Groaning, I rose to a sitting position, rubbing my eyes and almost dislocating my jaw with a yawn. There was no note on the bedside table, and his overcoat still hung by the door, so he hadn’t left for work yet. It was funny. I’d never been overly enthusiastic about the prospect of a ‘kept husband’ life. It was ingrained into every fiber of my being that earning my keep and never relying on others for anything was the only way to be. I mean, I still balked at the idea of Cair spending money on me, or lavishing me with all manner of extravagant gifts, but… the acts of service? Yeah, those were something I could enjoy, especially since it made Cair happy—let it be known that I was willing to compromise. However, as I scanned the room for any hints of where my devoted mate could be, I realized I might have got more used to the prince treatment than I’d thought. I was mourning it.

My belly even rumbled as if to say, “He’s laaaate.”

Christ, what was I thinking? I really had taken to that royal sense of entitlement like a duck to water, huh? He’d probably been called away on business. If the king needed him, he wouldn’t have had the chance to do anything else; his father was not a patient guy and would not be kept waiting. Briefly, a worry about Cair being in trouble crossed my mind, but I shook it away. Rathe, his steward, would have come to me if that were the case, and I would have felt his suffering through our bond. No, he was safe, just busy, and maybe that was a sign for me to make him breakfast for a change.

Or at least go down to the kitchens and scour the cupboards until they took pity on me. The last time I’d tried to make anything was the cake I’d had the naive idea of baking for the twins’ birthday. I’d almost burned the place down, so Mrs. Loris would probably stop me at the threshold and shoo me away, promising to send a feast up.

It was the thought that counted, though, right?

I peeled back the covers and swung my legs over the edge of the bed, stretching before shuffling to the en suite. The fizz of magic hung in the air, making my skin tingle, and with a quick snap of my fingers, the lights flickered on. Barely anything in the Otherworld operated as it did in the human realm, though they shared a few amenities. There was running water, indoor plumbing, and electric lights, but instead of physics and engineering, it all came from magic. The king preferred his land as close to its natural state as possible, but he allowed for certain necessities to be made less rudimentary—or medieval.