by T. K. Perry
Tiger’s usually hooded eyes grew wide and he let out a surprised laugh. “So why wasn’t he fighting outside your door?”
“I suspect he’s hiding from his girlfriend.”
Tiger laughed softly with his mouth closed, the effect almost musical.
Lexi’s face softened and a smile tugged at one side of her mouth; she loved that sound. Tiger caught her expression and quickly sobered.
“Uh...speaking of girlfriends, mine will be ticked if I don’t show up for lunch,” he said, trying to shake the shore's heavy mud from his boots.
Lexi nodded and scooped another drink of water. “I can go back now.”
“Feel any better?”
Lexi stood up straighter and forced a smile to her face as she nodded.
“You’re lying.”
Lexi grimaced. “How can you tell? I didn’t even speak!”
Tiger laughed softly. “I’m not telling you. Then you’d be able to lie to me.”
“I need to be able to lie to you,” she protested, then blushed.
Tiger shook his head. “Poor Lex, I’ve never seen you blush so much.”
Lexi pressed her hands to her betraying cheeks. “Let’s just go,” she groaned.
Tiger nodded and jumped into flight with Lexi trailing him.
“You’ll get over it,” he assured her as she caught up.
“Yeah, when your season ends,” Lexi grumbled.
“You’ll get over it before then...just as soon as you remember what a jerk I am,” Tiger said, grinning.
Lexi frowned at him. “You’re not a jerk.”
“Sure I am,” Tiger disagreed cheerfully. “I yell at you, try to boss you around, and I took your secret stash of stolen cookies.”
Lexi gasped. “I thought my mother had found them! I spent days dreading her lecture and the diet she was sure to force on me! Tiger! You are a jerk!”
Tiger laughed gleefully. “I told you.”
Lexi flew in front of him and gave him a shove.
“Oh, you’ll regret that,” he warned, still laughing as he chased after her.
The entire trip back was one long game of got-you-last. As they neared the castle, they could hear the crowd in the courtyard taking advantage of the warmer, overcast day by eating on the patio.
“Wait,” Tiger said urgently, pulling Lexi down onto a trail winding through the trees. “Coli said to meet her on the patio.”
“That’s good; I’d like to meet her.”
Tiger grimaced as he ran a hand roughly through his hair. “Uh...not just yet.”
“Why?”
Tiger stared into the trees. “She thinks I’m spending too much time with you. Now would not be a good time to prove her right.”
Lexi knew she ought to be sympathetic, but somehow all she could do was laugh.
“Yeah, that’s great. You laugh,” Tiger said sarcastically. “Because it’s really, really funny,” he said, tickling her.
Lexi let out a shriek and jumped away from him, still laughing. “I think it would be good for you to have to admit you’re wrong. I’m not sure I’ve seen that before,” she teased.
“Ha ha,” Tiger deadpanned, glancing nervously back at the patio. “Just stay here until I sit down, okay? Then you can fly to your balcony and get cleaned up.”
Lexi frowned. “I’ll still smell like rotten apples.”
“Yeah, but you won’t look like one,” he quipped, grinning as she took a swipe at him. “Just stay here,” he pleaded, backing away.
Lexi made a face at him but obeyed, watching curiously as he weaved among the patio tables to greet a yellow-winged girl with fluffy blonde hair, a sloped nose, and a big smile. She stood and embraced him, then quickly pulled away, her freckled nose turned up at the sweat marks on his shirt and perspiration on his forehead. Tiger shrugged, his face turning mischievous as he threatened to hug her again and she squealed. Lexi’s smile faded as she watched. They were so happy. Carefully blanking her expression, she flew up over the trees and made a wide arc to avoid the patio, then hesitated as she saw her balcony. Cam was standing there, his face creased in worry as he met her eyes.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
Lexi landed on the rail, allowing him to reach up and help her down. “I’m fine,” she replied, not meeting his gaze.
“Where did you go? Clodi thought you would only be gone for a few minutes. She panicked when you didn’t come back. We’ve been searching for you all morning.”
Lexi could hear the just reproach in his tone and bristled at it. “I needed some time to myself.” She met his accusing gaze briefly, then walked into her room.
“You’ve been out flying alone all this time?” he asked, his reproach turning to exasperation as followed her into the room.
“No. Tiger followed me to make sure I was okay,” she said, sitting down to remove her riding boots.
Several emotions streaked across Cam’s face as his mouth hung open to speak. “And you couldn’t tell someone you were going?”
Lexi let her boot fall with a heavy thunk. “Are you angry with me?” she asked, surprise and warning lacing her tone.
Cam gave a short, mirthless laugh. “Yeah. The last five hours weren’t very pleasant, Your Highness.”
Lexi’s eyes narrowed slightly as she met his angry gaze. She knew she ought to apologize to him, but it felt so wrong and infuriating for Cam to chastise her that she instinctively rose to the challenge. “You wanted me to come break up your fight with Talan so you could both follow me?”
Cam looked startled for a moment. “No, but you should have told Clodi.”
“Clodi can’t keep secrets, and she would have insisted on coming.”
“But you let Tiger go with you,” he accused.
“No, I didn’t,” Lexi snapped. “I flew all the way out to some lake before I realized he had followed me.”
“Oh.” Cam's shoulders fell beneath her steely gaze. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said any of that.” He rubbed his forehead and grimaced, making his left dimple show. “Talan kept demanding to speak to you, and Clodi gave him some of the worst excuses I’ve ever heard.” Cam chuckled half-heartedly at the memory. “He pushed his way into your room after she told him you were untangling your ribbons and couldn’t be bothered.”
A tiny smile quirked the corner of Lexi’s mouth. “And did he have a tantrum?”
Cam’s face darkened. “He yelled at Clodi until she cried.”
Lexi swallowed down guilt as she removed her other boot and fought to keep her face expressionless.
“I don’t even want to call him a cretin anymore. It’s too nice a word,” Cam continued as he picked up her boots and set them neatly beside her bed. “Where’s your brush?” he asked, glancing around the room.
Lexi put a self-conscious hand over the worst of her tangles. “I think I’ll just wash it.”
Cam nodded. “I’ll be back in a few minutes to take you down to the pool.” He hesitated with his hand on the door, then turned back with an uncertain expression. “Will you wait for me here?”
Lexi fought back a smile. “No. But if you’re fast enough, I may still be here.”
Cam shook his head, but gave her a dimpled, closed-mouth smile as he slipped through the door and closed it softly behind him.
Lexi frowned. “I am turning into my mother,” she murmured, getting up and shoving the balcony doors shut with a resounding thud that vibrated up her arms and shook her wings. She changed into her bathing suit at a deliberately slow pace while replaying the entire conversation with Cam in her head. She was still shocked that he had apologized. Lexi gathered her dirty laundry strategically in her bruised arm, then looked down at the fading yellow bruises on her knees and debated whether to wait for Cam.
“Your lunch, Miss Fritillary," called an unfamiliar female voice as something thumped against the door.
Lexi opened it to see a blue-winged woman hefting a tray with three plates of steaming food. “Thank you,” Lexi
said, opening the door wider. “You may set it on the table.”
The woman gave her an apologetic grimace as she removed a plate. “I have to take the tray back to the kitchen,” she explained.
“That’s fine.” Lexi's eyes narrowed slightly as she stared at the woman’s bright blonde hair; the color reminded her of something. With a short intake of air, it came back to her with a guilty pang: Lord Admiral’s stable boy and his sad message. She looked carefully at the woman’s wide-set eyes and broad, snubbed nose as she turned to go.
“Miss Blue, is it?” Lexi asked politely.
The woman nodded, a blush deepening the ruddy hue of her skin. “The life servants all go by their first name,” she explained. “Marina is fine for me.”
“Is your nephew the stable boy on Lord Admiral’s estate?”
Marina’s thick blonde brows rose as she nodded. “One of them is, yes.”
“I was asked to relay a message to you,” Lexi said, pulling out a stool. “Would you like to sit down?”
Marina swallowed heavily. “Is it bad news, then? Is my mother all right?” she whispered, clinging to her empty tray with whitened knuckles.
“Your mother is fine,” Lexi assured her, gently pressing her down to the stool. “She’s gone to live on Lord Admiral’s estate with your sister.”
“She left him?!” Marina popped up from her stool with an incredulous smile.
Lexi hid her surprise behind a carefully blank face. “No, I’m sorry, but your father is dead,” she said gently.
Marina let out a strangled laugh. “Don’t be sorry.” She laughed again, the sound strangely akin to a cry. “He wasn’t my father.” She covered her mouth to stop the odd noise that kept slipping out. She shook her head and swiped at a tear with the other hand. “Thank you for your message.” She fled through the open door and hurried down the hall.
Lexi stared after her retreating figure a moment, then glanced at the three plates on the table. It looked to be a potato dish with peas and onion. Lexi took an experimental bite after shutting the door. The food was better than she had expected, and she was halfway through a plate of it when the door swung open.
“You are here! I knew he was lying!” Talan crowed. He tried to slam the door behind him, but Cam caught it and burst into the room.
“You should knock first! What if she had been dressing?” Cam demanded, irritable relief crossing his face when he saw Lexi, her fork frozen in the air as she watched them.
“Then it would be my right to see her! She is my fiancée, you pebble peasant,” Talan sneered as he sidled up to Lexi and tried to slip a possessive hand up under her wings.
Lexi deftly stepped away from him, setting her fork down with deliberate care.
“You’re not her fiancée, and you’ll knock next time,” Cam ordered, stepping closer with a menacing air.
Lexi took a deep breath, her face blank. “Have either of you eaten lunch?” she asked politely, trying to ignore the dueling pheromone scents that blended to smell oddly akin to a cinnamon roll.
“No. Is this for me?” Talan asked, picking up a plate and scrutinizing the food.
“Have a seat,” Lexi offered, pointing to the two empty stools and dropping her load of laundry as she claimed the third.
Talan's eyes widened as her took in her swimming suit, his gaze running down her long legs and up again before the bruise on her arm disturbed his perusal. “I didn’t mean to do that,” he murmured, trying to pretend Cam was not standing behind him, glaring.
“Yes, you did,” Lexi answered expressionlessly. “Sit, Cam.”
A muscle in Cam’s jaw jumped with an unhappy twitch as he dragged the remaining stool over to the vanity table and slid the remaining plate onto his lap to avoid touching Talan.
“Now,” Lexi began, reclaiming her fork, “I realize my mother ordered you to follow me, but I need more privacy than you are allowing me.”
“What for?” Talan demanded, giving Cam a dark glance.
Lexi fought the threatening smile, so tempted to tell him precisely what she wanted to do alone with Cam that her lip twitched. “You can voluntarily give me that privacy,” she continued smoothly, “or I can have you locked up in the dungeon again.”
“You wouldn’t,” Talan said, his voice unsure.
Cam lifted a forkful of food to his mouth with a smirk.
“I would,” Lexi assured him. “The more you interfere, the longer it will take me to find a mate, and the greater the chance that your season will end here, on the mountain.”
Talan slammed his fork down with a clatter. “You can’t marry him,” he said, jerking his head back at Cam. “The Queen will imprison him the moment you return, force the King to void your marriage, and you will still end up married to me. You are just delaying the inevitable.”
“I do not intend to return home.” Lexi laid her fork aside, her appetite gone.
Cam froze mid-bite. “Ever?”
Talan leaned back with a disbelieving laugh. “You’re going to give up everything? The palace, your title, your money, even your beloved maid just so you can go frolic around in a dusty quarry with this low-born grunt? Do you think your sons will thank you when you tell them they could have been king?”
A pained expression flickered across Lexi’s face before she could hide it.
“You’re fooling yourself, Princess. Your only palatable future is with me or Van. Please just choose one of us so I can go back to the palace,” Talan said wearily, then resumed eating.
Cam carefully laid his fork aside despite his half-eaten meal. His eyes settled on Lexi with a searching glance.
“Will you excuse us, Talan?” Lexi asked, retrieving her pile of dirty clothes from the floor and her bag from the bed.
“No. You need a chaperone and I’m following the Queen’s orders,” Talan argued, taking a last bite before abandoning his plate and following them to the door.
Cam barred his way as Lexi continued into the hallway. Talan knocked at his arm, but it didn’t budge.
“We can always stop by the dungeon first,” Lexi threatened pleasantly.
Talan drew back with a sullen expression. “Fine. I’ll meet you at the pool.”
Lexi turned her back without replying, listening to Cam’s quick steps as he caught up with her and lifted the bag from her hand.
“That was hiding my knee bruises,” Lexi protested.
Cam handed her bag back to her without hesitation, and she once again let it swing awkwardly before her. A small silence followed, and then they both began to speak at once.
“You first,” Cam demurred.
“You work at a quarry?” Lexi asked again.
Cam nodded, then hesitated, his eyes on the floor. “Will the Queen really imprison your husband?”
“I don’t intend to find out.”
“You’re not going to see the King again?” Cam asked, his heavy eyebrows raised.
“I hope to,” Lexi said, keeping her voice steady with difficulty.
Cam shook his head, his forehead creased. “I don’t like you giving up so much.”
“Shall I marry Talan, then?” she teased half-heartedly.
Cam shook his head without smiling. “That’s too much to give up, too.”
Lexi hid her upset expression by turning into the laundry room, annoyed to discover it was empty for lunch. Her pile of dirty laundry from the night before was no longer there nor could she find her things hanging among the drying clothes. Irritably, she shoved Tiger’s old clothes into her bag and hoisted it up to cover the bruise on her arm as she left.
“I can wash them for you,” Cam offered.
Lexi held her bag tighter. “No.”
Cam frowned, but slid his hand into hers. “It bothered you what he said.” Receiving no answer, he took her silence for assent. “It bothered me, too. What if one of your sons wants to be king?”
“And what if I have only daughters? Or no children at all?” Lexi pulled her hand away irritably. “You wan
t me to choose my husband based on the whims of my future offspring?”
Cam stopped and turned to her. “No. I want you to choose me,” he said fervently, dropping his intent gaze as she returned it. “I just don’t want you to have to suffer for it.”
Lexi’s eyes swam as she stared at the dimples that were almost hidden in his earnestness. “Are you asking me to marry you?”
Cam grinned and met her gaze. “You know that I am.” He caressed her cheek and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Are you saying yes?”
Guilt ricocheted through her as she thought of Tiger. “I’m saying...”
“What are you doing?!” Talan demanded. He flew with rapid strokes and barreled into Cam, knocking both men off balance. “Don’t you touch her like that,” Talan roared, then backed away under Lexi’s cold glare. “You have an audience,” he fumed, darting a glance at the two couples who had stopped to stare.
“I’m proposing,” Cam said through clenched teeth, retaking Lexi’s hand.
Perfect horror froze Talan’s face for a second before he blinked, turning to face Lexi. “And what is your answer?”
Lexi drew herself up to her full height, her mouth hardening. “My answer is yes.”
Cam squeezed her hand and she glanced at him, her expression unchanged. “Go find my guards please, Cam.”
“I don’t want to leave you alone with him,” he pleaded, his dark eyes soft.
“He’ll behave himself,” Lexi said, her gaze turning back to Talan as she freed her hand from Cam’s. “He has an audience.” Lexi brushed past him, forcing him to move his wing as he spun to follow her.
“You can’t be serious,” Talan said, his face still incredulous as he caught up with her.
“Why not?” Lexi asked, yanking open the pool door.
"Why not?!" Talan repeated, his face reddening as he prepared his arguments.
Rather than stay and hear them, Lexi breezed past him into the well-populated bathing room, then glanced back with a defiant smile.
Talan chewed at his healing bottom lip and winced.
Lexi laughed inwardly and scanned the room. Van's wispy blond hair caught her eye as he bent close to a pouty redhead with orange wings. The girl shoved him playfully, and his large mouth spread into an enthusiastic grin. Lexi stood up straighter, her face a pleasant mask as she waded into the pool and deposited her bag at the edge. Though she was careful not to look his way, she smelled cabbage before she had even begun to wash.
