Chapter 80 #2
“Lantern paths. Viewing deck. Stone benches. Rest pavilions. Guest suites with valley views. Premium villas.”
Bernard closed his eyes briefly.
Only briefly.
“Elowra,” he said.
“Already noting likely cost categories,” she replied.
Dara smiled.
Excellent girl.
“And we expand the road rest stops,” Dara said. “The approach needs to feel like part of the experience. More flowers, trees, shaded stops, drinks, and snacks. People should be happy before they arrive.”
Grace smiled softly. “It did improve the journey, my lady.”
Dara lifted her chin. “Exactly.”
The mountain had gone from desolate comfort to commercial opportunity so quickly it almost felt like fate was mocking her.
No.
Not mocking.
Providing.
Expensive opportunity.
Her personal funds could suffer beautifully here.
For the first time since the council chamber, Dara felt something inside her unclench.
Money could still go down.
Projects could still grow.
Comfort could still be built.
Perhaps the exile plan had been damaged.
Perhaps catastrophically.
But hot springs existed.
And that mattered.
A shout came from farther down the slope.
Dara turned.
A rider approached the staging point below.
Royal colors.
Of course.
Valerius appeared moments later, dismounting with that infuriatingly composed grace that suggested horses obeyed him out of political respect. He was accompanied by a small royal escort, his dark ash-brown hair stirred by the mountain wind, expression focused until his eyes found her.
Dara froze.
Then remembered.
Hot springs.
She gathered her skirts and moved toward him quickly.
Too quickly for everyone’s comfort, judging by the sudden way Garrick, Marek, and two royal guards all shifted at once.
“Valerius!”
His expression changed immediately, concern sharpening into surprise before softening into relief as she reached him. “Lady Lynara.”
“You have to see this.”
He barely had time to answer before she caught his hand and pulled.
Actually pulled.
A Crown Prince.
Across a mountain slope.
By the hand.
Several guards looked as if their training had not prepared them for this.
Valerius, unfairly, allowed it. “What did you find?” he asked.
“Hot springs.”
His gaze flicked toward the steam. “So I see.”
“No,” Dara said, turning back to him with bright eyes. “You don’t understand. This changes everything.”
His attention settled fully on her face.
For a moment, he did not look at the pools.
He looked at her.
Like the steam, the mountain, the guards, and the entire kingdom had become secondary to the fact that she sounded alive again.
“Does it?” he asked quietly.
“Yes.” She pointed to the pools. “A future hot spring resort.”
A pause.
Then Valerius looked where she pointed.
Steam curled through the morning light. Mineral water shimmered in the stone basin. Elowra stood nearby writing as though the future had just become a list. Bernard looked resigned. Grace looked pleased. Cai was floating over a pool making dramatic victory gestures no one else could see.
Valerius looked back at Dara. “A resort.”
“Yes. Baths. Guest rooms. Tea house. Food. Private soaking pools. Public access days. Robes. Slippers. Healing packages. Mountain-view suites.”
His mouth curved. “You have thought about this.”
“For three minutes.”
“That explains the speed.”
“It explains the clarity.”
His smile deepened faintly.
Dara pointed again.
“Nobles will pay obscene amounts for private mineral bathing. Merchants will bring partners. Travelers will stop. Workers can use discounted bath hours. We can sell soaps and bath salts and snacks. The road becomes more valuable. The rest stops become more profitable. The mountain becomes useful.”
Valerius listened.
Really listened.
Not indulgently.
Not with the polite patience of someone humoring a woman excited about hot water.
He listened like he believed there was a system beneath the excitement.
Which there was.
Mostly.
His gaze moved from the pools to the slope, then down toward the road. “The access route will need widening near the upper approach.”
Dara’s eyes lit more. “Yes.”
“Drainage channels along the path.”
“Yes.”
“Separate water testing before any public use.”
“Already scanned.”
He looked at her.
Dara paused. “Not officially.”
One brow rose. “Of course.”
“Professional survey,” she added quickly.
“Good.”
The word was warm enough that she nearly forgot to be annoyed.
Valerius’s fingers shifted around hers.
Only then did Dara realize she was still holding his hand.
She looked down.
Then up.
He looked far too calm.
She released him with great dignity.
Cai drifted by. Temporary exile depression lifted.
Do not say that.
You ran to your boyfriend to show him hot water.
It is commercially significant hot water.
Romantic steam.
I will throw you into it.
Valerius glanced toward the steam again, then back at her. “You seem better.”
Dara straightened. “I was never not better.”
He gave her a look.
A quiet one.
Knowing.
Gentle.
Unfair.
Dara looked away first.
“The mountain is productive,” she said.
“So I see.”
“It understands me.”
“It has hot springs.”
“Exactly.”
His expression warmed.
Before he could answer, one of Marek’s men approached from the upper path. “My lady.”
Dara turned, still bright-eyed. “Yes?”
The guard bowed. “We found something in one of the caves.”
The wind moved over the mountain.
Steam curled between them.
Dara’s smile shifted.
Not vanished.
Changed.
Curiosity sharpened through it, bright and terrible. “Oh?”
Cai slowly turned his head. That sounds rather ominous.
Dara looked toward the path leading upward.
For the first time in days, excitement fully replaced despair.
“Show me.”