Chapter 18
August stands by the front door, dressed in a white button-down shirt and powder-blue slacks. He holds a picnic basket in one hand and a bouquet of daises in the other. He sees me, and a smile lights up his face, revealing dimples that make him even cuter.
I return the smile. “Hey, August. It’s good to see you again.”
He holds out the flowers and says, “For you. I hope you like daisies.”
“I love daisies! They’re beautiful. Thank you so much,” I say.
I turn toward the kitchen, but Nora is there. She holds her hands out and says, “I’ll put them in some water. You guys have fun!”
“Thanks, Mom,” I say, winking at her.
As usual, William is waiting for us at the bottom of the stairs. And as usual, he gives me a brief bow before he sees me. I wave him off as he starts to follow us toward the front door. Thankfully, he stops in his tracks and doesn’t follow us.
I turn to August. “What are we doing for our date?”
“I thought we’d explore the grounds a little bit. Ivan may or may not have given me some tips on some good spots to visit.” He holds up the picnic basket. “Also, I brought food.”
Of course he did. I remember the way he dug into his dinner the other night.
We step outside into the crisp air and the shining sun. It’s a gorgeous day. A slight breeze sends the loose tendrils of my hair fluttering in the wind.
“You look beautiful today,” August says as we walk down the white limestone stairs in unison.
I blush at the compliment. “Thank you. So do you. Well, not beautiful, but very handsome,” I say, finishing the compliment awkwardly.
He chuckles. “I’ve been called beautiful before.”
“Wow, I’m so surprised,” I say sarcastically.
He throws his head back in laughter. We near the bottom of the stairs and pause to look back at the castle. “Those stairs are going to suck going back up,” he mutters.
“It was your choice to come all the way down here,” I point out.
He turns to me, a charming smile lighting his handsome face. “It will be worth it. At least, I hope it will,” he says before grabbing my hand and leading me down the path away from the castle.
We walk in silence for a moment before he asks, “How are you doing?”
I slowly turn my gaze to him. “What do you mean?”
“Well, dinner ended so suddenly the other night. I just assumed something was wrong.” He looks at the ground, a grimace on his face. “And now I’m overstepping. I’m sorry.”
I squeeze his hand and say, “No, it’s okay. Thanks for asking. I’m doing much better.”
He offers me a smile, but silence falls between us again.
The farther we walk from the castle, the closer the trees grow together, their trunks seeming to thicken the farther we walk.
I glance up, only to find that the canopy above us has thickened so much that only glimpses of the blue sky can be seen now.
He squints down the path, his hand still holding mine. “I think it’s close. Ivan said I would know I was close when the trees started to block the sun.”
He continues leading me deeper into the forest, not even needing to concentrate on the rocky path beneath us, his half-Fae reflexes doing the work for him.
The light fades even more, the trees standing so close together that even the sounds of the forest seem to have been muffled. The morbid tale of the First Deer Queen reverberates in my head like a warning sign.
Anxiety starts to worm its way into my gut. William stayed back at the castle on my own orders. It’s just August and me alone in the forest. How many times have Ivan and Elle reminded me that the killer is still out there? I scold myself for being so stupid.
“August,” I say, trying my best not to sound as nervous as I feel.
I inhale once, then exhale, ready to wrench my hand from his and run back to the castle.
“Aha, here it is!” he exclaims, a smile lighting his face as he looks at me. His face falls when he sees my expression. “What’s wrong?”
I stare at him. “Um, are you going to kill me?” I squeak.
He drops my hand and his eyes widen. “What?” he asks, genuine shock appearing on his features. I throw my net up quickly, just before he responds. “No!”
Nothing snags.
Truth.
“Why would you ask me that?” Now, he’s looking at me in horror.
I glance around the forest. “This setting is…ominous,” I say.
He looks around and frowns. “It is pretty dark,” he admits. “Look, I think it’s just up here.” He motions to a bend in the path, where light is softly glowing.
“What is?” I ask dubiously.
“Come on,” he says, taking my hand in his again and gently leading me toward the light.
I guess I’ve thrown every sense of self-preservation out the window because I follow him.
We round the bend and sure enough, the trees are spaced farther and farther apart, making room for the sunshine to filter through the canopy once again. We continue down the path until it stops.
A small lake sits in middle of the forest, surrounded by lush trees. The sun filters through, casting its luminous rays on the glossy, crystal-clear surface. Wide, worn stones cut between thick, green grass and spongy moss, leading directly to the embankment.
“Ta-da,” August says, waggling his fingers. “I told you I wasn’t going to kill you.” The idea of him killing me now seems ridiculous. He steps ahead of me and then looks back. “Come on,” he says, a smile lighting his face.
He leads us to a small, wooden canoe. “I thought we could have a picnic on the lake,” he says brightly, hauling it to the edge of the water.
I hold my dress up and he helps me step inside. I take the wooden seat closest to the water. August gracefully steps in, then pushes us off the embankment with one big shove. The canoe slowly drifts to the center of the lake, with help from a soft breeze that he summons.
“This is…incredible,” I whisper, marveling at the water beneath us, clear enough to see individual stones covered in lichen and algae at the bottom.
“Yes, well, I wanted to have the best date of all the princes,” he says with a shrug.
“You seem to love the spotlight, so you would love that,” I say, laughing. His jaw drops, and I hurriedly say, “I’m joking!”
He’s still staring at me, blue eyes twinkling as he says, “I wasn’t expecting you.”
“What do you mean?”
He settles back in his seat, and the canoe shifts beneath us. I immediately grab the sides to stabilize myself.
He watches me with a smirk. “Never been in a canoe?”
“Oh, how can you tell?” I respond drily.
“That right there,” he says, ignoring my rhetorical question. “People in the courts aren’t like you. They’re closed off, guarded. They don’t make jabs or sarcastic jokes. We’re all so scared of saying the wrong thing.”
“Yes, I’ve gotten that sense,” I admit, thinking back to my conversation with King Katze and Queen Issa.
“It’s refreshing, though,” he assures me.
“Koa told me to be on my guard with you all, but it’s difficult for me to guard myself. I would prefer to just be my natural self.”
He nods. “There’s nothing wrong with that, but he’s right. You should be on your guard with anyone from any of the High Houses. We usually always have an agenda.”
I cast my net and say, “Well then, what’s your agenda?”
“To be happy.” Nothing snags. Truth.
“That’s everyone’s agenda. What does happiness look like for you?”
“Honestly, I don’t know.” Truth. He hesitates before continuing, “I’m here, so my goal is to marry you. I guess happiness to me is a wife and kids. It’s what everyone thinks is happiness.” My magic doesn’t flare, but he seems hesitant about his answer.
“Is that really what you want? You don’t sound so sure,” I say, eyeing him.
He extends his long legs, brushing them against my own. I don’t startle when the canoe rocks this time.
“All my life, I’ve been told my only responsibility is to take over my House. I thought I had more time before I had to think about being a king,” he confesses, glancing at me to see my reaction.
I nod in understanding. “I’m not ready for this either. I don’t want to get married. I hate that I’m in this position,” I confess.
He lets out a deep breath. “Weirdly, that makes me feel better. I should tell you something. You probably already know, but you should hear it from me.” This puts me on alert, and I make sure my net is strong for what he’s about to say.
“Princess Etta and I dated for a while. I liked her, but she started talking about marriage, and it freaked me out, so I broke it off.” Again, he studies me, waiting for a reaction.
“I knew that, but thank you for telling me. I also heard that you two may have gotten back together, though,” I say, now eyeing him.
He runs his fingers through his golden-blond hair and says, “Yeah, we were sort of hooking up now and then, but we weren’t together. The last time I saw her, she told me she had started seeing someone else and that we couldn’t continue to see each other.”
My ears perk up at this. “Do you know who it was?” I ask, trying not to sound too eager.
He shakes his head. “No, I don’t. She said it was someone from one of the High Houses, but she was secretive about it and didn’t want to tell me who it was.”
My net doesn’t snag. He’s telling the truth.
“That’s weird,” is all I say, trying not to show too much interest in it. But my mind is churning. Who the hell could it be?
“Anyway, I was over her a long time ago,” he says. “We had a good thing, but it wasn’t serious, at least for me. I think we were on different pages about what we wanted from the relationship.”
“I’m sorry that you lost her, though,” I say, my voice soft. “Even if you weren’t together, that must have been hard to lose her.”
He nods at that. “It was a shock. I’m okay, though. That might sound cold, but I wasn’t in love with her. She was more of a good friend by the end.”
A cold truth, but still a truth.
My eye snags on the picnic basket still on the embankment. “August,” I groan. “You forgot the picnic basket.”
“No,” he says, a wicked gleam in his eyes. “I didn’t forget anything.”
“What do you mean?”