“Yes. Nedran law allows for the throne to pass to the closest female relative in the absence of a male heir. I spent my entire life learning how to rule a country—something my father was sure to emphasize in any potential marriage alliances, never mind the fact that he never thought I was suitable enough to rulehiscountry.” Her voice darkened. “He made sure I was well aware ofthat.”
“For what it’s worth, I think King Theodor made an excellent choice,” he said softly.
She snorted. “I don’t think he had any other options. We were both the other’s last resort. I tried to take things into my own hands with Prince Dorian and ended up making a mess. Once that debacle cleared, no country in their right mind would take me. Not even Brisia, and they’re in the middle of a war.”
“What happened?”
“I was afraid. I knew my father was working to arrange a marriage, but I had seen what being the wife of a king was like. I didn’t want that, but I also knew that my only hope for getting away from Nedra was through marriage. I tried to ensure that, while Dorian would marry me, he would go out of his way to stay away.”
The pieces fell into place. “He’s the one you cursed.”
She shrugged. “It was a miscalculated risk. In the end, he neither wanted nor needed me to break the curse, andI established my reputation as a witch. If nothing else, I hoped that it would ensure that people thought twice before being rude. It didn’t.”
“Yes, because one desperate act hardly makes you a villain,” Atlas responded stoutly. “You’re too kind to throw around curses as petty revenge. Honestly, the fact that you have that kind of power and only used it twice shows an incredible amount of restraint.”
“Three times.”
“What?”
“I cursed my sister.” She flicked her eyes to him and then back to the fire. “But she was asking for it.”
There was more to the story there, he could tell, but he could also see the weariness in the set of her shoulders and the tension in her jaw. She had shared more with him in the last quarter hour than she had all week, and that kind of vulnerability didn’t deserve an interrogation. He wanted her to know that she was free to be open, that her emotions were safe with him.
They sat in silence for a few long moments, watching the flames crackle and dance in the warm summer night. After a while, he rose, located the knitting he had started earlier, then resumed his place beside her.
“What are you doing?” Lindy frowned at the rough cast of stitches on his stick needle.
“What I should have started out doing in the first place. You’re not alone, Lindy. You don’t have to carry this by yourself. I have just as vested an interest in breaking the princes’ curse as you do.”
“Right,” she answered dully. “Your goose.”
“I want Phoebe back, yes,” he said honestly. “But Ialso want to take you away from this lake. I want to hear you laugh in the sunshine and see what kind of queen you become when you’re finally allowed to exist free of fear.”
Her chin wavered as she shook her head and whispered. “I don’t want the throne. It belongs to Corbin, and I won’t take it away from him. I’ve had enough of kings.”
“Then don’t rule a country.” Unable to help himself, he reached for her chin, gently wiping away the smudge of dirt. His thumb brushed the edge of her lip, and he heard her breath shudder. “I happen to know of an old estate at the top of the mountain that’s in need of management, if you can stand to be around grumpy giants.”
Atlas saw the flash of panic in her eyes, and he forced himself to pull away. “You don’t have to give an answer now, just know that it’s an option. There is no expectation on my part; I just said that I would keep you alive, and this would make things infinitely easier for me.” He winked, then turned his attention to knitting.
Silence fell between them again, broken only by the nighttime music of the forest behind them and the gentle lapping of the water against the shore. He could feel Lindy’s eyes on him as he worked, and after a few long minutes, she stood. He tracked her with his eyes as she shed her cloak and picked up her own needles and a bundle of nettle fibers. One of the princes roused himself as she approached, spreading out and fluttering wide, feathered wings that, from Atlas’s angle, looked as if they were attached to Lindy’s shoulders. She returned,keeping her eyes downcast and refusing to meet his gaze, but when she sat down, she angled herself so that she leaned against him, using his side as a backrest while she stretched out her legs.
The edges of a soft smile pulled at his mouth as he looked down at her.
He had climbed down for a goose, but he had fallen for the winged witch.
Chapter Ten
LINDY
The first thing Lindy was going to do when the curse was broken was ensure she never had to look at a nettle again. She closed her eyes for a second in a silent cry of pain as she stripped another stem, breathing through the painful, itching burn.
It’s only temporary. I just have to harvest enough fibers to finish the last shirt, and then I’ll spend the rest of my life without stepping within six feet of a nettle plant.
Beside her, Atlas was working with an impressive efficiency, sweeping his large hands down the stem and removing all of the leaves in one smooth movement. He refused to listen to her protests, for which she was secretly relieved. With their combined efforts, she was nearly a day ahead of her initial estimates. The job was still just as painful and miserable as it had been before, but having Atlas beside her, quiet and steady and as reliable as the mountain he lived on, somehow made it more bearable.
He looked over, caught her watching him, and gaveher a soft smile that melted her insides. She looked away quickly, her heart pounding in her chest and the pain in her hands nearly forgotten. Her emotions were unfamiliar and frightening, as if she’d fallen from the highest tower and were hurtling towards sharp rocks below without knowing if anyone would catch her. Her breaths came too quickly; she couldn’t fill her lungs.
Something hard pinched her upper arm, drawing her out of her panicked spiral. Lindy looked over to find that Corbin had settled himself beside her and that his beak was a condemning distance from her elbow. He fixed her with a hard stare, one that was far too intelligent to belong to a bird, then nudged her with his beak.
