Page 77 of The Noldrin Witch

The kingdom needed a miracle, and Elise was determined to assemble one from roots, leaves, and whatever else she could find in the herbarium.

The magic of the stone would not allow her to stop even if she wished to. Not even the Dutiful Maid Potion had been so relentless. It had to be the force of the male divinity. She was beginning to see everyone as a rival, and at moments all she wanted was to wrestle them onto the stone floor until a few bones cracked.

Her imagination was quickly filling with delightful thoughts of a similar nature. The lingering effect of them was becoming an itch she needed to scratch one way or another.

She restrained herself as best she could, knowing full well that the only sparring she was permitted was the sort that demonstrated a talent for potion-making.

By the time she arrived at the herbarium, though, Danu’s influence felt stronger than ever. And even if at that moment she felt capable of ripping the panels from the herbarium just to rebuild a new one, she was about to face an even greater challenge.

Elise felt her mouth water and her eyes widen at the sight of an irresistible figure crossing the gardens.

It was none other than Kurt. He was on his way to the maze.

The disappointment she had felt when he publicly rejected any relationship between them quickly faded. It was as though Danu’s energy had reduced her hurt feelings to a mere inconvenience. The opportunity to settle their unfinished business suddenly seemed far too tempting to ignore.

In that moment, Elise forgot all about the race to produce the winning potion. Instead, a different sort of urge began to course through every pore of her skin.

Needless to say, she followed the handsome duke to the maze.

There, beneath the warm light and in the pleasant heat that only the outdoors could provide, she quickly found the target of her interest. Kurt, a man of war-trained senses, was quick to turn and find Elise only a few paces away.

“Elise,” he said with the same stern countenance as the day before.

This time, Elise’s senses were sharpened, and she immediately noticed the lack of enthusiasm in his greeting. Still believing his sour mood might be related to military affairs, she closed the distance just to test her theory.

Kurt tensed as she drew nearer.

“Can I help you?” he said.

His lips moved in a hypnotic dance. The cadence of his voice, the movement of his arms, even the way his hair moved in the wind made Elise’s mind race for a perfectly reasonable excuse to reach for his arm.

“I have been wanting to talk with you,” she said.

By now, she had come up with a modestly reasonable explanation about Seth. She would say he was a debt collector who had somehow managed to track her down all the way from Falaine. It was not far from the truth, and Elise felt it was a fair description of her infernal reality.

Kurt glanced down at Elise’s hand resting on his arm. “What for?”

“The man who was with me the other day,” she said. She felt she could confess her worst sin, but she stuck to her plan. “I have a debt to repay, and he found out where I live.”

Kurt hummed. “That explains one.”

“One?”

Elise felt Kurt’s eyes on her. He maintained his stoic demeanor, though she noticed him swallow hard. She did not know what else to do to rekindle what had happened between them days ago. It was as though the moment had never existed.

“What are you talking about?” was all she could say.

Kurt trained his eyes on hers.

“It seems you have found the perfect place to meet with gentlemen.” He glanced around at the walls of the labyrinth surrounding them. “I saw you the other night.”

Elise’s lips parted as she thought of him watching Seth and her entering the maze at night. She found it a little odd that he would be wandering the castle at midnight, but how could she doubt what he was telling her?

Had Elise known that the man he was referring to so bitterly was the king, she would have laughed and explained the misunderstanding at once. But remembering how tempted she had been by the handsome demon, she felt it only proper to concede some guilt.

“Nothing happened, though,” she explained. “I have to admit he is too handsome for his own good, but still, I do not like to mingle with such beings. Morgaine warned me they can be quite possessive, and from what I have seen, he is far too full of himself.”

Kurt seemed confused.