Chapter 8
After some time, the four of us found ourselves trudging through the forest next to where we’d sat.
Cyrus led, his boots crushing the sticks and scattered leaves of our uncharted trail, and just when I had decided to call attention to how convinced I was that we were lost, he stopped.
He swept his hand out to show us the prize for our efforts— a lake, or pond, or whatever the difference was, living within rock and surrounded by trees.
Mr. Evergreen was too proud of himself, and his grin was not going to let us go on without praising him for it first.
“Well?” he insisted.
“It’s lovely,” I said. “Not sure it was worth the agony it took to get here, but-”
“We should go swimming!” Josie called.
Her eyes were alight, but then she caught the implication of that suggestion, and both Ser Willoughby and I turned to her, strangely afflicted with matching faces.
“Swimming?” I asked. “I haven’t my swim attire.”
Cyrus snapped his fingers at her idea, excited. “Said the Princess. Shall I show you and your knight how us lowly commoners survive our summers then?”
He weaseled out of his jacket and tossed it aside, leaving us hyper-aware of his intent.
When he lost his vest, Willoughby turned me from the sight. I could barely see Mr. Evergreen out of the corner of my eye. He had left his undershirt and trousers on, but nothing else, and I was stricken by the idea of his dismantling.
I looked, then turned back, blinking in total awe, forcing my mouth to shut, and then praying Ser Willoughby had not seen my excitement. When Mr. Evergreen ran and leaped into the water, there was a loud, cascading splash. I gasped at its crash, and my cousin snickered like a child.
“This has taken a turn,” he considered. “Are you uncomfortable?”
“Well, um.” I peeked back then refocused. “I mean. Wow, he is, uh…” I stopped, eyes widening. “Not that I…”
Willoughby nodded his head. “Right.”
I watched Josie wring her hands, less faithful to executing her own suggestion. After a breath, she lost the dress but left everything else—the shift and stockings. Willoughby did not look at her. He only looked at me.
“I will take you back to the Palace if you ask,” he said. “Say the word, cousin.”
I turned, hesitant, to observe the scene. Cyrus splashed nothing, but he met my eyes from his place in the pool.
“I think I might be fine with it,” I told him, directing myself to only his face. “As long as you are. I… I don’t want to force you here. This is… This is not… Well.”
He paused. “I’m fine with it, if you are, Svana,”
“You are?” I asked.
“Aye.”
“You’re sure?”
“I’m sure,” he said. “It’s not like it’s my first time in a pond with half-naked strangers.”
“It’s not?” I asked.
He shrugged. “If you want to leave, we’ll leave. My loyalty is to you.”
“I don’t want to leave,” I said. “I just… I don't want you to tell Elías that I don’t want to leave.”
“Are you absolutely mad?” he asked. He motioned toward Mr. Evergreen. “Do you think I want the Lord Commander to know I let you swim like this?”
“No?”
“And with him?” he asked. “No thanks. He’d probably murder me for it.”
“Maybe. He would definitely end Mr. Evergreen,” I said.
Willoughby danced his brow. “Absolutely. But if you’re fine with sacrificing him…” He shrugged off his shirt and, with a cheeky grin, purposely fell backward into the water with a loud smack.
I darted back to avoid getting wet, and, after a few moments of careful, terrified consideration, I pulled the fastening loose from my dress.
Josie asked if I needed help, but I said no, and when the beaded thing struck the bed, I simply moved out of it.
I stopped near the edge. Willoughby offered his hand from the water.
“He might spare Jocelyn,” I whispered. “But not, um…” I swallowed. “Not me. No, I’ll be the first to go, I think.”
Cyrus treaded in place, barely past my cousin. He said, “Get in the water, Swan.”
“Is it cold, Mr. Evergreen?” I called.
“You can swim, right?” he asked.
“Of course I can swim,” I said. “Is it cold?”
“Are you sure you can swim?” he teased.
I nodded. “I’m quite sure.”
Willougby began to say something, but Miss Jocelyn splashed him. He turned and cocked his head. She giggled and hurried from him; he swam after her. My Sword was not distracted. He came closer, until it was shallow enough that he could stand, then he walked out and toward me.
“Get in the water, Swan,” he repeated.
I shook my head and badly attempted to turn for my clothes, but Mr. Evergreen kept advancing, bearing a playful, predatory look in his eyes.
His shirt clung to his body like he was molded from clay, sculpted by the hands of an expert at the peak of his craft, and the light colored fabric against his peachy, sun-kissed skin more than hinted at the inspiring shape beneath.
“W-What are you doing?” I asked, arming myself with a shoe. “Stay back!”
He dipped, threatening to collect me at the legs, and I scooted one way, holding my heel tighter. He did it again, and I gulped.
Then I stalled, blatantly admiring his form, unable to resist the thought that his clothes left nothing to the imagination and only showcased how taut his chest was as he moved.
I was lightheaded. He forced me toward the woods and to where I’d have to step down stone to escape.
Then he was so quick that I could not avoid him, and I even dropped my shoe.
“You can swim, can’t you?” he asked as he snaked around my hips and threw me over his shoulder, like an absolute rogue. “Speak now or forever hold your peace!”
“Help! What are you doing?” I cried, pounding my fists into his back. “Put me down this instance!”
“As you wish it, Your Highness,” he said, but only to release me into the water.
I went in and under. The water was blue around me.
Bubbles raced toward the surface, and, as soon as I surfaced, I thrashed and gasped and fought to see past my defeated and deflated braid.
Cyrus held nothing back. He cackled as he jumped in.
I could hear the water move in waves as he swam closer, and then I saw him, finally, as he brushed the hair from my face.
He smoothed it into the rest, and he smiled.
“That’s a good look for you, Princess,” Mr. Evergreen said. He whispered, “Wet.”
Willoughby and Josie came closer. They waited for my response. I thought to yell at my attacker; I thought to be upset, but I was amused, and strangely, I was relieved to feel so normal. I smiled back and then doused the afterglow of his compliment by dunking him beneath.
He rushed back, returning the favor, and the four of us played rowdily and stupidly for an hour before our fingers were so wrinkly, we got out before we couldn’t.
Ser Willoughby returned Issac and Tails to their pens for me. The other half of our party dismounted outside.
He asked, “Did you have fun today, Your Highness?”
In a panic, I asked, “Do you swear you won’t tell Elías what we’ve done?”
“Tell him what?” He latched the gate, taking one of the rags from its hook and wiping his hands.
“Are you very serious?” I scoffed. “About the pond! And the picnic, and that I was so badly behaved.”
“I don’t remember any bad behavior, cousin,” he said.
“Don’t you? What will you say when he asks where we went?” I groaned. “God, this was so stupid. How could I be so stupid? Was it even worth the day?”
His shoulders moved. “Svana, relax.”
“But he’ll-”
“No. He won’t. ‘Cause he doesn't have to know, so he won’t know. Alright?”
“You’ll lie to him?” I asked. “To Ser Elías? He’s your Lord Commander, you fiend!”
“I won’t lie to him; I just won’t tell him,” Willoughby said.
“You won’t?” I asked. “Aren’t you required? Is that not your purpose?”
“Look. The thing is, Elías just wants to see that you’re taken care of.
Yeah? I don’t know if you know this, but that man worries himself sick about you.
And no. That’s not my purpose. He didn’t tell me to report every detail back; he told me to see to your safety and to step in when necessary.
I don’t remember stepping in, and you are safe, aren’t you? ”
“I am…”
“And you had fun, yeah?” he asked.
“I suppose I did,” I said.
“Yes or no?” he asked.
“Yes. Yes, I had fun. So much fun, and it feels so ridiculous. And if Eli knew that I had put myself in a position where-”
“Where you, what, exactly?” he asked. “Enjoyed yourself?”
“I was in nothing but my shift, Ser,” I said.
“As was Miss Jocelyn. And Mr. Evergreen and I both wore less than all our things.”
“But… If I could not dress that way in public, then-”
“Right, but you were not in public; you were in the privacy of your friends, and I was there to protect you. And I would’ve, had I been required to.”
“But—”
“If you don’t wish to swim like that again, let’s not do it. But if you had fun, and if you were alright with how things unfolded, then let’s not consider what could have happened. Let’s just enjoy that it did.”
“You actually sound a lot like Mr. Evergreen right now,” I said.
He smiled. “I’ll take that as a compliment. You seem very fond of him.”
“He’s my friend,” I said.
“As far as I’m concerned, the four of us rode around the countryside this afternoon. If the Lord Commander learns of any ponds, it won’t be from me.”
“Really?”
“Yes,” he said. “Really.”
“I, I don’t know what to say. I feel indebted to you.”
“You’re not.” He pondered for a moment. “...Do you remember when my brothers and I came to stay in the summer one year?” he asked.
“Ah. I see you’ve been talking to Miss Jocelyn again,” I said.
“Miss Jocelyn?” he asked. “Not about you. Why? What do you mean? Have you been talking about me to her? Has she?”
“Oh, I, uh.”
“Like…” He leaned in. “In a good way?”
“I, uh, well, I would definitely wager she has nothing bad to say about you, cousin,” I said.
“I see.”
“You were saying?” I asked.
“Sorry, yeah.” He still paused.
“Willoughby?”
“Sorry. I just meant to allude to the fact that, uh… Sorry.”
“When you and your brothers stayed…?” I led him.
“Right. I meant, I remember thinking how busy you must be not to have time for us. But now, and I do mean this with care, I think I realize maybe you just didn’t know how to spend time with us.”
“I think I was likely in lessons,” I replied.
“I don’t mean it rudely; I mean, I don’t think His Majesty let you be kid much, did he?
” he asked. “It’s alright to have fun. It’s alright to like that you had fun.
It’s alright to be friends with Mr. Evergreen.
It’s not as though you wandered into the forest to well, you know, engage in poor decisions with him and be discovered in a cottage.
You just swam with the lot of us. That’s all. ”
“Nothing happened at the cottage,” I told him. “We had wine, just like today.”
“It’s really not about what did or didn’t happen,” he said. “It’s about what it looks like happened. Trust me, I’ve learned this as a Blade.”
“Well, you and Miss Josie are here now, so I cannot foresee any chance of misinterpretations from here on out,” I said. “You can lay off the scolding now.”
“I’m not scolding you,” he said. “I’m offering you my assistance.”
“Your assistance?” I asked.
“Yes. Let me help you maintain your image, Your Highness,” he said. “Let me protect it. Protect you.”
“Why would you want to do that? Why-Why are you being so nice to me?” I asked.
“You’re my cousin,” he said.
“And?”
“And? You need an and? Alright. And you're our future Queen. And I’m your knight. And I enjoy seeing you happy.”
I could not process the moment. I defused it, saying, “I’m not lying. We didn’t… We really just talked in the cottage, Ser.”
“I believe you,” he said.
“You do?”
“Yes. I’m actually very good at reading people; you’re a mess around him, and Mr. Evergreen does seem well-meaning.
If he had hurt you or if he had been inappropriate, you both would have provided different behaviors in my presence, and he would have responded differently when I confronted him for such things. ”
“When you threatened him, you mean?”
“Tomato, potato,” he said. He waved it off. “I’m glad we had today. I’m glad you invited Miss Jocelyn. I very much enjoyed her company.”
Cyrus entered the barn with her, as if he’d invoked her. She was locked into whatever method he was explaining, listening intently as he spoke of the various parts of a saddle.
I said, “She only says good things,” and it brought his gaze from her to me. “Thank you. That’s what I should say,” I explained.
“For what?”
“For letting me swim today, Ser Willoughby. No, just for today. Thank you for being nice to me,” I said.
“You’re very welcome.”
“In exchange, I’ll grant you one thing she said about you, should you ask it from me.”
“No,” he replied.
“No?”
“No, thank you. I’m moved that you would extend the offer, but if she wanted me to know, she would’ve told me herself,” he said. “I respect her too deeply to pry.”
“That’s rather gallant,” I said.
“And self-serving,” he said. “This way, I appear a humble man, while maintaining my control. It is nice to know she said more than one thing, though. You left that slip, didn’t you?”
I was surprised. “Oh, I guess I did. She said many things, cousin,” I played. “But never mind. You don’t care.”
He shifted.
“No, no,” I added. “You’re humble, remember? See you tomorrow.”