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“It would be my pleasure to take the ladies in my phaeton, if Lord…”
“Larkin,” Ben muttered beneath his breath and feared that the man wouldn’t be able to hear.
Fortunately, he did hear, when no one else appeared to.
“If Lord Larkin would like to accompany us on horseback.”
“What a great idea!” Lady Rathbourne immediately agreed.
“You can take Lord Rathbourne’s gray gelding, Lord Larkin,” she told Ben. “He is very dignified and well-behaved. He will give you no trouble at all.”
Ben hadn’t ridden horses before, but he was certain he could handle it. After all, he was adragonrider. How hard could it be?
Thus decided, the four of them prepared to depart. The prince and Brigid, Annie and Ben.
He was somewhat surprised that Lady Rathbourne didn’t try to push one of her daughters in the prince’s direction instead, or that one of the sisters didn’t flirt harder.
But it seemed that the Rathbournes truly embraced Brigid as one of their own, despite her status as a distant cousin. The smiles on the ladies’ faces and the stern, but indulgent look on Lord Rathbourne as they waved them goodbye proved it.
As Ben passed the vase of flowers in the foyer, however, a movement caught his eye.
He leaned in closer for a better look—
And almost leapt back in revulsion.
The petals of the chrysanthemums curled and unfurled like tiny snakes. He could almost hear them hissing. The leaves of the roses moved like insects with jagged teeth, and the stalks of the orchids grew praying mantis claws.
What the hell was going on?!
But just as he was about to inspect more closely, or get Annie to give a second opinion, Brigid sailed by and waved her hand over the blooms upon passing, smiling joyfully at the extravagant arrangement.
Instantly, the flowers became flowers once more, instead of hideous insects and snakes.
More so, the chrysanthemum petals lit with an internal light, their ends blinking as if they were touched by stardust. The roses practically throbbed with vibrancy, their colors fuller and brighter than before. And the orchids literallysmiledas if their delicate core were faces, and the petals were bonnets.
Ben didn’t think it was his imagination that the flowers leaned in Brigid’s direction as she walked by.
Like she was the sun, and they were sunflowers basking in her light.
“Did you see that?” he hissed to Annie, pulling her aside as she came by.
“What?” she asked, immediately looking around for anything amiss.
“That,” he said, pointing to the overflowing bouquet.
“The gorgeous flowers? What about them?”
She squinted and wrinkled her nose.
“I wish men in my age range back home still possessed gentlemanly manners. Who gives a woman flowers nowadays? They barely talk to you anymore. Just half formed codes of text over the phone, even when you’re sitting right next to each other. Honestly, it sucks sometimes to be a girl in the City. This right here is why I binge romance novels.”
“You don’t see anything weird about these flowers?” he pressed.
She looked closer, holding some of the blossoms to her face and inhaling their scent.
He tensed to leap to the rescue if any of the flowers suddenly bit or scratched her, but they remained as they were. Except, they almost looked as if they were cradling her hands and face, like cats arching their backs to be petted further.
“No, nothing,” she said.
