He made his way swiftly to the maze, his breath coming in ragged, shallow pulls. On the outside he saw nothing. He hoped Prim didn’t venture forth in a disused maze, filled with unattended traps. Then he heard it. A voice. Her voice. Close. Then another voice. A male one. White-hot rage came over him.If Aaron sent someone to hurt Prim, he would see the range of his wrath.
Easily he found the entrance to the maze and turned following the path. And that’s when he saw them. At a small clearing, between broken branches and marble benches filled with fallen leaves, was Prim. And before her, on one knee was Greyhaven.
Leo’s wrath didn’t dissipate. It was transformed. It curdled into something sharper, colder. He looked between them, assessing. No, Nathaniel would never cross any line of propriety. This was not a lover’s meeting. This was a negotiation and Leo just walked in on the closing arguments.
“Your Grace!” Prim said, startled and relieved at the same time.
But Leo couldn’t bring himself to concentrate on her. Not right now. Not even on the relief he felt that she was safe. All his focus was on Greyhaven. The man rose to his height and regarded Leo with the passiveness of inevitability.
“Leave! Now!” Leo growled, the sound echoing around them.
Nathaniel studied him for a few seconds.
“Do not make me repeat myself, Greyhaven. Leave.”
The Duke bowed to Prim without words and walked away. As he passed by Leo, he looked in his eyes. Leo needed one word. Theslightest provocation to unleash the storm that has been brewing inside him.
In his infinite wisdom or bottomless indifference, Nathaniel offered none. He simply walked past Leo, brushing shoulders with him on his way out of the maze. When the Duke’s steps were nothing but an echo in the silence the maze offered, Leo turned to look at her.
If he was expecting to be apprehensive or anxious, she was neither. She looked at him with a deep frown and an expression of disbelief.
“Have you lost your senses completely?” Prim’s voice reached him in icy reproach. “What in the name of all that is decent was that?”
Leo seethed but didn’t answer. Instead, he took a step towards her. Prim was still glaring at him, her chest drawing deep breaths. He kept approaching her.
“I suppose you find it perfectly sane to barge and bellow commands. Your behavior was utterly-”
“Take it off!” He barked.
Prim stopped talking. She raised her chin to meet his fury.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me, Prim. Take it off.”
Prim realized quickly what she was talking about. She touched the necklace for a fleeting second before she looked up at him with defiance.
“No.”
Leo dropped his chin, his eyes still pinned in hers. He knew he looked utterly uncivilized right this moment, yet he didn’t care.
“Take. It. Off.”
“You think you can issue orders and I will rush to do your bidding?”
“I am telling you, Prim. I am not asking you”
“I don’t remember requesting for your permission,” she fired back.
“Do not test me.”
“Am I supposed to be scared?”
“Positively.”
Prim smirked and took one step to him, invading his personal space. She looked steadily at him, her eyes, her body, her stance bold before him.
“I hate to disappoint you, Your Grace.”
