He raised his hand to accept the bottle, but like an idiot, his eagerness gave him away. Perry’s eyes narrowed, and he pulled his hand back, holding the bottle to his chest. “I’ll get you a cup.”

Apparently, the kid wasn’t as naïve as he looked. How fucking convenient.

When he returned, Trey took the proffered cup without a fight. He no longer had one. What other choice did he have? To stare at the ceiling with a stomach caving in on itself, awaiting Eithan’s grand return? No, thank you.

With the amount of weight and muscle mass he’d lost over the last few weeks, it didn’t take long before the effects of the drug began to pull at his consciousness, and his arms flopped to the cot, his body somehow feeling both boneless and heavy at the same time.

His head lulled to the side, and Perry’s furrowed brow and hollowed cheeks were the last thing he saw before sleep finally took him.

Fuck this entire continent.

JAREN

He’d already been struggling with the temptation to cut out his father’s tongue and shove it down his throat, but now he’d added breaking all his knuckles to his to-do list as well.

The knocking that had yanked him from sleep came again. Harder this time.

“I know you’re in there, Jaren Barilias. I’m well acquainted with the smell of arousal permeating from your room. Don’t make me break this lock, I have no desire to see whatever it is that’s going on in there.”

“Who is that?” Veralie’s muffled voice came from beneath him, pulling him from his dark thoughts.

He cracked open an eye, peering down at her groggy face. Her squinted, silver eyes clashed with his through the nest of frizzed curls between them.

“Did he just say something about arousal?”

A smile pulled at his lips as he batted her hair away to uncover the entirety of her face. Like usual, he’d gravitated to her during the night and woken sprawled across her.

She didn’t exactly look comfortable smashed under his body weight, but at least she hadn’t immediately launched him off the bed this time.

Probably because she was half-naked. Still, it was progress.

“He didn’t say anything about arousal. Sex on the mind, my aitanta?” A laugh tickled his throat, threatening to slip past when her brows creased in confusion, second guessing what she’d heard.

“Maybe we should start using Thyabathi in private as well, to help you learn faster. I can think of a few enjoyable ways to reward you when you do well.”

She glared up at him, and his pulse quickened. Gods, he loved her fire. But knocking came again, rattling the door and cutting off whatever string of expletives she was about to spew.

“I can hear you, you nlamb jekhna!” Jaeros yelled, loud enough to wake any patrons unlucky enough to still be in their rooms.

His good mood at waking up pressed to Veralie vanished at being called the equivalent of a “horny idiot.” He glanced to the nightstand, contemplating snatching a dagger and flinging it at the door.