Page 35 of Crowning of the Sword

She couldn’t help a chuckle. “You liar.”

“Do you like it, though?”

Yes, she did.

He appraised her frankly, and she tried not to blush at his gaze, not wanting to give him the satisfaction. Instead, she feigned nonchalance and went to the water’s edge, dipping her toes in. Without waiting to see what he would do, she splashed in up to her knees and then dove under.

She emerged, spluttering, and called, “No nasties?”

“No nasties,” he called back, and she dove under again.

She had a memory of this from her life before, the cool drag against her skin, the lightness of freedom. Although Ashe had suggested she could swim in the lake by the castle, she hadn’t wanted to swim with the fae watching her every move. The castle lake was an ominous dark green, thick with lily-pads, and bright crimson flowers, and who knew what lurking below the surface. Here, she was as alone as she’d ever been. She could be herself.

She floated on her back for a time, closing her eyes against the bright sunshine, and then trod water and watched Ashe walking slowly down the beach, hands behind his back, glancing around as though someone was watching him. Even on holiday, it seemed he couldn’t fully relax.

When she finally emerged from the water, there were two sand loungers positioned under a straw umbrella a little further up the beach. She sank onto one and reached for the cool drink that had appeared on a nearby table. The cold juice was sweet with the perfect amount of tang, and the soft rush of waves riffling the sand was soothing, lulling her into a state of near zen. She must have slipped into a doze because she startled into wakefulness when Ashe returned and dropped onto the sun lounger next to her. She cracked an eye and smiled.

“Did you enjoy your walk?”

“I did.” He sounded surprised. “I don’t think that’s ever happened before. I just walked up the beach and then kept going. And when I’d had enough, I walked back.”

She laughed. “You’ve never walked before? Like, not to get anywhere, just for the sake of it?”

“Not even then,” he assured her gravely.

“And what’s around the bend?” She sat up, checking that her bikini top hadn’t slipped.

“More of this.” He waved an expansive arm. “Just more.”

“Is this part of the castle grounds?”

It was definitely fae. Everything was deliberately perfect, every tree as though someone had painted it against the sky, every grain of sand placed just so. The sun was bright and warm but not hot, and even though she’d been in the water for a time without sunblock, her shoulders weren’t so much as tinged.

“It’s a part of my territory I haven’t been before. It lies in a crystal on a table in a hall.”

She gaped at him. “We’re in … a crystal?” Like a fortune teller’s crystal ball, perhaps. Or a snow-globe, but definitely without the snow.

“I hope nobody knocks it over.” He laughed at her wide-eyed look of dismay. “You’re safe, Ember.”

She wasn’t so sure about that. Ever since he’d sat down, there’d been a strange frisson in the air between them. Cole would be furious if he found out that and Ashe had spent the afternoon together. He would rage at her that Ashe was dangerous and not to be trusted, but she wasn’t sure if she believed that anymore. Ashe was intense and hard, but he wasn’t volatile. She didn’t feel that she might set him off at any moment with a wrong word or glance. Being with Cole was like walking a careful line without tripping, ever watchful for a potential pout or frown, and heading it off before it happened, an endless dance to keep a smile on his beautiful face. Ashe was grumpy and morose, but he wasn’t spiteful. There was an energy about him that didn’t boil and rage but simmered gently somewhere deep within.

“Will he know I’m here?” she asked.

His eye flickered in a wink, the ghost of a smile on his lips. “No.”

She stretched, reached for her drink once more. “Then I had better enjoy the peace with all my might.”

He considered this and gave a grunt before settling back into his lounger and closing his eyes. She took her drink down to the water, settling on the sand, her toes tickled by the playful little waves that rushed in and back, as though they couldn’t make up their minds where they wanted to be. After a time, she plunged back into the water and swam again, delighted by the fish all around her, so unafraid that some of them even let her stroke them, as though they were little water puppies.

When she was tired, she dozed on the lounger, and when she felt hungry, a plate of fruit and cheese appeared. She took a walk around the bend of the beach and saw, as Ashe had said, that the beach continued to curve around the trees, out of sight. She supposed if she kept walking around that long curve, she might end up right back where she started. When she returned, there was an easel and paints set up under a fringed canopy, and she lost herself for a time, painting the sea, sand, and sky.

And all the while, Ashe slept, his stern features relaxed in gentle repose, the lines around his mouth miraculously erased, his brow uncreased for the first time since she’d met him. He looked … not young exactly, none of the fae she had ever met had looked young. Ageless, yes, but without the innocence and naivete that one normally associated with youth. He looked at peace.

It seemed a long while later before he stirred, mumbling something indistinct, and then he jolted to full wakefulness, reaching automatically to his waist for a weapon—his sword perhaps, or a dagger. After a moment, he dropped his hand and yawned. “I dreamed I was on a tropical island and when I woke, I was on a tropical island, and it was all … confusing.”

She showed him her painting and laughed when he frowned at the abstract picture with broad streaks of blue and dribbles of white.

“What is it?”

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