“Helping to clean up the melting mess outside.” He dumped a cup of oats into a pot of water. “And no need. They tried to keep her, I’ll have you know. I think you might have to share now.”
I looked down at Snow, who was licking her bowl clean, relieved. Glad to know that should I find a way to Baneberry, then the wolf would be cared for. And if I never returned to this frosty kingdom, then she would be loved.
My chest clenched.
Forcing out a breath that shook, I feigned a yawn that made the cook laugh again as he finished preparing my breakfast.
I ate while lost in the gloom of my thoughts, and Kreed vigorously scrubbed the bottom of a large pot. Then what he’d said came back to me, and I stopped chewing to ask, “The snow melts?”
He shot me a smile over his shoulder. “The snow melts.”
I frowned when he looked away, poking at my breakfast with the spoon. “You seem far too pleased by this.” I would have thought the people of Hellebore knew exactly what living here entailed—terminal cold.
He laughed, the sound thick with dry disbelief. “Princess, it’s been years of endless snow. Everyone is pleased.”
I made a face. “The entire manor would be half buried if that were true.”
Kreed snorted. “Believe me, it has been more times than I can count.” He set the pot on the drying rack and grabbed the towel. “Florian hires some of Aura’s people to help thaw things when it gets…” He scratched at his jaw and made a strange noise, then finished with, “Particularly bad.”
“So,” I said, failing to understand his way of phrasing it. “Now autumn comes?” The only other season to grace this kingdom.
He gave me an odd look, then a pat on my shoulder as he headed for the stairs. “Only time will tell.”
Before he could leave, I asked, “You wouldn’t happen to know when Florian might return, would you?”
“As far as I’m aware, he’s seeing to issues near the border. Could be days or mere hours.”
Recalling that weaponry had been stolen, I asked, “The warrior camps?”
Kreed hesitated, gripping the doorframe. “Do not get my limbs severed, Princess.” His flat expression said that Olin had already tattled on him to the king, and he’d since been warned not to appease my curiosities.
I winced. “Are the frozen males still hanging in the drawing room?”
He barked out a laugh. “Skies, no.”
“Then…” I blanched, not wanting but needing to know.
Kreed gave me another look, then glanced up the stairs. Just when I’d thought he’d leave, he looked back at me and said quietly, “Guess most on the estate know, so…” He shrugged. “He killed them.” Then he tapped the wood and left me to fester with all he’d said and wouldn’t say.
Exhaustion and frustration and a gnawing sense of foreboding kept me from finishing my breakfast. I was so tired of this world of secrecy and deceit.
A world I’d desperately wanted to be a part of with such foolishly naive abandon.
I cleaned up my mess and left the kitchen, pondering a nap before I pondered plans of escape.
I withheld a groan when I found Zayla waiting in the hall.
My dismay evidently showed, for the guard smiled. “Try not to look too displeased, Princess. I’m merely in charge of making sure no harm befalls you.” Eyeing me up and down, she pinched her lips. “Enjoy the heat?”
Her audacity punched a shocked laugh from me. I walked down the hall, and she quickly joined me. “I’d enjoy being able to go wherever I want more,” I lied smoothly.
I highly doubted I’d enjoy myself so thoroughly ever again.
She paused before Florian’s study. “You’re not a prisoner, Tullia.” The door behind her was cracked open. I could see the fireplace beyond the desk was empty, and there was not a trace of fresh smoke nor his scent.
He hadn’t been in there at all today. Which confirmed he’d left for the warrior outposts while I’d slept.
I continued on. “That’s exactly what I am, or you wouldn’t still be following me everywhere.”
“Would it help if I informed you that you are indeed permitted to go wherever you wish?” I turned to her, and the freckles upon her nose shifted as she smiled. “Providing you take a personal guard, of course.”
Hope expanded so fast, I feared I’d wear it all over my face.
I cleared my throat and did my best to keep my features clean of anything other than a mild hint of expected excitement. I rolled my eyes. “Of course.”
Zayla laughed.
I squinted at her with lingering disbelief. “Truly?”
She nodded, fixing the end of her long braid. “The king told me so himself right as he was leaving.”
It had worked.
I didn’t let that fool me into believing I now had Florian’s trust in any form. But the confessing of my feelings, and acknowledging the reason for this unquenchable desire we couldn’t shake for one another, that we were mates…
It had truly worked.
I stopped before the stairs, tempted to laugh. I calmed my features and tone. “Anywhere?”
Zayla bobbed her head. “Suppose it depends on how far anywhere is.”
“The city,” I said, and probably far too quickly but beyond caring now.
It had worked, and it couldn’t be taken back when Florian wasn’t here. I could get to this florist on Ashen Street today.
A swooping took hold of my heartbeat while a sinking stone dropped to my stomach.
Zayla lifted her shoulders. “I cannot see why that would be an issue. I’ll make arrangements with some of the other guards to escort you.” She eyed me pointedly. “No plans of escape in my absence.” A grim look at the drawing room beyond the stairs. “I do not wish to die so gruesomely.”
I winced yet again, laughing humorlessly as I said, “Understood.” Then I thanked her and watched her leave.
Once I knew she was gone, I let the hope and shaking nerves I’d tried to keep hidden propel me up the stairs in a rush to my chambers. Reaching the florist without the guards knowing would prove difficult, but if I could get close enough, perhaps I could outrun them.
That, or I would at least know exactly where to materialize to. Providing I could learn how when I’d only done so in dire situations thus far.
Dressing in a dark crimson gown with woolen lining and long flowing sleeves, I froze at the sight of the coat Florian had given me what seemed like so many moons ago.
Days. I’d been in Folkyn for mere weeks. Even more shocking was that I’d known Florian for less than a month.
In such a short time, not only had he changed my entire life—he’d also begun to change my beliefs and the beat of my heart. I couldn’t imagine the damage he’d do if I stayed much longer, all the while knowing the chances of leaving Hellebore today were slim.
I would likely return to these rooms and to the male who’d given them to me. And I would again promise myself that I would find a way out when there was none to be found.
When perhaps I didn’t truly want one.
I stopped at the door with the coat in hand. It would be too much with my gown, but after one last glimpse at the bed I hadn’t slept in for four unforgettable nights, I donned it anyway and closed the door.