Fantasyland: Midnight Soul Part 15

He seemed more certain than I about the outcome of said engagement.

Truthfully, without Josette's help (or his) I actually could go nowhere and do nothing. Not simply because I was in pain, and movement without a.s.sistance I knew would be agony (even with a.s.sistance, it would be agony), but also because I was naked.

Not that I had any qualms with that, just that it was me who made the decision about who saw me and he'd seen enough without my making that decision already.

In other words, I was stuck.

And this was maddening.

Therefore I did the only thing I could.

I glared at him again.

He grinned at me again.

The gall!

"Now we got that straight, you sure you don't want me to carry you to the other room?" he asked.

In truth, at that juncture I could have used the chamber pot.

Of course, this was not what I shared.

I said, "Absolutely not."

"Gonna be right here, you need me," he stated.

"To my everlasting distress," I murmured, right then doing the only other thing I could do, pathetic as it was.

I turned my head away from him.

He did not let that happen unnoted.

Oh no.

He chuckled.

Insufferably rude.

I ignored that and stared at heavy curtains that hid the dull wood that covered the blasted-out windows.

The good news was, my parents incarcerated, my mother's magic stripped so she couldn't use it to foil any efforts of castigation or to rain further misfortune on my brother and me, Lunwyn was safe for me again.

And Kristian.

The bad news was, my back was a mess, my secret had been revealed (both of them!), and I seemed to be at the mercy of a dictatorial member of an other-world city guard, of all outlandishness.

I could not allow this to concern me.

I would ignore him in the short term and deal with whatever befell me in the long term.

Because I had no choice.

And such was my life.

Drat.

"You can hardly hold me at the Palace against my will," I a.s.serted.

"I can't?" Queen Aurora asked with a raised brow.

It was undignified in the extreme that I was lying abed, staring up at my queen, having any conversation, much less this one.

Even so, one could say there was a single answer to her question.

She could.

"This is not to be born," I groused.

Yes!

Me!

Franka Drakkar reduced to grousing.

The mortification of it all!

She glanced to my back and I could not merit (but there it was, right in her expression) the slight softening of her features before she looked again at me.

"A week, I think," she murmured pensively. "And then we'll see what the physician says."

"With respect, your grace, I'm aware of what I'm capable of in this condition or any," I stated, avoiding Noc's eyes.

A Noc, I will note, who was leaning negligently against the wall beyond the nightstand, arms crossed on his chest, foot crossed at the ankle, regarding this like it was an enthralling melodrama.

"I can imagine even you, Franka, would admit that a physician is far more capable of making that judgment than you," Queen Aurora replied.

I could not argue that.

Therefore, I didn't.

"You've consumed your willow tea?" she asked, like a strict but concerned nanny.

Yes.

The queen speaking to me like a strict but concerned nanny.

Me!

"I have, my queen," I muttered.

"Excellent. I believe I'll give you the day. Tomorrow is the wedding, the perfect time for you to rest and mend uninterrupted. The eve after that, I'll dine with you. Myself and Finnie, and, of course, The Drakkar."

I wanted to dine with the queen, her other-world daughter and her son-in-law, a cousin who hated me, like I wanted someone to stick knitting needles in my eyes.

But did one refuse a queen?

No.

One did not.

"It would be my most fervent wish, your grace," I replied, my voice betraying it was what it was, absolutely the opposite.

"And Noc as well, I'm sure," Queen Aurora went on.

I ground my teeth and glanced to Noc.

He was again grinning.

"I'll be there," he a.s.sured.

"Lovely, I'll check in on you later. Rest, Franka," the queen ordered.

"As you wish, my queen." I had no choice but to agree.

With a short nod, she turned, and with no further ado, swept out of the room.

I frowned at the door.

Noc pushed away from the wall and moved to fill the s.p.a.ce the queen had been occupying by my bed.

"I'm thinkin' that's that," he noted, his lips still curled up.

"As I've been ordered to rest by our sovereign, perhaps you'll leave me so I can do just that," I suggested tetchily.

He shrugged. "Sure."

"My grat.i.tude," I bit out.

"Be back to have lunch with you, though."

Really.

I might have lived a life of malice and intrigue, but surely all I'd done hadn't earned me this.

"I can't wait," I gritted.

"Bet you can't," he murmured, his voice shaking with mirth.

I lifted my brows. "You were leaving?"

"Right," he replied, but did not move.

"The sooner you do that, the sooner I can rest and mend," I prompted.

"f.u.c.k, don't know if you're more cute than you are funny or the other way around."

"Just so you're aware, I take neither as a compliment," I shared.

He burst out laughing, the sound filling the room and warming it better than the biggest, most blazing fire could achieve.

I decided my best course of action from that point was silence.

When his hilarity calmed, he decreed, "Right now, funnier than you are cute. But just barely."

I simply stared up at him blankly.

His expression changed to serious. "You're in pain, you say. Josette or someone will be close. We'll get you more of that tea."

I remained silent.

"Doc's comin' later," he told me.

I tipped my head the best I could as it was resting on my arms.

"You good, sweetheart?" he asked gently.

I was not.

"Fine," I bit out.

That got another curl of his lips.

"Right then, Frannie. See you later."

Stop calling me that appalling name! my mind screamed.

My mouth said nothing.

I should have said something. I should have even screamed my thoughts at him.

But since I didn't, he was open to s.h.i.+ft closer and bend so near he was able to brush his lips at my temple at the same time he swept the hair from my neck.

"Rest good," he whispered in my ear.

I fought new warmth in my belly, tilted my eyes to catch his as he moved away and attempted yet again to scorch him with a glare.