Page 58 of Chivalry in the Meadow
“I find you in the quietest places,” he said. “First the water fountain and now the trees.”
“They’re the only ones that feel real to me here in this place,” she said. “Everything else is make believe.”
His blue eyes pinned her, roaming over her as he studied her. “You want real, Mia? Or do you want the fairytale version that listens to your heartbeat and answers it?”
She hesitated for a moment from answering, not truly knowing what she wanted.
“Sometimes a fairytale can become real, when a white knight comes along at just the right moment.” He spoke before she’d had enough time to think and as he spoke, he stepped so close they were almost touching.
His hand skimmed her arm, a gentle brush across the tiny hairs which brought her arm awake and aware of his touch.
She inhaled sharp as her skin came alive with feeling. Then she shivered.
“I haven’t stopped thinking about you,” he spoke low. “From the moment I first saw you, you have filled my dreams.”
“I don’t know what’s real anymore,” she whispered.
“Then let me remind you.”
He bent to kiss her, and his lips brushed hers soft and slow.
For a moment, Mia surrendered to his kiss, closing her eyes.
His mouth masterfully confident, he deepened the kiss, and she fully responded.
But as his lips lingered against hers, something felt off, his energy felt off.
She opened her eyes.
Sir Cedric’s face.
Was it flickering? A shimmer at his temple, like oil on water.
Who or what was she kissing?
She pulled back, breath sharp. “What was that?”
He tilted his head. “What do you mean?”
But his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes this time. And something in them frightened her.
He could see the fear in her widened eyes, so she hurried to make something up.
“There’s something behind those trees,” she said as she pointed. “Or someone.”
“Never fear milady,” he said with that dimpled smile and suddenly he seemed more solid again. “I shall kill thy foul dragon that stalks thee.”
As soon as he had stepped into the darkness behind the trees, and she could no longer see him, she turned and walked away. She felt like being around people now, but not at the ball. Instead, she would wander through the shops, just for a short while. After that she would head back to the ball.
There was nothing new to shop for. She’d been to all the shops by now. But it was interesting how the shops looked different at night. Most were running masquerade ball specials, with lower prices on select items.
She paused and watched through the tent entrance gap of the fortune tellers’ tent, as a woman sat down to hear her fortune. Then she headed for the knight’s circle, wondering if she would find any knights there.
As she walked, she thought about everything that had occurred since she’d arrived. Running through it all in her head.
Something about Sir Cedric had gnawed at her since the kiss.
She thought of his perfectly timed compliments, the too-precise way he tilted his head.
