Page 43 of What did you do?

I couldn’t help but wonder why they didn’t use magic to cook. It seemed like it would be so much easier. I made amental note to find out everything I could about their magic and idiosyncrasies. Perhaps I could take it easy the next few days and read up on Seelie fae. I was sure I could find my way to a library in town if they didn’t have one in the castle.

My body sank deeper into the large, comfortable bed as I really let myself relax unguarded for the first time since…well, since I could remember. This was dangerous. I could have stayed inside of this dreamlike serenity for days.

I stuck my leg out to test the temperature of the room and immediately pulled it back into my homey pocket of warmth. The air outside of the bedding was crisp and cold, while the heat I had cultivated under my sheet wassurprisingly warm and cozy. I was in blanket prison.

It would be best to stay here until someone came for me. I just knew the marble floor would be like ice on my bare feet. The unrelenting scent made my muscles relax and settle even further. I had made it here. I could finally relax.

Today would be a great day. I felt happy and rested—not something I was able to declare very often—but if I didn’t get up now, blanket prison would keep me trapped and lazy all day.

At last, I shoved the mound of white pillows away and rose from the bed. Stepping out of the tangled white sheet and bracing for the touch of cold marble, my foot landed on something soft instead.

My plaid night shorts.

I suddenly realized I was completely naked from the waist down.

Heat rushed into my face as I remembered the details of my dream. I must have taken my shorts off and touched myself while I was dreaming.

The dream.

Oh my god, what the hell—or Tartarus now—was wrong with me?

I nearly fell to the ground pulling my shorts back on. I couldn’t even think about that right now.

What an absolute mess of a person I am. Dreaming about the enemy, the one who viciously terrorized my family, watching me finger bang myself?

I scanned the room, taking note of the now yellow sun blazing across the empty fireplace. The smoky scent was so potent now, I expected to see the fire going.

Could he have…?

There was no way. No.See? This is what happens when you never relax. The first time you get to, you forgo calm and immediately turn paranoid and lonely.

I had no idea what time it was here. One of the few things I did know was that time worked differently in each of the realms. The difference in proximity to the moon and the sun made things faster or slower. I couldn’t help but feel a little disheartened realizing that science, my one real comfort, was basically nonexistent here. Those laws didn’t apply in these realms. Magic didn’t care about molecular structure or quantum particles.

Still, it would be a new area of study for me. Excitement gently stirred in me. I loved learning and was excited to understand more about Seelie and its inhabitants. I climbed back onto the fluffy bed, my legs dangling over the edge. Would I marry Aurelius if that was the only way to become a Seelie royal? Saracen still retained half of my heart. What more did she require?

I pulled in a deeper breath, my nose searching for the comforting scent only to be disappointed when I couldn’t grasp hold of the spicy, warm fragrance. My mind scanned its cabinet of memories for an impression of comfort in its absence.

My mother sat on a tattered picnic bench in our old backyard—at least I thought it was my mother. Most of my earlymemories had blurred a bit as soon as the more…unsavory memories were created. I didn’t really mind. They didn’t belong in the same space.

Adrianna, my younger sister, cuddled on her lap while I sat atop the gray-brown table, painting my mother’s face with one of her metallic-blue eyeshadow palettes. Acorn, a friendly squirrel we had made friends with, sat on my lap nibbling one of my shirt buttons.

Tears filled my eyes at the memory. I had been only a child then, almost eight years old and my sister a few years younger. That was right before they were taken away from me, before they left me all alone. That was the last time I had felt whole. Now it only ever felt like my soul was shredded and furious.

My mind threatened to cave, as it so frequently did whenever I thought about Mom and Adrianna. The sheets dragged against the back of my thighs as I slid to the hard floor, my eyes filled with tears.

A loud knock sounded at the door, startling me.

“Calypso, get up. Eli sent me to wake you while he gets ready. Apparently I’m no more than a lady’s maid now.” Tarani’s voice was muffled from the other side of the door.

Quickly wiping my eyes and smoothing my hair, I leaped up and flung the door open to a very disgruntled princess.

Twirling blond hair around her fingers, Tarani looked up at me coldly from under her sparkly gold eyelids. She waltzed into the room, making no secret of inspecting it as if making certain I hadn’t ruined anything.

“Is that what your kind sleep in?” she asked, looking me up and down with a flat expression.

Princess Tarani was once again in a beautiful white dress that trailed just slightly behind her. It had to be absolutely horrible to wear these dresses every day. Didn’t she ever get to wear pants? I looked to my barely there yet obnoxiously comfortablesleeping shorts and then back to the princess, who was so sweetly scowling in disgust. I wouldn’t hold it against her—she had obviously never worn flannel pants covered in kittens and didn’t know what she was missing.

“Yeah, this is pretty much what humans sleep in. Feel how soft though!” I said, grabbing a wad of the buttery-soft fabric and pushing my hip out.

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