Page 38 of A Court of Ash and Midnight
And Daemon…
I sit up in a hurry and look around, but I am alone. Had Daemon spent the night with me, or had I been hallucinating from the fae wine?
It all seemed so vivid. We’d walked all around the gardens and over the river…my cheeks blush as I remember more than a few drunken stumbles…Daemon catching me…some of the silly things I said.
But that couldn’t have happened, right? Daemon hates me. He avoids me, and he’s standoffish, and sometimes he’s outright rude. It must have all been a crazy wine-induced dream. I shake my head. What I need is a huge breakfast and some hot tea.
I stand up, pushing past the screaming pain in my head, and I realize that the cloak I’d been sleeping on isn’t my own. My fingers tremble slightly as I lift the black cloak spread out over the hay bale. I lift it to my face and I inhale the familiar leather-man scent of it.
So, ithadn’tbeen a dream.
I’m not sure what to do with the cloak, since its owner is gone, so I carry it with me as I begin the long walk back to the castle. I don’t have the energy to try to find Daemon right now and return it. Not before I get something to eat and ease this headache and my protesting joints. I also need to explain to Yenna and the others why I didn’t show last night.
When I enter the castle, the halls are empty and there’s a hush hanging over the place. There aren’t any classes today, so perhaps everyone is sleeping off a headache like I was. I shake off the uneasy feeling that tickles along my skin and make my way across the castle to the kitchen. The smell of baking bread settles my nerves as I walk into the large room. Yenna is there, standing over the stove as usual, and Carmeline and the others are working on braiding dough into wreaths.
“And where did you get off to last night?” Yenna asks, brows raised. “You look terrible.”
“Thanks,” I say wryly. “I was on my way here when Professor Julian insisted I come with him to the ball. And then I drank some wine, and well… I do feel pretty terrible.”
“You drank fae wine?” Brisa asks, a shocked look on her face.
“I didn’t realize I couldn’t,” I respond with a shrug and a sheepish smile.
Carmeline giggles. “Everyone knows that humans can’t drink fae wine.”
“Well, apparently not everyone.” Yenna shoots me a grin.
“I don’t suppose I can get more of that special tea?” I rub two fingers against my temple to illustrate my plight.
“I think that can be arranged.” Yenna gestures to Lyana, who is closest to the shelves with all the jarred herbs.
I take a seat at one of the stools, and Carmeline brings me a big piece of bread and some cheese. “You look like you need something in your stomach.”
“You are my favorite person in the world right now.” I shoot her a grateful smile and tear off a hunk of bread.
“Whose cloak is that?” Brisa asks, pointing.
I look down at Daemon’s black cloak slung over my lap. Color creeps over my cheeks. “One of the trainees helped me when I was…out of sorts. From the wine.”
Yenna turns and looks me up and down pointedly. “I wasn’t aware you were getting on with any of the fae.”
“I—I’m not. Or, well, I didn’t think I was. But maybe…maybe one of them doesn’t hate me as much as the others do.”
“Spit it out, girl,” Yenna says. “You’re obviously embarrassed. Who is it?”
“Daemon,” I say softly.
The room goes quiet. I can hear the popping of the flames over the stove, and even the soft simmer of whatever Yenna has in her giant pot.
“Daemon,” she echoes after the longest of moments. “I know you know that’s not a good idea, Embyr. No fae is a good idea, least of allthatone.”
“I don’t think he’s as bad as everyone says he is… he’s not trying to overthrow the Queen. I think he’s being punished for something his family did, which isn’t very fair.” I’m not sure why my defense of him comes so easily, so naturally… I really know next to nothing about him. But what my head tells me and what my feelings tell me are two different things.
“And how do you know he’s not a traitor? I suppose he told you that?” Yenna lets out a bark of laughter.
My blush deepens. “Well, yes, but why bother lying to me? I’m even more hated here than he is. There’s no one within Shadow’s Keep lower in position than I am.”
Carmeline sniffs. “Are you sure about that? The fae at least know that you exist.”
