Page 77 of Mirror of Malice
I’d had a chance to visit Apolis just a year before my stepmother murdered my father and forever changed the course of my life. I’d been here under different circumstances then, as an honored guest. I’d spent my days walking along the shoreline, visiting the market with Gabrielle, and partaking in wine while we sat around a fire at night, gossiping. The trip was supposed to be a chance for me to make alliances as the heir to Elwen, but it had mostly been a chance for me to have fun and explore.
We descended the rocks, slipping, sliding, and stumbling until we finally landed on a dirt road that wound along the bottom of the cliffside and up toward the castle.
It looked like a long walk, and my muscles were already feeling the ache from the trek ahead of us.
“Can we take a moment to rest?” Penn asked. “My betrothed needs a break.”
It would’ve been sweet if it hadn’t all been an act.
The guards turned to glare at us.
“Will you shut up?” I hissed. “No need to anger them.”
He smiled at them. “Surely you can understand. We’ve had a very long journey from Elwen, and we have quite a tale to tell Princess Gabrielle about our travels. I don’t think she’ll be pleased to hear that her friend was mistreated.”
I eyed him, then glanced back at the guards, my stomach twisting at the thought of one of their water spears slicing open my belly. But instead the lead guard nodded, curt.
“You have five minutes,” she said, then stalked away with her guards.
I sighed in relief and collapsed down onto the road, Penn settling next to me.
“Okay,” he said, voice low. “Do you remember what we discussed? Our story?”
“Do you ever stop working?” I asked, looking at him. “Yes, Penn. I remember. We talked about it in length, and you mademe repeat it over and over. Of course, you left out the betrothal part, but believe me, I won’t forget that any time soon.”
His lips quirked. “That eager to marry me, huh?”
I glared at him. “On second thought, maybe I will forget and have you thrown into the sea.”
“You’d miss me too much,” he said.
I looked out over the ocean, letting the gentle crash of the waves calm my frazzled nerves.
“And I like to work,” he said. “Working helps keep me focused on my goals, on making Mosswood Forest a better place.”
I tore my gaze from the beautiful scenery and studied Penn for a moment. That hard jawline, blond hair, tied at his neck, his strong, straight nose, the planes of his cheekbone, all lined with the weight of the world. “You can do something for yourself sometimes, just because you need it.” I spread my arms out. “We can sit and rest just to rest, not because you need to plan and connive and micromanage me.”
His jaw ticked, and I knew I’d struck a nerve. “I do not micromanage.”
“That’s all you do, Penn. You got angry when I rescued you in the sand pits because I didn’t follow the plan you apparently had.”
“I apologized for that.”
“It doesn’t change that you were still angry.” I put a hand on his arm, and his gaze snapped to me. “I’m just saying that when this mission is over, when you’re back in Mosswood Forest, maybe you should take some time to figure out what you’re running from.”
“I’m not running from anything.” His voice had a hard edge that told me the opposite.
“Then why don’t you do anything for fun? For the few weeks I was in Mosswood Forest, I never saw you do anything that wasn’t also aimed at working.”
“I was at the tavern,” he said.
“Where you tried to bring work.”
“I went to the festival.”
“So you could stock up on some materials for your upcoming mission.”
He laughed. “You surprise me at every turn, Lilypad.” He lifted his head and those green eyes bore into me—no mischief, no teasing, just a vulnerability I wasn’t used to seeing in him.
