“Rise and shine, runt. It’s time for you to face the day.”
I couldn’t contain the groan that bubbled out of my throat upon hearing Eloise’s sing-song voice. What time was it?
Hissing when one of the maids ripped open the curtains, I sat up in the against the stark morning light that was piercing through the room in a bright stream. The back of my eyeballs burned, pinching and displeased by the morning’s everything.
No wonder, I thought as I squinted at my watch. It was a hair before 6am.
“And here I thought the nightmares were supposed to stop when you woke up,” I croaked, sounding like an old man who’d smoked nigh on ninety years.
“Cute.” Eloise wrinkled her nose, taking in my bedhead – who was I kidding? That was my whole existence she was eyeballing – with disdain. She sniffed
