Page 95 of Crown of Briars
Varius extended his elbow to me, and I gave him an odd look. He shrugged one shoulder as if to say,Why not?I chuckled—the sound halfhearted as the conflicted emotions continued to war within me—then laced my arm through his. It seemed oddly formal, given that, only hours earlier, I’d been sitting on his lap and writhing against his body.
My face flushed from the reminder. Stones, that damned diamond tiara had made me behave with such reckless indecency. Just the thought of the things I’d said and done made me want to crawl in a hole and hide my face for a week.
Varius seemed to notice the stiffness of my arm in his. He cast a quick glance at me. “Are you well?”
I wanted to say,I’m fine, but that would have been a lie. Instead, I said, “It’s been a long night.”
He nodded as if this made sense. He guided me down the hall to the next available door. When he pulled it open, the darkened training yard greeted us. I suppressed a shiver, remembering Warwick’s threats when I encountered him here.
“Are you sure about this?” I muttered.
“Not at all,” he said before steering us over the threshold.
The cool early morning air nipped at my skin. With my free hand, I tugged my cloak tighter around myself. Varius pulled me closer to him.
I glanced at him, noting the tunic open at the chest, and the short sleeves along his muscled arms. “Does your skin provide its own heat?”
He smirked. “No. But my body runs warmer than most.”
I could tell as much. Through the fabric of my cloak, I could feel that warmth seeping from his arm to mine. It was quite pleasant. A bolder side of me yearned to wrap both my arms around him so the left half of my body could enjoy the heat, too.
Ridiculous,I chided myself.You are sleep deprived, and your brain is addled.
That, and I couldn’t shove the memories of the revel from my mind. His shadows driving into me. The way he hardened under my touch. The way his hips met mine as we’d danced.
That dark and heady look in his eyes when he’d stared at me…
I swallowed hard, shoving the thoughts away.
“Your pulse is racing,” Varius noted. “Are you afraid?”
“No.” My voice was a bit breathless. Changing the subject, I said, “What exactly are we looking for?”
“I’m not sure,” he admitted, scanning the massive training yard. We weren’t far from the spot where the castle had deposited us before. I wondered if that was significant.
I squinted, trying to make out the details from far away. The castle entrance doors were up the hill. I remembered racing toward those after my encounter with Warwick. A quick glance over my shoulder told me there was a forest nearby.
I frowned as I looked over the trees. “What’s in those woods?” I asked.
Varius followed my gaze. “That’s the Noxen Forest.”
My insides jolted with recognition, and I sucked in a breath. Had it really been right here this whole time? Somewhere within those woods was the enchanted rose I’d been looking for. I was onlystepsaway.
“What is it?” Varius asked.
Damn.He could likely sense my pulse spiking again. I wasn’t exactly subtle in my reactions.
“I—I think I’ve been in those woods before,” I said vaguely.
“When?” His voice was sharp. “You shouldn’t go in there. There is dangerous magic in those woods.”
“Of course,” I said at once, then looked back toward the castle. “When do the soldiers begin their training?”
Varius continued to stare at me, his eyes practically drilling holes into my skull.Please let the subject drop,I begged.Please…
If he asked me directly about the rose, I would have to tell the truth. Guilt wriggled through me. I was such a hypocrite. I had just shouted at him for concealing the truth from me, and now I was doing the same to him.
After a long moment, Varius cleared his throat. “At daybreak. It won’t be long now.”
