Page 60 of The Masked Baron
The path was a little rocky in places, but Andalin found she didn’t mind. The forest was different in the daytime and almost beautiful. It would be more so if she could forget her last experience, or even her first. Here the trees were not as thick, and the moss crawling up the rocks and on the sides of the trees gave the forest a soft look. Birds chirped cheerfully, and the warm streams of light encouraged her to give the forest a second chance.
Andalin heard the waterfall before she saw it. It was not very large, but its beauty was enough to leave a lasting impression. It fell twenty or more feet to a small pond at the head of the stream. The setting was serene, with its muted colors of brown, gold, and green. Ellis helped Andalin dismount and led her to a large fallen log situated so perfectly along the bank it was hard to believe it hadn’t been placed there by the Creator Himself.
Ellis took out a small blanket from his saddlebag and laid it on the log to keep away any dampness so they could sit comfortably. “Well, what do you think?”
Andalin nodded slowly, unsure she had words to describe how she felt.
Ellis’s smile only complemented her view. “My Annie, speechless? I can hardly believe it.”
His Annie?Andalin could only nod again.
Ellis chuckled. “Maybe if I feed you, we can fuel that mouth of yours enough to produce words again.” While Ellis pulled out their food, Andalin admired the quaint pond before her. It was like something out of a story—not just the pond but she and Ellis being together.
“Do you come here often?” Andalin asked as she sat and removed her gloves. Ellis draped a second blanket over her lap and handed her a sandwich.
“Ah, she speaks again.” Ellis took a seat beside her. “I come here occasionally to clear my head. It doesn’t have the same effect it did when I was younger. My memories became tainted after everything that happened, and nothing really brought me peace again. Well, almost nothing.”
Ellis turned and looked into Andalin’s eyes. Did he mean her? Did she bring him a measure of peace? She wanted to believe she was capable of comforting him.
“I must thank you for sharing it with me.”
“You are most welcome. Now, eat so I won’t have to answer to Matilda.”
Andalin hardly tasted her food. All she could think about was her nearness to Ellis. They ate in comfortable silence, enjoying the view before them. “Will you bring me here again?” It was terribly forward of her, but the question parted from her lips almost as soon as she thought it.
Ellis tucked the remains of their food away and dusted off his lap. “Kerrigan arrives tomorrow. Things could change. Thingswillchange.”
Andalin turned away from Ellis. It was not what she had wanted him to say, but she should have expected it. “Are you trying to comfort me or confuse me?”
“I have never tried to be vague about my plans. I have told you from the beginning your goal is to secure a husband, and my goal is to spend the duration of my life here... in this deceptively beautiful and cursed forest.”
Disgust filled her in the form of tears. She faced the water with the pretense of admiring it. She did know all those things. She also knew her heart had bound itself to Ellis. Thinking he could so easily say goodbye to her caused her chest to tighten and ache.
“Are you ready, then?” Ellis asked, standing to leave.
Andalin took a deep breath to clear her emotions. She stood, avoiding Ellis’s eyes.
“Wait.” Ellis came close to her and tipped her chin up with his finger. “Are you crying?”
“I am not crying.” She brushed past Ellis, intent on her horse. The man was insufferable. He was clueless in his power to affect her. He could brood his life away, and she would find happiness with someone else, just like he planned. Her disappointment battled with her temper. Distance was the only solution.
In her eagerness to flee she didn’t see the tree root in her path. She tripped and sprawled on her stomach.
Ellis was beside her in an instant. “Dash it all! Are you hurt?” Ellis pulled her into a sitting position and stared into her eyes, searching for signs of pain or injury.
The embarrassment and disappointment were too great to bear. Tears streamed down her face, and she quickly covered them with her dirt-stained hands.
“Annie, darling, what’s wrong? Is it your ankle? Your head?”
Andalin just sobbed harder. She ignored the frustrated concerns pouring from Ellis’s mouth and let herself cry.
After a few moments Ellis swooped her into his arms and carried her back to the fallen log. He carefully pulled her hands away from her face, and she found she could not avert her eyes from him.
“Breathe deeply,” he instructed, then cleaned her hands with a napkin.
Andalin took several long breaths, and it helped calm her. She wiped her eyes. “Better.”
“Good,” Ellis said. “Are you hurt?”
