“He’s right. You should rest,” I said.
“Maybe, but I’m glad I was here to spare you. Elric always?—”
“I can handle myself.”
“I know you can.” He grew quiet for a moment as his breathing labored. “What happened at the willow tree?”
My heart raced on—wild and untamed. “I’m not sure.Everything is so new to me.” I turned from him toward the stream.
“Whatever you’re feeling…you can tell me.” His voice grew softer.
“It was nothing.”
It wasn’t nothing. I felt something deep and unrelenting settle within me.
“It sounded like… something.” He steadied his hands on his hips, his arms tensing with each breath.
“Please. Just forget what I said.” I needed him to forget it—Ineeded to forget it.
“Forget that you felt me? I can’t just forget that.”
“I told you. I don’t know what it was.” I wanted to turn from him, to sever the hold he had on me.
Yet I stood there, staring back.
“You’re right. You’re probably exhausted.” The sparkle in his eyes dulled. “Would you rather Fyn walks you back?”
I didn’t know what it meant, but I knew I needed him to stop questioning me. “Yes.”
He didn’t look at me like that again.
The days passed in a haze of mist covered mornings full of training sessions with Cora. My identity remained concealed in the Heart.
Here I was known as Lady Aelira, a traveling visitor from Eyrsea—his brother Calyth’s territory that lay to the west of the sea. For once, I was just like everyone else. All I had to do was hide my ears beneath my hair—to conceal the human part of me.
Lioran and I had barely spoken since the moment at thewillow tree. I found myself thinking only of him—the curve of his smile, the melodic sound of his laughter, the way he clenched his jaw whenever words were left unspoken.
“Would you like me to do your hair this morning?” Juniper asked as she peeked into my chambers. I had already dressed without her.
“No, I’ll do it myself,” I replied.
My messy strands resisted as my fingers combed them into a quick braid. They poked out unevenly, an unsightly mess that Reina would no doubt scoff at, but it didn’t matter.
Here I was, just Aelira.
“His highness asked that I give you this.” Juniper dug into her apron pocket and removed a slender piece of parchment for me. As I unfolded it, I read the unfamiliar uneven writing.
Meet me at the clearing near the stables. - Lioran
“Did he say when?” I asked.
“The prince is there now I believe, but he asked that you not be rushed.” She looked me over, waiting for my response.
“I will make my way there,” I replied.
“Do you need anything else my lady?” she asked after straightening the blanket that lay across my bed. I shook my head, and she slipped out the door just before I did.
Intricate stonework decorated the corridors—leaves etched in a random pattern down the hall. I traced the delicate pattern on the walls while breathing in the air that swept in through the open windows. The sweet smell lingered as my boots collided with each stone step.
