"Wake up. Wake up, sleepyhead."
The voice drilled straight into my dreams and yanked me toward the surface. I groaned and turned my head away from the sound, burying my face in the pillow. Whoever it was clearly had a death wish.
"Who even wakes someone up this loud in the morning?" I mumbled.
"Don't be such a fuss," the voice shot back. "You know you didn't tell me about the one thing."
I tried to sink deeper into Axel's warmth, to pretend I hadn't heard. The sheets were soft, his body a solid line of heat against my back, his arm wrapped lazily around my waist. It was far too early for…whatever this was.
"And then I find you in bed with a man."
That snapped me fully awake.
My eyes flew open. I jolted upright so fast the room spun, Axel's arm sliding off my waist as I clutched the blanket to my chest.
"Wh—what?" I blurted.
The man standing beside the bed folded his arms, looking entirely too entertained for someone who'd just barged into the royal chambers at dawn. Tall, broad‑shouldered, with dark curls falling into mischief‑bright eyes.
"Adam?" I croaked. "Adam, the one and only?"
He clicked his tongue and shook his head dramatically. "Oh, good, she still recognizes me. I was beginning to think marriage rotted your brain."
"Oh gods," I whispered, heat rushing to my cheeks. "I—I am so, so sorry I didn't invite you to the wedding. Everything was so much and it was fast and chaotic and—" My words tumbled over each other. "I promise I'll make it up to you, just…don't be angry."
Adam made a show of rolling his eyes to the ceiling. "What am I going to do with you?" he sighed.
Axel shifted behind me with a sleepy grumble, his arm finding my waist again and tugging me instinctively back toward him. Which, under normal circumstances, I might have secretly enjoyed.
These were not normal circumstances.
Because Adam—my cousin, my almost‑brother, the boy who'd taught me how to hold my first sword—was standing at the side of the bed, watching all of this with raised brows.
"Well," he went on, drawing out the word, "I'm like your big brother, so give me a pass. We'll talk about the whole secret royal wedding thing later. But first"—his eyes flicked pointedly to Axel's bare chest and his arm around my waist—"I've got to meet this man."
I wanted the mattress to open up and swallow me whole.
"Adam," I hissed, clutching the blanket tighter as Axel's grip tightened in his sleep, pulling me flush against him again. "Can we not do this right now? I am extremely embarrassed and uncomfortable and I genuinely have no idea what to do with either of you in the same room."
He just watched me, entirely unhelpful.
"So this whole thing where you barge into my chamber at dawn and corner me in bed is not fair," I went on, my voice low and sharp. "We'll talk about it. You will meet Axel when he's actually awake."
"Oh, so his name is Axel," Adam repeated, tasting the name like it offended him personally. "Enemy prince Axel. Darkstorm Axel. My‑little‑cousin's‑mysterious‑new‑husband Axel." He squinted at the sleeping form behind me. "Mm. Not impressed yet."
"Don't get too cocky, Adam," I snapped. "I am not in the mood for one of your overprotective big‑brother performances." My throat tightened. "If you wanted that moment, you should have come earlier. I didn't know who was going to walk me down the aisle. I needed you." The words spilled out before I could stop them, raw and unpolished. "You don't get to storm in after the fact and decide who my husband is. Or when I sleep with him. We're married. And you're my cousin. I only call you my older brother because you insist on acting like one."
He clutched at his chest with a wounded gasp, staggering back a step as if I'd stabbed him.
"Oh! My heart," he cried. "Broken. Shattered. I can never love again. My baby sister, in bed with another man—pure betrayal!"
"Drama queen," I muttered.
"I was supposed to walk you down that aisle," he insisted, dropping the theatrics just enough that I saw the real hurt under the performance. "I taught you how to wield your first sword. I showed you how to punch above your weight. And you did all this without me?" He shook his head in exaggerated despair. "Unforgivable. Treasonous. I might have to start a very small personal rebellion about it."
I racked my brain, trying to remember if I had actually sent that letter I'd sworn I'd written.
I was almost sure I had.
…Hadn't I?
"Oh," I said weakly. "Did I…forget?" I cleared my throat and waved a hand as if that could erase the guilt clawing at my ribs. "Never mind. At least you're here now."
Adam just stared at me.
"I really am sorry," I added, quieter this time.
Something in his expression softened.
"Yeah, well," he grumbled, looking away. "You always were a menace." He glanced back at Axel, still sleeping with infuriating serenity, his arm locked firmly around my waist as if he owned the position. "And this menace?"
"You will meet Axel when he wakes up," I said firmly. "Preferably when I'm not half‑naked and dying of embarrassment."
Adam's mouth twitched.
"Fine," he said. "I'll give you that. For now." He pointed two fingers at his own eyes, then at me. "But we're not done. You and I are going to talk about this. All of this."
"I know," I sighed.
"Good." He straightened, rolling his shoulders back like he was walking into battle instead of out of my bedroom. "In the meantime, try not to let Darkstorm over there corrupt your innocent soul."
I snorted. "Adam, I killed three rebels in my own hallway."
He grinned. "Right. I forgot. Maybe you're the corrupting influence."
With that, he turned and headed for the door, pausing only once to glance back at us—at Axel's arm still wrapped around me, at my flushed face, at the ridiculousness of the entire situation.
"Well," he said, sounding almost fond despite himself, "at least you look…happy."
The admission lodged in my chest.
Before I could answer, he slipped out, closing the door quietly behind him.
Silence rushed in to fill the space he left.
I sat there for a moment on the edge of the bed, Axel's breath warm against my bare shoulder, my cousin's words echoing in my ears.
At least you look happy.
I exhaled slowly, staring at the closed door.
"Well," I muttered to myself, drawing the blanket higher and fighting the urge to either laugh or scream, "this is going to be a very long morning."