Page 126 of A Bargain with the Fae King

Ambrose shakes his head. “None I’ve heard, but I will ask the guards again, just to be sure.”

I brush my hand through May’s hair. We can wake her, but I’m not about to just leave her at the door. I can’t leave, and entrusting another fae to return her home is out of the question. Dadneedsto come to the door, yet with Riven unconscious and unable to send any more dreams…

I swallow my grim thoughts.

May is safe, and no one will take her away again. That’s the important thing. Safe and here with me.

“You still have the key?” Ambrose asks.

Between Riven’s injury and May’s recovery, I’d forgotten about it completely. I reach into the pocket of my dress and wrap my hand around the stone still lingering there. I sigh in relief. “Yes, it’s here.”

“Good, we should get it back into that protective box. Just in case.” He starts to rise, but Sylvie waves him down.

“I’ll get it.” She stretches and rolls her shoulders before leaving the room to shift back to Arbrean.

A few minutes later, she returns with the box in tow. We secure the key inside. Ambrose tucks it away behind some objects on a bookshelf, out of sight for now until a better solution can be decided upon.

“You don’t have a vault?” I ask.

“That’s the first place everyone looks for treasure,” he replies, a hint of his jovial tone returning. “It’s safer here. For now.”

Karin returns with several more maids who change the linens of the bed before settling Riven’s unconscious form back upon it. They bring food and drink as well, though I can’t muster even a bite. Washing the blood from my skin and changing my clothes are the only self-care I have time for. One of the apprentice healers returns, swaying on her feet but determined to stay in case Riven’s situation worsens. Sylvie and Solona leave with a promise to return at first light. Ambrose, however, refuses to leave, despite his exhaustion, and settles himself on the couch across a low table from May.

“Are you sure? You need rest,” I protest. With all the magic he’s used today, combined with the normal need for sleep, he can barely keep his eyes open.

“I’ll sleep just fine here,” he pats the cushion under him.

“We have another room prepared for you, if you’d like it,” Karin offers.

I shake my head. “I’d like to stay as well.”

She nods, her face solemn before she leaves us. Ambrose is already half asleep on the sofa. Thank goodness he at least bothered to change clothes. I take one more look at May before walking into the bedroom.

The healer sits in a chair near the bed, attentively watching Riven for any sign of change.

“Do you mind leaving us alone for a bit?” I ask.

The fae rises and bows. “Of course, my lady.” The title stings. After all I’ve done today, it’s the very last thing I deserve. “I will be in the other room.”

I wait until she leaves before climbing into the bed next to Riven. My hand traces down his strong face, his bare muscled shoulders, and comes to rest atop the bandages on the side of his chest, well away from his wound. The steady rise and fall of his chest and the soft beat of his heart give me some comfort but not near enough.

The mark on my skin has darkened around the edges. A reaction to Riven’s pain and illness, Solona told me when I asked about it.

“Please come back to me,” I whisper.

His suffering doesn’t excuse the pain he caused me, or the fear, the betrayal, the deception. All those things linger between us. They slice at my heart, bleed out on the bed beside him. But I realized something when that arrow slid through his chest, a truth I never had the chance to tell him, one I still struggle to admit to myself.

“I love you too.”

Ambrose wakes me at dawn when Iason arrives to check on Riven again. I slept beside him the entire night, curled around one limp arm that I clutched like a lifeline, willing him to return to me.

Low conversations draw to a close as Iason returns to the sitting room.

We all stare at him, waiting for answers.

“The rest of the poison is out, but he’s still weak, his magic burned through. It may take a while for his body to recover from its effect.”

A sigh ripples through the small crowd of Solona, Ambrose, Sylvie, and the handful of others permitted to gather, eager for news.

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