Elise woke the next morning, or more accurately, she came to the next morning sore, hungry and with a very dry mouth. Astredian, who was never an early riser, was unsurprisingly still dead to the world. He didn’t even stir when she shifted to the edge of the bed and into a sitting position, legs dangling over the side of the tall bed, her toes barely brushing the floor. She poured herself a glass of water, and drank slowly, enjoying the clean taste. It did nothing to fill the hollowness in her stomach, but it did relieve the cottony feeling in her mouth.
Though she’d consumed quite a few canapes at the ball the evening before, they were small, and apparently hadn’t added up to the kind of substantial meal she was used to having. She pinched at the fold of her belly a little, wondering if
