A loud snore rumbled into my ear. My eyes opened to the darkness. There was a heavy pounding against my skull. My stomach knotted, aching and nearly burning. “Ouch.” My own voice pierced my thoughts. Turning over, I squinted to see Armadillo’s face right next to my own, drooling steadily. He grumbled.
I rolled out of the warm bed into the morning’s cool air. I vaguely remembered Armadillo opening the window the previous night. Groaning at the feverish pain in my whole body, I stumbled through the dimly lit house. Light in the kitchen was bright.
As I walked into the kitchen, the scent of bread wafted in my nose. “Good morning.” Colm smiled small. “How are you feeling, Queen Genevieve?”
“Why do I feel that you’re now going to tell me something horrifically embarrassing?” I moaned. There was a hammering pain in the sides of my head.
“Depending on how much you remember, I could be.” He whipped a whisk in the bowl in front of him. Dipping his finger in the mixture, he licked the tip of it.
Dropping myself into a chair in the kitchen, I thought. “I vomited on someone’s shoes, didn’t I? And I screamed? Maybe cried? Well, I….” My face turned bright red.
“You vomited on Professor Young’s loafers, yes, called Dill a prick for the entire walk home, you did cry actually, but no screaming. Oh, and you declared yourself the Queen of Varstat. Then you passed out after tripping on a lamppost.”
I raised an eyebrow. “I tripped.” I said in disbelief, “on a lamppost? How?”
“Well, you were swinging around it and your foot got caught. That’s when you cried about your own mother hating you. Dill carried you home.”
I curled my toes in. Burying my face in my hands, I apologized. “I am so sorry that you had to see me like that. And Dill, Dill must think I’m an idiot.”
“Oh, please. I’ve seen Dill much drunker than you. He streaked through the streets and kissed a fish.” Colm laughed. “He also adores you, you know.”
“The last person to tell me that cut my throat and then shot me,” I grumbled.
Smirking, Colm continued to work in front of him. He turned around and placed a slice of bread in front of me with a strange beige topping on it. “Try this.”
As I chewed, Colm studied me expectantly. “I’ve always been able to tell when Dill likes a girl. He’s told me several times that he likes brunettes. You must charm him.”
I swallowed. “Or he thinks I’m too helpless to ignore. Honestly, Colm, I’ve made more of a fool of myself around him than I have anyone else.”
“Perhaps you’re more self-conscious around him, so you feel more embarrassed.”
I sighed, “I didn’t think of it like that.” I bit into the bread again while Colm set a cup of tea in front of me. “Thank you, do you need help with anything?”
He shook his head. “Not with the killer hangover that you have.”
I blew on the tea and then lifted it to my lips. “How did you know I liked tea?”
“All queens drink tea, don’t they?” He teased, sitting at the table across from me with a mug of coffee. “So, how do you really feel about Dill? I don’t want him hurt.”
“I couldn’t answer that if I wanted to. I don’t know, Colm. I think I just…I think I want to find my mother before I find romance. Knowing who I am sounds better than knowing someone else.” I sighed, resting my chin in my palms.
Colm shook his head. “Knowing yourself doesn’t come from finding your mother, Jenny. I think being on your own does. Regardless, if you ever hurt my cousin, I will not hesitate to hurt you.” He smiled and bit into my slice of bread. “Mm, I like that.”
YOU ARE READING
Sleepwalker
FantasyBook one. I'd spent my entire life without a mother. But, when professors come to my father's inn, a cloaked figure known only as Sleepwalker begins to torment me with thoughts of her. When these dreams become too malicious, my father sends me off t...
