Page 105 of A Crown of Tears and Treason
Thirty-Two
EVIE
For as long as I could remember, I’d had trouble sleeping, for very different reasons.
As grandpa Constantine’s little princess, I used to crawl out of bed to watch him work in his study, too curious to rest.
At the cabin, I flinched awake at every trill and creak.
In Phoenix Peak, I twisted and stirred all night, haunted by blazing dreams and nightmares.
When I accidentally dozed off next to Zandyr, in a new bed, in a strange place, I slept like a babe.
I woke up with a start. For once, my neck and shoulder muscles didn’t sting.
My eyelids fluttered open, only to be met with the crested expanse of Zandyr’s chest. He lay on his side, facing me, head propped on his bent arm, no sign of blood or dying.
My cheeks heated up as our eyes met. I had no clue how I’d relaxed so much around him. “Why are you watching me sleep?”
“Would you believe me if I said I’m doing it in case you decide to attack me?” he asked, laughter in his raspy voice; he hadn’t been awake for long.
“Wouldn’t it have made more sense to do it while you were bleeding your eyes out?” A joke, but it still sent tremors through me. A few words had almost killed him.
He shrugged, lazy grin growing. “Who knows what devious plan you’ve concocted? Trying to break into my room byknocking.”
“Youlet me in.Andsaved me.” Again.
“And I almost died right after.” He sighed playfully. “This has got to be the weirdest pillow talk in existence.”
My face must’ve been crimson red by now. “You probably have more experience with that, but this is just talking. No pillows around.”
I rose on my elbows and studied the room. Anything to keep from squirming under his intense gaze.
Zandyr’s bedroom was, to put it mildly, bare. Beautiful, with ornate mahogany trimmings on the walls, obviously carved by generations past.
The roof of the tower was a concealed dome. From the outside, it had looked like a normal tiled roof. But it hid a glorious glass cupola, held up by a metal frame that had curious etchings on it. White gems sparkled in the glass, looking like stars and constellations, twinkling in the warm sunset.
The oval window behind the bed overlooked the valley below and had a similar starry pattern.
“What was this place?” I asked.
“The royal observatory,” he said. “My ancestors studied the stars, praised them when they foretold triumph and cursed them when the seers read them wrong.”
“You wanted to sleep among the stars?”
A beat of silence passed before he replied. “I wanted to sleep away from them.”
“Who?”
“All of them, everyone in the palace. Clawing for my attention and favor. Hoping to get an unearned title for their son or a crown for their daughter.”
I huffed a laugh. “Then I came along and ruined all their plans.”
A corner of his mouth ticked up. “You did. Threatening to end my existence.”
“Once and for all, I onlyimpliedit.”
His deep laugh rocked the bed. A ghost of a smile found its way to my lips as well.
