“Not yet,” she said, heart leaping into her throat. “Not until we get to where we’re going.”
“Ah, so you do have a destination in mind. We aren’t simply wandering the woods until you find an ample cliff to shove me from?”
“Oh, we are heading for a cliff. I’m undecided whether I’ll be shoving you off it.” She met his gaze with an easy smile and found him grinning right back. The sight made her pulse quicken. When had she last seen him smile like that? For a moment, it felt as if they’d slipped back in time to just under two months ago, when their banter and arguments had begun shifting into friendship. The echo of the past unsettled her. It felt…wrong. But why? Because they were less than friends now?
Or because they were more?
She couldn’t help but think of their kiss. Or before that, of the moment they’d shared beneath the tree when she’d rendered them invisible. Or at Centerpointe Rock when her hand had stilled on his torso after she’d bandaged his wound. Her mind lingered over that moment now, remembering how his eyes had flickered as he’d looked down at her, stirring the energies between them into something new. Even more so when he’d placed his hand over hers and caressed the back of her hand with his thumb.
That moment had felt so heavy. So meaningful.
But then everything changed. Cora had gotten herself captured by Verdian.
And Teryn…
Teryn had proposed an engagement between her and his brother. Regardless of the reason that had brought him here now, she couldn’t let herself forget that she hadn’t been his first choice. He was here because he had to be.
The forest path split into a fork, and Cora paused to recall which way led to her destination. After a moment of hesitation, an internal tug pulled her to the left. “This way,” she said, starting off down the left-hand path and taking the opportunity to place another foot of space between them.
Keeping her voice nonchalant, she changed the subject to neutral territory. “How did you know my brother and his council had gone hunting?”
Teryn’s smile no longer brightened his face. “Mareleau told me.”
“Mareleau?” A spike of annoyance shot through her. So his former fiancée was simply…Mareleau. Not Her Majesty. Not Queen Mareleau. Cora wasn’t sure how to feel about that, but the jealousy that clouded her chest was most certainly uncalled for. But that didn’t stop it from growing.
Teryn nodded. “She’d discovered my plan to come here and speak with you. I begged for her silence and requested her help in getting me inside the palace while her uncles were away.”
Cora arched a brow and cast him a disbelieving look. “She helped you? As in…she did something for another person?”
“More like she sent me a curt letter informing me of her uncles’ hunting excursion, and I took advantage of their fortuitous absence.”
“Why did you ask for her help and not mine?” Cora wished she could swallow her accusing tone, but it was too late.I shouldn’t care. It shouldn’t matter.She cleared her throat. “If your business at Ridine involves me, you could have sent me a letter informing me of your visit. Why the secrecy?”
Teryn cast her a sideways grin. “I wasn’t sure you’d reply. Worse, I thought perhaps you’d tell me not to come at all.”
He had a point.
But still…
“So instead, you schemed to infiltrate my home and sneak up on me unannounced?”
“Technically, I didn’t infiltrate the castle. Master Arther greeted me and—” His voice cut off and his expression turned serious. “I was willing to do whatever it took. I told you, Cora. I wasn’t going to let anything come between us again.”
Us.
The word sent her pulse thundering.
She shifted her gaze ahead and saw the trees thinning, opening to a familiar sight. One she hadn’t seen since she was a child. She picked up her pace, pouring all her focus into her destination to distract herself from Teryn.
From the way he’d saidus.
Teryn kept pace at her side while the sound of the guards’ footsteps lagged farther behind. Finally, they reached a small clearing at the edge of a low, grassy cliff. Beneath it spread a wide meadow dotted with wildflowers in every shade imaginable. A smile stretched Cora’s lips. It was even more beautiful than she’d remembered.
She halted a few feet before the cliff’s edge and breathed in the fresh summer air. A shadow crossed the sun as Berol descended and landed in a nearby tree.
Teryn came up beside Cora. His knuckles caressed hers again, making her breath catch. He made no move to pull his hand away, only let their fingers brush once more before he said, “It’s beautiful.”
She angled her body to the side, sliding her hand out of reach. “I used to come here with my brother when I was a child. It was our secret place.”
