Morning came quieter than the night before.
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, controlled, but his attention was elsewhere.
He was waiting.
Evryn always arrived early.
Before most.
Before the noise.
Today she did not.
He told himself she might still be asleep after everything she had handled last night.
Her pride would not allow weakness in public, but exhaustion could still claim her in private.
The bell rang again.
Still no sign of her.
His gaze lifted toward the courtyard when he heard Ray’s voice.
Ray stood near the entrance speaking to a young woman.
Her back was turned, and at first Auren did not pay attention.
She wore a light-yellow dress, the fabric soft and bright beneath the morning sun.
It was not a working dress.
It flowed lightly around her legs, revealing her ankles.
Her sleeves were shorter, showing her arms.
Her brown hair was loosened, falling softly with only a single braid resting along the center.
She held a basket in one hand.
Auren barely looked twice.
“Oh,” Brinna whispered, following his gaze.
“I see she’s going back to her flowers.
I thought Ray had finally convinced her to stop”
Auren froze.
His eyes sharpened and focused again on the girl in yellow.
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 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.
Her brown hair loosened by the breeze.
Her bare skin glowing under the soft sun.
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.
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.
“And a very expensive one, considering you’re currently ignoring your chores to play at being a sunbeam.”
He opened the door for her automatically, 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 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, the soft yellow of her dress catching the morning light.
The fabric 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.
They shared the same love for flowers and scents.
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.
Simple.
Friendly.
Familiar.
When she left him, her steps were lighter.
She wandered deeper into the market, stopping at stalls she had not visited in month.
At one cloth merchant, she paused longer.
The road back to the farm was long, and by the time the carriage rolled through the gates, evening shadows were stretching across the courtyard.
Auren was already in the kitchen when she returned, sleeves rolled, expression neutral.
She stepped inside with the quiet energy of someone who had reclaimed something important.
She handed Brinna the pale blue scarf first, smiling lightly as Brinna admired the fabric.
Then she turned to Auren and extended the black one toward him with the same casual gesture, as if it were an ordinary purchase without thought.
Thinking how he saved her more than once without demanded, without hesitant.
She did not hold his gaze for long.
she avoided it on purpose.
She did not want to see his reaction.
Whatever it was, she knew it would affect her more than she wished.
Auren looked at the scarf in his hand.
He had seen her hesitation at the market…the way her fingers had lingered on the item, placing it back once before finally, decisively, taking it again.
He knew then it hadn’t been an impulse.
It was deliberate.
A warm, quiet gesture.
He lifted his eyes to her, his silver gaze softening as he allowed a small, genuine smile to break through his mask of indifference.
“Thank you,” he said.
The words were simple, yet they carried a depth that caught her off guard, echoing with a weight she hadn’t expected from him.
Brinna caught Evryn’s wrist suddenly and pulled her aside toward the doorway, lowering her voice.
“He pretended to work,” Brinna whispered.
“He was absent while you were gone.”
Evryn’s lips curved slowly, dangerously.
“Auren,” she called.
He looked at her.
“I believe I made myself clear this morning,” she said.
“The day off was mine, not yours.
And yet you disappeared.”
His eyes stayed on her, calm but watchful.
“So,” she continued, “since you chose to leave your duties for later, you can finish all of them tonight.”
Auren looked at her for a moment, then asked, “And you’ll stay to watch?”
That made her smile.
“No,” she said softly.
“Unlike you, I actually need sleep.”
Then her smile deepened just a little.
“I’m sure you’ll handle it well.
You always do.”
She gave him a light wave with far too much cheer in it.
“Have a pleasant night.”