A knock at the door made us both freeze. “Lady Maren?” came Gerard’s voice softly through the wood. “The horse is saddled for you.”
“Thank you,” I called.
Diara’s mouth clenched shut. We listened to Gerard leave again, and Diara blew a raspberry. “Have fun riding all afternoon withhim. He seems dull enough to put an Aalton priest to sleep.”
60
White lace peeked from under the hem of my long black skirt, my matching jacket buttoned neatly almost to my neck, white piping following the feminine lapels. Diara pinned my hair, securing my riding hat in place, then helped me lace my boots when I found my corseted waist was so tight I couldn’t bend.
“You don’t have to go with him if you don’t want to, you know,” Diara said, knotting my stays.
I chuckled at my friend’s sense of protection. “He’s harmless.”
Her mouth flattened but she said nothing.
Hadrian waited for me in cream-colored pants and an indigo jacket, his own riding hat tall and shiny. Holding the door for me, he nodded in greeting, eyes shifting to Diara.
“Good morning, Lady Diana.”
She tensed. “Good morning.”
Cringing, I waited as she walked away, my feet settled in my stirrups, and casually said, “It’s LadyDiara.”
Halfway through swinging onto his horse, Hadrian slowed, absorbing my words. I thought I caught a curse muttered under his breath.
He led me down a trail of skinny fir trees and low hills.
Neither of us spoke at first, listening to the sounds of the woods. A furry little animal with a bushy tail scurried across the limbs of the trees, his body a blur until he stopped, tilting his head to stare down at us and then racing off. The woods were full of them.
Ahead, Hadrian cleared his throat and gazed up at a moony face with a hooked beak. An owl—bigger and sharper than the owls in Leihani.
“What is the name of this forest?” I asked, watching the owl as it watched us, its head rotating slowly over its shoulder.
“This is Corram Wood. These trees go deep into the north, all the way to Merriam.” As though realizing I could only see the back of his head, he waited. We rode astride for a while, quietly enjoying the landscape. Behind us, the owl hooted.
“Merriam,” I echoed. “Where your uncle lives.”
“Prince Marcus,” he said, supplying the name.
I nodded softly. “And his wife, Katerina, and their sons Callisto and Gaius.”
Hadrian lifted his eyes to mine, then returned to watching the bare trunks of the trees. The limbs stretched high over our heads, flocked with a thick canopy of green needles. “You’re a bit full of yourself, aren’t you?” he asked.
There was nothing I could do but laugh under my breath. “If you think so, Your Highness, then I must be.”
He snorted. I turned my face away, glaring into the woods, and he chuckled behind my head. “Did they use the cold shoulder in Leihani, or did Thaan train you to use it?”
“Both,” I deadpanned. I’d wondered if this was why he’d invited me to ride alone with him.
He smiled at my tone, somehow amused. “Easily provoked? People will rattle you the rest of your life now that you’ve married into the crown.”
“No wonder it humors you to rattle someone else, then,” I replied, watching the bushy-tailed creatures flit about.
From the corner of my eye, Hadrian stretched, arching his back. He laid one hand over the other on the horn of his saddle. “It’s more that I’m so used to it, I don’t notice it anymore. Especially when I do it.”
“Seems like you noticeandenjoy it.” I twisted in my seat, looking squarely at him. “For someone who considers me to be an enemy, you don’t appear concerned about offending me.”
A hint of a smile shadowed his lips. “Perhaps it’s safer to offend. To keep people at arm’s length.”
