Series: Willow Winters
Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 72146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 361(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 361(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
“And,” he continues, making me snap my eyes up to his once again. “You’re beautiful, and witty, and you’re making me chase.” He narrows his eyes. “I do enjoy the chase I think. Although it would be kind of you not to do so, so publicly next time. It also appears we have a similar taste in other things that are important. If you’d like to make me chase you, I would prefer it in private,” he adds. His brow quirks as he bites into a small plum, and I swear the act is sinful.
My face flushes, and I cannot help but smile at his serious expression. I’m beginning to realize that he’s being a bit playful with me, though I certainly haven’t done anything to make him think I deserve it. Aside from when he took me against the garden wall, I’ve been irritable and aloof and I must have seemed as if I was so disinterested that I could not think of a single thing to say.
It takes me another minute, but finally I have the words.
“Thank you,” I tell Prince Jasper.
He furrows his brow. “For making you come on my cock against the wall?”
I had finally decided to take a sip of my tea, and I nearly choke on it. That catches the squire’s attention but with Jasper feigning aid to my misstep, he merely watches and doesn’t approach. Politely as I can, I dab the corners of my lips with my napkin, then dab the corners of my eyes as well.
Following all that, I must wave to the squire, who has begun to watch me concernedly.
“I meant,” I say, sounding breathless from having coughed around my tea. “Thank you for calling me beautiful.”
Prince Jasper looks sincerely confused. “Surely, Princess, you know that you are beautiful.”
“I’m often…I’ve often been found lacking in comparison to my mother’s beauty.”
The corners of his lips turn down at my admission, and I realize perhaps I should have kept that insecurity private. His concern grows, and I realize that he is really quite as handsome as he is kind. I would not mind looking at his face every day to learn the expressions that cross it and what each of them means. I am nearly as curious about Prince Jasper at this moment as I am about the man in the shadows.
I close my eyes at the thought and with even greater misfortune, Jasper asks me, “When did she pass?”
“About three years ago,” I answer. “It was just before I turned sixteen. My birthday that year was…not a happy affair.”
“Ah,” he says. “I am truly sorry to hear that, Princess. It must be a difficult time each year.”
“It is,” I confess, my voice tight. “I miss her very much around my birthday. She was the one who loved parties. I think my father sometimes became exasperated with her, because she never wanted a ball to end. She wanted people to stay forever. I don’t think she would have minded if the castle was always full of merriment.” My lips turn up into a smile at her memory. I wish she was here. “I miss her dearly.”
“My mother was like that, too, in her younger days.”
“Has she…passed?”
“No,” he says, a shadow in his eyes. “No, she is in good health, or so the doctors say. Perhaps a bit younger than your father. But she changed after the war.”
The war Prince Jasper is referring to did not touch my kingdom. It was just after my mother passed. It was between a number of lands nearer to the coast, and I recall my father spending many nights awake, fretting over whether our kingdom was prepared if the war ventured to our border. It is a delicate balance, between all the lands, and it was a heavy decision, because the northernmost tip of our lands just barely makes contact with Prince Jasper’s kingdom.
“Changed?” I ask. “Is she not well then?”
“She is well in body,” Prince Jasper tells me. “But I think there are wounds in her heart that are still unhealed. My brother was injured, although he is better now. My father has taken her to one of our more private estates in hopes that she will regain some of her former spirit. Do not worry, Princess. I meet with him often, and the kingdom is stable, and a joining of our lands will only make it more so.”
“I will not worry,” I promise him. Not about the kingdom’s political alliances, at least. “But tell me, Prince Jasper. Do you still reside in the castle where you were raised? It is by the sea, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” he says. “Even more than riding, I prefer to be on the water. There are several bays that make for pleasant sailing, or rowing, if one prefers.”
“I am not sure which I might prefer,” I admit. “I have not spent much time on the water.”