A Crown in Shadows by Carissa Broadbent

Author:Carissa Broadbent
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Romance, Fantasy, Adult, Paranormal
ISBN: 9781981192137
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: 2017-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 18

Rosira didn’t even know that she had fallen asleep until she felt herself begin to awaken.

Araich’s maid had shown her to a guest room and given her a nightgown to sleep in. She had offered to draw a bath for her, and Rosira eagerly accepted. In that moment, nothing in the world was more appealing than the idea of scrubbing the dirt and blood off of her skin and from her hair. The maid had tried not to stare at her as she bathed, but Rosira could still see how her eyes lingered on Rosira’s small wounds, and the patches of spattered blood that did not belong to her. And, with every uncomfortable, lengthened gaze, she would flick her eyes back to Rosira’s silver hair — and then promptly lower her eyes demurely to the ground.

Rosira couldn’t blame her. The sight of a Valtain returning from a battlefield — well, that brought “unusual” to an entirely new level. Worse, the maid was clearly terrified of her, and bowed to her almost every time she made eye contact. Again, it should have been expected. But as strange as it sounded, Rosira’s time on the battlefield and in captivity had been the longest stretch of time in many years that she hadn’t been treated like… well, a Valtain. Eventually, the maid’s presence got so awkward that Rosira dismissed her. It was impossible to relax with someone gawking at her like that, especially when she was naked.

She had been so exhausted that her eyelids began to flutter even as she was still lying in the warm bathwater, so she finished bathing and promptly crawled into bed. The world went dark the moment her head touched the pillow.

How long ago had that been? She stirred slowly, and as the darkness of sleep began to fade away, she became aware of a gentle pressure on her back, circling in slow, rhythmic movements. Her eyes fluttered open, and though hazy, sleep-coated vision she saw Araich sitting at the edge of her bed.

“Good morning,” he murmured. “Did you know that you snore?”

Rosira scoffed at his joke, then rolled over to look at the window. The curtains were closed, but no light seeped from underneath them. “It’s morning?” she mumbled, pressing a palm to her eye.

“Technically,” he said. Rosira arched her eyebrows at him, and he ceded. “Three o’clock.”

“That’s not morning at all.”

“I’m sorry. I almost let you sleep.”

“No. I’m glad you woke me.” She rolled over and began to sit up. She was greeted by a wave of unexpectedly cool air as her arms and chest emerged from beneath the blankets.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Araich whip his head around, clumsily turning his back to her in such an awkward movement that it sent his cane clattering to the floor. Too late, she looked down and let out a yelp of embarrassment as she remembered that she had fallen asleep too quickly to put on nightclothes.

“I apologize,” Araich said. He spoke quickly, his words nervous and choppy.

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