Page 27 of Enamored
“Come hither, O extremely wise one. I shall give you your first test, and upon completing it, I shall give you your first clue.”
He placed his hand in mine. As our fingers slid together, his eyes captured mine. Something fluttery and warm came to life in my stomach, like a butterfly breaking out of its chrysalis.
Maybe this riddle-solving challenge wasn’t such a clever idea after all.
As his grin kicked up, the fluttery warmth spread into my limbs. And I didn’t want to stop this game even though something warned me that we should.
Maxim
After hours of following Elinor’s clues, she’d led me no closer to a resolution than when we first started. She designed complex trivia questions with the answers spelling out a word that guided me to the subsequent game. She provided mathematical equations calculating how many steps I had to take to the next clue. She directed me on a scavenger hunt across a map of the country with the destination pointing me to an additional puzzle.
I hadn’t enjoyed myself so much since I’d spent time with her as a child.
Darkness had long since settled, and the midnight hour had come and gone. When one of her ladies-in-waiting had come to check on her, she’d shoved me out of sight behind the door and let her lady know she wasn’t retiring for a while but that they should do so without her.
Now Elinor tugged me down a stone path in the gardens at the back of the royal residence. I knew exactly where she was taking me. To the maze among the tall shrubs.
The night air had dropped below freezing, but we’d donned our cloaks and gloves, and for a reason I couldn’t explain, I felt invincible, as if the strongest winter storm could flail against me and I would stand strong. In some small way, that’s how Elinor had always made me feel.
I realized now what I hadn’t realized as a child, that her presence in my life, her strength, her belief in me, had helped make me stronger so I’d survived the hardships with Rasmus. Without her influence, what kind of man would I have become?
Even with it, I dreaded that too much of Rasmus remained within me.
“You won’t be able to stump me with the maze, Elinor.” I stopped at one of the arched trellises that marked an entrance. Ivy curled in and out of the ironwork, the leaves already beginning to fade to a pale yellow, another sign the long winter would soon settle upon Norvegia.
“Do not speak too hastily lest you find yourself choking on your words.”
I smiled at her quote of an old saying we’d once learned. “I won’t choke this time.”
“Very well.” She made her way toward another entrance a dozen feet away. The high harvest moon shone down on her, revealing her beauty once again, a beauty that had only grown with each passing hour—her eyes sparkling brighter, her cheeks rosier, her enthusiasm contagious. “Since you are so quick at solving mazes, let us race to the center.”
“You have the advantage in having already been through the maze. How many times?”
“This is a new design. I asked the gardener for it should I have need of the maze this week.”
All throughout our childhood, the head gardener had regularly formed differing patterns just for Elinor’s delight. I wasn’t surprised he was still creating mazes for her.
“So, have you?” I asked, tamping down the jealousy again. Even though she’d assured me she didn’t secretly fancy anyone, she had revealed that her heart beat a little harder for one of the noblemen. All throughout the riddles she’d plotted for me, I’d tried not to think about the man. But here, at the maze, I was reminded all over again that she was destined to belong to someone else.
“Have I what?”
“Had need of the maze this week for the man who makes your heart beat with fondness?”
She studied the trellis as though contemplating her answer.
My muscles tightened.
“I have not needed the maze”—her tone softened—“until tonight.”
My breath snagged. What was she saying? That I was the one who made her heart beat with fondness? Surely not.
We were childhood friends. And could be nothing more. But even as I inwardly chastised myself, my blood pumped faster.
“Are you ready?” She stared straight ahead, refusing to look at me.
Was she doing so to hide the truth of her feelings?
Yes, I’d already acknowledged that fondness existed between us. It always had. But now that we were both adults, the fondness was taking on a life and breath of its own.
