CHAPTER SIX
That afternoon, Asha and I trekked out to the castle, her little form alternating between skipping, hopping, and suddenly walking as if her legs had gone limp beneath her.
I tugged her through the streets as couples walked arm in arm, some wearing thin ribbons on their wrist that fluttered in the breeze, signalling their engagement.
Businessmen and farmers tipped their hats to us, and a few familiar faces stopped to chat.
Asha’s whining cut any conversations I had short, but I didn’t mind the excuse to continue on our way, especially as the castle’s towering walls rose above the rows of brick terraced housing.
The red and tan stones speckled in the sunlight as we approached up the slight incline to where the castle stood alone in the middle of the city.
Asha stared up at it with wide eyes, her mouth slightly open.
I grinned to myself. “We’d best hurry, Asha.”
Asha trotted behind me, my hand in hers, as we walked around the palace’s perimeter. Familiar guards nodded to me and gave small waves to Asha.
“Prepare yourself to see the most beautiful flowers on the continent,” I promised as we turned the corner into the palace’s exterior gardens.
Asha squealed in response, and a grin spread across my face.
Rows of marigolds, petunias, and zinnias bloomed across the lawn.
Terraces cloaked in ivy and roses sparkled in the sunlight, framed by topiaries of Amouridian beasts: the wild unicorns that roamed the plains, the giant yellowphants of the south, the griffins and nymphs from the forests, and more.
My beloved pond shimmered as it peeked around the hedges, and trees with gleaming green leaves framed the area.
The exterior gardens were technically open to the public.
Guards stationed along the castle’s back entrance ensured no one entered the palace itself.
However, very few peasants had the time or desire to wander around looking at flowers.
The distance between crown and commoner was too great, just as the climb to reach the palace was too grueling.
Despite the midday heat, a few elite families wandered throughout, disappearing into the modest hedge maze, leaning down to smell the tulips, and pausing in awe of the blossoming trees around the garden’s perimeters.
Asha and I meandered through the rose bushes after I warned her firmly against brushing their thorny stems. We caught grasshoppers and newts amidst a tumble of giggles while playing on the palace lawn.
We did somersaults and laughed with abandon away from the eyes of courtiers, and to the amusement of the gardeners.
We spent hours enjoying the sun. Sweat soaked through the back of my gown, and my limbs began to weigh heavy in the heat. As Asha’s energy dwindled, I pointed her toward my beloved pond.
“Our final stop,” I told her. She grinned in response.
My gaze drifted across the view, stopping at the sight of David along the palace’s back wall. I sent him a wave. He winked at me, and I laughed. When I glanced back at Asha, she was gone.
I gasped.
“Asha!”
She was scrambling toward the pond on her own. I lifted up my skirts to chase her. “Asha!”
The little girl was a burst of giggles, reenacting the game of tag we’d played countless times this afternoon. She was only a few feet away from the pond.
My calves flashed beneath my hem as I raced after her, almost in my grasp…
I reached for her arm just as Asha’s foot slipped on a wet rock.
She flew backward, and I went stumbling past her into the pond.
Cold water closed over me in an instant, engulfing my senses.
A shiver coursed through me as I sank deeper.
My lungs burned, begging for air. My feet touched wet earth, and I kicked upward as hard as I could, the weight of my skirts dragging me down.
I gasped as I broke the surface, water streaming down my face. I blinked, forcing my vision to clear. Asha lay still on the ground, a few feet from the pond’s edge. A sound caught in my throat.
I swam toward her, hauling myself back onto the dirt and coughing up the last bits of water. Asha’s eyes fluttered open, her gaze unfocused.
“Asha, can you hear me?” I choked out.
Her eyes were blank. My breaths came faster.
“Here.”
Prince Thomas appeared, swishing his mage robes aside as he kneeled to the ground beside Asha. He parted her hair with his fingers to check her scalp, pausing at the red gash near the back. I let out a muffled cry at the sight of red-tinged water spreading beneath her.
With a curse, the prince rubbed his hands together, closed his eyes, and lightly ran his hands through Asha’s hair around the wound. Every interrupting croak seemed to set me more on edge. Over the next few minutes, the bleeding slowed. My muscles, still drawn taut, began to unclench.
Asha’s gaze focused once more.
“Lyranore,” she choked out.
I grasped her hand tightly. “I’m here, baby.” Her fingers attempted to curl around mine.
Prince Thomas shifted her head, his fingers flush against her skin.
The space above her face shimmered with lavender waves that looped and curved through the stiff, hot air.
After a moment, the waves settled onto Asha’s forehead like a wet rag, seeping into her skin until they disappeared altogether.
I looked up to see him now watching me intently.
“Hello?” I said.
“A thank you would be nice.”
I raised a brow. Of course he deserved my gratitude—he’d just healed Asha.
At the same time, it was hard to ignore the way he was peering at me now, with that cold edge of derision in his eyes.
His firmly-set jaw reminded me of the smallness I’d felt in his presence the first time we’d met at this very spot.
I pursed my lips. “Thank you.”
Although Asha was awake, her body was limp, her eyelids heavy with the temptation of sleep. I pulled her closer to me.
“You should be more careful,” he lectured. “She could’ve been severely hurt.”
“You think I don’t know that?” Anger pricked at my every word.
“If you’d known it, she wouldn’t be healing from a head injury at this exact moment.”
He had me there. I bit my tongue, guilt spreading throughout my chest.
“Fine,” I said. “I’m sorry. That was reckless of me.”
The crease between his brows deepened. Was he always so disapproving? So critical of the people he was supposed to serve?
My fingers clenched around Asha’s skirts. “Don’t you have somewhere to be, Your Highness?”
He narrowed his eyes once more. “It’s my palace.”
I huffed.
Asha’s eyes fluttered shut.
“Let her sleep,” he commanded. “She’ll be better in a few days. Lots of fluid, lots of rest. Bring her to a physician if she has any head pain.”
“Of course,” I murmured.
He let out a loud sigh. “And take better care of your daughter.”
I opened my mouth to respond before clamping it shut. I didn’t care to correct him. I just wanted him gone.
Prince Thomas’s gaze lingered on me, as if awaiting my response. I felt the heat of it a beat too long, and warmth crawled up my neck in a way wholly unfamiliar. When my eyes flicked up, he seemed to be observing my features, trying to find a flaw in them to exploit.
I wouldn’t give him the chance. “Goodbye, Your Highness.”
He rose to his feet, giving a polite bow. “I hope she feels better soon. That was quite the fall.”
The reminder of my auntly failure sent another wave of shame rolling through me. Asha’s small form had already curled on her side, falling into a trouble-filled slumber I knew Kelara would resent me for.
One which I fully deserved.
At my silence, the prince turned on his heel and strode across the gardens.
I pulled Asha to her feet, and when it was clear her body was too limp to stand, I picked her up, letting her arms wrap around my neck.
Humiliation followed me, whispering from the alleyways, weighing down my every step like the water that still soaked my skirts.
I carried her home in my embrace, praying over her healing, regretting ever having asked her to come with me.
But one prayer was muttered more than all the rest: I deeply, dearly, ever so strongly desired never to see Prince Thomas again.