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Silence.

I chewed on my lip, trying to think up a topic less boring than the weather, one that might encourage some admittance of affection, but my nerves wouldn’t allow it. And so we walked on without another word.

Finally, halfway to the abbey, it seemed, Beric broke the hush with, “Do you know, there are fifty-two pear trees in this courtyard.”

“Are there really?” I asked, brightening. I took in the trees, truly, for the first time since I arrived at the palace, finally seeing their beauty. “Oh, how lovely.”

“They were planted to mark the spots where the king would bury traitors alive.”

“O-oh.” I tried to smile, but it was clear Beric could sense something was off, the ends of his ears turning red. “That’s not what I was expecting you to say at all.”

“It’s just … an interesting bit of history, I thought.”

“Rather gruesome.”

“Forgive me,” he murmured.

“It’s all right.” I smirked, hoping to brush away our discomfort. “I suppose the fruit from them must be poison, sucking the very life from human bodies like that.”

“Um…” Beric looked a bit confused. “No, they just aren’t ripe until the end of summer.”

Beric missing my jokes was the most challenging part of our interactions, even as it was becoming the most endearing part as well. “Yes, of course. I’m sure they’ll be lovely. I do love pears.”

I rolled my eyes at myself. A boy was finally courting me and all I could say was I do love pears like a silly child?

“What else do you love?” he asked, blessedly changing the subject.

Coming from him, the very question made me blush. “Tournaments.”

“If we’d had more time to arrange it, there might have been one at your wedding.”

“Really?” I grabbed his arm, unable to contain myself. “May we please still have one? It doesn’t have to be for a particular occasion, does it?”

He looked down at my hands holding his arm before meeting my gaze. “If it pleases you, my lady.”

“Will you compete in it? Oh, do compete.”

“As someone used to fighting demons, I fear I would outmatch most of the competitors.”

“What a”—incredibly attractive, my God!—“shamelessly arrogant thing to say, my lord.” I laughed.

He shrugged. “Arrogant or not, it’s the truth.”

“Having witnessed you fighting a demon, I don’t doubt it.”

“You did incredible today,” he said, his brows in a serious attitude. “I mean it. Usually the king is there to do the fighting, so our magic was spread thin. But you handled yourself well considering the circumstances.”

“Thank you, but…” I chewed on my lip. “It’s not really my cup of tea, fighting demons. Fighting at all, really.”

“And yet God blessed you with the talent and fortitude perfectly suited for the task. He works in mysterious ways, does He not? Sometimes what we’re good at is where we’re supposed to be, even if it isn’t our passion.”

“What are you best at?” I asked, hoping he’d forget about speaking of The Dark. “Where are you supposed to be, do you think?”

“I’m organized and protective. Anxiously so.” He shrugged, and for a moment, he looked as if he wasn’t sure he should have confessed that. “I would be a squire somewhere, even if I hadn’t won this position with the king.”

“I’m glad you did win,” I said, giddy that I’d never released his arm, that he’d never made me. “If you hadn’t, I wouldn’t be here either. How devastatingly sad that would be, if the two of us had never met.”

He again looked at my hand holding his arm, the smallest grin teasing the corner of his lips. “Indeed.”