CHAPTER 29 #2
Keenan was likely caught in a fairytale of Queen Arisa’s making, no matter what legend or overblown truth it may have been based in. She only hoped that he and his friends didn’t end up suffering for it, any more than they already had.
She winced internally. The idea of Mother making that poor girl wait until Keenan finished this quest! Not that she was any better, Sakura thought guiltily. She had the way-finder. She could have set the quest aside and directed Keenan to his missing friend at any time.
But it was too late for that now. The way-finder’s mental pull had been growing more insistent all day, drawing her toward a stand of trees on the right side of the road – a cherry orchard, if the bright pink blossoms and sweet scent on the air were any indication.
A smile tugged at her lips. She’d missed the cherry blossom festival while locked away at the winter castle.
The pace of hooves behind her sped up, and then Kasumi appeared on her right side. “They’re blooming rather late this year. Do you remember the last time we walked among the cherry trees?”
She did, but she wanted to enjoy her first time under them in three years, not spoil it with bittersweet memories.
Lifting her face to the sky, Sakura reveled in the patches of blue peeking through the multitude of pink blossoms. A light breeze drifted through the branches, shaking more of their perfume down to delight her nose.
Orange butterflies with black edging on their wings and dark butterflies with white stripes fluttered about, resting occasionally on a blossom to sip the nectar.
Aya snorted and tossed her head. Sakura returned her attention to their path, smiling when she saw Keenan looking around with bright eyes, turning a slow circle as he walked. “Do cherry trees not grow in Daraigh?”
“No idea,” he replied, flashing her a grin before he returned to studying their surroundings. “All I know is that my part of Hartford doesn’t have any.”
“These are lovely trees for a fruit-bearing variety.” Sakura glanced up at the large blossoms again. “I wonder how the farmer managed it?”
“We should stop for a meal,” Kasumi said impulsively. When Sakura looked at her, her face was glowing. “Just like when we celebrated the cherry festivals in Kurowan.”
“It is traditional,” Kagemori chimed in.
Sakura felt her face stiffen. They were correct, but did she want to? With this group?
With Keenan?
“We lack the traditional foods,” she calmly argued. She guided Aya around a tree in their path. “Therefore, we are unable to hold a traditional celebration here.”
The weapon-smith grinned and bopped her knee with his fist. “Come on, Princess, you don’t have to be perfect all the time. Let’s honor your traditions…untraditionally.”
Could she?
Another breeze wafted the scent of the cherry blossoms under her nose as Sakura directed Aya to one side.
When she found a decently level spot with dappled shade and a carpet of purple crocuses, she gently tugged the reins.
Her companions stopped next to her, watching with varying degrees of expectancy.
She lifted an eyebrow at Keenan. “Well? Are you not going to assist me with my dismount?”
While Kagemori grinned and stretched his hands toward Kasumi, the weapon-smith set his hands on his hips and quirked a half smile. “If you’re stepping outside the strict outlines of your position, shouldn’t you hop down on your own? I’ve heard you can.”
A light blush threatened to dust her cheeks at the memory, but Sakura lifted her chin and focused on the task at hand.
“A good ruler must know her people, and thus I am deigning to discover previously unknown aspects of our traditions by masquerading as a commoner. However, I would prefer to maintain some of my royal dignity.”
“Of course, ma’am.” His smile widened as he reached for her waist and lifted her down. “You can’t be less ladylike than your maid.”
“Naturally not,” she replied loftily as he set her feet on the ground. “And I’m not a ma’am.”
“You are for the next hour.” Giving her waist a light squeeze, he released her and offered an elbow. “May I lead you to the picnic, ma’am?”
Trying to ignore the pleasant feeling from his apparently unconscious squeeze, Sakura looked pointedly at his elbow. “If I am not a princess at the moment, why are you offering an escort? You only do that when my mother requires it.”
Keenan shrugged. “Being not-a-princess must be uncomfortable for you. I thought I’d ease you into it by pretending to be a gentleman.”
“You’re always a gentleman,” she responded without thinking.
When her mind caught up to her mouth, she lifted her chin and amended, “If one considers an assortment of actions as part of the definition, at least. You fail to qualify by the normal standards, but your behavior toward others sometimes approximates the expectations of a true gentleman.”
“What a glowing commendation.” He chuckled, strolling toward the circle the others had begun. “But what if I’ve only been pretending to be a gentleman? Perhaps I’m actually a cad, and I’ve simply been waiting for the right moment to reveal my true colors.”
She shook her head as memories of him hauling her to shore and holding her when she was exhausted filled her mind.
“You told me that you don’t hurt women, and I believe you.
Besides,” she continued, lightly poking his forearm above the bracer, “if I remember your tale correctly, you didn’t dispatch the bandits who pursued you after you were separated from your friends.
You may not be a trained guard, but surely you had the opportunity to mortally wound one or the other. ”
Keenan opened his mouth, then paused as they reached their companions. Sakura lowered herself to the ground as gracefully as she could.
“I would have been in real trouble with the guard if I’d ever hurt anyone that badly back home,” he said. “I guess I didn’t think about it.”
“But if you were an unscrupulous person, you would have.” She arranged her skirt while he plopped onto the grass next to her. “That’s how I know I can trust your motives.”
Kasumi passed around the food. Sakura tried to relax her demeanor enough to participate in the conversation as they ate their lunch.
But Oliver’s dark eyes watched her from across the circle with an expression she couldn’t read, and Kasumi kept glancing up at the fragrant blossoms and giving Sakura encouraging smiles.
Even Kagemori had an amused tilt to his lips whenever his eyes landed on her.
Keenan was the only one acting normally. Sitting with his right arm resting on his raised knee, he laughed with everyone, only looking at Sakura to ask questions meant to draw her into the discussion.
Keeping her attention off his bright blue eyes was difficult, but she managed it by focusing on whoever was speaking at the moment.
When that was Keenan, she forced her eyes to the blossoms bouncing in the breeze or the cheerful crocuses peeking out of the grassy field.
She wouldn’t let the familiar setting or the comfortable air of the man next to her lull her into a false sense of ease.
She couldn’t. Not when he didn’t know of their traditions.
“Princess.”
His voice brushed against Sakura’s ear, but she only noticed distantly as she watched the butterflies dancing through the cherry blossoms, the flow of conversation around her lost once she’d finally managed to separate the pleasant spring atmosphere from her awareness of her neighbor.
The sun winked at her as the breeze nudged the branches aside.
“Sakura.”
Sighing happily, she let her head fall back and closed her eyes to soak in the sunshine. When had she last enjoyed the beautiful colors of a perfect spring day? The winter castle had its gardens and flowers, but somehow, it wasn’t the same.
Something tickled her face, making her nose twitch. She lowered her chin but kept her eyes closed. It smelled like…freshly cut grass?
Suddenly, the aroma grew stronger as dozens of small points fluttered against her face. Sakura gasped, her eyes flying open to a flurry of grass blades tumbling over her. Keenan laughed heartily as she whipped around to face him.
“Did I finally get your attention?”
“You threw grass on me,” she accused. Lifting a hand, she carefully plucked a blade off her bodice. “That was a most disrespectful action to take toward a princess.”
He mashed his lips together, but he couldn’t fully suppress the mirth trying to escape. “Or a ma’am. My apologies, and let me help.”
Leaning forward on his left hand, he used his right to brush the fallen grass off her shoulders, then started picking the blades out of her hair.
He was focused on his work, but as his fingers ghosted over her hair and ears, Sakura lost her attempt at playful haughtiness.
Then his brilliant blue eyes finally caught hers.
They danced with amusement, and the corners of his lips twitched as he fought his obvious desire to laugh again.
They were closer when he helped her on and off Aya’s back. But she was used to his firm grip in that scenario, whereas the light caresses as he cleaned up his mess were new and—
And what? She wasn’t sure how to describe them or the trails of heat they left behind.
But she knew her breath shouldn’t feel short at a commoner’s touch, no matter how sweet his smiles or contagious his laughter.
It shouldn’t matter if he lightened the burden of perfection on her shoulders or if he couldn’t seem to remember to treat her with deference. She should hate him for that last one.
But she couldn’t. Some of his manners were distasteful, but if she ignored their difference in station, she had no reason to reject his company.
If he really were Prince Cedric…or if she really were a commoner sharing a cherry blossom meal with a group of friends…
“Keenan,” she whispered.
He plucked a piece of grass from the back of her head, then looked down at her, his lips spreading into a friendly smile. “Yes, Princess? Ma’am?”
Sakura opened her mouth, but she didn’t actually have anything to say. Especially when his hand drifted down her arm. The only thing she could think to comment on was his eyes, but he’d reacted poorly the last time she’d mentioned them.
His head tilted to one side as she continued silent and motionless. Then his mouth leveled out, and he swallowed.
“Do you suppose they remember we’re here?” Kagemori chuckled. “Maybe we should sneak away for a few minutes.”
Realizing she’d started leaning sideways, Sakura straightened. She folded her hands in her lap, pretending her cheeks weren’t burning.
Keenan shot to his feet. “I’m going to take a walk.” His hand pulled at the bottom of his jerkin as he stepped away from the group. “If I’m not back before you’re ready to leave, holler or send the fox after me.”
Then before Sakura could wonder what had made him run, he strode off through the orchard without a backward glance.