The Secret World of Briar Rose(40)
It helped, too, that he was handsome. The flecks of light in his eyes were magnetic, and the simple white shirt he borrowed was unbuttoned at his throat, highlighting his strong physique. It wasn’t just the adrenaline rush of last night that could convince someone he was beautiful. He truly was. The break of morning light proved it.
“Your godmothers told me true love will break your curse,” he said. “Is that true?”
Ezran watched her carefully, the sunlight gleaming so bright in his eyes it made his irises turn silver, his hair a sleek shade of white. The way he gazed at her brought warmth to Amelia’s cheeks, but it was more from self-consciousness than anything deeper.
She was sure many girls would fall for him. She didn’t know why she couldn’t feel the same way.
“I don’t put much faith in that sort of thing,” she admitted.
“That’s a shame,” he said. “I believe it does exist.”
A jewel-embedded fountain quietly spouted water at the end of the path. The sky reflected in the water’s slow ripples, but as Ezran approached, the liquid glimmered with the pale moon of his face instead. He dipped his hand in the fountain and plucked a blossom petal that had drifted from a tree.
“When I was a child, I almost drowned in the ocean. I should’ve died, but someone saved me,” he said. “If miracles like that can happen, who’s to say you can’t find true love with a stranger?”
He pressed the petal to Amelia’s cheek. The cold struck her skin and made her shiver. A bead of water dripped from the petal, sliding down her face like a teardrop. Ezran’s voice turned soft.
“A second chance at life isn’t granted to everyone. Since then, I’ve told myself to focus on the most important thing to me. It’s not Gyldan, nor is it Zilar. Kingdoms will always rise and fall, and I have no care for petty wars and politics. Money and titles do not matter to me. The only thing I want is to build a simple life with someone I love.”
A breeze whispered through the open window. She watched the petal drift from his hand and examined his slender fingers, the veins that ran down his arms. Lilith had warned her not to trust his intentions. Logically, Amelia knew Ezran had every diplomatic reason to marry into the royal family of Gyldan. The kingdom of Zilar had once been unoccupied territory until armed forces took control, resulting in native people either fleeing the land or fighting back to keep it. For centuries, Gyldan had provided military aid to Zilar, supporting the occupation in exchange for silver. If they strengthened their ties through a marriage alliance, Zilar could block their enemies from seeking asylum in Gyldan and claim even more land.
Yet Ezran’s face held none of its usual masks when he told her of his priorities. His eyes met Amelia’s easily, his voice softened to a lower tone.
This was the most genuine he’d been with her.
A titter of noises came from the double doors. Behind tempered glass, three faces appeared, their wide eyes roaming through the plants to locate Amelia and Ezran. He chuckled at their ogling behind the glass. “It seems your godmothers think we’re a good match.”
“What gave that away? When Clover kept nudging us to walk alone together? Or when Dahlia repeated the whole tale about my curse being broken by true love’s kiss while locking eyes on you the entire time?”
Ezran let out an easy laugh, but it was polite, cordial. He knew she was embarrassed by her godmothers’ overbearing behavior. She hoped he also knew that she was not as desperate as they were.
“Is that what you want, Amelia? A man to sweep you off your feet and save you?”
Amelia shook her head. “I’ve never wanted to be saved.”
She sounded braver than she was. A noble statement that seemed to imply she would be the one saving herself. That wasn’t true, either. If she were to be lost in darkness, she wasn’t sure she’d want anyone to bring her back.
“A man to walk through gardens with you, then?” he asked.
Amelia watched the petal from before drift across cobblestone. It had already dried from its time in the fountain. Now the petal was shriveling.
“I’ve never wanted a man, either,” she replied.
In the stretch of silence, her skin prickled under the weight of Ezran’s stare. It was her turn to be studied, but she couldn’t tell what conclusion he made of her yet.
The doors opened to the sound of her godmothers’ laughter. Upon their entrance, he reached for Amelia’s hand and gave a gentle squeeze, one that she misinterpreted for comfort. The illusion dissolved when he pressed his lips to her ear and whispered.
“Better to fall for a man than a queen.”
The shock nearly toppled her over. She stepped back and tried ripping her hand away, but Ezran gripped tight. Under his grasp, she was immobile.
“Your godmothers are watching,” he murmured. “It wouldn’t look good if you ran away.”
“It’s not what you think,” she stammered. “Lilith and I, we are more like friends. I couldn’t possibly—”
“I see the way you look at her. It’s not normal, and it’s not right.”
Her stomach dropped like a heavy stone had plummeted inside, reached all the way down to her feet, and kept her rooted to the ground. The fountain sputtered water, and she wanted to drown in it. Ezran’s lips grimaced in thinly veiled disgust. The expression made her want to disintegrate. She could not handle the judgment. The spiral of questions for why she was like this, wanted the wrong people, the wrong things.