The Secret World of Briar Rose(35)
Briar’s lips parted to break the perfect heart shape of her mouth. She let go a shaky breath, so quiet it could have been missed if Corin hadn’t been watching her closely. Wind rustled through the willow tree like whispers. For a fraction of a second, Corin thought she saw the facade fade.
“Is he here?” Briar asked.
“No.” Malicine lowered their voice. “But he’s been looking for you.”
The air grew tense with nothing but the sound of bees to fill the silence. Even Penny and Dime exchanged skeptical glances with each other across the table. Corin wondered how much they knew about the prince, his steel eyes that cut through anyone who tried to disturb the princess. If Briar was as light as air, Ezran was as wild as a flame, real and solid. His passion could swallow her up.
“If they could cross whenever they wanted, they would have by now,” Malicine continued. “The fact that they haven’t means there’s something blocking them from opening another portal.”
Briar refilled her teacup. The lid rattled over the porcelain pot as her hands trembled slightly. Corin followed her gaze to the tiny white flowers swirling at the bottom of the cup. The fragrance was strong enough for the breeze to carry over, wafting under their noses, tingling her lips. A bittersweet smell.
“He’s not giving up,” Briar said. “He never will. Not for the one he loves.”
“Yes, his devotion is ever so charming,” Malicine replied dryly. “But Corin came from Gyldan as well. Apparently, Ezran made a promise to protect a treasure of yours. Does that sound right?”
Briar drank her tea for a long moment before lifting her lips from the cup. Quietly, she answered, “Yes, that’s right.”
“We’ll divert him off our path, then. I’ll send Corin back to Gyldan with the treasure, and she’ll tell him that was the only thing she found. If a promise matters to him that much, he’ll keep his word. But there’s no guarantee this will work. It’s up to you if we take that risk.”
“Why me?”
“You’re the one who married him. You know him best.”
Briar folded her hands in her lap, fiddling with the daisy stems wrapped around her fingers. Corin noticed she didn’t wear a wedding ring.
“That’s the problem,” Briar murmured. “I didn’t really know him at all.”
In their silence, the white petals in Briar’s cup dissolved. A bee buzzed past her hair, swirling around the table as if lost. She plucked one of the daffodils from her crown and set the stem inside the centerpiece vase. The glass filled itself with water, and the daffodil morphed into a sunflower. The bee nestled between the petals, burrowing itself in the comfort of seeds and pollen.
Briar stood up from the table and said, “I need some time to think.”
Butterflies followed her cape as she headed toward the cottage, leaving behind daffodil petals in her trail. Corin gritted her teeth and steadied her impatience. She needed the treasure but couldn’t make her motivations obvious. She forced herself to remain still as the rest of the table continued their tea party.
Penny brought out a tray of desserts, a dozen buttercream cakes with lemon filling on top. Malicine swirled their hand over their teacup, turning the liquid a darker plum color, the smell of wine wafting in the air. Dime swiped the same tart that Malicine’s raven pecked at, and the two creatures began squawking at each other. Elly laughed among them, because of course she would find it funny without questioning if it made sense.
Meanwhile, Corin didn’t understand how anyone could behave like this was normal. Like this was real.
Elly turned to her, noticing Corin was the only one who hadn’t joined the table. She offered Corin a plate with tarts, a gesture of reconciliation in the form of sugar and butter. Corin should have revered this opportunity. They were slowly making up for their previous argument, a rare chance to finally get along.
Instead she shook her head in response to Elly, her eyes fixed on the wooden door of the cottage. The smell of daffodils and honey drifted from inside. She pictured Briar draped over the windowsill, keeping her secrets tucked within lithe limbs and careful grace.
But Corin did not have the tolerance for feigned pleasantries. She wanted answers, even if that meant stepping up to the porch and opening that door without asking.
CHAPTER 16
101 YEARS AGO
“YOU DON’T NEED to give an answer, you know.”
Amelia felt the brush of Lilith’s dress as the queen gently nudged their knees together. They sat on the plush red carpet at the top of the grand staircase leading into the vacant ballroom, where empty glasses of champagne and crumb-filled plates covered the tabletops. Her tiered birthday cake, once decorated with red roses made of icing, had melted into a pile of buttercream.
The corset of her carmine gown tightened as Amelia let out a sigh. “I do. I have exactly a year left from tonight.”
Now that celebrations for her seventeenth birthday were over, she needed to answer her father about which man she wanted to marry. That was the true purpose of these ceremonies: not to celebrate her birthday, but to find a suitor. To King Victor, this suitor would become the father of the new heir. To the godmothers, he would be the hero who would break her curse with true love’s kiss and restore their status.
To Amelia, however, these were simply men. And she felt nothing for them.