Chapter Seven #2
I saw him again when we stopped at the Pavilion for a rest, only this time, I got a better view of him. It was him. My eyes went wide, and I felt heat flood my face.
“Are you okay?” Castien questioned.
“Uh I—I see someone I know.” Or knew of.
I didn’t actually know Raylen of Moonscliffe, but I had followed his exploits as if they were a particularly compelling novel.
I felt as if I knew him, and I’d had many dreams of meeting him.
Fantasies of meeting him, really. Fantasies that I would not share with anyone, because they were nearly as heated as my encounter with Castien beneath the tree the day before.
“You should go say hi.”
Could I? Could I really walk up to Raylen and just speak to him?
He was Raylen of Moonscliffe after all. He was a celebrity known all across the realm, and I was a nobody from Emberleigh.
What would I even say to him? But Castien was looking at me with such expectation in his eyes that I couldn’t say no.
I told him I’d be right back and walked over to Raylen. I could feel Castien’s eyes on me as I cut through the crowd, and that dreamer’s voice suggested that maybe this would make him seethe with jealousy.
I approached the handsome Dun Steorran man. My mouth was dry, and I had no idea what I would say to him when I got there, but I kept moving. Surely the words would find me when I reached him, and I would sound suave and smooth and like a competent member of society.
“Oh my Gods, are you Raylen?”
Or not.
He looked at me, his bright eyes curious. “I am,” he confirmed. “And who might you be?”
The tales had not been exaggerated. His voice was as smooth as honey and just as sweet to my ears. He was muscular and tall, and his arms. Oh, his arms. I could imagine how they would feel wrapped around me, pulling me close to his body in a lover’s embrace. My cheeks grew hotter.
“N-nobody,” I stuttered out. “I mean, I am somebody, but nobody you would have heard of.” I did not sound smooth or suave or competent.
Why had I allowed myself to think this was a good idea?
I was good at finding lovers in Emberleigh and the surrounding villages, lovers who had enough in common with me to find grounds for conversation.
What did I have in common with a celebrity like Raylen?
He was still looking at me, though, and he had not wandered off to mock me with his glamorous friends. It occurred to me that he was still waiting for an introduction. “Oleander,” I told him. My family’s surname wasn’t important. “What brings you to market?”
“Work.”
“Not marriage?” Why would I ask that? I had sworn off my mission to find a spouse, because my attentions had been captured by Castien.
Hearing that Raylen was here seeking a lifelong companion would just fill me with regret when I returned to Emberleigh, make me question what if once the high of Castien’s presence faded away.
“No, not marriage.” He looked around the Pavilion for a moment before the full weight of his attentions landed on me. “Are you here for marriage?”
“I was.”
“Did you meet someone?”
I looked over my shoulder and found Castien where I’d left him. He smiled when he saw me, and my heart fluttered. “I did, but I do not think it will be for marriage.”
“And why is that?” Raylen questioned. He followed my line of sight. “He is very handsome.”
“He is,” I confirmed, “but he is not looking for a husband. His focuses are elsewhere.”
“He’s looking at you like he’s looking for a husband.
” My cheeks flushed, and I found myself unable to look at Raylen.
Was he speaking the truth? I had not seen Castien look at me that way, but I remembered his kiss and his touch from the day before.
They’d held more passion than any other I’d had experienced.
“Are you certain he’s not looking to be married? ”
“Quite certain.” He’d told me as much. “We are companions, but it is only for the week. He lives in Gearwick. I live in Emberleigh. It is impossible.”
The words sank to my stomach.
“If I believed that things were impossible, I would never have found my fortune.”
There was truth in his words. He was known for doing the impossible. I did not know if it was magic or if he was abnormally blessed in a way I had never been.
“I am not you.” My tone sounded pathetically forlorn to my own ears. “Anyone would turn themselves inside out to be with you.” He raised a brow, and I knew I’d said too much. I thought my face might turn to flame with how hot it felt. “I mean—I—Uh—”
“I understand what you mean.” He smiled, and I knew why so many felt butterflies in their stomach at the simple thought of him. “Do not sell yourself short though, Oleander. You are a handsome man as well, and he would be lucky to have you by his side.”
Raylen of Moonscliffe had just called me handsome. A week ago, this moment would have been the best thing to ever happen to me. Now, it paled in comparison to just the thought of that smile Castien and I had shared when we’d decided to spend the day together without any other motivation.
“You should tell him how you feel,” Raylen advised. “The worst that could happen is he does not reciprocate your feelings, but at least you would not live with the regret of it for the rest of your life.”
I wondered if he was speaking from personal experience. Did he have someone that he regretted not speaking to?
My eyes drifted back to Castien. There was a strange look on his face, but I did not see the feelings Raylen spoke of. No, he was being kind. That was all this was.
I thanked him for his time, and I left him to his pleasures.
Castien rose to greet me, and we left to find our lunch.
After lunch, we spent the afternoon in his stall.
When the sun set and the vendor stalls closed for the evening, he stopped me outside.
“I do not want today to be over.” His voice was hesitant again, and I watched the way he shifted in place.
“Will you join me for dinner? At my cabin?”