His hand grazed her arm, but she didn’t allow more than that. If she did, it would be like a dam losing its structural integrity. Only ruination waited on the other side.
There were no further goodbyes to say. Noah promised to take care of Brielle, and Max gave them all of his research compiled into a small brown leather book. The reason for his constant work since they arrived at the castle. The only thing remaining was to put the fear of death into Lucien Vencia, and that was likely the easiest thing she’d ever done. All it took was promising to turn him into a frog the next time she saw him if he so much as thought about hurting Brielle. Small mercies, he didn’t have the courage to meet her eyes as she passed him in the hall.
On the one hand, she was glad her message was well received, but on the other, it was alarming that he thought she was capable of such an act.
The morning air was a crisp song of fresh dew drops and spring breezes. The sun was lazily hanging over the landscape as if just awakening. It was the sort of morning where they would have run to the lake and spent all day on its shores. A perfect spring day.
A whinny drew Luci’s attention, and two horses stood saddled, a servant wearing white and blue livery holding their reins.
One of the horses was the tallest she’d ever seen, midnight black with piercing blue eyes. It watched her with a gaze that boasted intelligence. Next to him and several hands shorter, a tan horse with a white mane sniffed at the ground. She let out a frustrated huff of breath that spread sand and pebbles, scattering.
“She’s hungry,” Luci said.
The servant, a young man barely twenty, laughed.
“She’s always hungry, my lady,” he said.
Luci wrinkled her nose, disliking the way the words fit in her mind. It sounded too much like Lord Treveon complaining that Luci was always in the kitchens.
“What’s her name?” she asked.
“Cinnamon.”
“Cinnamon, well, if you are hungry, you should be allowed to eat.”
Taking the reins, Luci walked her over to a perfectly green patch of grass. Cinnamon made a deep sound that could only be interpreted as appreciation before she went to eat. An apple or carrots would have been better, but this would do for now.
“I see you already met Cinnamon.”
Luci stilled the absent-minded petting of her name’s smooth hair. It was wrong that his voice ran through her lightning. Thatsparked her heart to beat too fast. Her best friend’s fiancé. Her best friend, who lay dying in her bed.
Blissful self-loathing eroded the hoard of butterflies that dared to invade her stomach. The only way to survive this quest was to remind herself what was at stake every time her body betrayed her. There was no world for her without Brielle.
This was the part where she said something back, but there weren’t suitable words in her mind. Instead, she resumed running her hand over Cinnamon.
Steps on gravel warned her before, but it was like a force barreling into her as he came to stand next to her, holding out a shiny red apple.
“Apples are her favorite, here give it to her,” he said.
She made the fatal mistake of raising her eyes to his, and entire worlds danced in those forest eyes. His full lips were pulled up into a devastatingly crooked smile that chipped away at her sense of self-preservation.
Swallowing, she took the apple for it and stepped in front of the horse, clicking her tongue.
Raising her powerful head, Cinnamon sniffed at the apple once before opening her mouth and taking it in one bite. Sweet juice mixed with an alarming amount of saliva was sprayed into the air around them, and Luci shook out her hand.
Gross.
“I should have warned you that her love of apples was aggressive,” he laughed.
It was a nice sound. The sort of sound she could lie down and listen to with complete calm. A sound that was built upon a life of happiness and privilege. For all the privileges she’d been afforded, she doubted she would be capable of laughter like that.
“She’s beautiful,” Luci murmured.
“She is,” he agreed, a note of solemnity in the words.
As if summoned by her name, the sweet and spicy mixture of cinnamon wafted by. It wrapped around her before it drifted, and she was left wondering if she was losing her mind.
No use in wasting time. Luci swallowed hard and pulled up the front of her riding dress, but Prince Ira was already kneeling down, offering her his hands. Rolling her eyes, Luci ignored him and set her foot in the stirrup before lifting her leg up and saddling the horse.