At this, I looked away. His gaze was starting to make me feel restless again, to the point I was concerned he could hear my heart pounding.
Just then—
“Kirion!”
At the end of the hall stood Sari, her hand raised in a shy wave, to which Kirion waved in return.
“I’m almost done here,” he called back. “I’ll just be a minute.”
My personal quarters were just a few steps away, so the two of us promptly carried the hairstyling equipment inside.
“I see you’ve made friends with Sari, too. That’s something I haven’t managed yet, so if there’s some kind of trick to it, I’m all ears.”
“There is a trick...but it’s a secret. Likewise, if there’s a trick to getting to know you better, by all means, let me know.” With a wink, he turned and walked out, leaving me rooted to the spot.
Why would he care about getting closer to me when he clearly already had Sari wrapped around his little finger? Or did he simply want to be good friends with both of us? Either way, Sari was obviously interested in more than friendship.
Good grief, what a little con artist he is. I plopped myself down on the loveseat and heaved a sigh.
“I’m beat...”
I’d had this funny feeling in my chest for a while now. Wiping my sweaty brow with a handkerchief, I leaned my full weight against the backrest. The castle was already humid from the summer weather, but on top of that I’d done four heads’ worth of curling work, too. Maybe the heat was getting to me. I had a headache, and my fingers felt tingly for some reason.
Now that I was finally off my feet, it was hard to motivate myself to get up again, but I needed a drink of water. I pushed myself to my feet, left my room, and headed for the servants’ canteen on the first floor.
Ugh, I’m getting dizzy... Clutching the handrail, I guided myself down the stairs. But just as I arrived at the covered walkway that lined the inner courtyard, I exhaled and came to a stop. My head was spinning, and I was starting to think I might not make it to the canteen in time to stop myself from passing out altogether. Instead, I decided to sit down on a nearby bench and catch my breath.
There were a handful of benches here in the courtyard, but the one I chose was nice and shady. Sitting down wasn’t much of an improvement, so I lay down on my side instead. The wood was cool to the touch. Perhaps it was well-shaded at all hours of the day.
I’ll just rest up here for a bit and then I’ll go get some water, I thought as I closed my eyes.
What I didn’t realize until that moment, however, was that over in this particular corner of the courtyard, my bench was positioned in such a way that no one could see me lying here—
“I knew I’d find you here!”
In the distance, I heard Mona’s voice. I opened my eyes. Had she been looking for me?
This soon proved not to be the case. In the far distance, I could make out two figures—Mona and her Bondmate, Padell.
“Yeah, I could tell you were nearby,” he replied cheerfully.
As with the previous tryst I had inadvertently witnessed, the two of them shared a brief embrace, then went back to their respective tasks. Normally I enjoyed watching other people be happy together, but right now I felt like crying. What if I die alone here and no one ever finds me?
Admittedly, I was being needlessly dramatic over a little heat exhaustion, but still.
Just then, someone dashed down the walkway and into the courtyard, gasping for air. It was Ray. He glanced around the area, then inexplicably turned and made a beeline directly to my bench.
“Mayna!” He rushed over to me, his eyes wide in shock.
“Ray? What’s wrong...?” I asked weakly, struggling to keep my eyes open.
He put his hand to my forehead, gauging my temperature. “When I went to the Queen’s chambers to take over guard duty for the Princess, I noticed the room was like a furnace. Then they told me you’d been curling hair for hours in there. I had a feeling it might’ve given you heatstroke, so I thought I’d check, and sure enough.”
So you noticed the room was hot...and your mind went straight to heatstroke? I thought vaguely to myself. He was clearly alarmed—proof enough that he was genuinely concerned for my well-being. But why? Not like I died or something.
“How did you know I was over here?”
But instead of responding to my question, Ray straightened up and walked off. Are you just going to leave me here? I wondered. This, too, proved not to be the case, as he soon returned, a drinking glass in one hand and a pail of water in the other. He sat the pail down next to my bench, then pulled me up into a sitting position and handed me the glass of water.
“Thank you.”
“Yeah, yeah. Just drink it, will you?”
As he propped me upright, I took small sips from the glass.
“Need more?”
“No, this is enough,” I answered faintly, closing my eyes.
He laid me back down onto the bench, then pulled a hand towel out of the pail of water, wrung it out, and laid it onto my forehead. Ahh, nice and refreshing.
Then he pulled out a second towel, wrung it out, and wrapped it around my neck. Perhaps my neck was more sensitive to the cold compared to my forehead, because the excess heat seemed to vanish instantly. Maybe the towels were absorbing it; they soon grew warm, and Ray had to re-dampen them with some frequency.
For a while I simply lay there in silence and let Ray take care of me, but as my condition improved, I found the strength to open my eyes once more.
“How are you feeling?” Ray asked, clutching my sweaty hand in his. His skin was damp and chilly to the touch.
“I think I’m feeling better now. Thank you.”
“We should have a doctor examine you, just in case... Let’s get you to the castle infirmary. I’ll carry you there.”
“You don’t have to—” My weak protests fell on deaf ears.