Rowland waited for a long moment before easing open the door to her bedchamber. “Princess?” He questioned quietly from the door, seeing her curled into her favorite oversized chair that sat perpendicular to the hearth.
There was no answer. He came closer, and saw that she was dozing under the window, where moonlight was streaming in. The moonlight diffused little shafts of light to show that her chin was cozily tucked into the corner of the chair and her hair fell in loose waves and curls skimming her shoulders and arms down to her stomach.
A tug of affection made the right corner of his mouth tip up when he saw her pale fingers grazing the corner of a book that had clearly fallen into her lap as she fell asleep. The sight of her fingers on the book reminded him of a memory that haunted him still, two years after it had happened.