Page 27 of Mushy Stuff (Guardian Mates #1)

I groan as I start to wake up. I must be coming down with something because I feel awful. Wait, I don’t remember getting into bed. I scowl as I remember the powder that the servant blew into my face. Did they seriously drug me again?

I move my legs and feel something heavy around my ankle. I also hear the clink of metal. What?

I try to sit up but am hit with a wave of nausea that knocks me back down. I roll over and lean my head off the side of the bed and vomit all over the floor.

Yep, it’s definitely that drug from before. I don’t even feel bad for vomiting all over the place. It serves them right for doing that to me .

Once the nausea subsides, I realize that I’m holding something clenched in my fist. When I open my fist to look, I find two small, slightly crushed mushrooms. It takes me a moment to recognize them as the mushrooms that grow on Wold’s shoulder.

Wold! Hope explodes in my chest. He must be here! But where?

I shift on the bed again and hear the clink of metal and feel something tugging against my ankle. I look down to see a chain attached to an ankle cuff. What the…they chained me to the bed?!

The door opens and the two Elven servants come in, and I quickly slip Wold’s mushrooms into my robe. One of the servants says good morning to me. I just glare at them.

One of them, the one that drugged me last night, starts to come around the side of the bed and gasps when she sees the vomit. She gives me a wide-eyed look. “What happened?”

I glare at her and coldly say, “You drugged me.”

She puts her hands to her mouth. “But it shouldn’t have made you sick.”

The other servant comes around the bed to see what the fuss is about and grimaces when she sees it.

I say, “In case you forgot, I’m human. That’s what it does to me. It also makes me feel like crap. Everything hurts and my head feels like it’s going to split in two. So thanks for that. Also you CHAINED ME TO THE BED!”

I thought yelling would make me feel better, but it just hurts my head. I clutch my temples with both hands.

The servant genuinely looks dismayed. “I’m so sorry, it was our Lord’s orders…I…I had to.” She seems to catch herself though, then she straightens up and says, “How does a nice warm bath sound? I will draw you a bath and use the soaps with a calming scent.”

I gag a little at the thought of anything scented, and it startles both of them. “Do you have any soaps without scents? That will probably be better.”

She gives me a wide-eyed look and says, “Yes, I will go get them.” Then she leaves the room.

She comes back a few minutes later with a small bundle in her hands, and immediately goes into the bathroom. I hear the water start running.

The other servant comes over to the foot of the bed and unlocks the cuff with a key from her pocket. Then she says, “Let’s go to the bathroom so you can relieve yourself.”

By the time I get into the bathroom, the tub is full of unscented bubbles. I have to admit, it looks wonderful. I can just imagine how soothing it will be to soak in it.

I ask them for privacy while I pee and get undressed. I also grab one of my hidden mushrooms and manage to choke it down. Then I hide the mushrooms Wold left me along with the other mushrooms.

I sigh as I slip into the tub and then I call out to the servants to let them know they can come back in.

They return and help me bathe.

It only takes me a few minutes to realize that the bath was a terrible mistake. I end up getting too hot very quickly, and that triggers my nausea again. We try to hurry to get me out of the bath quickly, but it wasn’t fast enough, and I end up vomiting on the floor next to the tub.

The servants manage to get me dried off and into a nightgown, then they put me back in bed with a chamber pot so I have somewhere to throw up if I need to. After that, they get to work cleaning up the vomit. I drift off to sleep to the sounds of them working.

I’m awoken a little while later by one of the servants. She hands me bread and a glass of water. I sit up and take a fews sips of water first. Once I get those down, I ask, “What time is it?”

She replies, “Mid-afternoon.”

“Mid-afternoon?” I say, completely surprised by how long I’ve slept.

“Yes, mid-afternoon. You were very sick this morning, so we thought it was best to let you sleep. Are you feeling any better? ”

I think about it, and my head isn’t hurting as badly and I’m not as nauseous. “I think I’m starting to feel better.”

“I’m glad. We told Lord Varik that you weren’t well, and that you likely would not be able to join him for dinner.”

I watch her for a minute as she straightens some items on a shelf. Finally I say, “You can do that?”

She gives me a slightly confused look, then says, “Do what?”

“You can just tell him that I won’t come to dinner because I don’t feel well? Won’t he be angry?”

“Oh, well in this circumstance we were able to. He would not want you vomiting in front of him,” she says.

Of course it’s just about him. He would hate for me to ruin his night with my disgusting vomiting.

As much as I hate throwing up, I think it would be hilarious to vomit on him.

Maybe I should try to convince her to let me go to dinner so I can have the chance.

I try to sit up to set down my cup of water, and my head starts pounding again.

Ugh…maybe not. I lay back down still holding my cup.

The servant comes over and takes the glass from me, then puts it on the bedside table. She quietly says, “Rest today. Your Guardian’s scent will be worn off of you by tomorrow. You will need your strength to deal with Lord Varik tomorrow night.” She gives me a sad, knowing look.

Oh gods. Tomorrow.