Page 156 of The Chains You Defy

The minute during the transition between sleeping and being awake was one I’d always cherished. No matter how dire my situation was, while remaining in the gray zone, it was as if everything was possible.

On most of my days, though, the more the drowsiness subsided, the more the negative returned.

Not today. Regaining my consciousness went hand in hand with a deep contentment as memories of yesterday flooded back. A smile played on my lips as I realized I’d pulled Nayana into my embrace during the night, and she was molded against me with a peacefulexpression on her face.

Not even my atrocious drapes could spoil this morning for me.

Was I tempted to wake her and convince her of a repeat?

Of course I was, but I could only imagine how sore she must be, and I wasn’t able to bear the thought of adding to her discomfort.

My poor female.

There were special bath salts I’d organized to ease potential irritations, and once I’d gotten up, I’d prepare her a bath. I’d take care of her every need. As I should.

Gods, Nayana had me bewitched. Most of these days, I didn’t recognize myself anymore. Not that I minded. If someone had told me before that one day, a tiny human would blaze into my life like a thunderstorm and upend my very existence, I would have declared them stupid and probably separated their head from their neck for good measure.

With a pang of loss, I disentangled myself from Naya. She stirred and scrunched her nose. I stilled instantly, chastising my stupid self for not being cautious enough, but luckily, she just grumbled, turned around, and slept on.

Before I prowled to the washing room, I scanned her skin another time, ensuring I’d used the glamouring orb Ireas had recently recharged for me on all the colorful spots decorating her skin.

Leaving her behind was horrible; the fact that I was just one door separated from her didn’t matter.

After I’d added the salts to the tub and washed myself in the smaller basin, I sighed. As much as I desired to spend the whole day with Nayana, there was still toomuch for me to prepare until we’d abandon court later tonight.

Closing the buttons of the onyx silk tunic I’d thrown over the matching pants, I went through my internal list of what I still had to arrange, and when I was dressed, I returned to the sleeping chamber, placing today’s courtship present—a book about the true history of Ivreia—on the bedside table so Nayana would find the tome when she woke up. So far, all my presents had been well received by her, which delighted me to no end.

The note I’d scribbled ordered her to stay inside my quarters no matter what, and I also informed her I was off to organize something of importance. She’d be pissed that I was intentionally vague, but there were things I’d never put down in writing.

As I left my suite, the worry that had nagged me for days continued to claw at my insides, and I hated the raging uncertainty, just like everything else connected to my grandfather.

Ever since the ball almost a week ago, Galrach had neither summoned nor contacted me in any way, shape, or form. Whether his silence was a tactic to unsettle me or if there was another sinister reason, I couldn’t tell.

But whatever caused the High King to keep me at a distance wouldn’t matter after today.

We would be gone, and he could fuck himself for all I cared. Even my ego wasn’t bruised at the prospect of sneaking out of the palace like a thief in the night.

Our plan for the immediate future wasn’t perfect. But Alaiann had proven to be the dead end the High Court had always been, and we would leave with little to no additional information about the danger the worlds were in. What a heap of wasted time.

So, the idea was to find places with weakened fabric between Ivreia and Galanta—how was still a mystery to me—but also to gather potential allies for the war against the High King, which would most definitely happen sooner rather than later.

Antas had convinced me to find support, no matter how much the concept elicited me to scoff. But he'd argued that since I was unable to attack Galrach directly, I should at least assemble as many followers behind me as I could. Well, if I were able to dispel their mistrust first.

I’d never cared much about being despised. Instead, I wielded my reputation as yet another weapon in my arsenal, but this attitude could bite us in the ass during the search for loyal allies.

Antas had just raised his eyebrow in discontent when I’d suggested securing their support with brute force, and the others had silently nodded. Still, their opinion wouldn’t keep me from trying it my way, if necessary.

As usual, my luck was shit.

As I was searching for the second-in-command stable master who owed me a large favor, one of the chamberlains I’d never bothered to learn the name of stopped me in my tracks.

“Your Royal Highness, His Royal Majesty demands your presence.”

“Noted. I’ll visit him in due time.”

“The High King insists on your immediate attendance.”

Fucking shit. Why did these things always happen to me?