“Unhand me you great oaf,” she squealed, wiggling like a worm.
“Settle down,” I said as she slammed her head against my fist. “And I will.”
I plucked the paper dagger from her hands and set her on the edge of the tub.
“The prince paid me to find you. An entire bottle of the good stuff, I might add, since you hadn’t responded to his other messages.” She stood and with her wings fluttering, she flew inches from my face. “You’re a fool if you let that beautiful hunk of a man get away. If I were human,” she licked her fingers in a seductive manner that made me cringe. “You get the idea. Bye, Princess.” Then she buzzed off, pink glitter trailing behind her.
I pulled open the intricately folded paper and inside it read: I’m waiting at the bottom of the stairs. If you aren’t here in five minutes, I’m coming up. Hopefully you’re dressed… or maybe more hopefully, not.
-Z
I smirked at that last bit. I quickly ran a brush through my wet hair and after dropping my things off in my room, I made my way to the stairs. Standing at the crest, I watched Zyacus pace back and forth. I smiled at his obvious concern, and made my way down. He paused when he saw me then casually leaned against the wall like he hadn’t been anxiously waiting.
“Princess Slumber finally emerges,” he said, folding his arms over his chest.
I chuckled at the nickname. “I had trouble falling asleep and then when I actually did sleep I apparently didn’t wake up to the sunshine.”
He pushed my hair behind my ear and kissed me. I opened my mouth to tell him about the vision but he cut me off, “Come on, let’s get you something to eat and then some girls put together a scavenger hunt. It will get our minds off everything. We can have some fun.”
I buried the urge to tell him about the vision. It was my burden to bear anyway.
We sat down in the nearly empty dining hall. A few stragglers hung around, snacking but it wasn’t mealtime. Zyacus bribed a cook to make me food, although I didn’t feel like eating. The anxiety of everything ruined my appetite. I just couldn’t stop worrying about the rituals of the blood moon and the Fae prince and that stupid crown always pulling at me.
I poked at a potato with my fork. I forced myself to take a bite and chewed it slowly. Zyacus sipped on a bubbly red drink from a clear mug. “So I hear the prize for this scavenger hunt is something coveted. I plan to get it.”
“Of course you do. You get everything you want,” I teased.
He tilted his head back and forth as if considering this. “Yeah, I usually do.”
Arrogant bastard. I couldn’t deny that I liked it. I liked this about him even when I mostly hated him. Confidence in a man drew me like a pixie to wine.
“Zyacus,” Mateo called from the doorway. “Someone needs to speak with you. Kingdom business.”
He groaned and pushed away from the table. “If I’m not back by the time you’re finished, we’re meeting by the sparring grounds for the hunt.”
“I’ll see you there.” As he walked away I had the urge to tell him about what happened to me. About my sleep walking and the crown but I stuffed the potato in my mouth instead.
Chapter 19
I only stayed in the dining hall alone for a couple of minutes before Legacy, Lora, Taz, and Aramis strolled in. The room went from light chatter at a few other tables to those four exploding the quiet with laughter.
“Hey, there she is!” Lora excitedly pointed at me.
Finished eating, I pushed my plate aside and put on a smile. The four of them surrounded me and sat down. “Where have you been all day?” Taz asked. “I was beginning to worry.”
“Nothing dramatic, I was just sleeping.” If it had just been Taz and Legacy, I would have told them about my incident with the crown but I didn’t know enough about Aramis at this point. I also didn’t want Lora to feel obligated to get involved in this mess.
Legacy looked at Taz. “See, I told you.” She met my eyes. “He didn’t believe me.”
Aramis sat directly across from me and had yet to look at me. He probably felt weird since the fight he had with my boyfriend. I’d seen him in class since but we’d been in different training groups and hadn’t spoken since.
I cleared my throat. “It’s good to see you again, Aramis.”
“Your highness, I haven’t had a chance to talk to you since, well, you know. I wanted to apologize for my behavior.” He fidgeted with a spoon on the table.
Wearing a pleased expression, Lora folded her arms as if she’d been the one to put her older brother up to this. “He was out of line.”
Both Taz and Legacy snickered. I shot them both blazing scowls and they shut up. “There’s no need to apologize. Besides, I don’t think you were the instigator.” The hot-headed Hesstian Prince was.
Aramis’s mouth slowly turned up. “I, well, no the prince brought the intensity but I should have backed off. He’s protective of you and I knew that.”
I wanted to say, no, he’s jealous and shouldn’t be, but how could I when I wanted to char the earth when Zyacus simply talked with Jennika. To be fair, they had a past and Aramis and I did not.
“Zyacus can be a prick,” Legacy said with a chuckle. “Visteal used to hate him. Like wanted to cut off his man parts.”
Everyone laughed including me. But I remembered her note, and since I didn’t think she had any suspicion about my vision I asked, “So what did you want to say about Taron?”
A blush stained her cheeks and
