Page 156 of Enchanted Kingdom
The elevator door opened, and Owen and I stepped into the empty space, the sound of my heels echoing on the marble floors.
“Goodnight, Jorah,” Krew offered.
My eyes stayed on his blue-gray ones as the door slid shut. “Goodnight, Krew.”
Up in Keir’s wing, I said goodnight to Owen, took off my dress, and fell into bed. I was exhausted. I still wasn’t recovered from the attack in the forest. And playing pretend the entire evening had been even more draining. Then of course, I had the run in with the king.
There was a knock on my door just as I was falling asleep.
I picked my head off the pillow.
“Hey,” Keir whispered. “I only wanted to say goodnight. I’m sorry I didn’t get to dismiss you.”
I gave my head a shake. “It’s okay. I asked Krew to dismiss me. It’s been a long week and I was feeling worn out.”
He held up his hand. “Say no more. I understand. Goodnight, sweetheart.”
“Goodnight, Keir.”
He left me to sleep, which didn’t come quite as quickly as I had hoped.
CHAPTER42
Ihad to take both Easton and Owen with me when I went to feed the wolves for a while, but I supposed that was only reasonable after the attack. At least they were still letting me feed the wolves. So it could be worse.
Easton was quiet, and always had been, so Owen and I bantered back and forth like usual.
We came in the door to find the kitchen a busier mess than normal. I instinctively knew immediately it was the feel of a kitchen rushed. They were running behind schedule, for whatever reason.
“Tiny!” Maurice called.
“Chef?”
The large man walked over to me, chest heaving. “Tilly is sick.”
So they were a person down. Even one person short made the rhythm and routine thrown entirely off. I knew that well. Tilly was the baker I had bugged that first trip down here. They weren’t just down a staff member, they were down a baker.
“Would you consider—”
I held up a hand to stop him. “Say no more. Get me an apron.”
He reached his hands out in a prayer to me. “Thank you, Tiny. Thank you, my dear girl. I will owe you forever.”
I moved to wrap my hair up into a bun. “Quit groveling, Maurice, and get back to work.”
Easton snorted a surprised laugh as Owen moved to the table in the far corner of the room, knowing we’d be there a while.
Maurice’s laugh boomed across the kitchen. “You’re back.”
“I never went anywhere,” I reminded him.
He squinted as he turned to a pan over the stove. “Didn’t you?”
I glared at him.
“Princess work is hard, I get it,” he jested.
“Particularly when I also work as a servant in my spare time,” I fired right back.
