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“It wouldn’t work.”

Zylah sighed. “That’s not the point. You’d end up dead by his hand or theirs. Just be careful. Don’t get comfortable around the males in this camp. Any of them.”

Arianna stopped Zylah before she exited. “When’s the solstice?”

Zylah’s face shifted and something like sorrow shone in her gaze. “It was three days ago. They let us have a small celebration, since the Fairy Folk basically demand it, but…” Zylah chewed her lip. “I didn’t think he’d allow you to come so—”

“I understand.” She’d missed it? Arianna thought she’d have heard something. The Fairy Folk’s music or the warriors singing along with them. But it’d been like any other day. Dismal and dreary.

Her heart hurt, but Arianna raced back to the cabin at Zylah’s insistence. Arianna had spent the winter solstice cooped up inside with The Demon and hadn’t even noticed its passing. She remembered all the solstices from her childhood. The festivals. The people. But most of all, the Fairy Folk and the way they crowded around her at night when she was alone. She missed it, longed for it even.

Arianna closed the cabin door and got to work. She set the cooking pot beside the fire then cut vegetables and meat into bite-sized pieces. Cold sweat rolled down the back of her neck. Arianna wiped her forehead with a rag and started steeping a spoonful of the leaves Zylah had given her.

She licked her dry lips and lifted the cooking pot onto the hook above the flames. Chills ran down her spine and she leaned against the mantle as dizziness brought her to her knees.

This can’t be happening.

Arianna took a few minutes to steady herself then crawled to her blankets and pulled them close to the fire before wrapping them around her shoulders.

She couldn’t afford to be sick. A sick slave was a useless slave at best or a contaminant at worst. She wondered if an illness was spreading through the ranks and that was how Zylah knew.

She still had things to get done. A floor to mop, dishes and utensils to clean, but her body was too heavy. Her muscles too weak. Instead, Arianna curled up on her side and let sleep claim her.

The door opened and Arianna jolted at Rion’s heavy footsteps. She sat up, grabbing the ladle to stir their dinner. Night had fallen, but her body still shivered. She tried to adjust her shirt, but it clung to her body from the sweat. She just prayed Rion wouldn’t notice.

Rion removed his boots, set them by the door, and walked past her without a glance. At least she’d remembered to put clean water in the washbasin that morning.

She let her mind fade in and out until he finished, emerging in those same black pants he wore every night. Still no shirt, which revealed a thin scar that ran along the length of his abdomen from his previous injury. It wasn’t the only one, but she didn’t possess the strength to study him tonight.

Rion sat on the edge of his bed, his hair wet and dripping.

Her hands shook, but Arianna fought to keep her body under control. If she could keep it together long enough to serve him, she could go back to sleep and recover before he ever knew anything was amiss. The herbs would help. They’d take the fever down and once it was gone, she could resume her normal duties.

She used a different spoon to taste than the one she handed to Rion, and his perplexed gaze worried her. He was always studying, always evaluating. Of course, he’d notice something was off. She just hoped he didn’t think she was trying to poison him again. They didn’t speak most nights, and she prayed this would be one of them.

Just eat and sleep, she kept repeating to herself.

She needed to escape soon. Honestly, she should have done it days ago. Rion was better. He could take care of himself. She’d marked a route the guards seemed to ignore that would lead her to the mountains. Once inside, she was certain no one would follow. She hoped. Perhaps the Demon didn’t fear the creatures within the forest, but she had to take the chance. If she died, at least she’d die trying.

Rion sat his bowl on the floor beside him, as he always did, but today the dish looked so far away. If she didn’t get up, he’d know something was amiss. All she had to do was pick up his bowl and set it next to the fireplace. She could wash it tomorrow after he’d gone for the day, that wouldn’t seem too out of place.

Arianna took a breath, placed her feet beneath her, and stood.

Dizziness overtook her balance and she placed one foot back to steady herself to no avail. The world was spinning too much, her body already spiraling out of control. She reached for the mantle, but it wasn’t there, then she was falling.

A strong arm wrapped around her waist and slowly lowered her to the floor, but Arianna kept her eyes shut, willing the spell and accompanying nausea to pass. She really didn’t want to vomit in front of him.

“What’s wrong?” His usually rough voice was soft, yet still commanding.

“I’m fine.” She tried to pull back from him, but the ceiling and floor fought for dominance.

Rion pulled her closer as if cradling her to his side. “No, you’re not.”

He stood, placing both hands beneath her arms to lift her up. The position was awkward with his body behind hers, but he slowly walked her to the edge of his bed and forced her to lay down.

It took far longer for the dizziness to fade than she would have liked.

Rion’s hand pressed against her forehead a second later and she tried not to moan at the heat radiating from his palm.