Picking up the goblet from the floor, I walked across the room to the elaborate water feature at the wall across from the nest. I rinsed the goblet in one of the fountains, then filled it with clean water from one of the waterfalls.
The king curled his lips in distaste when I offered the water to him. “That’s not wine.”
“Water may be better than wine for you at this hour,” I suggested.
“Are you telling the king what to do, human?”
“I wouldn’t dare, Your Majesty.” I curtsied clumsily, which made him snort and shake his head. “If I were to make choices for the king, I’d order a glass of warm milk from the kitchen or better yet—a cup of herbal tea.”
He winced.
“You’re talking like my caretakers.” He stretched his patterned hand in front of him. “This dehydration is not caused by lack of water, you know that, right?”
The king was dying, and no amount of fluids would cure it. Staring at his dry skin, I drank the water from the goblet myself. An hour of talking had made me incredibly thirsty.
He watched me drink without objection.
I set the goblet back on the small table nearby. “What brings you comfort, Your Majesty? What makes you feel at peace? What helps you rest at night? Is it wine? Because if it truly is, then I’ll get you some.”
He stared at me for a long moment, then took off his crown and set it on the side table. Then, he lay back in the nest, saying nothing.
I crouched down to free his feet from his pants, then helped him turn to put his legs in the nest, too. As I tucked the luxurious blankets around him, the king gave me a cheeky smile that suddenly made him look centuries younger.
“A virgin, are you?” he murmured. “Here, in my nest.”
I shot my gaze to his face with alarm and clutched my blanket tighter to my chest.
He smiled dreamily. “Had I met you a few years earlier, I would’ve fixed that quickly. I would’ve kept you up all night. When I rut, I pound hard. I used to fuck at least a dozen times a night. You wouldn’t be able to walk for days after I’d been done with you.”
I released a shaky breath, giving a silent prayer to whatever deity was watching over me for not letting me arrive in this world a few years earlier.
“You’re staying here tonight,” the king mumbled sleepily, closing his eyes. “But not in my nest—that’s my space. Grab some pillows and make yourself a nest over there, on the window seat.”
“Okay, Your Majesty.”
The king chuckled. A minute later, his rumbling snores rolled through his chamber. He was asleep.