Page 13 of Oath of Rebellion

Helga wavered, but Olive eyed him curiously.

"You—you will leave her alone?" Helga asked.

Knox nodded again, sipping the bottom of his bowl. When he put it down, he made a show of wiping his mouth with his sleeve like a peasant. Sure enough, the maid winced at his lack of gentility.

"After I escort you both into Demerel, you won't have to see me ever again. Regardless of how I feel on the matter, I know better than to go after the princess. So stop your worrying."

He stood and offered her the seat. "Here, you can have my seat. I'll be outside if anyone needs me."

Helga's eyes widened even more as he bowed perfectly, walked to the sink to drop his bowl off, then strode out the back door.

The nerve of the woman. Who was she to decide who the princess slept with or didn't? It wasn't like she was her mother.

A pang of remorse stabbed him, and his steps slowed as he entered the barn. He hadn't told her about her parents' accident. He frowned as he checked on the horses. Normally the movements were calming, but not tonight.

He shut the barn and crept toward the house, his eyes trained on the upstairs window where Eirwyn lay. The giant tree that the cottage was built into lowered its branches for him, and he stepped onto one, his hand latching onto the rough wood as it took him up to the window.

She lay sleeping, now turned on her side. The tree obscured the moonlight, but he could still see her in the dimness. They were separated by more than just the glass window.

She was a princess, and he was a lumberjack. The Robins didn't matter. The war didn't matter. All that mattered was that she was meant to be a political alliance in some arranged marriage or another.

That she'd made it to twenty without being wed said little, since the war had been raging for so long. She would probably make a politically helpful marriage soon.

He lived in the woods and couldn't offer her even a home. The entire forest was his home, and he slept outside almost every night. To do otherwise was dangerous.

What princess would want to sleep outside with the bugs and insects and all manner of animals?

He sighed, a pressure growing in his chest at the futility of dreaming of a future with her. It was useless. There was no way it would work.

Tomorrow he would have to say goodbye forever.

He waved his hands and the branches formed a type of hammock. Then he laid down, the gentle breeze through the leaves lulling him to sleep as he watched the princess.

Chapter 5

EIRWYN WOKE TO THE sounds of birds outside the window. She yawned, feeling restored and only slightly sore from her trip to the Edge. She blinked and rubbed her eyes.

---