I stared at the sea that had claimed Alrec’s life, knowing I didn’t deserve any of it.
* * *
That afternoon, I suggested a visit to the gardens to take Roisin’s mind off things. When I glanced over my shoulder, I found the new guard a few paces behind us, hand on the hilt of his sword. “What do you think of my new guard?” I whispered.
She stole a look at him, quickly hiding her grimace behind a smile. “He seems a nice enough fellow,” she said under her breath.
Guards weren’t hired because they were nice but because they were trained killers. I decided not to mention it. “Excellent. Because I’m assigning him to you.”
She halted next to a bush full of droopy pink flowers. The guard stopped as well, maintaining his distance. “Oh, please don’t do that. His eyes bounce inside his head like marbles.”
“Right? Do you think they’re loose or something?”
She snorted, covering her grin with her hand. A moment later, she had sobered enough to continue walking down the path toward the fishpond. “We really shouldn’t poke fun at him for something he obviously cannot control.”
“We really shouldn’t. Do you think he does it in his sleep?”
“Caiman.”
“No, no, you’re right. My apologies. Although he does stomp.”
“Dreadfully stompy.”
“I miss Broderick already.”
“So do I.”
We reached the final hedge before the pond, and I told the guard he could wait here. The man’s head swivelled, scanning this way and that, before he nodded and said to call if we needed assistance.
A red-and-white-striped blanket was spread across the bank of the pond, a large basket overflowing with food left at the center to keep it from blowing away.
“You planned this?” Roisin asked with a devastating smile.
Having anticipated how upset she’d be after saying goodbye this morning, I’d asked her maid Falin to organize a picnic for when we returned. “You’re always in a better mood when you’re fed.”
Laughing, she fell onto the blanket. I knelt next to her, flipping open the basket’s lid. “A much better picnic than the last one, is it not? Look. Plates. Serviettes. There’s even butter. And these scones don’t look stale.”
Roisin took each item from me, spreading them in front of us like a feast. “I don’t know. I kind of enjoyed the last one.”
So did I.The first part, anyway.
We ate and chatted about nothing of consequence. Being here with her, I could almost forget the mountain of duties that awaited us back at the castle and pretend we were simply two people getting to know one another.
Learning to fall in love.
Who was I kidding? I’d been in love with Roisin since the moment we met.
“No fishing today?” I teased, tossing crumbs from what remained of our scones into the grass for the birds.
“I don’t believe the Vellanian queen should be caught with her skirts tied between her knees, waist-deep in a fishpond.”
“Why not?”
Although she shrugged, I recognized the longing glance she cast toward the glassy pond. If the queen wanted to fish, then she should fish. Who would see her, anyway, besides me? The birds and clouds and bees? I unbuckled my boots, setting them aside and rolling my socks together on the corner of the blanket.
I stood and started for the water, sucking in a breath when my toes sank between green lily pads into the icy muck. A dragonfly whizzed past my ear. Beneath the water, flashes of gold and white darted this way and that.
“Are you mad? Caiman, you’re the king,” Roisin called from the shore.