Imber by Tyffany Hackett

Author:Tyffany Hackett [Hackett, Tyffany]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781732030725
Publisher: Archangel Publishing
Published: 2018-06-11T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

Sleep refused to claim me. Likely my dread over the funeral didn’t help. Tonight, the images were more vivid than the nights before. Every shadow made me jump, every groan from the trees outside the walls were someone stealing into the palace. I had sent Jyn to bed, but instead of resting, I tossed and turned for hours.

I couldn’t take the stillness anymore. I lit the candle beside me and tried to read, to lose myself in the words that floated in front of me. There was safety in books, warmth and predictability in the character’s lives and worlds. I couldn’t find that tonight.

With a sigh, I dropped the book onto my bed and lowered my feet to the floor. I debated going for a walk but blue eyes and the scent of hard liquor haunted my thoughts. Even with Camion’s lessons, I didn’t want to try my hand without Jyn if I didn’t have to.

I fell into step and paced the floor as quietly as I could, my feet running over the soft rugs that lay under my bed and in front of the fireplace. I tried to step around the boards that I knew would creak or groan under my weight. My riding boots sat by one of the armchairs, and I picked a dress from my wardrobe to hang nearby. I polished the weighty silver tiara I was to wear and smoothed the lacy charcoal veil that would drape my face.

Shortly after I had done all of this, Jyn’s door creaked open and he slipped through, a broad frown spread over his face. I paused where I sat, polishing my boots for the third time.

“You should have woken me, Princess. How long have you been awake?” His voice was thick with sleep, the deep rich tone that only came out in the earliest of waking hours.

I shrugged. “No sense in both of us losing sleep. I’m surprised I didn’t wake you.”

Jyn dropped onto the end of my bed and rubbed the haze from his eyes. I poured him a glass of water from the pitcher on my night table and offered the decanter to him. He drained the liquid before he said, “Me too. Did you sleep at all?” I shook my head. His shoulders drooped and he closed his eyes. “Would you sleep better if I stayed in here with you? If you’re determined to leave tonight, you have to sleep.”

“I’ll try.”

I didn’t tell him I had serious doubts that I would sleep, but I crawled into bed anyway and tugged the blankets up around my chin. Jyn slid up the bed to sit beside me and leaned back against the headboard. He closed his eyes again before he started to hum. The song was soft, hauntingly beautiful, and despite the odds, my eyelids started to feel heavy.

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