Page 92 of The Princess's Chosen

Cosmo had made room on the couch by pulling me into his lap, and Daniel filled it quickly, his broad body squishing me wonderfully between them.

"I love you," Cosmo whispered in my ear, kissing my lobe and relaxing beneath me.

I spared one more second to press my lips to the dimple on his chin before turning to the others. "Do we have enough time to get apple trees in the ground still? Winter feels like it's around the corner."

"No, but we'll be ready at the very start of spring. Holes are being dug now to plant with the start of the thaw, and we've found several places for the seedlings to grow in the meantime," Wendell said, turning to Aric.

"I've sorted out a spell to ensure we grow enough fruit trees, and I have a surprise for you, princess," Aric said. "It can wait if you're very comfortable piled in on that couch that looks like it's not sure if it can bear all of you."

Owen was on Cosmo's other side, and he shifted, creating a worrisome groan from the furniture.

"Show me my surprise," I said, and Thao was quick to pull me to my feet so we could watch the awkward jostling of the men trying to unwedge themselves from the cushions.

* * *

There were stillhorses in a ballroom, although the new stable construction was coming along nicely according to Lady Pru and Daniel. Now too, there was an apple tree nursery in Aric's office.

"It took a few tries," he said carelessly, turning me away from where I was examining a young sapling growing out of a hand-painted porcelain vase.

"There was no time to wait for pots?" I asked.

Aric's lips twitched, and I rolled my eyes. He was just ornery.

"You've mastered a charm to ensure what kind of apple tree grows from the seeds?" Wendell asked.

"I have, and I've already passed it on to a few mages. There won't be perfect accuracy, but a cider farm here and there won't hurt," Aric said with a shrug. "But that isn't the surprise. Come out to the balcony."

His hand squeezed around mine and he seemed almost giddy, his steps bouncing a little as he hurried me to the balcony, throwing the doors open and letting a rush of frigid air in. Thao cursed at my back, and he huddled between Cosmo and Wendell as we all made our way out to the balcony where a great heap of earth had been piled up.

"When on earth did you do this?" I asked, frowning at the dirt.

"He bullied the guards into helping," Cosmo murmured in my ear.

"Never mind that. Here is your present, Bryony," Aric said, taking the hand he held in his own and turning it palm up, pulling a small black seed from his pocket and pressing it to my palm.

"The ground is coated in this horrible white ice, what is she going to do with a seed?" Thao muttered.

But I kept my eyes on Aric's silver ones, wondering what the mischief dancing there might mean.

"You saved your magic, didn't you?" Aric asked.

I nodded. After Aric's lesson with Owen, I'd reunited with all my Chosen, and I was now brimming with magic.

"A tree on the balcony?" I asked, arching an eyebrow.

Aric grinned, his wolfish smile coaxing me up to my toes, but he only granted me a brief kiss. "Go on. Plant it. Make it grow."

I walked carefully up the dirt pile to the peak at the center, and knelt. There was already a layer of snow dusting the earth and I brushed it away, creating a hollow to nest the seed in, then covering it again. I usually let Aric manage my magic for me, only really drawing on it to create curious whims or in desperate moments like the one with Emory. I settled my palms over the earth and closed my eyes, ignoring the sprinkle of snow on my cheeks as I tried to conjure warm thoughts.

"It's freezing," Thao whispered, and was quickly hushed from several directions.

The magic left me eagerly, my palms heating like I had them turned up to the sun, but for a moment there seemed to be no change, my nose wrinkling. Aric's fingers grazed against the back of my neck.

"It's working. Give it a minute."

And just as he offered the words, the ground beneath my palms began to tremble. I opened my eyes just in time to see the first green sprout curl upwards from the earth. Aric crouched at my back, cupping my neck with one hand and helping direct my magic, a little shine of light gleaming down on the rapidly unfurling sprout as it stretched and strengthened and began to sprout leaves. I kept my spot on the cold ground, feeling the wriggle of roots under my fingers as Aric seemed to command the tree taller.

"Do you feel a strain?" he asked.

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