If surviving on three hours of sleep wasn't enough, living under Xavier's thumb turned the rest of my week into a special kind of hell.
He didn't ask for his giant favor right away. Oh no, that would have been too simple. Instead, Xavier preferred psychological warfare. He spent the next five days reminding me, in the subtlest ways possible, that he owned me. He'd summon me to the high-born gardens under the pretense of "academic assistance," make me carry his books scrolls across campus, or making me sit till his was done with whatever work he was doing, claiming that he wanted company.
To make matters worse, my sudden, involuntary proximity to the second-year prince failed to go unnoticed.
"Amara, darling!"
I suppressed a heavy groan as Serena slid into the seat directly across from me at the dining hall on Thursday morning, placing fancy noble tray down with an annoying, delicate clatter.
