convince him of the stakes, he might ruin everything.
When I didn’t immediately speak, he prompted me.
“What happened to your voice at the haven? Why couldn’t you speak? What is this place, and who was that man? It sounded as if he’s somehow keeping you here.” He raised both eyebrows. “Is that enough questions to be going on with?”
I made a frustrated noise in my throat but didn’t actually protest. I shouldn’t be surprised—I knew well enough to expect such manipulation from someone like him. He had pushed himself into my life, and I would no doubt be left to pick up the pieces soon enough. But for now, I had to make him realize why I needed to be left alone.
I sighed. “His name is Leander.”
“The local lord?” Gabe frowned thoughtfully. “I’m suddenly even more curious to pay a visit to his castle.”
“Yes.” I blew out a breath. “Weren’t you supposed to be doing that today? How did you follow me?”
Gabe gave me a half smile. “I came to Brylee to search for you, remember? As intriguing as this Leander sounded, I was hardly going to go running off just as I found you. I waited all afternoon for you to emerge, you know. And naturally—given your open and welcoming manner earlier—I concluded I should approach you directly.”
He gave me a full grin, and I narrowed my eyes at him.
“You mean you hid and followed me—hardly the actions of a noble prince.”
He actually winked at me. “Who said anything about noble?”
I stalked away from him, grumbling silently to myself as I went. Of course it had to be Gabe of all people who found me. He had always been like this—brave but impulsive. Even as a youth, he had been dashing and full of humor, and half of the young princesses had been in love with him. None of the other princes would have seen my situation as an intriguing riddle—an opportunity to showcase their daring and skill.
When I reached the small shelter where I spent my nights, I sank down onto the rushes that I had bundled into a pallet of sorts. It was a fitting bed for a home that was nothing more than a collection of branches formed into an open frame, with a blanket stretched over them so as to create something of a roof and single wall.
Gabe followed me, pausing only to scoop a couple of mouthfuls of water from the lake. When he reached me, he took a seat on a fallen tree trunk that bordered one side of my simple nest. He placed his bow carefully beside him and gazed at my construction with interest.
“Not exactly what you’d call hardy,” he said, although there was no judgment in his tone.
I shrugged. “It’s all I need. The air here never gets any colder than what you feel now—no matter the season or the temperature of the surrounding woods. If it rains, it’s no more than a gentle mist, and no dangerous animals disturb my peace.”
“All of this, along with a lake whose water is both fresher and clearer than it has any natural right to be,” he said, taking up my litany. “And surrounded by a collection of loyal animals who not only guard and comfort you, but who actually understand your instructions.” He paused. “Remind me again why this place is not a paradise?”
“I suppose it would be a paradise,” I said in a low voice. “If it wasn’t also a prison.”
Chapter 5
“So you are trapped here.” He frowned. “But you were in Brylee earlier…I don’t understand.”
I sighed. “It’s complicated.” Quite complicated enough without you getting involved, I thought, but didn’t add.
“I’m smarter than I look,” Gabe said with what he no doubt meant to be a dashing smile.
I eyed him uncertainly. I remembered Gabe as rash—a prince who was far too likely to leap into action and danger without proper thought. But I hadn’t seen him in years. He had been a boy then—perhaps he had grown in wisdom as well as stature?
I shook my head at my own wishful thinking. Unlikely. Which meant I now had one more thing to worry about. But whatever the complications, it would be worse if he sent word of my location to Dominic and Jon.
“It’s only at night,” I said, my words tumbling out in a rush, now that I had freed them. “Every night, by the time darkness falls, I must be at this lake.”
“Or else what?” he asked.
“If I’m not in this clearing