Chapter 30

The light from the window is what wakes me in the morning. I blink through bleary eyes, rubbing away the tiredness there. Cool mountain air drifts in through the gap in the stone wall, the shutters cracked enough for a thick strand of sunlight to warm my face.

I hadn't meant to fall asleep yesterday. After Commander Lothbrook had walked me back to my rooms, I'd stretched across the comfortable-looking bed to rest for just a moment before exploring the shelves of books sitting in wait for me. Instead, I'd let my eyes drift shut and unexpectedly fall asleep.

I'm still in the day dress I'd worn on the tour around the castle yesterday, stretched diagonally along the top of the covers of the large bed. But someone had been in and placed a soft blanket over me. It shifts off my shoulders and into my lap as I move into a sitting position. Along with the blanket, someone had also placed a glass of water on the bedside table and my familiar blue vial of medicine.

Uncorking the vial, I measure out my medicine and sip it down before guzzling the entire glass of water. Walking around so much yesterday had taken more out of me than I'd thought. The room is lit with the pale yellow sunshine that can only be attributed to morning, so I must have slept through dinner and all night.

When Xavier and Arden had shown me the room yesterday, I'd expected the bed to be comfortable just from the sight of it, but it's even more luxurious than I'd anticipated. My sore joints and muscles complain as I slide from the bed, but I ignore their protests, refusing to sleep any longer.

The stone floor is icy on my bare skin, but I find that I love it. The cold soothes the soreness in my feet from all the walking I'd done as I pad across the room to the bathing chamber. Surprisingly, the chambers have running water, and I have no clue how the shifters have managed such a feat of running pipes through stone or the amount of magic it would take to accomplish something like that. But I'm incredibly grateful for it as I run a bath for myself.

The bath is lined with an array of luxurious-smelling soap oils and bath salts that I put to use. It's more than I'm used to having at home, and while a seemingly small thing, warmth flashes through me at the appreciation for such small details being seen too. The subtle jasmine scent of the soap is similar to, but also somehow *better*, than the ones I'm drawn to.

Soaking in the water, I chew over the amount of care gone into the details of this place. No matter how I look at it, I don't know what to make of it all.

*"I'm not your enemy, princess. Far from it."*

That's the last thing Damion had said to me in the hallway yesterday when he'd dropped me off at the door of my rooms. The rooms he'd had done up for me, were filled with things I'd like. I run my fingers through the water, practically staring a hole through the bottles of soaps in my preferred scents, uncertainty mixing with wariness as they run through me.

A large part of me still views all of this with suspicion. I've been hurt by enough people in my life saying one thing to my face while meaning another thing entirely. Not to mention that everything given to me in my life has always had strings attached. I still don't even know the entire reasoning behind why he took me as ransom against my father in the first place.

But, even with all my experience screaming at me that there's a deeper reason behind this careful treatment of me, a much tinier fragile piece can't help but believe what Damion says.

Finishing in the tub, I wrap myself in a towel and make the trek to the closet to find something to wear. Combing through the clothes, I settle on another light dress but in a soft shade of sage green. As soon as I'm dressed, there's a soft knock at the door. I pull open the door to find Mitra, the same older woman who's been a quiet constant almost the entire time I've been here.

She dips her gray head of hair at me respectfully carries in a tray of breakfast and sets it on a small table near the window.

"Thank you for bringing me breakfast," I say, hoping she can hear how much I appreciate it. It's a long walk to the dining hall and I'm grateful I don't need to make the trek on my own this morning, "Xavier and Arden showed me where to go to find the kitchens, so please don't feel obligated to bring it if you have other duties to see to. I really appreciate you bringing it though."

Mitra simply smiles softly at me and pats me gently on the cheek before turning slowly to make her way back to the door and closing it behind her. I think about what Healer Orm had explained to me yesterday. How the female shifter had suffered an injury that made it impossible to communicate verbally. My heart twinges at the situation for her.

I made a mental note to ask about the hand languages Healer Orm had mentioned. Then I'd be able to communicate with her properly.

There's another knock at the door as I finish my breakfast, but this time, the person at the door doesn't wait for me to come and open it. I'm halfway across the room to see who it is when Xavier and Arden barge in.

"Rise and shine, Princess," Arden crows. Her deep brown hair, which is cropped short, is damp as if she's just finished bathing.

I grin at the sight of them both, genuinely happy to see my usual pair of guards, "I wasn't sure if I was going to see you two today."

"Why wouldn't you?" Xavier asks. His face is drawn into his usual serious expression, but there's a sparkle at the back of his eyes that tells me he's either happy or amused. Maybe both.

I shrug, eyeing the pair over, "I don't know, I thought you'd have other guard duties to get to today or something."

"The Commander got called away from the castle today," Arden explains, throwing herself into one of the chairs at my table. She helps herself to some of the leftover muffins that Mitra had brought in on the breakfast tray.

I can't help but snort at the way she's inhaling the muffins one after the other, barely stopping to breathe, "Help yourself," I tease her, and she just rolls her eyes with a grin. Even Xavier huffs out an exasperated chuckle.

Crumbs spray from Arden's mouth as she chews and says, "He asked us to look after you and that you can find your way around if you decide to wander around."

I nod my understanding, "I see. What did you do to your Commander to make him hate you so much that you're stuck with babysitting duty *again*."

"Be too good at our job, that's what," Arden jokes back, shoving a third muffin into her mouth, "It's a blessing and a curse."

Confused, I glance over at Xavier to explain what she means and he sighs, crossing his arms over his chest as he leans against the wall, "We're a part of the Commander's Squad. His inner circle of soldiers that he hand picks to carry out tasks and the moresensitive tasks for him."

Sensitive tasks like kidnapping and babysitting a Seelie Princess, apparently.

As Xavier explains all of this to me, the morning light coming in through the window makes the grayish-blue of his eyes stand out against his sun-tanned skin. His shoulder-length dark blonde hair pulled back into a neat ponytail that matches the tidiness of his uniform which doesn't have a wrinkle in sight. He's a stark contrast to Arden who is now covered in crumbs and attempting to sneakily brush them off her clothes and onto my floor.

The steady color of both of their eyes gives me pause, reminding me of a question that's been bugging me on and off since yesterday, "Hey, I've been meaning to ask you both- why don't either of your eyes change color like the King's do?"

I'm surprised when both guards tense and turn their heads sharply in my direction.