Chapter 9
Enid
Nevan’s hard body collided with mine as I toppled backward onto my lily pad, bringing him down with me. Every muscled part of his body molded to mine, and my first instinct was to shove him off me.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I yelled, pushing him.
He landed beside me, spectacles falling from his face, causing the lily pad to undulate. The edge of the lily pad folded under his weight, and his eyes widened as he yelled, “I can’t swim,” and rolled right into the channel.
The water swallowed the rest of his words as he slipped underwater, and it took me a moment to process everything that had just happened. Nevan floating toward me with flowers. Nevan falling on top of me. Me shoving Nevan into the water as he screamed.
I stared at Vine, blinking. “Did he just say he can’t—”
Nevan’s head emerged again.
“Help!” His garbled words interrupted my thoughts, arms flailing as his head disappeared again.
I stood. “You’ve got to be joking. Do you want to get him, then?” Vine shook its head, then slumped into a coil like it was bored of this whole situation.
I supposed I didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t very well let the high prince’s brother die. I’d be exiled for certain.
I heaved a sigh and dove into the channel, cold water rushing around me as I searched for Nevan. Sun rays shone into the water, illuminating the murky depths. The water was clearer today, making it easier to locate the stupid man sinking toward the bottom, his arms and legs moving furiously.
I kicked my legs out behind me, swimming toward him and reaching for him. His eyes widened as he saw me, relief flooding his features. Bubbles escaped from his mouth, and I stopped, floating right in front of him, our eyes locked.
Fish darted around us, one grazing my cheek as it swam by. They reminded me of an overcast sky, my favorite kind of weather.
Nevan yelled something, more bubbles fleeing his mouth, and I jolted, remembering that I could stay underwater far longer than a mortal. I gripped his hands tighter, swimming and pulling him up with me while he kicked his legs frantically.
We broke the surface of the water, and I dragged Nevan onto the lily pad. We flopped onto our backs, chests heaving as we stared at the sky, Vine now gone. It had probably gone to catch some prey somewhere.
After I caught my breath, I turned my head to look at him. “You can’t swim?”
He coughed, chest still rising and falling with rapid breaths. “I never learned.”
“That seems like something one should learn,” I said, irritated by this entire situation. I was soaked, my boots waterlogged and possibly ruined, and the only cobbler in town happened to hate me, so my chances of getting new boots were slim.
Nevan’s lips twitched as he sat up and offered his hand to me. I grasped it, and he pulled me up to a seated position across from him.
“Why are you all the way out here?” he asked, grabbing his spectacles and putting them back on.
“I’m out here because there are humans rooting around my land.” I gestured out past the border, but the men were gone. Dammit. I’d wanted to confront them.
Nevan raised a brow. “Humans? You say that word like you’re not one.”
Shite. I needed to stop doing that. “Of course I am,” I snapped.
“So where are these ‘humans’?” I ignored his annoying use of quotations.
“They were here. Before you so rudely interrupted.”
He swiped his wet hair from his forehead. “You know Cillian wouldn’t like you being so close to our border. If anyone sees you . . .”
I waved away his words. “I know, I know. Then they could possibly discover the hidden city in the bog, and then the brotherhood might find you again—”
“And we can’t move a second time.” The gentleness of his tone surprised me.
He was so different from Prince Cillian.
Every time the high prince spoke to me, it was with sarcasm and amusement, like I was some joke. But Nevan seemed so genuine.
His shirt was plastered to his body, see-through and revealing a toned chest covered with thick, dark curls.
He cleared his throat, and my cheeks heated, gaze snapping up. But his eyes were taking me in as well, which was when I realized I was still in my silk black robe from this morning. I’d never gotten dressed, and I was practically naked with the thin fabric molded to my skin.
My bare thighs and legs were splayed out in front of me, and the tie around my waist had come partly undone, revealing . . . a lot of cleavage.
I quickly closed the robe and cinched it tight, glaring at Nevan. “Is there a reason you’re here?”
He cleared his throat, the tips of his ears turning red as he reached for the bouquet of flowers behind him and shoved them toward me.
“These are for you.”
I stared at them, blinking. Nevan didn’t offer any further explanation, and I wasn’t sure I wanted one.
I tilted my head. Wait a minute. I wasn’t just looking at any random assortment of flowers. I was looking at my flowers. Various ones from my bog. Poisonous, deadly flowers that Nevan had collected.
For me.
I reached out and took it, my hand brushing his.
“What is this for?” I asked.
“Uh.” He scratched his stubbled jaw. “It’s a bouquet for you to look at? Have you never received flowers from anyone?”
“Why would you give someone flowers?” I asked. This was probably some human custom I’d never learned.
One of the blue flowers opened its petals to reveal a gel-like center. If one touched it, they’d get a horrible rash.
“Well, sometimes people like flowers.” Nevan eyed me like I was an enigma. “They like to put them in a vase somewhere they can admire them.”
I scoffed. Humans. Instead of enjoying nature and letting it be, they had to hack it to pieces and bring it inside so they could sit in their homes and never leave.
“Apparently, you are not one of those people,” Nevan mumbled. “I’m sorry. This was my attempt to show you that maybe courting me won’t be so bad. And I asked Fiona for her help.”
“That’s why she showed up unannounced this morning?”
He grimaced. “I asked her to keep you at your cottage, which she didn’t do. In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have trusted a child with that task, but she’s the only one who’s not . . .” He pressed his lips together.
“Afraid of me?” I asked.
He winced. “Well, yes.”
A rainbow of colors burst from the bouquet. It was beautiful. I’d never arranged my flowers like this, put them all together and just stared at them. And despite the absurdity of it, knowing Nevan did this for me sent strange flutters through my stomach.
It was odd but sweet.
“Did any of them hurt you?” My eyes roamed his chest, shoulders, and arms, looking for any injuries and maybe taking note of all the sculpted muscles.
“That pink one tried to stab me, but for the most part, they behaved.” He rubbed his jaw again. “I just wanted to give you something beautiful to put in your cottage.”
I blinked, my brain stuck on that word. Beautiful. He’d just called my flowers, one of which had tried to stab him, beautiful. No one had ever used that word to describe my creations.
Monstrous. Abominable. Horrifying, maybe. Not beautiful.
“Okay.” I blew out a breath, unable to believe I was actually agreeing to this plan. This morning, I’d been set on leaving for the Otherworld, but between my memories of the marillian zealous, humans invading my bog, and this odd gesture from Nevan, I’d made a snap decision.
“Okay what?” Nevan asked, brows knitting.
“Okay.” I waved my hand. “I’ll do the whole fake courting thing.”
His mouth dropped open for a moment before he shut it. “Amazing. That’s amazing. You’re amazing. I mean . . . this is going to be . . .”
“Amazing?” My lips twitched, and I was dangerously close to smiling. “Are you sure about this? Instead of improving my reputation, this could just hurt yours.”
He flashed me a smile, dimples appearing in his cheeks, and for a moment, it took my breath away. “Impossible.” He leaned forward, lowering his voice like he was sharing a secret. “I’m really, really likable.”
I huffed. “I don’t think you’re that likable.”
“Oh, you’ll see. By the end of this, you’ll have to resist falling for me.”
I narrowed my gaze at him. “Not a chance. You can’t even swim.”
He raised an eyebrow. “So that’s the standard? You’ll only fall for a man who can swim?”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not above shoving you back into this bog.”
He just laughed, shoulders shaking.
We sat in silence, looking at the view of the bog with the city of Fairwitch in the background. My mind turned over this entire ridiculous scheme. “Instead of going to all this trouble, why not just tell your mother you don’t want to court anyone?”
He sighed. “Because it’s not that easy. I don’t want to disappoint her. She’s been through a lot.”
He didn’t elaborate, but sadness filled his eyes, a heaviness I didn’t understand weighing down his words.
“She worries about me. She worries about all her sons, and if I can make her happy by courting someone, then I will.”
“But we’re not staying together forever.” Panic filled me at the thought. Godwitches be. We hadn’t even discussed the details.
“No,” he said quickly. “You have eight weeks, right? Eight weeks until this vote. We’ll wait until after the vote happens in your favor, and then you’ll break up with me.”
I raised a brow. “I will?”
He put a hand to his chest. “And I’ll be so heartbroken I won’t possibly be able to move on.”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Won’t that make your mother worry even more?”
He snorted. “Tell me how you really feel. And no, I think it’ll make her realize what I’ve known all along.”
“Which is what, exactly?”
“That I’m not relationship material. She’ll see how I throw myself back into work, how happy it makes me, and she’ll stop bothering me about finding someone to settle down with.”
“I suppose it’s not the worst plan in the world.”
He barked out a laugh. “Thank you. I think that might be a compliment.”
“Don’t stretch it.”
He stuck out his hand, and I looked down at it, then up at his face. “What is this?”
“We shake on it,” he said. “We make a deal and shake?”
I hesitated a moment but reached out, grasping his hand. His grip was firm and strong, his palm warm despite just being in the frigid water. “You’ve got yourself a girlfriend.”
“I’m going to tell my family tonight at dinner. Are you free tomorrow to talk more about the details?”
“Fine.” I hesitated. “Don’t you have work to get back to?”
He leaned back on his hands and took a deep breath. “Yeah, I was just enjoying the view. I’ve never been all the way out here near the border. It’s breathtaking.”
We fell into silence again, and while Nevan enjoyed the view, I worried over what I’d just agreed to. We were really doing this. I only hoped I wouldn’t regret it.