Grabbing his right hand, I guide it to my back, then take his other hand and hold it aloft before sliding my left hand to his shoulder. “Let me show you how to dance like a Candoran.” I take a step back, pulling him with me. “Let me help you be more than a bodyguard tonight.”
For a man who claims not to know how to dance, he picks up the steps quickly as I guide him through a Candoran waltz. He gains confidence as we go, so different from the nobles and diplomats I have danced with over the years, a lot of whom tend to be so afraid of stepping on my toes that their eyes never leave our feet. Those who are confident enough to meet my eyes as we dance are oftentooconfident, leaving me squirming under their gazes.
But Elliot has a way of making me feel nothing but safe as he takes the lead halfway through the song. He keeps half his attention on the people around us while the other half stays on me. He still looks like the same intimidating soldier, but now that I know there is a softer side of him, one who makes little children giggle, I can see deeper than I did before. See the man who would fly to the other side of the world to protect a stranger, even when she wants him to leave.
He is a good man. Better than I could have guessed.
The music shifts to a Candoran lullaby, softer than the song before, and Elliot pulls me closer to his body. His hand moves from the middle of my back up to my shoulder blade until I’m leaning into him, my head against his collarbone and our hands clasped between us. Wearing clothes he borrowed from a man in town, he smells like the ocean breeze and woodsmoke, and he is warm. So warm.
I could stay here in his embrace forever.
Chapter Seventeen
Freya
IfIlosethiselection, perhaps I will move here to Havenford and live out my days in the simplicity of this place. Elliot can come with me and forget he ever had any worries, and I will enjoy watching him laugh as he dances in a circle with a group of children and loses a stone throwing competition to a sixty-year-old shepherd named Rand. We both could be happy here, not as a princess and her bodyguard but as friends.
I could dance with Elliot every night and feel that overwhelming sense of safety he gives me when he holds me. I do not think anything could hurt me if I were in his arms, physically or otherwise.
“I’m losing my touch,” Elliot says breathlessly, coming to where I sat on a low wall to watch him compete with the locals. His stone sailed across the beach as if it weighed nothing but still landed nearly a meter behind Rand’s. With bright eyes and flushed cheeks, Elliot looks his agefor the first time as he runs a hand through his windswept hair and grins.Twenty-six. He is so young. “Maybe you should hire Rand to be your bodyguard,” he says and sits next to me, his arm bumping mine in his nearness.
His jest settles heavy in my heart like the stone he just threw, and my smile is forced. For how rough things started between us, I cannot imagine anyone else being at my side. “If I have a need for someone to throw stones, I know where to find him.”
His expression softens. “Don’t worry, Princess. I’m not going anywhere.”
“That is a relief.” My casual tone belies how glad I am for his reassurance, and I fix my eyes on the clouds in the horizon, gilded orange by the setting sun. Most of the people of Havenford have come down to the beach to enjoy the last of the sun’s rays, but we are on our own here at the sand’s edge. “Thank you, by the way.”
He shifts to better face me, his leg pressing against mine in a way that feels both foreign and familiar. This easy contact between us is new, but after the way he held me when we danced, the connection now seems natural. “For what?”
“For letting me enjoy today.”
Exhaling slowly, he rubs a hand on his thigh as if nervous. “You were right.”
“Likely, yes, but what about?”
That gets a chuckle out of him. “I needed to relax. I got stuck in my head, and I’m no good to you if I can’t even think straight.” When I grin wide, he narrows his eyes. “But I expect you to keep your promise, Rapunzel. I’m in charge from here on out.”
I snicker. “Of course.” I always strive to keep my promises, but I never said I would make it easy for him. Going forward in my campaign, flexibility and adaptability will be my greatest allies. Elliot will simplyhave to plan accordingly because I will not know the best course of action until I am in it. I learned as much in Windgaard.
He growls a bit, his scowl deepening. “Why do I get the feeling you’re plotting against me?”
“Likely because I am.”
“Freya.”
“Elliot.” I lift my chin and grin at him with all the haughtiness I can summon.
He shakes his head, like he has no idea what to do with me. “You’re a pain in the neck, you know that?” And yet he smiles, like he cannot contain his affection for me.
I did not realize how much I would treasure his good opinion, and his expression seems to give me a strength that will never wane. I rather like the way he is looking at me. Though Elsa’s words about us being a couple echo in my head, I ignore them and instead tease, “I happen to think I am delightful, and my friends would agree.”
“Your friends, the celebrities.” He rolls his eyes.
“Have you forgotten that one of those celebrities is your cousin?”
“Don’t remind me.” But then his gaze catches on something behind me, and he grows tense, all of his mirth gone in an instant.
Turning, I search for what put him on edge and frown when I find Markham standing a few meters away with a hesitant expression. While I do think it is a good idea to be wary when it comes to Markham Grimstad, my opponent has done nothing to deserve Elliot’s hatred.
