I stop dead in my tracks and route my feet firmly to the earth.
Keane’s face alights at my abrupt stance, his lips darting into a smirk as he gazes down at my boots.
“Standing far away from me will not help you, Alexis,” he shakes his head.
I take a swift step back and move away from his commanding presence.
“Neither will running,” he chuckles in amusement.
Ancients.
I know the Discerni are fast, but I think I’m willing to take my chances right now.Or,that small voice reminds me in the back of my head, I can just resolve this stupid dispute and tell him that I’m allowed to have the book in the first place.
The sound of an earthly rumble immediately breaks that thought.
I look around in confusion, then glance at the Prince in question, noticing that he hasn’t moved from his spot on the outskirts of the Shadow Oak. He still has a small smirk on his face as he watches me from afar, his eyes darting across mine with a wicked look that makes me even more confused.
I hear the rumble again and quickly look down at the ground below my feet. My eyes go wide in an instant, realizing that it’s the roots of the tree that are creating the sound.
The branches are shifting around my boots and causing the earth to rumble, the display of magic both beautiful and frightening at the same time. I take another hesitant step back when they slowly begin to snake around my boots, one half of me wanting to bend down and trace my fingers around the limbs while the other half wants to jump away before they can hold me in place.
“Ancients…” I let out an astonished breath.
I’m completely transfixed. The limbs begin to circle around my calves, the wood and granite tightening around the leather of my boots just as I reach down to touch them.
“I don’t care about the book, Lady Alexis,” the Prince says quietly.
I nod and bite my lip, running my hand along the root. A small limb reaches out to grasp my hand when I do, but almost immediately, as if it didn’t mean for that to happen, it falls away with the rest of the roots and moves back into the ground.
“Come,” Keane tilts his head back towards the barracks, “we need to get to the duel.”
I frown at the now still earth and slowly start to make my way under the Shadow Oak.
“How did you find me?”
“Cal said you took a walk with Golem past the barracks.”
“And you decided to come look for me?”
“I had a feeling I knew where you’d be.”
“A feeling, huh?” I eye him curiously.
“Don’t look too far into it, Alexis,” he shakes his head.
“Well did that feeling happen to lead you to the barracks first?” I ask with a grin.
“No,” Keane looks at me in confusion, “why would I?’
“Because if you did,” I give him a wicked smile and brush my shoulder past his, “you probably would’ve found a few of your men putting their clothes back on, the look of sweet satisfaction gracing their faces.”
I hear him choke out a laugh behind me before his broad body appears in front of my own. The quick movement makes me stop in my tracks and look up with a grin, loving the way his approving laughter suddenly fills the woods.
“You’retrouble, Alexis.”
I laugh with him and nod. “Only around you.”
The Prince grins and moves to my side.
