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Chapter 18
Four of us sat in the horse-drawn carriage while Raze rode out the front, insisting he’d warn us at the first sign of trouble. Talin lounged on the seat across from me. We’d been traveling for most of the morning and my butt was way past going to sleep. I shifted in my cushionseat.
Ash, Leven, and I sat on one bench, and Talin was across from us. All of us jostled from the bumpy path, and outside, the snow-coated forest glimmered beneath thesun.
“Have I mentioned how stunning you look?” Leven glanced my way, and my cheeksburned.
Who didn’t love compliments? Though I suspected it had a lot to do with my dress. I might not have been royal, but even so, I should get away with pretending in the chiffon gown Ash had insisted I wear. It was golden because he’d insisted it brought out my eyes. Anyone who joined royalty had to dress the part, apparently. With my hair pulled off my face by a tiara, my cheeks and lips tainted red with rose powder, I’d never felt more princess-like.
Talin snarled. “Only ten timesalready.”.
“Hey, the lady is gorgeous. Nothing wrong with telling it like it is. Half the men in Rek’s court will attempt to claimher.”
I snorted a laugh and froze in horror. Princesses didn’t laugh that way. “Yeah, until they realize I’m not a bear shifter.” Then they’d probably turn on the princes for breaking some insane rule theyfollowed.
“They won’t care,” Ash said, cutting me a side look before blowing me a kiss. Heavens, the way he stared at me with his sexy eyes made me forgetmyself.
I smiled and took his hand in mine, adoring how warm he alwaysfelt.
“Well, you three don’t look too bad yourselves.” Leven and Ash wore several layers of jackets with black pants and woolen tops to block the cold, as they wouldn’t be attending court with the rest ofus.
Talin and Raze each wore a long cloak with golden trim embroidered around the collar that was split at the middle to reveal black trousers and a doublet. Leven straightened his collar. He’d trimmed his beard, making him look younger. Still cute in my eyes. With his dark hair slicked and pulled off his face, my attention fell to the coat of arms sewn onto hislapel.
Seeing them in their finest made this somehow real, and for once, they felt like princes. I fingered the ruby necklace with a shimmering rose pendant sitting above my cleavage. This pendant alone might have bought a new house and paid off ourdebts.
“Why is there a red rose on your coat ofarms?”
“Dad once told me,” Leven began, “our mother’s grandma grafted the first plant withmagic.”
Ash had told me about their family’s rose. But something was missing. And I’d never seen this flower that was on their coat of arms. “How did your great-grandma get the snow rose to beginwith?”
“The sorcerer had added her blood to the soil to feed the first snow rose, which is why it can resist the coldest winter nights. While the flower grew on our family’s property, everyone in the household would always be blessed with luck, so every generation since continued growing the thorny flower and it was added to our coat ofarms.”
“So magic you say” Iasked.
He nodded. “A rose she’d received from a witch inTritonia.”
“Whoa, back up!” My pulse spiked. “Tritonia? You mean from a voodoo witch? Every tale I’ve heard from that place involving magic always comes with death.” So how would a beautiful rose bring a family luck if it had emerged fromdarkness?
Talin shrugged. “Even in the darkest of places, there are people who won’t blindly follow themajority.”
“Maybe you’re right.” The magic might explain why the roses die once their parents and sister had passed? They must have been linked to the family lineage… and right then I couldn’t ignore the notion that maybe the roses hadn’t revived since because they’d known what fate awaited the princes. I shivered, hating that I’d had thatthought.
I glanced out the window as a family of deer froze in the distance, staring our way. Alert and watchful over their littleones.
Saving the princes pressed on my chest, yet as I sat in the carriage with them, I couldn’t deny we’d formed a bond. It felt as if we’d known each other for so long, but now a desperation clung to my ribs, reminding me I might losethem.
“So how do you think today will go?” I fidgeted with the ribbon tied around my waist, pretending to sit at peace, but my pulse raced. Should I bow or curtsey? Do I wait to be addressed before speaking or never meet the cousin’s eyes until calledupon?
“What do I need to know about being in a court?” Dread clenched mygut.
Leven sat across from me, his legs spread on either side of mine, and he leaned forward. “It’s easy.” He took my hand in his. “They’ll know you’re human and won’t expect you to know our customs. Be polite, answer when they ask you a question, and stay close to Raze and Talin. They’ll keep yousafe.”
His thumb caressed the back of my hand, pushing away my primal urge to run in the oppositedirection.
Talin’s gaze fell to his feet. “As soon as this is sorted, I’ll put this mess to an end and do what I’ve been putting off toolong.”
“I wish you could convince our priestess in Terra to change. She’s maniacal and inflicts punishment without a trial.” Like the family who’d been accused of bartering for magic spells with someone from Darkwoods. A week later, the whole family had vanished, and I bet the priestess had played a hand in theirbanishing.
