Page 28 of Enamored
“Go.” She gave the command without waiting for my reply and started forward.
I couldn’t go, couldn’t think about the maze in the garden when all I wanted to do was figure out how to navigate the maze separating us.
She lurched to a stop several feet in and tossed me a glare. “Do not even think about allowing me to start ahead of you. If anything, I should be the one giving you the advantage.”
I couldn’t admit I was pathetically staring into space thinking about her. So I took a step under the trellis. “We’ll see about that, won’t we?”
In the next instant, we both raced ahead, the lure of the maze irresistible. We shared a competitive spirit which, during our early educational years, had pushed us both to labor harder. Once again, the thrill of vying against her thrummed through my blood.
The heavy scent of evergreen hung in the air. The juniper, dwarf spruce, and boxwood closed in about me. In their glazed clay planters, the shrubs, like the round stones that formed the pathway, could be moved to create new mazes.
Ten feet in, I heard Elinor’s footsteps nearby on the opposite side of the evergreens. In the darkness, I could only see the faintest outline of her feet and long skirt. She was near, and yet the maze would soon take us in opposite directions. Was that the way of life? Wishing to stay on the same path but unable to prevent the divergence?
At a T in the path, I calculated the options first for the left and then for the right. Most people would probably choose the right, but I’d learned in solving puzzles that usually the most obvious clues led a person astray.
When I heard Elinor’s footsteps nearby, I knew her process of elimination had been the same as mine. I hastened, memorizing the turns and the corresponding directions just in case I needed to backtrack.
I calculated each step steadily until I reached the opposite side, the edge closest to the castle wall. Normally, the maze didn’t wind so far back. Had I miscalculated?
Pausing, I listened for signs Elinor was nearby. But the only sound was the distant call of a fox along with my breathing, the cool air making it more labored.
I studied the area and mentally retraced my route, looking for another path I might have overlooked. Then, with a shake of my head, I continued forward. If Elinor had the maze designed for the noblemen, then she’d likely instructed the gardener and the Sage who helped him draw the maze to increase the level of difficulty, especially if she wanted to test the men. Had she hoped they would get lost? So that only the worthiest would find his way through?
If she needed a method for determining worthiness, then perhaps the Sword of the Magi would help her. Perhaps Rasmus’s plan was for the best. And perhaps my part in it was justified. I could prevent her the distress of having to choose one of the noblemen for herself. She could leave it up to the sword to select the best man for her—if the sword could truly do such a thing.
I pushed forward, still counting my steps. As soon as the trail took an inward direction, I picked up my pace, knowing my intuition had been accurate and that I was moving in the correct direction.
The path wound tighter and became narrower. My pulse surged with a strange burst of anticipation. I was almost there. I could feel it.
At the sight of an opening, I jogged the last few steps and found myself in the center of a circle of approximately fifteen feet in diameter.
Elinor stood at the midpoint, facing my entrance and wearing a triumphant smile. “Three minutes, seventeen seconds.”
I’d been keeping track of my time and knew she was stating mine. “And yours?”
“Three minutes, one second.”
“Very well done.”
“Are you surprised?” The moon once again shone down upon her, like a beacon upon a prized treasure. She’d tossed back her hood, and her hair fell over her cloak in long golden waves, freed from the usual constraints and swirling in a magical dance.
While I wanted to go on admiring her, her expectant eyes waited for my answer.
“You need no reassurance from me, Elinor. For surely you recognize by now what an intelligent woman you are.”
Doubt flickered across her face as she studied me, as though testing the sincerity of my compliment. “What if I am not worthy to be queen?” The whispered question rose on the puff of a white breath.
Platitudes crowded my mind. The proper response was to reassure her that she was worthy, that she’d make a fine queen someday, and that she had nothing to fear. It was the answer any other man would have given her, especially those participating in the courtship.
However, I’d never told Elinor what she wanted to hear, only what she needed. And though flattery would serve me well in this instance, drawing her affection further from the chosen noblemen and onto myself, I couldn’t make myself speak superficially. I’d never been good at that.
I headed toward the stone bench the gardener had always placed in the middle of the maze. I sat and waited for her to do likewise.
She stood rigidly for another moment before she lowered herself beside me.
I let the seclusion and the peace of the maze settle over us before speaking. “When you become queen, I cannot promise you’ll never make any mistakes. I cannot promise you’ll know everything. Nor can I promise everything will go smoothly.”
She released a small sigh.
