Page 83 of The Princess and the Demon

“Come on.” He starts again, rounding the side of my bed.

“I’ve got a surprise for you, and you need to come see it.”

I glance up at my brother over the edge of the covers, and his eyes fill with sorrow as he looks at me. I’m sure I look terrible.

I just can’t bring myself to care.

“I don’t want to.” I say flatly.

Olam pauses only for a second before jumping on top of me, poking and prodding at me through the covers.

“Are you going to get up?” he asks, poking at me again. “I can do this all day.”

I jump out of bed finally, throwing the covers off of me before spinning around to point a finger at him.

“Stop it! I’m up.”

I glare at him as he pulls himself off the bed with a grin on his face.

“Good, now get yourself pulled together. You’ve got five minutes.” He holds up a hand, fingers splayed, his eyebrows raised as he walks towards the door.

“Five.”

He closes the door with a flourish, and I’m left standing there in a rumpled nightgown.

I look down at myself, groaning.

Olam wasn’t joking. Five minutes was all I got before he was already threatening me from the other side of the door.

I donned a dark green gown, simple and comfortable.

I felt like I should’ve been wearing black.

Isn’t that what people wore when someone died?

Something inside me certainly died the day Amon sent me back.

Cringing in the mirror at the dark circles under my eyes, I tried my best to pull myself together.

I smooth my wild silver waves into a braid that hung over my shoulder, pinching my cheeks to bring some life back into them.

Sighing, I open the door to glare at my brother.

He regards me quietly, his eyes pausing on the dark circles before taking in my thin frame.

I hadn’t been eating much.

“Well?” I snap, gesturing that he take me wherever it was he was trying to take me. Olam grins and starts walking. I fall into step beside him.

“So…” he starts, “I was thinking. Since you were such an apt rider the day you left Delyra, I’ve decided to teach you how to ride.” He looks at me expectantly, but I don’t react.

My eyes don’t budge from our onward movement. “Ok.”

The response is simple, and there’s zero inflection in my voice.

I see my brother slump out of the corner of my eye, and I feel bad. I wish I could feign excitement for him, but I just can’t bring myself to care.

“Ok but wait until you see your surprise.” He says, perking back up.

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