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physical limit to perform the spin moves, Aliath did not.
    I bit my lip and looked around at the Hyrða guards surrounding us. None of them were paying us attention, their backs to us to provide privacy which seemed a most ridiculous thing to do. I could have been attacking Aliath. Unless, of course, I already had his trust.
    I let a slow breath out at that thought and cleared my throat.
    "Aliath, you seem unwell. Maybe I should notify one of your guards." No question, I was being vigilant in the way I spoke with him. But I knew my statement would garner a response.
    He stiffened and sat upright, his arms tightening their hold.
    "No, Princess. I am..." He shook his head. Then shook it again. "Do you feel it?" he asked, not only surprising me with asking a question at all, but by the words he spoke.
    "I feel nothing," I replied honestly.
    He looked at me, I avoided his eyes, but watched out of the corner of mine as he took in the pallor of my skin. His gaze roaming over my face as though searching for an answer.
    "You are tired," he stated.
    "You pushed me with that spin." I wasn't afraid to admit it, I was beyond tired now and if Aliath did trust me, I needed to trust in return that he would help hide my fatigue from those who would attack. I may have been on his side, but that didn't mean all of his Court were on mine. Their Queen had just died in my realm, some of them would not be happy with that even if she had been a bitch.
    "Were you this tired when the spin was completed?" Another question. Something was definitely wrong with the Dökkálfa King.
    I shifted away from his chest, but remained on his lap. He didn't seem in a hurry to release me, but I was thinking that was more for show now, than because he wanted me nearby. Along with a feeling that something was wrong, Aliath the Grey Lord had also returned.
    "Not immediately," I said slowly, trying futilely to puzzle this all out. Aliath was more switched on than me, despite any residual effects of imbibing on my courage.
    "So, this tiredness," he said just as slowly, "came on afterwards. Was it sudden?"
    I thought back on it and decided it was, but it was also getting worse. I told him so.
    He stood abruptly, the guards all coming to attention and swiftly turning to face us, their backs now to the room. I swayed in Aliath's arms, but thankfully he didn't release me.
    "The Princess is under my protection," he said immediately to the head guard who stepped out of the circle to approach me. No doubt planning to take me from their King and throw me in the dungeons. He stopped as soon as Aliath spoke, no evidence of disquiet at what Aliath had decreed on his face. They were either loyal to their new King or thought him taking me under his protection made sense. Maybe because they assumed he'd wish to feed on me again?
    "Gather the guards and secure the castle," Aliath demanded suddenly. That provoked a change in the Hyrða 's expression. Concern etched every plane.
    "Is something amiss, Your Majesty?" For some reason the guard asking a question suddenly made me feel ill. I swallowed several times to avoid vomiting. A strange reaction. Sure, I'd drummed into myself the need to avoid questions when around fairies, so I was bound to baulk when someone asked one within my hearing. But to feel nauseous? That was overkill.
    Aliath stroked a hand over my hip as though he knew I was deteriorating and he was trying to reassure with that simple, yet intimate act. The nausea increased and my legs weakened. A guard immediately brought a chair up beside the King and Aliath helped me to sit. He also took a seat on his own chair to the side and said a few curt words in Fey. Quietly, to just his head guard. Either because he didn't want me to know what the problem was, or because the problem was completely Fey.
    I suddenly wondered if we were about to be attacked by the Ljósálfar . The war between the Light and Dark Courts was still waging. I was unsure how it had progressed as I had