The image of Death flashes in my mind. I shudder and tear my eyes from him.

“Come here,” Viridian says, with a newfound tenderness. Gently, he pulls me to his chest and wraps me in his arms.

I close my eyes and breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth.

“Nightmare?” Viridian asks. I can feel the faint rumble in his chest when he speaks.

“Yes.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

When I don’t say anything, he speaks again.

“Ah—erm.” He pauses, as if unsure how to proceed. More quickly this time, as if jumbled by nerves or awkwardness, he says, “You don’t have to, if you’d rather not.”

“I think I’d rather not,” I say. I don’t want to think about my nightmare any longer tonight. Because that’s all it is. A nightmare. Nothing more.

“But—” Stopping himself, he closes his eyes and exhales. “As you wish.”

Viridian shifts his weight and moves to stand.

The words leave my lips before I can process what I’m saying. “Stay with me tonight. Please.”

He turns, tilting his head down to look at me. I think he might say something, but he doesn’t. He only nods and lays next to me.

I lift the covers so he can swing his legs underneath them. Then he lays on his back, with an arm extended to me. He doesn’t quite reach me, but the gesture positions him in a way that makes him seem open to my touch.

I move my body closer to his and rest my head on his chest. Viridian’s arms circle me, with one of his hands stroking my hair.

“Sleep well, Cryssa,” he says softly.

I’m asleep before I can respond.

Chapter Nineteen

Viridian is gone when I wake.

An emptiness permeates me, and I reach my hand out across the mattress where he would have been if he’d stayed. The emptiness is replaced by an ache.

I wish he had stayed.

I sit up and wipe my face, brushing my hair back.

I know it was likely nothing but a figment of my imagination, but I can’t help replaying my dream in my head again. Could it be a coincidence that my dream came after praying to the gods for guidance? Was it really Nemos, the God of Death, who spoke to me last night? Why not Theelia? After all, it’s her fault that I’m in this mess. Her fault that I’d been taken from my home and brought to High Keep to begin with.

I stand and cross the room to my vanity table. I sit and look at myself in the mirror.

I expected to see dark circles under my eyes, but I don’t. Though, I don’t see the old Cryssa staring back at me, either.

I’m not the same girl that was brought to High Keep.

When my chamber door opens, I look away from the mirror.

Tiffy comes in. “Good morning, Miss.”

I smile. “Good morning, Tiffy.”

I stand and follow her into the washroom, where she and two of my other ladies’ maids wash me. I’ve come to know our routine, and I glide through the motions as if I were dancing.