Already, she felt better.
Elizabeth waited in the drive, twisting her hands together, until a servant came out, leading her chestnut coloured mare by the reins and looking at her with a bewildered expression.
She accepted the reins and mounted up, sitting sidesaddle. She shifted her seat to get more comfortable, and settled the reins in her hands, smiling at the thought of doing something delightfully rebellious.
“Lady Elizabeth, don’t you think—”
The servant’s words were lost on the wind as she took off before anyone could stop her. Her horse kicked up dust behind her as they thundered down the road. Her heart pounded and adrenaline coursed through her veins, as she was about to do the most reckless thing she had ever done.
She was about to go hunting for a demon.
Caspian.
The answer to all her problems. She would never have to marry the duke. She would run far away, duty to her family be damned.
It was not worth the price of her happiness.
Elizabeth rode into Briarton, passing a cluster of quaint stone houses and shops with diamond latticed windows. Dismounting, she landed with a soft thud on the cobblestones and led her mare to the city stables. Her mother would flay her for leaving without an escort or a guard, but she no longer cared. Briarton was her home city, after all. She knew every shopkeeper, every cross street. She was not in danger here.
She handed the reins to a stablehand, tossing him a copper in thanks. Feeling giddy and reckless, she strode into the heart of the city, wondering where she might find him.
He wasn’t in the market, and wasn’t wandering near the bistro district. She walked through all the main streets of Briarton, twice, but was unable to see a dark head of hair.
After a couple hours of searching she still hadn’t found him. Her face fell with the realization that Caspian was not there, and had likely left Briarton for good.
She wandered the city for a while to clear her head, and slowly began to accept that she must have just missed him. The demon was gone, and with him, her only chance of escaping her engagement.
Her shoulders drooped.
As she wandered the streets and time passed, she began to question her wisdom in coming here. It might be for the best that she couldn’t find him. Offering herself up to a demon on a silver platter suddenly sounded like the stupidest idea she had ever had.
Maybe she didn’t need him. Maybe she could run away on her own.
Though she had never left the kingdom before, and hadn’t the foggiest idea where she would go or what she would do. What did commoners even do with their spare time? Would she have to find work? She had no skills and no trades to offer. She flushed, realizing that if she ran away and stripped herself of her family name, she would be no one of importance and have no way to make gold.
She would be destitute—if she wasn’t murdered within the first few weeks. Rhodea was not safe for a woman travelling alone.
And then there were her parents. She chewed her lip. They would never forgive her.
Elizabeth considered the problem from every angle, but there was no clear-cut solution. She was either a traitor to her family, facing a difficult and unstable future, or she would be miserable every day of her life.
Neither sounded appealing.
Perhaps if she tried not to think about it for a few days a solution would present itself, a way for her to appease her family but also get out of her engagement. Then she wouldn’t have to run away at all.
Sighing, she accepted it was probably for the best that she hadn’t found the demon today. She still wasn’t sure if she should ask for his help.
Resolving to put the decision out of her mind for a while, she ventured to one of her favourite bookstores and spent a long time poring over the titles, searching for a couple of new books to add to her collection.
She made her purchases and stepped out into the sun, catching sight of her reflection in the shop window. The tension had left her shoulders now that she was without her mother, and her smile looked genuine instead of forced. She looked a little sleep deprived but appeared more like her usual self than she had in days.
A tall figure joined her in her reflection. “Hello, Elizabeth.”
Gasping, she spun towards the demon. His unsettling eyes bored into hers, making her feel uneasy, like a rabbit caught in the eyes of a fox.
“Caspian,” she breathed, hardly daring to believe she had actually found him.
“What are you doing away from home? One might think you’re in search of … adventure.” His voice was low, dangerous.
