Page 46 of To Ride the Wind

He had seen her grief the night before after a day alone in the castle and come to the wrong conclusion, but she didn’t deny the charge. He was right in one way—just not in the way he thought. She did feel an aching loneliness, but not for the lack of family and friends. It was a different relationship with him that she longed for. She was lonely for his love.

“It’s my fault,” he continued. “I brought you here and have kept you day after day in the library with nothing to do but read. It’s not the life you thought I was offering when I proposed. The Palace of Light must be nothing like this castle.”

She remembered with an effort that she had once thought her marriage would take her to the fabled home of the High King. It felt like a long time since her dreams had changed.

“I know you can’t take me there,” she said, needing to say something. “I don’t hold it against you.”

“No, I can’t take you there.” He sounded defeated and sad, and she wondered with horror if he’d lain awake the night before trying to think how to fix her sadness. “But that doesn’t mean you can never leave here,” he concluded.

Shocked, Charlotte stared at him, frozen in place. “L…Leave?” she asked, horrified. Was he sending her away?

“Certainly.” He sounded even sadder, as if he had mistaken her horror for shocked delight. “Not permanently, of course. I need you yet a little longer. But I can see no reason why you couldn’t visit your family for a short while.” He managed a smile although it looked strained. “I understand it’s a common practice for new wives.”

Her heart slowed, no longer feeling as if it would beat out of her chest. He wasn’t sending her away forever. But she couldn’t be entirely easy either. He had said he needed her only a little longer. Was the time she could stay by his side already drawing to a close?

“I…I don’t know,” she said, her mouth dry and her thoughts tangled. “I…I should think on it.”

“You don’t need to feel bad about going,” he said gently. “It need only extend our situation by a few days, and there’s nothing in that.”

A few days? She tried to make sense of his words. He spoke as if he needed her for a specific length of time. So if she left, she wouldn’t be losing any time with him.

Her first reaction had been to reject his suggestion, fearing what might be behind it. But now that he’d explained more fully, it didn’t seem like such a bad idea. She desperately needed to sort out her emotional turmoil so she could have a frank conversation with him. Wouldn’t it be easier to calm the raging storm inside her if she could have some space from him?

“Yes,” she gasped, meeting his concerned eyes. “Yes, please. I would like to go to my family.”

He nodded slowly.

“Can we leave immediately?” she asked.

“Leave now? This morning?” He came closer, his expression growing even more concerned.

At the hint of pain in his eyes she nearly crumpled and said she wouldn’t go. But she couldn’t weaken. She had to leave. She couldn’t stay near him while there was such a weight between them, but neither was she ready for the necessary conversation. This was the best option open to her. She would leave him briefly and when she returned, she would be honest with him, even if she still didn’t feel ready.

“If it’s possible,” she said. “Will you take me?” She suddenly remembered they had to be in Arcadia already. “Or can the bell send me to them?”

“I will carry you to them,” he said. “And we can leave as soon as you’re ready.”

“I’m ready now. There’s nothing I need to take. If my family has disposed of the things I left behind, I can easily borrow items from my sisters.”

He hesitated still, but after another glance at her troubled expression, he nodded. “Very well. Let us leave.”

GWEN

The minutes that followed Gwen’s transformation were hazy. But eventually reality intruded over the panic and shock that robbed her of coherent thought. As impossible as the situation seemed, she had to accept the truth. She was no longer a human but a white bear.

She had discovered the secret concealed by the darkness, and it was nothing like she had imagined. Her mother must have been concealing Gwen’s condition from not only Gwen herself but the entire court. She wouldn’t want the kingdom knowing her daughter and only heir transformed into a bear at night. And if Gwen herself had known, she would have told someone—it would have been her ticket to escape from the virtual prison of being her mother’s heir.

Or perhaps she wouldn’t have mentioned it to anyone. Perhaps she would simply have made for the mountains at sunset one evening. As a human, the snow-covered peaks promised only death, but in her new form, she could find a way across.

The thought stilled her involuntary pacing for a moment. Her huge gait and heavy paws made small work of the constrained section of garden, but she couldn’t hold herself still for any length of time.

Her first assumption had been that her transformation was the secret. But if that was true, why did the captives need to be locked away at night? And why did the courtiers talk of keeping a secret from the princess? If she was the secret, why would a girl from the city speak with fear in her voice of needing to be home by sundown? And how had her mother’s guards found a pass through the mountains when the generations before them had failed?

Gwen took off through the gardens, her new shape making subtle movement difficult. She lumbered down the paths no matter how delicately she tried to step, but she had to test her theory. If she was right, then…

Her new ears picked up the sound of footsteps far earlier than her human ears would have done. And her nose detected a scent she didn’t recognize. Someone unfamiliar was approaching her down one of the gravel paths.

Pushing through several bushes, she retreated until she found a place where she could watch the path while keeping her giant frame out of sight. As she waited, fresh fear washed over her.

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