Page 91 of My Eternal Light

“Give her coffee.”

Law shook his head and reached across Aiden to take her hand. “Meryn, her soul is tired.”

Meryn’s face scrunched up. “What is coffee for the soul?”

Aiden simply leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “Sometimes baby, there isn’t anything anyone can do.”

“Fucking bullshit!”

“Little Meryn, try to eat something. I brought Sebastian’s new pudding for you to sample,” Cord said, setting a bowl in front of her.

Kincaid noticed that the squire looked pale and wan. There were dark circles under his eyes, and he looked thinner.

He saw that Darian was also staring at the squire.

“Coffee for the soul,” Darian whispered. He stood. “Cord, cease your efforts, I’ll take it from here.”

Cord looked like he was about to argue, but Darian raised his hand.

The squire placed a fist over his heart and bowed.

“Whatcha doin?” Meryn asked.

“A little trick I learned from Bronwyn.”

Aiden frowned. “Marius’ mate?”

Darian nodded and went to the queen’s bedroom.

Meryn looked up at her mate. “Do you know what he’s talking about?”

“No clue,” Aiden replied.

“Great, just fucking great,” Meryn muttered.

After a few minutes the door to the queen’s bedroom opened and Darian escorted his mother out to them, her hand on his arm. She was yawning but was otherwise awake and alert.

Brennus rushed to her side. “How do you feel, my love?”

“Like I could still sleep for a few more days, but my head is clear,” she answered.

Cord began piling as many food options as would fit around the queen’s place setting.

The queen eyed everything and shook her head. “I’m not that hungry.”

Meryn stood from her seat and dug around in her bag. She walked over to the queen with two foiled wrapped objects. “You hafta try my Toast’Ems. Kincaid brought them for me, they’re a favorite from when I was as kid.”

The queen looked like she was going to protest, but smiled instead as Meryn struggled with the foil wrapper. Once open, she placed two flat pastries on the empty plate in front of the queen. She then opened the second package and did the same. “This one is my favorite. Brown sugar and cinnamon. This one is frosted strawberry. Now. You can eat them like this, which is what I had to do cuz I wasn’t allowed to use anything in the kitchen, but you can toast them or even microwave them.” She pointed to the brown sugar and cinnamon one. “I like this one microwaved because the sugar gets gooey. The strawberry one is good toasted because it’s like a little pie.”

The queen looked around for a fork.

Meryn wagged a finger at her. “Nu uh. You just pick it up and eat it, like Cord’s scones.”

The queen picked up the one with the brown frosting and took a bite. Surprise lit up her eyes. “It’s so light, but also very sweet.” To everyone’s relief she quickly finished the first one and started on one of the strawberry ones. “I can see what you mean. If this were crispy it would be like a small tart.” She smiled. “These are wonderful. I wasn’t very hungry, but they were easy to eat.” She turned to Cord. “Do you think you could make a homemade version of this? I think it would be healthier for Meryn to eat than store bought with preservatives.”

Cord looked intrigued. “I will consider it a challenge.”

Meryn broke the second strawberry one in half and munched on it. “But, what if it’s the preservatives that make it yummy?”

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