Page 46 of Finding Closure

He snorted. “You’d heat the water or put us in bubbles to do it.”

Good point. “That would be good training today. You up for it?”

“With you? Always, but I believe there is fun waiting for you on the terrace,” he hinted.

I rolled out of bed and threw on a bra and sweater since it was now winter in Theripolis.

Neldor came out of a portal in the main living area and drenched the whole place. He immediately started using runes to dry himself and clean the mess. The look of promised retribution he shot me was amusing.

“Not sure the freezing fucking winter ocean was appropriate since that water is so cold ithurtswhen you ingest it, and you will when you wake to it,” he said his tone just as frosty. “Certainly, not for one toot joke when I was half asleep.”

“Shit,” I sighed when he walked off in a huff.

“He’s not wrong, shorty,” Hudson mumbled.

“No, he’s not,” I grumbled, hating when I fucked up and was in trouble.

Especially when it was really valid like that.

I raced after him and caught him before he even left the hallway. I grabbed his arm but let go since I hated when people tried to trap me when I was upset. He had every right to not want people to touch him and to give permission just like I did.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “You’re right, that was too much. I meant it as a joke, but I for—I was thinking it was spring. It’s not here and I forgot.”

He gave a swift nod and seemed like he was going to let it go but then went stiff again. “I don’t disagree that I need to cool off sometimes or dropping me in water is fitting, but I would prefer not waking that way. Especially for a joke. I have enough trouble sleeping and nightmares. I don’t like feeling as if my sleep isn’t safe.”

“Sorry, Nel,” I rasped as he walked away. I rubbed my hand over my face and felt like shit. It was so horrid of me that I hadn’t known that and had made things worse for him when he did so much to help me—adjust to me always.

And now I’d totally ruined our first night in our new rooms—myfirst night really in Faerie.

He was waiting for me at the stairs and extended his hand to me. “I’ll be a little miffed, but it’s fine. It’s not worth ruining this moment for all of us, and it’s your first night in Faerie, baby doll. I honestly was scared that would never really come.”

“I am really sorry,” I promised as I took his hand.

“I’ll punish you later,” he threatened and kissed my cheek before we walked down the stairs. He dropped my hand when we reached the door to leave the resident wing of the castle. “Let’s go have some fun. I’m excited too. I’ve missed waking in Faerie.”

I smiled when I saw abunchof hobgoblin kids waiting off the terrace, and not just the ones I knew well. I went for Elasha first. “Ahhh, my castle is being invaded bycuteness!” I scooped her up and twirled us. “I must tickle the invaders. They have to be stopped at all costs.”

“No!” she squealed. “We brought food, Tamsin. We’re not bad.”

“How do I really know that? You could bespies,” I teased as I set her on her feet.

Darfin jumped towards us and immediately started dabbing. “We are still loyal and remember the dance, Princess.”

“We do! We do!” most of them started cheering, doing it.

Except the other kids didn’t know what was going on.

“It’s something humans do for fun that we learned at school,” I explained to them. “Do you want us to teach you?”

“Oh yes, their parents will be just as thrilled as we were that you did, Your Highness,” Irma drawled.

“Sassy hobgoblins will be ignored at breakfast,” I threatened, laughing when she reached up and swatted my butt. I danced out of the way and went closer to the kids but froze when I saw Essie and cameras. “Umm, hi?”

She chuckled. “Clearly, you weren’t warned.”

“The princess was exhausted when she arrived and still hasn’t had a chance to unpack,” Hudson said diplomatically. “She raced ahead when she saw the hobgoblins.” He smiled at me. “Izzy approved it. It’s just—you’ll see. We were going to warn you but didn’t want to spoil the surprise. It’s just clips for people to see later and causal.”

“Izzy will check it all to approve,” Julian promised.

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