Page 41 of Dragon King’s Duty Bride

At least that’s what he told himself.

The farther he drove from Crystafalls, the narrower the roads became. Pines thickened on either side and their shadows stretched long across the pavement. At the castle, the mountains rose high and near, impenetrable and magnificent but here, they created the horizon. They rose in layered ridges, serene and shadowed. He’d forgotten how beautiful they looked from a distance.

The air felt different here, too. It was cooler and smelled faintly of pine and damp earth.

When he pulled into her parents’ gravel driveway, he noticed the sagging fence line and the tangle of wildflowers that pressed against the porch steps. Untidy, wild, and beautiful.

He sat for a moment after he turned the car off and stared at the house. Simple, modest, and much more personable than the castle. He could almost feel the love stitched into it. He hadn’t been there since Dian’s death, and guilt washed over him. The girls needed their grandparents. All of them.

The front door flew open before he reached it.

“Papa!”

All three girls rushed toward him in a tangle of braids and scraped knees. They nearly knocked him backward.

Lucas laughed, genuinely laughed, as he lifted the youngest into his arms. “What have you been doing out here?” he asked as he brushed dirt from her small cheek.

“Climbing the big rock!” Luna shouted.

“Grandpa lets us feed the chickens!” Celeste added.

Stella hugged his neck. “And the goats.”

They were flushed with happiness that struck him hard. Children were often happy but this was unrestrained. Their cheeks glowed. Their voices were freer. They spoke over one another about tree swings and berry picking and a place in the woods where Mama Sia liked to sit.

He felt something tighten in his chest.

Sia’s mother appeared in the doorway, wiping her hands on a kitchen towel. Surprise flickered across her face before she arranged it into a polite smile.

“Your Majesty.” She curtsied. “We weren’t expecting you.”

“I thought I’d surprise you all,” he said smoothly. “And Lucas, please. No formality needed.”

She ushered him into the house, but he could see that she was nervous.

“Where’s Sia?”

A hesitation. Small, but there.

“She’s… out,” her mother replied.

“Out?”

“In the woods, Papa. She’s listening to music.”

Lucas frowned. “Music in the woods?”

“She goes to a clearing past the old logging trail. It’s always brought her peace.” The older woman’s eyes searched his face, as though she measured how much to reveal. “She’s been going there since she was a girl. It was like her sanctuary.”

Lucas felt a faint, unwelcome prickle of worry at the base of his neck.

“A clearing?” he repeated. “With music? Like on her phone?”

Her mother nodded and evaded his eyes. “Sometimes, I’m sure.”

He sat Stella on the ground. “I’m a little confused.”

She let out a long sigh. “Sometimes a musician plays there. A young man who teaches in town.”