Page 28 of Summer

“And how do you plan to do this?” I press.

“We’re…it’s early in the planning. We haven’t had time alone, unsupervised,” he stammers. So that’s what this is – a retreat to the countryside away from our parents and the servants to plot Summer’s inevitable death.

“It will never work,” I scoff.

“Of course it will,” Aaoric shoots back. “Why wouldn’t it? Do you see a hole in the plan?”

“What plan?” I ask, throwing my arms in the air in exasperation. “You plan to fake her death – how? Under what circumstances? What will you use for her body? How will you ensure she escapes?” I tick these points off one by one, counting them along my fingers as I do so.

Aaoric’s face drops, and I wince at the sight of it. “It’s still early in our planning,” he says, despondent. Their wedding is a little over four months away.

“She was really running away?” I ask.

He nods and settles on the rock next to me, resting his elbows on his thighs. “She hasn’t told me much about her life…I did try to ask her about the arrest after you brought me her file. She was given the option of Dedo or Protegre when she was arrested,” he sighs.

“Dedo?! What did she do?!” Panic rises in my chest. The death prison? And she’s in our house, betrothed to my brother?

“Theft,” he says with a shrug. “Dedo is not reserved for the worst criminals, you know. Plenty of petty criminals are sent there, they just never leave.”

“Theft?” I echo, shaking my head. “Well – this makes more sense to me. I was worried she’d done something to you.”

“Like what?” Aaoric asks, the edge of his lips turning up in a half smile.

“I don’t know – blackmail? Bribed? Hit you over the head? Poisoned you? I couldn’t fathom that you’d submit to Mother and Fathers’ wishes. I also cannot believe you tried to plan something without me!” I give him a soft slap on the arm, and he grins as he rubs it.

“I wanted to tell you, but she thought it better I didn’t. She said the more who are aware of the plan, the more likely it is to fail. She also said your skepticism would make it more believable,” he said with a shrug.

She’s right, but I won’t admit that to him. I’d seen the way Mother watched him at the table the first time he acknowledged Summer with anything other than disdain. If I’d followed along and did not voice my concerns she would have caught on.

“You’ve no intention of marrying Summer?” I ask. I don’t like the way my voice sounds when I do, so I clear my throat.

Aaoric shakes his head. “No – I’ve no intention of marrying her or being anything more to her than a friend.”

A weight lifts off my shoulders, and as I examine it, I realize it’s guilt. If Aaoric truly planned on marrying Summer, what I did with her last night was more than inappropriate. It, along with the unending fire in my belly, plagued my dreams. It doesn’t matter that they’ve no intention of marrying, I thought they did.

I lost control. Something about that human woman makes my calm demeanor slip. She has the ability to get under my skin and twist, and I hate it.

“Well, I’ll be glad when she’s gone,” I announce, standing.

“Give her a chance, Nell. If you did, I think you’d find her quite pleasant. She’s clever, too.” Aaoric invokes my childhood name, something he only does when we’re alone.

For a moment I’m a child again – running around this lake after Aaoric as he races for the great rock, our nanny running after us. It was a race to the top of the rock, then it was a race to who hit the water first, who made the biggest splash, who swam back to land first. The memory is so potent I smile, turning to look at the great rock and the tattered rope we swung from as children.

But the memory is shattered as Summer approaches, no longer resting in the shade. Her bonnet is pushed back off her face, defeating its purpose. All at once I’m reminded of the truth – we are not children. Those days are gone.

“I told her,” Aaoric tells Summer when she’s close enough and she frowns.

“Wonderful,” she says, her lips pressed flat.

“You’ll never be able to pull it off without my help,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest.

“We were doing just fine without your input,” Summer retorts.

“Oh, you were? Tell me – in what manner will you die?” They exchange looks, which is more than enough to tell me the truth. “That’s what I thought. You have scant months to plan; they will go by quickly with the season approaching. Your ability to communicate with each other privately will be greatly compromised by that.”

“What season?” Summer asks.

Aaoric groans. “No – we are betrothed, we don’t need to parade around those silly ballrooms.”