The Shadow Queen

Cassidy was helping him into a beautiful coat that had been made just for him. But it didn’t quite fit. It frustrated him—and scared him—that it didn’t quite fit. Then Cassie had smiled sadly and told him the coat couldn’t be changed. If he wanted to wear it, he would have to change until it fit him the way it should.
    He woke up with his heart pounding, on the verge of tears. He wanted to wear that coat. Had been born to wear that coat. But he didn’t know how to change to make it fit.
    Cassie knew. Cassie would help him change in the right way.
    Why didn’t she come back?
    Maybe he could find Theran. Maybe he could go inside the house long enough to find Theran and ask why Cassie hadn’t come back.
    Shivering at the thought of being inside those walls again, Gray turned to look at the house . . . and saw Cassie standing right there, holding a large tray.
    He yelped. She jumped back, and the dishes on the tray rattled. He jumped forward to grab the tray—and his hands closed over hers. Touched her skin.
    He stared at their hands and wanted to touch her skin forever.
    “Gray? Are you all right?” she asked.
    “What?”
    “I’m sorry I startled you. I guess you didn’t hear me calling.”
    “You called me on a psychic thread?” His heart pounded, but he wasn’t sure if it was fear or happiness.
    Cassie looked startled. “Oh. No. I didn’t want to intrude.”
    “You wouldn’t be intruding.” He wanted to hear her inside his head, wanted to feel her inside him. But . . . maybe not too far inside him. Even if she already knew the secret the other Queen had tried to rip out of his mind, maybe it wasn’t safe to let her inside too many of his inner barriers. But he wouldn’t have to open any of his inner barriers in order to talk to her on a psychic thread.
    “I brought some breakfast,” Cassidy said. “I wasn’t sure if you’d eaten yet, so I brought enough for two.”
    “I could eat.” He’d gotten some food from the stable hands, but not enough to fill him.
    Cassidy used Craft to balance the tray on air. Then she poured coffee for both of them. Splitting two rolls so they formed pockets, she handed one to Gray before spreading a thin layer of jam inside the other and filling it with scrambled eggs.
    “Egg sandwich,” Cassidy said, smiling. “My father would make these out of whatever eggs were left over from breakfast, and put them in a chill box to eat later in the morning when he took a break from his work. For all the years they’ve been married, I’m still not sure he knows that my mother cooks extra just so he can make his egg sandwich.”
    Gray stuffed the roll with scrambled eggs, then smeared a little jam on part of the roll. He took a bite and made a face.
    “Too sweet?” Cassidy asked.
    “Yes,” he said, glad he hadn’t smeared any more of the roll. “But it’s good,” he added quickly.
    She laughed. She had a wonderful laugh, warm and earthy. Not the bright, brittle sound of cruelty.
    “My mother and I like the jam with the eggs. My brother prefers this red sauce that’s a little spicy.”
    “That sounds better.”
    She gave him an odd look—and an even odder smile. Not bad, just odd.
    He ate his sandwich and drank his coffee, not sure what else to do.
    “You didn’t come back,” he said quietly. “I brought the barrow out for you each day, but you didn’t come back.” He’d also watered that flower bed late each night so the ground would stay rain soft and be easier for her to dig.
    “I wanted to come back, but there’s been an awful lot of work to do. All these meetings and reports . . . Every time I’ve tried to take an hour in the garden, Theran has herded me to another meeting. I think he’s spending too much time with Vae, and he’s turning into a Sceltie.”
    Gray laughed. He’d met the Sceltie and was more than willing to play a short game of fetch with her, but she did spend more time with Theran.
    Cassidy poured more coffee for both of them. “Last night I decided I can only work so long and so hard without taking some time for myself, and I can spend some time in the garden each morning before getting cleaned up for the business part of the day.”
    Gray felt light enough to float. “You’re going to come every day?”
    She nodded. “I need some time to be Cassidy before I have to be ‘the Queen.’ I know there’s so much work to be done, but I need some time in the garden. I need this time.”
    Me too.
    He set his cup back on the tray. “Then let’s not waste the time you have to be