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Mm, she looks beautiful, Anubis purred.
I nodded. Sadie was fast asleep with her head in my lap. Her caramel hair was loose, her dark clothing rumpled from lying down so long. The great room was quiet as she slept. All the trainees-including the younger ones and carter- were out for who knew how long. Classes were canceled, and it was Friday, so everybody had left to go around New York, or visit home, or other Nome's. I'd stayed behind with Sadie, who wasn't feeling up for travel.
She's not sick is she? I worried. Sadie had been asleep for about two hours, having taken a nap right after breakfast.
Mm, well she's not sick, just over-exhausted. Mortals aren't meant to do such a heavy amount of magic, especially on a daily bases, Anubis soothed. It was true; everyone knew she'd been pushing herself. Both her and carter looked half-dead at the end of every day. They usually had just enough strength to get to their rooms at the ends of classes. Usually. I'd ended up carrying Sadie to her room the last two days.
Sadie stirred, curling up in a tighter ball next to me. She murmured something that was lost between her lips and my side.
"What was that?"
"What time is it?" she mumbled sleepily, fluttering her eyes as she tried to wake up. She looked really adorable with her hair all messed up, and her eyes cloudy from fatigue.
"Mm, almost noon," I mused. "You seem really tired. Maybe you should take a break from teaching magic classes?"
She shook her head, shrugging herself into a sitting position. That small movement made her pale and slump against me, too spent from the exhaustion to support herself. "No, I just need a nap, I'll be fine." She said stubbornly, trying to sit up again.
I pursed my lips, "you need more than a nap, you need to rest!" I wrapped my arms around her tiny figure, feeling her ribs beneath my hands. "I don't want to see you get hurt, Anubis either. You really need to stop. You and carter are pushing yourselves too hard. Please stop, please. Just lie down and stay still."
She hesitated, lying back down with her head in my lap. "Just for half an hour, no more. Wake me up then." As her eyes closed I smiled wirily, thinking I was so not going to do that. I considered running her up to her room and letting her sleep the day away in her bed-which would probably be more comfortable-but decided I'd just hold her. Teaching magic took up a lot of her time, I'd hardly gotten to see her all week, except in passing.
I sighed, wriggling down next to her and snaking my arm around her waist. She mumbled something I didn't catch and snuggled into my chest, nuzzling my neck happily. I rolled my eyes, grabbing the remote and flipping to the sports channel, Sadie obviously wasn't getting up any time soon.
"Sweet dreams beautiful," I murmured to her.