I stared at him. "What even is the point of an adjoining door if you can just disappear it?"

An expression of catlike pleasure spread across his face. "It made you feel better, did it not?"

"Ridiculous," I muttered, rolling my eyes and stalking out of the bathroom to the sound of his laughter. The adjoining door was, indeed, missing, and when I walked into my bedroom I found Kamharida waiting for me in a chair, reading.

She looked up with an arch expression, sweeping her dark brown eyes down my naked body while I blushed crimson, then back up. "Having a good morning, your highness?"

"Very good, I'm glad you asked," I said, as if I was reading the words off of a teleprompter. I'd forgotten she'd be waiting for me to return from the revel.

Kamharida smiled and tucked a bookmark into her novel, closing it and setting it on her lap. "I take it the crown prince has indeed glued himself to your side, despite you breaking his nose and kicking him in the crown jewels."

I laughed before I could help myself, especially given the expression of pure amusement in her face. "Yes, I have been more-or-less forgiven, it seems. We're, um, moving in together." I rubbed my knuckles against my cheek. "Are you comfortable with that? Still being my helper, I mean, with the suites open to each other and Dain maybe sometimes in here."

"It's kind of you to ask," she said with a smile. "A year ago? No. But now? After he stopped a war with submission instead of a sword, and when he did it for love?" Kamharida stood, walking over to the dresser and opening the drawer. She pulled out a pair of underwear and tossed it to me.

I caught it reflexively, opening it to find a pair of cute but not sexy panties, cotton patterned with daisies.

"I believe you when you say the crown prince is a good man," she said. "The evidence of my eyes and ears matches the truth of your words. You should ask him if he would like a servant to help him with his wardrobe or grooming. There are those of us, now, who would be honored to have the position."

"I will," I said, and tugged on the underwear. "See you this afternoon?"

"Of course," Kamharida said. "Sleep well, your highness."

The glamor vanished once I walked through the door, the solid wood reappearing behind me without so much as shifting the air. I turned to see Dain, wearing only a black jockstrap, leaning against his wardrobe on both hands, breathing hard. "You heard, yeah?" I asked.