“Undress."

  Eydis's eyebrows shot up.

  Did I hear it correctly?

  Surprised and maybe a little confused, she couldn’t suppress the heat rushing to her face. The fever only made it worse.

  Get it together.

  “Eager to see the bunnies come off, Princess?” she tried—

  —Oops.

  Astra didn’t fare any better; her normally ice-cold face was dusted pink. “That’s not—I didn’t mean—I meant you should be wearing something more…”

  She floundered uncharacteristically and added, “Breathable. Silk.”

  Captivating.

  Eydis smirked. “Silk? Astra, have you met my finances? They just fainted in the alley behind the op shop.”

  "Fiancés?”Astra frowned. “Finances you mean? Maybe I should bill you for entertaining your fevered rambling at midnight.”

  "Bill me? For your auditory hallucinations? My imaginary husband’s non-existent wallet is sobbing.”

  Astra’s smile vanished. “Husband, huh?”

  Stepping away from Eydis’s bed, Astra opened her wardrobe, took out a silk robe identical to hers and tossed it onto the bed. “Put this on. I’ll get a cold compress.”

  “I can barely lift my head.” Eydis groaned and tugged at her pyjama top. The stubborn buttons stayed stubborn.

  “Imagine the sweat and discomfort. Wouldn’t you rather air out those… bunnies?”

  “That… was a bold choice of phrasing, Astra.”

  “I meant those… fashion crimes you’re wearing.” Astra refused to look at her.

  "So now I'm sweaty and fashion-challenged?" Eydis chuckled despite her exhaustion. Astra’s lips twitched into a reluctant smile.

  Now that she mentioned it, the itchy fabric did feel like a swarm of fire ants. With a resigned exhale, Eydis admitted, “Care to help, roomie? My fingers seem to have forgotten they’re attached to my hands.”

  Astra appeared conflicted, pausing before finally sitting down on the edge of the bed. “Only because watching you wrestle those buttons is starting to hurt my eyes.”

  Locking eyes with Eydis, Astra reached for the first button but she didn’t so much as twitch her fingers. One second. Two. Maybe ten.

  Eydis lost count. "Are we having a staring contest, or are you finally going to free me from this furry prison? The suspense is killing me.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Astra, I’ve been dressed and undressed by more hands than I can count. This is hardly scandalous.”

  Back home, handmaidens were as essential as breath since her elaborate gowns didn’t lace themselves.

  A scowl formed between Astra’s sculpted brows. “Right. I’d forgotten how… extensive your experience is with intimate assistance.”

  Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

  Before Eydis could parse the sudden edge in her tone, Astra’s fingers were already moving swiftly, slipping button after button free rapidly.

  "You're not wearing—" Astra’s voice caught halfway through the sentence.

  “Undergarments?” Eydis replied a little too quickly, a little too breathlessly, fully aware of Astra’s fingers now hovering inches from her bare collarbone. “You say that like you expected me to be prepared for… company. I’ve been dying.”

  “You had time for fuzzy rabbits.”

  “Would you prefer I wear not—” She cut herself off the moment Astra’s ears turned pink. Oh.

  That’s how it sounded.

  “Don’t finish that sentence,” Astra grumbled, working toward the final button. Her eyes fixed entirely on Eydis’s face.

  Which only made Eydis more aware of every breath between them and every twitch of Astra’s fingers.

  She swallowed, a little shakily. The Queen of Shadows, who had stood unblinking before primal evils, was unravelling over the slow unbuttoning of a… pyjama top?

  Absurd.

  And yet her pulse remained loud in her ears.

  When the last button gave way, Astra drew a sharp breath as her fingers accidentally grazed the bare skin of Eydis’s midriff.

  Eydis’s heart skipped a beat. She had been undressed more times than she could count: ceremony, duty, necessity.

  But it was both a truth and a lie.

  Never like this.

  Never fingers that lingered too long.

  Never eyes that pretended not to look.

  This felt almost… illicit.

  Eydis realised this was a losing battle from the very start. She caught Astra’s wrist. “That’s enough, thank you. I can manage the rest.”

  Astra’s expression flickered with relief, or was it disappointment, as she pulled her hand away. “I’ll be back.”

  Eydis eased into the cool silk robe. It hugged her body in all the wrong ways, or the right ones.

  Her head throbbed. Her heart pounded.

  It’s the fever, she told herself. Delirium. Mana depletion. A side effect. Anything but—

  Why had Astra shown up the moment she woke?

  Why had her eyes, usually so cold, held something that stole breath from Eydis’s lungs?

  And why, in the name of all arcane logic, hadn’t Astra used telekinesis? Or was it a one-Gift-per-person rule, since she already wielded diamond blades, but she clearly could use tele— not important.

  The Queen of Shadows was well-practiced in ignoring inconvenient truths. Denial was a form of magic in itself.

  Ice Princess? No.

  Astra was fire.

  A quiet, creeping, consuming fire.

  A captivating contradiction.

  Spieglein,

  Spieglein an der Wand…

  Oh, for the love of Hades!

  The voice rose again from somewhere deep in her unconscious mind. She felt a moment of clarity brush against her, only to be swallowed again by the fog of fever.

  She couldn’t remember why she had said those senseless things to Pride, or when it had happened. All that remained was the anger and bitterness, emotions she hadn’t known she could feel.

  A wave of cold swept through her next. Bitterly, achingly cold, and empty. It reminded her of the battle against Cerberus in that freezer. Had her poison taken effect even a moment later, her fading strength wouldn’t have been enough to save her.

  "B-burning… cold..." Eydis shivered even as her skin burned with fever. She kicked the scratchy blanket aside and curled into a foetal position.

  Something rustled above her, then fell on top of her, coarse fibres scraping overheated skin. Too rough, too heavy, all wrong. She swatted it away, weakly, angrily, hopelessly.

  When she felt a cool palm press to her forehead, she lashed out on instinct, intending to push it away like the offending fabric. Yet at the point of contact, her fingers closed around it instead and pulled it closer.

  Closer.

  Someone gasped and tried to pull away, but petulant and childish, Eydis yanked down with all the feeble force she could muster.

  A soft weight collapsed onto her, the side of her bed dipped, silky hair tickled her face.

  “Heavy,” she complained, though her body adjusted and melded around it.

  This weight wasn’t fabric this time. It breathed against her, it responded, it answered. Whenever it eased back, ever so gently, Eydis held on tighter, fingers threading deeper into silken strands of hair. Her body curved upward, seeking that softness, while her free hand wandered slowly, mapping the smoothness of silk over skin.

  When the warmth finally relaxed and surrendered, Eydis let out a soft purr of contentment. Her cheek came to rest against another smooth surface. It didn’t feel like silk but… supple skin.

  That alone might have jolted her back to awareness if she weren’t already exhausted.

  Then she heard the erratic thud of a heartbeat, followed by a moan—hers and not hers. Eydis wasn’t falling into darkness this time, but somewhere more pleasant.

  Enveloped by dark oak and sandalwood, she buried her face deeper into the fragrance. It was rich and intoxicating, pulling her further into the haze.

  A tremor against her cheek. Perhaps… laughter.

  “Clearly, you’re better at purring than hopping.”

  Eydis smiled at that. Awake, she might have snapped something back, but she let the words carry her.

  Closer, she thought. She wanted more of the warmth, the heartbeat, the scent, the softness, the quiet.

  And then she fell into sleep.

  That night she did not dream. Or at least, none she could remember. It was the deepest sleep she had experienced since arriving in this world.

  Eydis — Queen of Shadows