Page 16 of Many Ruined Vows on a Forbidden Frolic

Maybe he’ll dismiss me from this stars-cursed duty without intervention, and I can return to the forge in Ashfall Valley to sweat out the thoughts of my best friend’s daughter in the molten runoff of Mount Ingensduum.

“She seemed to enjoy herself. They were very, erm, close to each other when he was called away, and even then she appeared unaffected.” So close that I couldn’t hear what they were saying. So close that I’d nearly sprung from the ground and tossed the fopweed into the river below.

The King sighs. He stands, tops off my horn, tilting the bottom so that I take another drink.

He turns toward the door. I breathe a little easier knowing I’m nearly free of this interrogation.

“Loreleivnna is the most delicate bloom in my garden.” Vyrion pauses with the door partially open, gripping the iron flower knob my father forged when my mother was still with us. “I cannot allow her to be plucked by just anyone. Be the guide she needs. Pay more attention this time, Brother.”

His words strike like flint against my spine, but I manage to withhold my wince. In the past few days, I’ve come to believe Princess Loreleivnna may not be as fragile as he claims, but I understand that as his youngest daughter, she holds a precious spot in his heart.

I place a fist over my chest and lower my chin, answering with a solemn, “I vow to do better, Your Majesty.”

King Vyrion huffs, shaking his head at my propriety, but he returns my nod and closes the door gently behind him.

Chapter Twelve

Pikquarrys

Aevumoon Iris petals blur into a mass of earthy maroon and mulberry on the long walk along the ridge. The massive flowers are said to be living embodiments of the Fallen Stars. The sensual curve of their bulbs plants thoughts in my mind, but staring down into the grove is the only thing preventing me from studying the sway of Princess Loreleivnna’s hips.

I met her at the Wise Ones’ memorial fountain in the palace courtyard after washing up and vigorously scrubbing the alcohol from my breath. She proffered a curt greeting and hasn’t acknowledged me since. If she’d asked my opinion, I’d have suggested we take the barrier forest to the apple orchard, but clearly she prefers the scenic route. At least this way won’t tear up her feet, which are bare again, for petal’s sake.

I want to break our silence, but only sharp thorns born of ego and desire rest on my tongue, so the sound of children playing and sneezing in the grove below is all that’s between us. I vowed to take better care of her today. It’s my duty to keep her safe from greedy creatures seeking to deflower her, including my own misguided mind. That means suffering in the heavy silence of her atmosphere, perfumed with midnight honey. I will bear it, even if the sunshine seems to follow her like a spotlight, the rays glinting on strands of loose hair the color of ripe pomegranates. Her beauty is ethereal yet tangible, and I long to sink my teeth into the forbidden fruit.

“Oh!” Princess Loreleivnna exclaims. She stops in her tracks and spins around, running smack into my abdomen. As my hands instinctively come to grasp her shoulders, steadying her, I realize staring at the trees didn’t help me keep my distance at all.

“What is it?” I ask, my tone too gruff and gravelly even to my own ears.

She glowers. Long pink eyelashes hood the fire in peridot gems. I release her and ball my hands into fists to keep from smoothing the furrow in her brow.

“I forgot something.” She attempts to step around me, but I put out my arm. “Move, you clod!”

“All the way back at the palace?”

“I left it in the garden.”

I let out an irritated whinny, my hooves shifting restlessly. “We’ve come so far. Can’t it wait?”

“No.”

Princess Loreleivnna takes a large step to my left. I move to block her path, and she takes off around my right.

“Cursed brat!”

The princess turns, running backwards as she shouts, “Wait here and rest your legs. I’ll be right back!”

“I don’t need rest,” I mutter. I wonder again if she truly believes I would require oil to maintain an erection, and have to remind myself of my vows to keep from imagining all the ways I’d love to prove her wrong. “Merely a break from ornery royal brats.”

Her bare feet flash dirty soles with every hammering step, their flesh rough from such treatment. I follow at a light trot, gritting my teeth.

The princess is unbothered. Even when she steps on the broken top of an acorn, she doesn’t slow. A spot of densely velvet garnet appears on her sole, stamping the ground with rapidly growing lilies of gold and plum.

More blood trails down the slope of her foot. Images of her beneath me as I squeeze dripping pomegranate arils over her soft green skin overcome me, and on the next breath, her moondrop honeycomb scent is rich on my tongue.

“Fallen Stars, grant me your wisdom.” I release the air in my lungs with a forceful sigh. Speeding up, I grab her by the waist with both hands and hurl her over my shoulder.

“Umph!”