Page 36 of To Ride the Wind

“I understand, Mother.”

The queen regarded her for a long moment more before giving a slow smile. “Yes, I think you do. My expectations were low when you were younger, but you have turned out well enough, after all.”

With a satisfied nod, she let her hand drop and stepped away. Her eyes flicked to the room’s door, and Gwen recognized the dismissal with relief.

Picking up her skirts, she all but fled into the corridor, not slowing until she had passed the guard and escaped her mother’s wing entirely. She kept her face down on the way past, not wanting to see the man’s expression. Had he let her past on her mother’s orders? How long had the queen been waiting for her daughter to go snooping in her chambers?

When she reached her own room, she closed the door and leaned against it. But even with its support, her hands were still trembling. She thrust them both into her pockets, wanting to hide her weakness, even with no witnesses.

She instantly stilled, distracted from the lingering echo of her mother’s words and manner. Her right pocket wasn’t empty.

Pulling out the miniature golden halter, she stared at it. Running the events in the secret treasury back through her mind, she remembered the moment when her hand had reached—almost of its own accord—to touch the halter.

It had been just at that moment that the queen had appeared, surprising Gwen. She had no specific memory of it but, when startled, she must have instinctively seized the halter and concealed it in her pocket.

She stared at it, so innocent looking in her palm. Slowly her heartbeat picked up its earlier terrified rhythm.

She had entered her mother’s rooms to look for information, but somehow she had stolen a godmother object. This was undoubtedly taking the matter to a level the queen would find displeasing.

But slowly Gwen’s fingers closed over it in a gesture of possessiveness. She had acquired something of unknown power, and she couldn’t let it go. Not now.

If Gwen was ever going to break free from her mother, the time had come. And she needed all the power she could get.

CHARLOTTE

Charlotte considered trying to find a dining room of some kind, but her courage failed her. Instead, she rang the bell and requested a hot breakfast in her room. It would be easier to face exploring the empty castle with a full stomach.

At first she thought nothing had happened, and the bell really was broken, but then a delicious smell reached her nose. Turning, she saw a tray resting on a walnut table by the window, a padded chair in front of it and steam rising from the dishes.

Smiling, she rushed over and fell on the food. How many hours had it been since she had last eaten? She couldn’t remember, and she didn’t want to calculate it. Her life had changed so completely since her last meal that she didn’t like to think how little time had actually passed.

She would have to thank the bear—no, Henry. She would have to thank Henry properly for the bell. It was clearly going to make life in an empty castle much more enjoyable.

Henry. She stopped eating and placed her hands against her warm cheeks. Her husband was a human, not a bear. It was a shocking new reality, one she still hadn’t fully absorbed.

Who was he? And what was he doing living in this empty castle? Surely he hadn’t lived here alone before the enchantment? It was a strange enough home for a talking bear, but it would be stranger still for a lone human.

She’d never even heard of a castle in the mountains, but they couldn’t be too far from the valley where her family lived. Even though the bear moved quickly, they had arrived at the castle before dark.

And now she understood the necessity of their speed. No wonder he had hurried them home given night was falling.

Thinking of her home made her wonder about her family. Had they received the bride price promised to them? Had her wishes from the night before reached them? It was strange to imagine her sisters and parents preparing for a move to Arcadia without her. It didn’t really matter how close the castle was to the valley when her family wasn’t going to be there anymore.

When she’d finished the food, she hesitated for only a moment before using the bell to fill her new wardrobe with gowns. When she flung open the walnut doors, she gasped at the array of luxurious material and beautiful designs. She could barely bring herself to touch them and choosing one to wear felt like an impossible task.

She had never obsessed over gowns and wealth like her sisters, but she still appreciated beauty, and she had never seen such dresses. Eventually she forced herself to choose one of the simpler ones, only to be delighted all over again at how easily she was able to get it on without assistance. Apparently the power that resided in the bell was of a practical as well as beautiful nature.

She blushed in earnest as she admired herself in the mirror, noticing how the folds of the dress enhanced the elegance of her shape. Here in the privacy of her room, she admitted that her request for new gowns wasn’t solely about enjoying beautiful things. She had discovered her husband was really a man, and overnight she had become conscious of how she appeared to him.

Did Henry think her beautiful? Is that why he had chosen her? Or was it some other quality he saw in her?

The dispiriting realization that it might have been neither crept over her. She had quite possibly been the only girl in close vicinity who was miserable enough to consider such a proposal.

She didn’t like that idea, but there was a good chance it was true. The valleys didn’t offer a huge range of choice when it came to marriageable females.

Staring at herself in the mirror, Charlotte shook her head. It didn’t matter what his reasons might have been. He was her husband, and he had already demonstrated his consideration and willingness to defend her against others. It was her turn to show him the same care he was showing her.

And to start with, that meant braving the castle that was his home. She cautiously opened the door of her new bedchamber, relieved to see that the stone corridor looked far less intimidating with daylight streaming in through a large window.

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