“Hopefully that’s the last we will see of them," Jacob states. His voice is quieter now and I notice he’s looking exhausted and pale again.
“Get some more rest, my fae Prince. Love you more than I love eighties rock." I blow him a kiss.
“Love you, forever," he mumbles back, before closing his eyes and snuggling into his blankets. Emrick leads me out of the tent so Jacob can rest, but I don’t have to rely as heavily on him now. My strength is slowly building the longer I’m awake.
“There have been too many traitors in our group. I want you to learn how to defend yourself with a weapon, before we go to the Court of Winter," Emrick says firmly. For once in my life I don’t feel the need to argue.
“We have to wait for Jacob to recover anyway, so I can agree to that. Can we start tomorrow and plan today? I’m still exhausted," I ask, stifling another yawn.
“Let’s head back to our tent. You can rest today, train tomorrow morning, and plan later in the day if you’re up for it. Today is the day for doing nothing and getting waited on like the queen you are," he states.
Gerwyn and Maddox are in the tent waiting when we return. Emrick announces that it’s his turn for guard duty and he’ll be back in a few hours. Bowen already left without him, in case he was late.
“You’re stuck with us, beautiful,” Gerwyn says with a sly grin.
“First, you eat, then you rest," Maddox demands, ushering me to lean against the pillows on our bedroll. I eagerly take the bowl of vegetable soup and scarf it down. Apparently restoring magic makes you hungry. -
“Did Emrick convince you to train first? He was pretty insistent," Gerwyn questions as he scoots me up and slides in behind me. I nod as I take my last bite of food, before setting it aside and leaning back into his waiting embrace.
“I start tomorrow," I say, closing my eyes and enjoying the magical massage Gerwyn is giving me. He works his warm hands over the knots in my shoulders. Not one to be one-upped, Maddox positions himself at my feet and begins giving me a foot rub. Being pampered by two sexy guys is definitely a great way to relax and I already find my eyelids growing heavy again.
“Rest now, our queen. We plan tomorrow. We’ll retrieve the stone from Winter soon. You need to rest in order to have enough magic to train," Gerwyn repositions us so we are snuggling on the bedroll. Maddox curls up in front of me, so I’m sandwiched between them. Warmth and safety surround me like a fuzzy blanket and I push all of the chaos out of my mind until tomorrow.
Tomorrow, I can deal with the fact that I turned a human into a fae, take on the planning for our trip, training to fight traitors, and rebuilding a realm.
Today I’m going to enjoy the moment and just be happy my best friend is alive and I have four men who love me.