“We’ll put them inside with us,” he said.
“In the church?It’s so small?”
“Where else then?” he asked, but when I pulled open the door, a burley gust launched into the stone façade with an equally powerful thud.
The crash startled them and Cyrus dropped the ties the moment they began to fight. Scared, they fled into the wilderness, despite our calls.
“Wait!” I yelled. “Cyrus! Why did you let go?” I started after, but he grabbed my arm.
“With respect, I didn’t want to be dragged,” he said. “Let them go!”
I paused at the image that invoked. “Dragged,” I repeated. My breath caught. “Right. Of course.”
The clouds broke then, pouring rain. He shook his head, then nodded to the church. “They’ll be alright, but we won’t. Come. Please.”
Mr. Evergreen shut the door behind us. He barred it with the large wooden beam, then made a comment about the wind. When he exhaled, he swept his face free of rain, and shook it from his hand.
“But they’ll be scared,” I said. “...The horses.”
“Not those two,” he replied. He tugged at and wrung the hem of his shirt, flashing me his skin. “They’re smart. They’ll find somewhere to ride it out. Don’t worry.”
“Are you sure?” I asked. “What if-?”
“I’m sure, love,” he said. “It’s not the first storm they’ve seen. Won’t be their last.”
Mr. Evergreen’s dark gaze returned, falling from one end of me to the other, before I realized what caught his eye. My dresswas soaked through in most of its parts. It clung to my frame the same way his clothes shaped him.
I moved to shield myself but his expression changed the moment my arms came up and I… paused, for some reason. I stood nervously, aching to define his look, and, unsure of anything, except the return of thespark,I relaxed and let him gaze at me.
The offer was not lost.
“That, uh… That is a very good look for you, Your Highness,” he said.
My cheeks flushed. “You can see everything,” I replied. “I should feel ashamed.”
He frowned at the admission. “Ashamed? No. Not… Your beauty is hardly shameful. I…” He looked again. “I can’t seeeverything, if it helps. Though, I can’t say I’m repulsed by what I can see.”
“You mean I…” I bit my lip. “...Are you suggesting that I look appealing to you, sir?”
“Yes.” He chuckled. “Though ‘appealing’ is hardly the word I’d select, Svana. Bewitching, though? Now there’s something to that. As bewitching the day we met,” he said.
Outside, the weather cracked likestatic, water beating upon the roof, and unrelentingly. After a fragile, quiet second, he walked to the credenza and removed the ornate cloth from beneath the prayer votives.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
He wrapped it around my shoulders. “I’m drying you. You’ll catch your death,” he said. “I’m sure God will understand if I borrow this.”
He drew the fabric tighter andmewith it, moving my body the same as he had for our first kiss.
“Mr. Evergreen….” I managed to say.
“Yes, Princess?”
“It’s dark,” I muttered.
He nodded and then he let go to pick up one of the matches and strike it into bloom. He carried it carefully shielded by his hand, to bring to life a few candles nearby. Their flames danced a beautiful orange across his features and cast his shadow broader and broader across the wall.
“We’ll be safe here,” he said.
