I got to have breakfast with the real Bastian rather than his business façade. Gods knew how he felt about me—he did sweet things like this, but I still caught signs of guilt about the past or over my marriage. But it felt good to seehimrather than his mask.
I ate more than I needed, using each mouthful to wipe from my mouth and throat the sensation of the manticore venom.
After breakfast, when I stretched to try and give the obscene amount of pastries and one lone apple space to move down my stomach, he watched me, lips pursed. Did even he think I’d eaten too much?
He frowned. “You look like you’re gearing up for something.”
“The start of my day?”
“I was hoping you might rest.”
“That sounds an awful lot like sitting herebored.” Which would give me time to think about the appointment. At least if I went out, I could see Kaliban.
Shoulders sinking, he sighed. “I should’ve known you’d say that. How about I bring the work to you?”
I gave him a mutinous look and opened my mouth to argue.
“I’ll give you space in my workroom.”
I clamped my mouth shut. “Access to Bastian’s mysterious workroom. Now that’s an offer I can’t refuse.”
The corner of his eye tensed, like he was trying not to wince, but he led me into the hall and unlocked one of the few rooms in our suite that I hadn’t yet seen.
Light streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, hitting drifting motes of dust and…
And a fucking mess.
A grandfather clock missing its pendulum. Cracked vases and bowls. A teapot with no spout. Canvases stacked against the wall, their images jarred by rips. Various blades without hilts and hilts with no weapons. Glass-fronted cabinets filled with broken mechanisms and cogs. Stacks of books so tattered, I feared touching them would make the whole pile crumble to unreadable fragments.
