The armsmaster had set up a number of targets on a patch of grass, and the guests took turns showing off their skill. Those not participating occupied themselves with the picnic food or cheered for their friends’ efforts.
Natalie stood watching the archers with avid interest and a touch of wistfulness. She would have preferred to be a participant than a spectator.
“Should I assume you shoot as well as you ride, Lila?” a familiar voice asked.
She turned slowly to find Luca at her side, wearing his old grin. Her heart most definitely did not make any sort of happy leap at the sight. She was just starved for conversation that wasn’t completely inane.
“Actually, I’ve never shot before,” she admitted. “My mother said that I was quite dangerous enough without a bow in myhands, and that if I was determined to learn, I could wait until I was eighteen.”
Luca gave a surprised laugh, and Natalie belatedly remembered she was supposed to be the princess of Arcadia. She bit her lip, but Luca didn’t question her slip.
“In that case, you’ll have to allow me to teach you.”
She caught a note of hesitancy from him, his eyes offering a subtle challenge, as if he thought she needed goading in order to accept his offer. He was vastly underestimating her desire to learn archery, however.
“Can we start right now?” She barely refrained from bouncing on the balls of her feet.
He laughed. “I don’t see why not. I’m fairly confident in my ability to prevent you shooting another guest by accident.”
She laughed herself. “Then you’ll have my appreciation. I’m reasonably sure that shooting a member of the Lanoverian court would cause the sort of international incident I’ve been instructed to avoid.”
“You’re full of surprises, Lila,” he murmured softly, and Natalie tensed.
But he turned away immediately to procure her a bow and quiver of arrows, freeing her from the necessity of responding. Even so, her exuberant excitement dulled, replaced by wariness. What had he meant by that comment?
Had he been looking into her in the days since their encounter in the garden? Was that why he’d been absent? What had he found?
“Relax, Lila! You’re far too tense,” he said as she tried to follow his instructions and fit her first arrow to the bow.
She barely refrained from rolling her eyes. Who exactly was the source of all her tension?
But she had no desire for him to know how nervous his curiosity made her. She rolled her shoulders and let out a slow breath before trying again.
“Better!” he said approvingly, and she managed a natural smile.
But when she released the arrow, it didn’t fly straight into the center of the target as she had envisioned. Instead it plopped into the grass disappointingly short of its aim. She pursed her lips, and he laughed.
“If you hit the target on your first attempt, you’d be a prodigy.”
“I would have liked to be a shooting prodigy,” she said wistfully, and he shook his head, his eyes dancing.
“It might be better for all of us that you’re not. Think of your poor mother’s nerves.”
She laughed, her tension easing even more.
“You need to pull the string back further.” He took it from her and demonstrated. “And hold it steadier.”
He talked her through her second attempt, giving her enough tips that she managed to propel the arrow the needed distance. Unfortunately her aim suffered as a result, and it came nowhere near hitting the target.
“Bad luck,” Luca said with a straight face. “There was a puff of wind.”
Natalie gave him an irritated look. “My pride isn’t that fragile.”
He came close beside her. “You need to aim—” He hesitated. “Do you mind if I…?” He gestured to indicate he wanted to move her physically into the right position.
She nodded, her attention on the target, so the feel of his chest against her back and his arms encircling hers took her by surprise. She bit short her soft gasp. She should have realizedwhat he meant, and she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of knowing he had affected her.
She kept her eyes on the target. But while she could pretend to be focused only on the archery, she couldn’t actually ignore the warmth of his body or the strength in his arms as he guided her into the right position.
