Sure enough, my eyes sprang open almost on the dot an hour later. Silver and Cylea were sitting by the fire, talking quietly, while Jeondar and Arabis lay sleeping at the edge of the camp. I made a face. That meant Kryn was inside the cave, watching Kalyll.
Joy, my favorite person.
But I had a job to do, and no asshole had ever stopped me from doing the right thing.
Just inside the cave, Kryn was reclining against the wall in sight of both Kalyll and the outside. He offered me no greeting, even as I whispered a casualhello. I squeezed by him, keeping my chin high, doing my best not to let his arrogance and hostility intimidate me.
As I kneeled next to Kalyll, I was relieved by the tranquil expression on his face. His vitals were slow, but nothing to give me concern. I resisted the temptation to smooth his hair back and instead did quick work of things and stood to leave.
Kryn was looking at me from under an angry frown.
Before I could stop myself, I blurted out, “Do you have a problem with me?”
He crossed his arms, folded a knee, and placed a foot on the wall. “Should I?”
“Did I do or say something to offend you?”
“Did you?”
I huffed and mumbled under my breath, low enough that I knew not even his Fae hearing would pick it up. “I don’t have time to deal with assholes.”
I marched past him without another word and went back to sleep, facing the boulder to avoid Silver’s and Cylea’s constant sidelong glances.
I checked on Kalyll every hour without fail. Around midnight, his vitals had gone up, so I injected him with another dose of hemlock. I feared he would wake up when I pricked him, but he remained asleep, his eyes revolving behind closed lids, as he stayed lost in some, hopefully pleasant, dream.
During my rounds, I saw everyone in the cave as they took turns watching their prince. No one was as rude as Kryn, but they weren’t too nice either. Only Arabis had anything decent to say.
“I’m glad you found something to keep him calm. Good job.”
I thanked her and tried to go back to sleep, but it was close to dawn, and I felt wired up, a consequence of being on high alert, never quite going into a deep sleep. Still, I lay on the ground facing the boulder and missing the warmth of home and my family.
When the first light of dawn insinuated itself, Arabis walked out of the tent and disappeared through a line of bushes, probably to do her business. I sat up, wondering if Kalyll was awake. I feared he would be experiencing nausea from the hemlock, so I went to check on him and found that he was indeed awake.
“Good morning,” I said.
A huge smile spread across his face. “Good morning indeed. You did it!” He rose and stretched, his head nearly touching the top of the cave’s ceiling. “I feel amazing. I haven’t had a night of sleep like that in several weeks.”
“Any nausea?”
“No. I’m actually starving.”
“That is a good sign. No ill effects from the hemlock.”
“I wish I’d had your counsel all along. It would have saved me a lot of trouble.”
“Glad I could help.” I turned to leave, but he snatched my hand and pulled me to him.
He looked down at me, frowning. “Something the matter?”
Only that your friends are being a bunch of assholes.
“No,” I answered instead because I was about to whine to him about it. He’d already asked them to be nice, and the request fell on deaf ears. What else could he do? Force them?
He placed a finger under my chin. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I’m just a bit… homesick. That’s all.”
“I’m sorry. This will be over soon. I promise.”