Page 16 of Manor of Wind and Nightmares (Fae of Brytwilde #3)
He stood and gathered the bedroll, folding it neatly. It seemed that I was dismissed, that my question would go unanswered. I wondered at his solemnity and what he was thinking.
Without another word, I slipped away to find Daisy and let her clothe me in a new extravagant dress, far too fine to travel in for my taste.
She scolded me the entire time for my weakness in crying out and attracting the water wraith to me, nearly revealing my secret and ruining our plans with my close encounter with death.
Even if I’d found a point in protesting her endless scorn, I was too weary in body and mind to care, and I endured her words without a sound.
After a hurried breakfast, our party continued onward through the forest, following a well-kept dirt road that wound beside the Willow River.
Once again forced to sit close beside Junseo in the buggy, I stared out the window and studied the way the sunlight glinted off the river, internally shuddering as I imagined the water wraiths that lurked beneath its surface.
Brytwilde was a strange place, beautiful and enticing and magical, yet deadly and gruesome and cruel.
Even after my time training in Emberglade, I still wasn’t accustomed to the ways of the fae world.
“Shall we play a game to pass the time?” Junseo pulled my attention from the view out the window as he nudged my shoulder.
Withdrawing a deck of cards from his jacket pocket, he raised his eyebrows.
“Do you like strategy games? There’s one quite popular among us guards right now that I could teach you.
But we’ll have to lay the cards on our laps in this tight space. ”
Nodding, I listened as he dealt the cards between us and explained the rules of a game he called “Avenge the King.”
“The victor is whoever wins the most out of five rounds. But to make this a little more interesting...at the end of each round, what if the victor can ask the loser whatever question they desire?” He raised his eyebrows. “A game of truth and strategy, if you will.”
“All right,” I said, gathering up my cards and inspecting them. My one advantage in Brytwilde was that no one expected me to be able to lie, a fact that meant I didn’t even need to be a talented liar. I had nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Turning toward Junseo as best as I could on our shared seat, we lost ourselves in the game. I tried to ignore the way our knees and thighs pressed against each other as we lay our cards in our laps and laughed or bemoaned each small victory and loss.
“You’re looking at my cards,” I teased Junseo in mock-horror, clutching my hand closely to my chest.
He leaned even closer, until our faces were dangerously near. I held my breath, trapped in his gaze, trying not to let myself be affected. “No, no, I think you were peeking at mine.” He laughed.
I rolled my eyes, pretending to be offended, and laid down my next card. “I win!” I declared gleefully.
The corner of the captain’s mouth twitched. “Beginner’s luck.” As he gathered up his cards, handing them to me so I could deal for the next round, he asked, “What do you wish to know?”
I’d been calculating what would draw out the most useful information about Prince Kaede, and yet, when I met Junseo’s eyes, I longed to ask about him.
I ached with the desire to know everything about him, from the smallest of preferences like the colors and foods he favored to the bigger things, like his dreams and fears.
My mouth dried as the moment stretched between us, the silence becoming fraught with everything I left unsaid.
And then, I turned away, breaking the spell.
“The prince.” I felt like I was pressing through a fog, everything I’d carefully planned to ask all but forgotten.
“Does he...hope the marriage will become a union of love, eventually?” I swallowed.
“That is to say, will he want to spend time making my acquaintance?”
Junseo gazed over my shoulder, his eyes distant as he watched the passing scenery. “Yes, he will want to know you.”
Wordlessly, I focused on the cards as I dealt them, hoping Junseo didn’t see the emotions on my face. Regret. Anxiety. Pain.
It was good that Prince Kaede would want to spend time with me, as it would provide me with plenty of opportunities to strike. But it would also make my mission so much harder.
Trying to force the feelings down, I focused on the game and what new question I could ask, but the captain won the next round.
He leaned back as far as the buggy would allow, stretching his arms, the picture of lazy confidence. “What’s your favorite color?”
I clasped a hand over my mouth to stifle an unladylike bark of laughter. “What?”
Junseo dipped his chin toward my dress, an absurd confection that took up far too much space and weighed more than any outfit should with its beadwork and gems. “Surely not whatever shade of green that is. Do you even choose your own wardrobe, or does your father and his court make every decision for you?”
My eyes widened. “Excuse me?” It wasn’t difficult to inject indignance into my voice.
“You never would have chosen a dress like that on your own. Or anything you’ve worn on this trip. It’s obvious how uncomfortable you are, even if you try to conceal it.” He sat up, his gaze far too piercing. “It’s as if you wear a mask, a second skin.”
I set my jaw, hating how close to the mark he was. “I wear what is appropriate for a princess of Emberglade.” It was a perfectly diplomatic nonanswer.
The captain merely grinned, delight shining in his eyes, as if I’d confessed something. “Your favorite color, princess,” he pressed.
“Violet.” I closed my eyes and imagined the purple twilight sky at my estate back home, the lavender and hyacinths and violets in the gardens my mother had tended, and the amethysts that had shimmered in her favorite necklace.
The one that, after she’d passed, Lavinia had insisted was rightfully hers as the eldest daughter.
Slowly, I opened my eyes, finding my vision had gone misty. “It reminds me of my mother.”
Junseo’s playful grin vanished instantly, solemnity straightening his lips and pain shadowing his gaze. “I’m sorry,” he said, startling me.
For a moment, I’d let myself forget who I was supposed to be, and I’d imagined he’d somehow realized what had become of my own mother. No, he knows Princess Briar lost hers. Because his king murdered her.
“It wasn’t you who slew her.” I looked away, not wanting him to see the tears threatening to escape.
“But it was my...” He sighed. “My king.”
“It was long ago.” A tear slipped down my cheek anyway, and before I could reach up to dash it away, Junseo brushed his thumb over it.
“I’m so sorry to be the cause of your pain, even indirectly,” he murmured.
My breath caught in my chest. For a moment, we were frozen, his dark eyes staring into mine, his hand still pressed tenderly to my cheek. He swiped his thumb over my cheekbone in another caress—once, twice.
And then as suddenly as he’d touched me, he pulled back.
Trying to ignore the tension hovering between us, I forced a smile. “Time for the next round?”
But that was when our carriage began to slow, and, looking out the window, I realized we’d left the forest behind and entered a town.
“Greenriver,” Junseo announced. “We’ll be stopping here for the night. It looks like we’ll have to put our game on hold.”
Soon enough, we pulled up to the inn, a quaint building of weathered stone overgrown with moss and ivy and surrounded by fragrant flowers and shrubs.
Junseo went in to make the arrangements for our stay, but when he returned, opening our buggy door and offering me a crooked smile, butterflies fluttered in my stomach.
“I should have informed you sooner that we will need to share a room.”
I swallowed thickly. “Surely I’d be safe staying with my maids.” Although the thought of being forced to spend the night near any or all of them was stomach-curdling, considering how much they hated me, I worried too much time with the captain would reveal my secret.
Or endanger my silly, traitorous heart.
Junseo shook his head. “Absolutely not. I can take no risks with your life. Last night proved that.” His gaze was sharp, as if daring me to contradict him.
“You make it seem as if someone would sneak through the window and murder me in my sleep.” I arched a brow at him. “Here, in this little town?”
Silently, the captain offered me his hand, and I took it, trying to ignore the spark of heat that surged up my arm in response to that simple touch as I stepped down from the buggy.
“Not everyone in Willowbark is thrilled with your presence, princess. I would be remiss in my duties if I didn’t keep you close.”
Though his words, spoken in a rich voice that rumbled deliciously through my chest, made my heart skip a beat, I knew he did not mean them romantically.
And it is foolish to let yourself swoon, I reminded myself firmly. You just met him, and you’re here to assassinate his prince.
I was a woman of logic, of reason. So why was my heart determined to make me into a fool?