The kitchen bell rang as usual, and servants moved into their tasks with tired hands and routine motions.
Auren was already there, sleeves rolled, fire prepared, water set to boil.
His movements were steady and controlled, but his attention was completely elsewhere.
He was waiting for Evryn to show up, but she was late.
Unable to sit still under the growing unease, he left the kitchen and walked over to the female servants’ quarters.
He tried to get a glimpse of her through the window, peering toward her bed, but the heavy curtains blocked everything from view.
Oh, great job, Auren, he thought bitterly to himself.
Giving up, he moved back to the kitchen.
As he walked in, his eyes fell on a girl standing near the courtyard entrance with Ray.
She wore a light-yellow dress that cut off at her knees, showing the bare skin of her ankles and arms, her back completely turned to Auren.
It was clearly not a working dress.
Auren barely looked twice at her.
He scanned the rest of the place, frustration tightening his chest, before he turned to the head cook.
“Where is Evryn?” he asked Brinna, his voice tight.
Brinna paused, looking at him with a raised eyebrow, then pointed toward the entrance.
“There she is, with Ray.
Didn’t you see her?”
Auren froze, his silver eyes snapping back to the girl in the yellow dress.
“Mmm,” Brinna whispered, following his stunned gaze.
“I think she’s going back to her flowers again.
I thought Ray had finally convinced her to stop.”
Auren’s chest tightened as the realization hit him: That is Evryn, he moved toward her, his steps slow and controlled despite the instinct screaming at him to bridge the distance.
Ray stood nearby, his expression strained and defeated.
“Evryn,” Auren said, his voice carrying an edge he couldn’t quite hide.
“Where exactly are you going dressed like…
that?”
She turned toward him, her expression calm and her tone dangerously light.
“I took a day off, Auren”.
He looked at the heavy basket in her hand, watching her wrist strain under the weight.
“Let me carry that,” he insisted, reaching for it.
“I’m going with you.”
“No,” she said instantly, shaking her head.
“You have work to do.
Just please put the basket in the carriage”.
She turned back to Ray, her voice cold and final.
“We are done.
You will not stop me again”.
As Auren placed the basket in the carriage, he watched her carefully.
She looked younger, freer…and dangerously noticeable in the morning sun, it was the first time he had seen her dressed like this.
Evryn always wore covered dresses, practical and modest.
This morning she stood in sunlight, bare arms visible, the soft yellow fabric catching the breeze, she walked toward him as he stood beside the carriage.
Instead of stepping into the carriage at once, she took one step back, lifted both sides of her dress lightly with her fingers, and turned once in a slow, playful spin.
The fabric opened around her like flower petals under the morning light, then she looked at him.
“Well?” she asked.
“Do I look beautiful, or are you going to stand there in silence until sunset?”
Auren’s breath caught.
For one brief second, he forgot the road, the carriage, the market, the danger…everything.
He only saw her.
The way that dress moved around her body as if it belonged to freedom itself, and worse than all that…
the look in her eyes.
Light.
Alive.
As if for one morning, she had stepped out of every cage that had ever touched her.
His voice came lower than he meant it to.
“You should not ask questions when you already know the answer.”
Evryn’s smile deepened.
“That is not an answer, Auren.”
He stepped closer.
Too close for a servant.
Too close for safety.
“You look,” he said slowly, his eyes moving over her again, “like trouble dressed as sunlight.”
Evryn tilted her head, enjoying the edge in his voice.
“So, you do think I look beautiful.
You just don’t want to admit I’ve finally outshined your brooding.”
Auren looked at her as if the word beautiful was far too small and ordinary for what stood before him.
“You are a headache I’m going to have to follow all day,” he teased, reaching for the carriage door.
He opened the door for her, extending his hand to help her step inside.
She glanced at his offered hand for a brief moment, then placed hers in it and allowed him to guide her up.
As she took his hand, his thumb brushed slowly across her knuckles.
The deliberate, lingering touch against her hand sent a sharp, unexpected jolt through her, making her breath hitch before she quickly pulled herself into the carriage. You are reading on novelping(.)com, the official source.
As she settled inside, she looked at him and said softly, “That’s charming, but you still need to do your work.”
Before he could answer, she added with quiet confidence, “You will not die if you stay here alone, Auren.”
She closed the door herself then the carriage rolled forward.
“I might, Evryn” he murmured under his breath.
He did not hesitate, he went straight to his room, grabbed a long black cloak, and took the small stone Abby had given him.
He opened a gate to his private stables and mounted Blackstone.
Within moments, he was hooded and hidden, following the path of the carriage.
He wasn’t there to play servant; he was there to protect her.
And dressed like that, walking alone with pride burning in her eyes, she was inviting attention she did not yet measure.
She was too brave this morning, and bravery often walked hand in hand with danger.
The carriage had not taken her to the small estate market.
Evryn had asked to be dropped near the main road instead.
From there she traveled further toward the capital market, a much larger place, louder and more crowded.
It was far,
Auren followed at a distance, careful not to be seen.
The ride was longer, the road busier, but he remained hidden beneath his hood.
Evryn stepped down with the basket in her arms, her dress moved easily around her legs as she walked, lighter than the working dresses she always wore.
She felt lighter too.
Inside the basket were dried flowers she had prepared months ago.
Lavender, jasmine, wild rose petals, and rare herbs she had gathered herself.
She had learned the craft from her father before he died.
He had taught her how to dry flowers properly, how to mix them for scent, how to create natural perfumes without heavy oils.
It had been theirs.
Ray had never liked it.
He said she spent too much time searching for rare flowers, too much time walking alone to markets, too much attention from men who admired her skill.
She had respected his wishes then.
She had stepped away because she believed that was what a future wife should do.
Not anymore.
Today she would begin again.
Auren followed from a distance, cloaked and hidden beneath his hood; he would never follow her openly on Blackstone.
His horse was too recognizable, too rare in strength and build.
Evryn moved easily.
Even with the heavy basket, her steps were almost light.
There was relief in her posture, something freed.
No wonder she had chosen that dress; it matched her mood.
She stopped suddenly and raised her hand in greeting.
A young man hurried toward her from across the square, smiling widely.
Auren studied him carefully, searching for threat.
He felt none.
The bond remained calm.
The man reached her and immediately took the basket from her hands, laughing as he spoke.
They stood close, comfortable, as if years had built ease between them.
Steven.
old friend.
They had grown up near each other and shared the same love for flowers and scents, he had continued the craft after her father passed, and she had joined him whenever she could.
Auren watched as Steven guided her gently toward a small wooden stand already prepared.
His hand moved briefly to her back to steady her as she sat.
They looked natural together.
Relaxed.
Familiar.
Evryn laughed openly, the sound light and unguarded.
Steven poured her a cup of tea and handed it to her with easy warmth.
“We missed you, Evryn,” Steven said warmly, pouring her a cup of tea.
“So…
Ray finally agreed to let you come back?”
Evryn shook her head, her smile turning sharp as she showed him her bare ring finger.
“He didn’t agree.
I am a single woman now”.
Steven’s smile widened.
“I think,” he said gently, “if a man truly loves a woman, he encourages what she loves.
You deserve better”.
Steven handed her a small pouch of coins, but she pushed his hand back.
Insisting it was a gift for the months she had stayed away.
He accepted reluctantly, promising next time would be different before he pressed a respectful kiss against her knuckles.
From where he stood, Auren could see their hands touch briefly.
When she left him, her steps were lighter.
She wandered deeper into the bustling market, stopping at stalls she had not visited in months.
At one cloth merchant, she paused longer, running her fingers over the vibrant fabrics, completely unaware of the terrifying, invisible shield guarding her every move.
From the edge of the square, Auren leaned against a stone pillar, his silver eyes completely focused on her.
His shadow stretched long and unnaturally dark across the cobblestones, bleeding into the crowd like a web of silent vipers.
A few feet away from Evryn, a man stopped.
Before the man could even take a step toward her, the shadows on the ground crawled up his body like liquid ink.
They pooled right over his eyes, completely blinding his vision with pitch-black darkness.
The man gasped, stumbling and rubbing his eyes in a sudden panic, unable to see a single thing until Evryn had walked safely past his sight and the shadows melted back to the floor.
Further down the lane, a rowdy customer crowded into her space, moving aggressively to push past her at a fruit stall.
Before his shoulder could even brush against hers, a tendril of Auren’s shadow wrapped tightly around the man’s ankle.
Evryn kept walking toward the waiting carriage.
Suddenly, a dashing young merchant stepped into her path, cutting off her stride.
“My lady, you are utterly breathtaking,” he murmured, flashing a suave smile as he held out a perfectly bloomed, vibrant flower.
“May I have just a brief moment of your time to talk?”
Evryn’s eyes lit up.
A helpless, bright smile broke across her face…she simply couldn’t say no to flowers, the absolute thing she loved most in the world.
Before the merchant could even register her smiling acceptance, he confidently took her hand, bowing his head to drop a polite kiss of greeting onto her knuckles.
He never made contact.
A large, leather-gloved hand suddenly clamped onto the merchant’s face like a vice, with terrifying ease, the stranger lifted the man completely off his feet.
The merchant’s legs kicked wildly in mid-air, his smooth words turning into muffled shrieks of terror.
Evryn gasped, stepping back in absolute shock as she stared at the towering, cloaked figure who had materialized out of nowhere.
Auren pulled the dangling merchant close to his hidden face, his voice a low, vibrating death knell.
“You touched the wrong woman.
I am going to give you exactly one chance.
The very second your feet touch the dirt, you run.
If you don’t, I will break every bone in your body.”
The moment Auren dropped him, the man hit the ground, scrambled up like a panicked animal, and bolted.
He was trembling so violently he kept tripping over his own feet, his legs barely able to carry him away fast enough.
Auren turned his hooded head toward Evryn, who was just standing there, blinking in disbelief.
“What are you staring at?
Is this a street performance to you?” he growled.
“You should have been running away, Evryn.
You have absolutely zero survival instincts.”
“Auren?!” she whispered aggressively, looking around the busy market.
“What are you even doing here?
I thought you were joking when you said you’d follow me!”
“Move your legs, Evryn,” he commanded coldly.
He reached out, snatching the flower right out of her hand.
As he turned it over, a sharp thorn grazed his thumb.
His silver eyes narrowed, and he immediately threw the flower into the dirt, crushing it under his boot.
“Hey!
My flower!” she protested, glaring at the flattened petals.
“I will bring you another.
Now move, Evryn, do not push my patience today.” He stepped forward and gripped the handle of the carriage door, pulling it opens for her.
Evryn hesitated, looking from him to the dark interior of the carriage.
“Where are you going?
Aren’t you coming with me?”
Auren froze for a fraction of a second under his cloak.
Damn it.
He couldn’t just climb in with her…he had ridden into the city on Blackstone, and if she saw his massive, nightmare-born stallion tethered nearby, his disguise would be completely ruined.
“I am coming.
Wait here and do not move, Evryn.
Do you hear me?”
Evryn rolled her eyes but nodded.
“Yes, fine, I will wait right here.”
“Promise me,” Auren demanded, his silver eyes flashing beneath the hood.
“Because the last time you told me you’d wait, I found you on the ground.”
“Ugh, do not remind me!” Evryn complained, instinctively rubbing her cheek.
“I promise, okay?
Just hurry back.”
Satisfied for now, Auren stepped away and strode up to the human driver sitting at the front of the carriage.
“How much to buy this entire carriage, and your services to guard her?”
The driver scoffed, crossing his arms.
“I’m a free citizen, pal.
I’m not for sale.”
Auren didn’t argue.
He simply reached into his cloak, pulled out a heavy, bulging pouch of solid gold coins, and dropped it into the man’s lap with a loud, metallic clink.
The driver’s eyes nearly popped out of his skull.
He stared at the gold, then looked up at the terrifying cloaked figure.
“I am entirely yours, My Lord.
Body and soul.”
“Then wait before this door,” Auren ordered sharply.
“Do not move a single inch until I return.”
“Yes, My Lord!
Absolutely!” The driver bowed so low his forehead hit the wooden steering rail.