Page 23 of A Tale of Treachery

He’d stepped in and put his foot down.

He was never one to stand for aggressive behavior, and because of him, people treated me differently. I still had no title, though I was the ward to a lord, but thanks to Aiden, others treated me with the respect owed to a lady. Whenever I did something unseemly or strange, he looked at me with total awe. I owed it to him to return the graciousness he’d always shown me and hated that I’d let him down.

My hand squeezed his at the thought, but he didn’t smile. It was evident by the purse of his lips that he didn’t believe my story, not completely.

The further we walked, the heavier the space between us grew with the weight of suspicion. I choked on stale air and cleared my throat. “I didn’t see any witches with rune cuffs strapped around their wrists in the campground.”

Rune cuffs were created long ago by a mage who despised witches after his witch lover had betrayed him. The cuffs were made of iron since iron dampened magic. But the runes added a little extra oomph in the way of nullifying magic. Like every other magical creature, I had a slight iron allergy, but even I couldn’t survive the runes.

I hummed under my breath. Maybe I should give them a try and get rid of this magic, once and for all.

“Was your mission unsuccessful?” I asked when he remained silent.

He hesitated a moment before answering. “The mission will be unsuccessful in my father’s eyes, but honestly, I’m relieved. When we reached the campground, there was nothing there. I’m assuming someone warned the witches. Possibly a seer…or possibly a traitor to the Crown.”

“Oh,” I replied, feeling his gaze boring into me. “I suppose both are possible.”

Aiden grasped my hand tightly and pulled me to a stop, shifting his body to face mine. His gaze searched my face.

“What were you really doing tonight?” he whispered. “Besides my men, nobody knew we were out on a collection. Nobody but you.”

The steely look in his eyes knocked the wind from my lungs.

He knew.

He knew why I was out here tonight, or at least he held an inkling of suspicion that it was me who had warned the witches.

“What are you implying? I-I told you what I was doing. Do you not believe me?”

His brow creased, and he shook his head as if he didn’t want to consider the idea but would be a fool not to. “It’s hard to believe. You were vocally upset about the collection tonight and let your opinions be known.Youwere the only one I told outside of those in my party, and suddenlyyouappear here, deep within the Scourged Forest, in the middle of the night. Not to mention, there are char marks along the hood of your cloak when somebody burned the witches’ encampment. It seems suspicious at best.”

I stuttered. Lying to the man I loved was something that I never wanted to do. I wanted to tell him the truth but couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if I were completely honest. He might tell his father about my actions and condemn me as a traitor. It was a risk I wasn’t willing to take. The chances of him forgiving me or keeping quiet about my treason were slim. So I did the only thing I could.

I lied.

“How dare you,” I said, twisting away from him. “How dare you think me guilty of treason and accuse me of being a liar. You know me better than that.” My voice broke, not because his accusation hurt, but because he did know me well enough to figure out what I’d been up to.

His voice softened. “You can tell me anything. Your secrets are safe with me. Don’t lie to me. Please.”

In that moment, I felt the need to tell him everything.

But the truth got people killed.

My mouth parted, the secrets inside of me threatening to spill out, while his eyes met mine with an eagerness to hear every last truth. I brought my hand to his face, my thumb slowly tracing the bones of his cheeks, committing the expression he wore to memory. The look on his face was filled with love and concern, and I cherished the moment.

“Aiden, I’m telling you the truth. I’ll show you. I’m just looking for the moonflower. Nothing else.” The lie tasted sour on my tongue.

Aiden’s shoulders dropped, his whole demeanor sinking in disappointment. “All right, then. Let’s look for your flower.”

He led the way back to the stream, and I followed, knowing I had to find a way to make this flower magically appear. I’d dug myself in too deep, and the only way out was to make the lie believable.

Occasionally, Redmond would test me by challenging me to grow herbs from nothing but mere magic. Sometimes, my efforts were a success, but often, they were an utter failure, resulting in piles of burned greenery.

We walked on, and I tried my hardest to imagine the long white petals of the moonflower and the viridian leaves that crowded it, but the image wouldn’t stick. If I could picture it, I might stand a chance of recreating it.

I bit my lip nervously once we reached the stream and glanced at Aiden, not needing his mistrustful eyes watching my every move.

“Aiden, do you think you can stand guard and keep an eye out for anything odd? This forest fills me with unease. I don’t want us both to be distracted.”

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