When he had held her hands at the play, he had traced a line up them with his fingers and imagined replacing his lips with his fingers. He would kiss them, and then he would--
“Torcall? I have called ye thrice. Where has yer mind gotten to?”
Rather than reply, he smiled coyly. She didn’t want to know. “Tell me,” he said to her, ignoring the question. “Would ye like wine or mead?”
“Ye have them both?”
“Nay,” he winked. ‘I was hoping ye would stick with mead.”
Once more, she laughed, and as always, it entranced him.
“‘Tis yer lucky night then. I do have cravin’ for some mead.”
He produced a jar of mead and a whole apple pie. There was half of a roasted chicken and several apples. The bread came next.
“Wow,” Ceana said. “‘Tis a small feast this night, aye?”
“Only the best for ye, milady.”
Ceana blushed and accepted the bread he handed to her.
“Did ye enjoy the ride, lass?” he asked her.
“Aye,” she said, her eyes twinkling in the starlight. “How about ye?”
“Oh, aye,” he said. “How could I nae in the company of such a beautiful lass as ye?”
“And how many other lasses have ye said the same too?” she said tartly, a mischievous grin belying her words. She bit into her piece of chicken and washed it down with the drink.
Torcall could have laughed out loud. She was a smart one, and he liked that. He handed her a cup of mead and took one for himself.
As he had done during the play, he took her hands in his and caressed them gently. Ceana blushed and looked away from him, emboldening him further as she did not take her hands from him.
“What do ye see for yerself in the future?” Ceana asked him. Daring to be bold, she moved closer to him and sat beside him. Torcall smiled at the gesture. They were so close that he knew their shoulders would touch if either of them moved an inch more.
Torcall got a far-off look in his eyes and looked off into the dark night. “I want to go away from here, far, far away, where no one kens me and where I can leave the memories of this place behind.”
* * *
Ceana froze. It was like a nightmare she had had once when she was a wee lass. She had been crowned princess and had all she could ever want. Alina and her ma and da were beside her, and everyone was happy. Suddenly, the dream spun around, and Alina and her parents had disappeared, leaving her at the mercy of her soldiers that suddenly wanted to kill her.
It was a cruel dream. Here she was on a romantic date with Torcall. They were alone, and anything would happen. Why had he picked that moment to tell her that the future he desired greatly didn’t include her?
“Ye want to leave?” she asked him, hoping he would say she misheard him, but he nodded.
“Aye, I do.”
“Butwhy?”
“Too many bad memories here for me. The night that me parents were killed haunts me.”
Ceana’s heart hurt. She felt pain for the boy who had had his parents cruelly snatched from his hands, and she felt the pain of her heart shattering into tiny pieces.
Rather than speak, she grabbed the cup of mean and gulped it down. The sweet taste was addictive, and she relished it.
“Hey,” he said to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Easy on it.”
Ceana shrugged off his touch lightly and poured another cup.
