Madeleine laughed, sounding surprised. “I never thought about it like that. I wonder if that’s where the word comes from?” She rubbed a hand over her eyes. “Maybe I’ll look it up in the morning. But are you sure you’re…”

“I’m fine. It wasn’t real.” If she said that again, then it might make it true. The witch was not here. Her thralls were not here. “It wasn’t real.”

“No. It wasn’t.” Madeleine squeezed her hand again. “But I’m sorry your first dream was so unpleasant.”

That was an understatement. She placed her free hand on Madeleine’s shoulder. “I’ll lie back down with you.”

“You’re sure?” Madeleine’s expression was both sleepy and hopeful.

To prove it, Hæra lay back down and pillowed her head on top of her folded arms. “Positive. Perhaps dreams aren’t so bad if I wake up again to this.”

Madeleine beamed, and in that moment, the witch’s cruel laugh was worth it. “Really? I can’t look that good. I bet my hair’s a mess.”

It was, but Hæra had learned you weren’t supposed to agree with people when they said things like that. She considered. “Is this what Jonathan calls ‘fishing for compliments’?”

“Caught.” Madeleine placed her hand on Hæra’s elbow. “Pride’s one of my weaknesses, you know.”

“So you must like compliments.” That seemed easy enough to do. There was no shortage of things to compliment Madeleine on.

Madeleine blushed in the shadows. “I shouldn’t, but…no, you know what?” She propped herself up on one elbow. The lock of hair fell from behind her ear again. “I should. People like to be complimented, and that’s normal. Yes, I would like a compliment, if it’s a sincere one.”

“You have excellent breasts,” Hæra said, sincerely.

Madeleine stared at her. Then she fell back down on her back and laughed. Hæra frowned. “I wasn’t trying to be funny.”

“I know.” Madeleine rubbed a hand over her mouth and laughed again. “Sorry. That’s sweet. Thanks. Yours are lovely too.”

Hæra immediately stopped being annoyed. Madeleine was right: it was nice to be complimented. “Thank you. You also have beautiful eyes.” Understatement. “Many other things about you are beautiful. I could keep going.”

Madeleine’s smile softened, and those beautiful eyes glowed. “Maybe you’d better not give me a big ego. Let’s see, I owe you another one…you’re very curious.”

Hæra remembered her reading. “‘Curious’ has different meanings. Do you mean I’m odd?”

“No.” Madeleine’s fond smile suggested, however, that Hæra might be a little odd—just not in a bad way. “I mean you’ve got lots of curiosity about the world and how it works. That’s a wonderful trait.”