Page 33 of To Ride the Wind

“I know I said we could lie here in silence,” he said, “but I didn’t realize it would be so awkward. And yet, somehow, the harder I try, the less I can think of anything to say.”

Charlotte laughed. “I’m glad it’s not just me. I used to have an invisible friend, you know, but I’ve never had a stranger for a husband nor conducted any conversation in the pitch dark.”

“An invisible friend?” he asked with another chuckle. “I didn’t picture you as a fanciful child.”

“Oh, she wasn’t imaginary,” Charlotte said calmly. “She was just invisible, although not to children. Of course that meant the adults all assumed she was imaginary, so you can guess how infuriating that was. But I’m sure my imagination couldn’t produce someone like Daisy.” She laughed again.

“You were friends with Princess Daisy?” Henry asked, clearly shocked. But after a moment, he added, “I suppose you would have been the right age. But I didn’t realize you used to live in Northhelm.”

“You know Daisy?” Charlotte asked in even greater astonishment. How did a man cursed to spend his days in the mountains in the form of a bear come to know a princess from across the sea?

“Not personally,” he said hurriedly. “But I’ve heard the stories, of course.”

“Oh, of course.” Charlotte relaxed. “I suppose half the Four Kingdoms have heard the tale by now. It’s a strange thought, even if I don’t feature in the tale by name.”

“I’m surprised the valley isn’t abuzz about having a celebrity in their midst,” Henry said, and she thought she could hear a smile in his voice.

“My sisters didn’t like me to talk about it,” Charlotte said heavily. “They didn’t take it well when Daisy’s true identity was revealed.”

“Because she was more your friend than theirs?” Henry asked shrewdly. “And they didn’t like that she turned out to be someone important?”

Charlotte nodded, only to remember he couldn’t see her. “Yes, that was part of it. And beyond that…” She hesitated, loathe to reveal the extent of her sisters’ behavior.

“You can tell me,” he said in a gentle voice. “I’m your husband now, so you don’t need to hold back any of your story. Your past is safe with me.”

Lying beside him, she realized he was already far more her husband than she had ever thought he could be. She had already pledged her life to him, so why would she withhold her past? She finished the thought she had held in.

“It wasn’t just that I was closer to Daisy,” she said. “Once Elizabeth and Odelia grew too old to see her, they sided with the adults, pretending they had never seen her at all and she was just a game I played with the younger children.”

“They wanted to make you look foolish,” Henry said with unexpected savagery in his voice. “Because even then they could see that you would outshine them both.”

“I never wanted to believe that was the reason,” Charlotte said softly, “but…” Given everything that had happened in the years since, it seemed almost certain. “It’s a difficult time in those years between childhood and adulthood,” she said softly. “We all make foolish choices we regret later.”

“You’re kinder to them than I would be,” Henry said, still with that note in his voice.

It made her shiver, and she was once again glad he couldn’t see her. Not that she was afraid of him. It was her own responses she feared. She was pleased enough at the way he leaped to her defense that she felt guilty.

She should try harder to understand her sisters, not delight in hearing them disparaged. But she couldn’t help her pleasure at Henry’s support. For some reason he seemed to genuinely care about how she was treated. Not since Daisy’s friendship so many years ago had Charlotte had someone so actively on her side.

The cold, empty castle had frightened her, promising a future far different than what she had been imagining. But now Henry’s words reminded her that she hadn’t married him because of the Palace of Light. That had merely been an exciting possibility. She had married him because she wanted a place—a family—where there was space for her.

And here, lying in the darkness with a bodiless voice that burned in outrage on her behalf, she had found that sense of belonging.

“Goodnight, Lottie,” Henry whispered, the unfamiliar nickname seeming to slip out without him realizing.

“Goodnight, Henry,” she whispered back, his name comfortable on her lips for the first time.

The silence that fell between them no longer felt awkward or tense. Instead, it was filled with warmth and connection. She couldn’t see the man who had become her husband that day, but she could feel his unquestioning support. It cradled her in a feeling of comfort and security that enabled her to sleep as peacefully as she had ever done in her own bed.

But when she awoke, daylight glowed around the edges of the curtains, and the long stretch of bed beside her was empty and cold.

GWEN

Gwen endured hours of forced stillness while a team of seamstresses dressed her in gown after gown, exclaiming over designs and materials and measurements. She couldn’t enter into their excitement, but they didn’t seem to notice her lack of it, treating her more like a doll than a bride-to-be. Had they known of her mother’s plans for a royal marriage before this? Had everyone but Gwen known?

She told herself it didn’t matter, and she tried to use the time to make plans. Part of her wanted to run straight for the mountains to the west of the valley—the ones that eventually led to other kingdoms. Surely, with enough provisions, she could find the passage through that was used by her mother’s people.

But she couldn’t leave just as she was uncovering the mystery at the heart of her home. And she must still have some time, going by the number of dresses her mother had commissioned. If they were intended to be finished before the mystery prince arrived, he must still be a way off. She would uncover her mother’s secrets first, and then she would devise a plan to flee. Maybe she would even find something that could aid in her escape.

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