Page 24 of Princess Bride Swap

So, she took Lyon’s hand and let him help her out of the car. He wound an arm around her waist as the side of the road here was slippery. But she realized it wasn’t the side of the road, it was an entire parking area. And Lyon led her to a little iron gate.

Beyond it was sky and cloud and mountain. Below them, a smattering of little villages. Puffs of smoke. Bits of green and brown and white. A beautiful landscape. It was so idyllic it seemed like a painting. Not quite real, and yet there it all was spread out before her very own eyes.

Her stomach nearly dropped out, but even with that disorienting vertigo feeling, her heart...it leapt with joy. “Lyon.”

“Beautiful, no?”

“I...” She had no words. Particularly when he stood behind her but kept his arm around her waist. Holding her there against him, like a warm, protective wall.

“There is more beauty to be had once the drive is done. I promise, the discomfort is worth the outcome.”

She managed to tear her gaze from the villages below to look over her shoulder and up at him. He’d done this to help her. She didn’t know what to do with that. How to feel about it. She couldn’t say no one had ever helped her. Zia had.

But this was different. He wasn’tprotectingher. He was simply offering her a kindness. Which made her eyes water and her heart soften. Probably ill-advisedly.

But she smiled all the same. “Then I suppose we should finish the drive.”

Beau’s anxieties had not melted away when she’d seen the pretty overlook as Lyon had hoped, but she made the rest of the drive with a brave face. He supposed that was why he’d stopped. Courage in the face of discomfort deserved a reward, and it would hardly be the last time she was thrust into a situation that made her uncomfortable.

Oftentimes, a kindness was the best and only reward for such responsibilities. At least, he’d always felt so.

Being the ruling couple of the monarchy of Divio would be full of challenges over the next few years. If she faced them all with such determination, they would end up in a very good place.

When they pulled into the gates of the chalet estate, and he slowed the car, she finally looked out the vehicle windows. She made a soft sound of appreciation.

He was enjoying her reaction. Aside from her fear of the mountainous drive, she seemed delighted with just about everything. He pulled to a stop and got out of the car, then went over to her side. The skeleton staff they kept at the chalet would have unpacked all their things by now, stocked the fridge and whatnot, and left.

So they would be truly alone.

“I’ve never seen anything so beautiful,” she said cheerfully as they walked toward the chalet, arm in arm.

“Are you just saying that because you’re happy to be out of the car?”

She laughed. “No,” she said. “Though that helps.”

“I have been to Lille. It is hardly an eyesore.”

“Lilleisbeautiful. But it is about all I’ve ever seen. There’s something about seeing a new kind of beauty. It’s exciting.”

“I do not understand why you were so sheltered, Beau. All because of a childhood anxiety.”

She stiffened a little but kept walking. Spoke easily enough. “I would think you’d understand perfectly. My father felt he could not risk being seen as weak, and a daughter who did not behave as she should, a daughter who was shy or terrified is certainly a weakness.”

He frowned at her description of what he should understand. He paused in front of the door, looked down at her. “I do not need to be seen asstrong, Beau. That is not the same as stable. As...dependable.”

She studied him, her eyes going dark, the gold and green barely visible even out here in all this sunlight. Everything about her was suddenly very serious.

“Could your country depend on a princess who cried if the crowd was too big? Who shook like a leaf if required to speak to a group of people she did not know and feel comfortable with?”

Of course that would be...a problem. A challenge to be overcome, certainly. But it was also irrelevant. “But that isn’t you any longer. I know, because I saw you at that dinner last night. You were wonderful.”

“Yes, I can handle a crowd these days,” she said, her gaze sliding away from his. She gestured at the door. “Aren’t you going to show me the chalet?”

He didn’t care for the change in topic. This seemed more important, but why would it be? She clearly didn’t suffer those old anxieties. She dealt with the wedding, his staff, the dinner and video all with aplomb. Even her nerves over the car ride she had handled very well.

He knew the difference between being riddled with anxiety and being able to handle it.

So this was all...moot. He opened the front door to the chalet and gestured her inside. It was a huge, open airy space, with almost all rooms pouring into each other on the lower level. There were ample windows to see all that natural beauty from, fireplaces in every room and plenty of cozy furniture and warm throw blankets for the cold nights.

---