2_-_court_of_mist_and_fury_a_-_sarah_j._maas

“How considerate of you, my lord.”
He snorted, unbuttoning his jacket. I realized I stood in all my finery—with nothing to
wear to sleep.
A snap of Rhys’s fingers, and my nightclothes—and some flimsy underthings—
appeared on the bed. “I couldn’t decide which scrap of lace I wanted you to wear, so I
brought you a few to choose from.”
“Pig,” I barked, snatching the clothes and heading to the adjoining bathing room.
The room was toasty when I emerged, Rhys in the bed he’d summoned from wherever,
all light gone save for the murmuring embers in the hearth. Even the sheets were warm as
I slid between them.
“Thank you for warming the bed,” I said into the dimness.
His back was to me, but I heard him clearly as he said, “Amarantha never once thanked
me for that.”
Any warmth leeched away. “She didn’t suffer enough.”
Not even close, for what she had done. To me, to him, to Clare, to so many others.
Rhys didn’t answer. Instead he said, “I didn’t think I could get through that dinner.”
“What do you mean?” He’d been rather … calm. Contained.
“Your sisters mean well, or one of them does. But seeing them, sitting at that table … I
hadn’t realized it would hit me as strongly. How young you were. How they didn’t protect
you.”
“I managed just fine.”
“We owe them our gratitude for letting us use this house,” he said quietly, “but it will be
a long while yet before I can look at your sisters without wanting to roar at them.”
“A part of me feels the same way,” I admitted, nestling down into the blankets. “But if I
hadn’t gone into those woods, if they hadn’t let me go out there alone … You would still
be enslaved. And perhaps Amarantha would now be readying her forces to wipe out these
lands.”
Silence. Then, “I am paying you a wage, you know. For all of this.”
“You don’t need to.” Even if … even if I had no money of my own.
“Every member of my court receives one. There’s already a bank account in Velaris for
you, where your wages will be deposited. And you have lines of credit at most stores. So
if you don’t have enough on you when you’re shopping, you can have the bill sent to the
House.”
“I—you didn’t have to do that.” I swallowed hard. “And how much, exactly, am I
getting paid each month?”
“The same amount the others receive.” No doubt a generous—likely too generous—