I ran my tongue along my teeth.Bondingwith this man was the last thing I needed. I pictured his hands gripping my waist the way he had in the cave, and my dress felt too tight.
“Really, Galen, it’s not that,” I tried again. “I don’t think?—”
“No arguing, it’s already done. I’ll have a carriage waiting foryou in the next ten minutes, along with a couple of guards, just to be safe. You’re going to love the cliffs, Clarissa.”
Thorne opened his mouth, and Galen shoved his half-eaten toast into it. “I’ll see you two this evening for the ball,” he said as he walked toward the hallway doors. “I’m sure you’ll be fast friends.”
I watched the door shut. Behind me, Thorne said, “I’m sorry. I had no idea he was going to do this. I can find someone else to take you.”
Turning to face him, I smoothed my hands along my dress. “It’s fine. Why wouldn’t it be? We’ll go see these cliffs, placate him for a bit, and come back in a couple hours. There’s nothing to worry about.”
His eyes flickered between mine before he slowly nodded. “As you wish, Empress.”
39
Clarissa
The ride to the southern shores was silent, save for Thorne’s occasional commentary on the landmarks we passed and our hurried apologies when the carriage would jostle and make our knees knock against each other.
It took about an hour to get from the Penworth Estates to the Aurelia Cliffs, and most of that time was spent traveling up winding mountain paths. I took my attention off Thorne by staring out the window, catching views on one mountainside of the territory growing smaller and smaller as we ventured higher, and of the rocky coastline and white spray of waves on the other side.
This shore wasn’t like the one I knew in Veridia City, with the dense tree line opening up to a short stretch of sand before it met the ocean, nor the Port of North Pine in the North Territory that we’d arrived at—which had golden sand and palm trees as far as the eye could see. The shore here at the south was rugged, layered with sharp boulders jutting from dark sand that extended from the base of a long strand of green cliffs and white-capped mountains. Strong winds coming from the ocean pushed against the carriage, and water formed into waves as it rushed toward the sand, racing and tumbling while the next ones approached.
It was beautiful and wild and dangerous, and somehow, it made my anxious nerves settle.
The carriage rolled to a stop. There was a soft tap on the door before the driver opened it. “We’re here, Your Grace, Your Majesty,” he said, bowing to Thorne and me in turn. He gestured to himself and the two guards in the box with him. “We’ll be waiting here if you need anything.”
I stepped onto the rocky ground and gasped.
We were stopped on a mountain pass overlooking the ocean. On either side of us stood two mountains that glistened like gold in the light, while before me was a grassy cliffside leading to waves crashing far below. The midmorning sun hovered on my upper left, shining across the water and making it sparkle like thousands of little diamonds.
Wind whipped through my hair and lifted the skirt of my burgundy dress. I inhaled deeply, closing my eyes to the scent of salt and the feel of the ocean breeze brushing my sun-kissed cheeks.
It was peaceful. No stodgy lords. No stone walls. No masks and forced smiles and secrets. Just…me.
Andhim.
“He figured you wanted to get away,” Thorne said from behind me. “Galen, that is. Nobody lives up here, and when the weather is nice, it’s a perfect?—”
“Escape,” I finished on an exhale. Grinning, I spun to face him. “Yes, well, he was right. I can finally hear myself think.”
He nodded and then sighed, bracing himself. “Look, I’m sorry about yesterday. I’m not trying to be…overbearing, but I worry about you. I don’t like the way that governor sounds. I?—”
I cut him off with a dramatic groan. “Your apology is accepted as long as we don’t discuss it anymore. We’re coming here toescape, yes? I don’t want to hear about assassins and regent families and governors.”And marriages. “I just want to behere.”
I turned to the cliffs again, taking a few steps forward until Iburst into a run. I spun in the grass with my arms flung out to my side and the wind blowing my hair in all directions.
“Forget all of it,” I shouted to the mountains, laughter bubbling in my throat. “Forget you’re Thorne Reaux, Regent Lord of the North Territory. ForgetI’mClarissa Aris—soon-to-be Empress of the Veridian Empire. Let’s just be…us.”
A smile stretched across his face where I’d left him. “And who are we, exactly?” he called out above the wind and waves. “Without all the titles?”
“Whoever we want to be!” I yelled back.
He walked across the grassy terrain toward me, his brown locks swaying in the wind. As he drew nearer, I saw a sparkle in his blue eyes, the slight upturn of his lips, the smooth skin at his forehead where wrinkles of concern normally lived. He, too, looked freer out here. As if the weight of what waited for us down below disappeared the higher we climbed.
“How about,” he took one more step forward and pushed back a strand of blonde hair that had gotten stuck on my lips, “we just be Rissa and Thorne.”
I was breathless from running, but perhaps from something else too. My heart picked up speed as the tips of his fingers skimmed my jaw when he pulled his hand away.
