Page 45 of The Devil In Blue
“The sweetbriar roses are covered in thorns,” I said, tugging the flower off the top of the twig and discarding the rest. “Did you not see them?”
Sticking the end of the short rose stem gently between my teeth, I took the woman’s hands and wiped the still-wet blood from her fingers and palms with the cuff of my coat sleeve. Once she was thoroughly wiped clean, I could see the dozen little cuts and punctures littering her hands. She canted her head at the minor wounds, unconcerned. But when I placed that little flower in the center of her palm, a bright smile spread across her lips.
“I just saw the flowers,” she muttered, lifting the rose up in front of her to gleam at its beauty.
Despite her not being concerned over her nakedness, it felt intrusive to stare at her bare form so I put away my sword and slid my coat off my shoulders. She was distracted by the rose as I maneuvered her arms carefully into the sleeves.
“What is your name, little bird? Or do you not remember?”
“My name?” The question caught her off guard like I’d snapped my fingers in front of her eyes. She drew back, her forehead creasing. “I… I don’t know. Should I know?”
I delivered her a soft smirk and shook my head. “It’s no surprise that you don’t.” Glimpsing the flower in her hand, I said the first thing I could think of. I will call you Briar.”
“Briar,” she whispered, savoring the name on her tongue. Her eyes flashed up at me, emphasized by the red forming on her cheeks. “I love it.”
Once more, I looked up at the Labyrinth just beyond the courtyard. It was right to put her back on her journey and let her discover where she would go next. A woman like her could have heaven waiting for her. Paradise.
Or perhaps hell was waiting to be built with bricks of her past deeds. Looks could be deceiving.
But she hadn’t found her heaven or her hell. She had stumbled out onto my doorstep. She foundme.
I looked down at her again and instantly I imagined her being mine. I could keep her. A king could keep anything. I governed the Labyrinth and all of the Glyn.
The sound of feathered wings flapping caught my attention. With a whisper of gentle wind, Elanor transformed into a beautiful woman behind me wearing a black dress formed straight from the shadows, as always.
“Your bath is nearly ready,” she said with a smile, striding up to me and dusting off her skirts. She hesitated when she saw Briar wrapped in my coat ogling the flower. “What’s this?”
“She wandered out,” I said.
“Out of the Labyrinth? Should you not—"
I shook my head. “She is not part of the hunt,” I said. “She’s…”
I didn’t know what she was. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with her. All I knew was that I’d sheathed my sword to put my coat around her.
Briar finally tucked the flower away into the cuff of my coat sleeve as if to hide it for safekeeping and noticed Elanor standing beside me. She raised her brows as if about to introduce herself when she was distracted by a statue deeper in the courtyard. It was an old thing that had been standing since before I was king. Two large hands made of crystal and stone stood upright and interlocked. Moss and the glisten of morning dew made the thing look quite enchanting. I’d always thought so, but Briar regarded it like it was the most beautiful thing in the world. She crawled up onto the thick stone base and slowly ran her hands up the curved sides with fascination.
“So childish,” Elanor said.
“Not childish. Fascinated.”
I couldn’t take my eyes off of her and Elanor noticed. She noticed everything.
She huffed, crossing her arm. “You should put her back. You destroy the bad ones. She’s clearly not bad.”
“I can’t.”
I tossed a glance at Elanor to see her narrowing her eyes up at me.
“Why not?”
“I don’t know.”
“If you keep her, you’ll have to take care of her. It will interfere with your duties. She—”
“It will interfere with nothing.”
“The hunts will—”
