But other than that, he was the perfect gentleman (albeit an often annoying one, he could be a gentleman but that didn’t mean we didn’t still bicker, we did, though to all appearances, he seemed to enjoy it).
So that meant he gave his world to me without me asking for it or him making me earn it.
He just gave it, free and clear.
Yes, Prince Noctorno Hawthorne, I decided, wasn’t that bad at all.
And I also decided I loved every minute of being out on the road with him, experiencing this world, yes, even when we were bickering and yes, believe it or not, because I was experiencing it with him.
And therefore, as cool as a castle would likely be, I had to admit I was sad that our adventure was ending.
I noticed the sun was setting as I twisted in the saddle holding Aggie carefully. Dusk was settling. Soon it would be night.
Then I sat forward, lifted my eyes and stopped breathing.
Oh.
My.
God.
I stared.
It was… it was… indescribable.
It wasn’t just a castle. It was a castle and a city. An actual city.
I hadn’t seen one of those in this world and let me tell you, it was a-freaking-mazing.
The city started at the bottom of a steep, huge hill. Even at our distance (we were still quite far away), I could see flowers burgeoning everywhere. If my eyes didn’t deceive me, even some of the roofs had flowerpots.
But there were also colorful awnings on the front of some buildings, some solid, some in stripes, all in different colors. They decorated in lanterns too, also all different colors, dripping from the eaves and it looked like on the sides of buildings and even on the streets. They also fully utilized black wrought iron, there were iron whimsies shooting in the air, curlicues decorating the sides of buildings.
Magnificent.
A winding, blond, wide, clean cobblestone road led up the steep hill that was covered in what looked like adobe, terracotta tile-roofed buildings with their flowers, awnings, lanterns and iron whimsies. The road, too, was set with flowers liberally and lit with tall, curlicued, black iron street lamps.
And at the top of the hill was the best of it all.
A huge castle shooting straight in the air made of a mellow cream stone with an abundance of arched windows that blinked in the waning sun, high turrets piercing the sky with colorful pennants flying, balconies here, there and everywhere dripping with flowers through their contrasting ivory-stoned balustrades – the entire building made of smooth, rounded edges and circles.
To the left, there was emerald green sea (yes, emerald green) and I could see islands close and far and ships (also lit with lanterns) bobbing. To the right, fields of forests and rolling hills. Beyond, the landscape was a patchwork quilt of different crops. And to the front, a sea of wildflowers, ablaze with color even in the diminishing light.
Totally something out of an animated movie.
We had nothing like that at home.
It was unbelievable.
“My God,” I whispered as Salem clattered over a bowed, wooden bridge that spanned a wide, rushing, crystal clear river.
“Welcome to Bellebryn,” Tor muttered behind me.
“What?” I asked distractedly, still dazzled by the view.
“We just crossed the bridge into Bellebryn, my land,” he explained.
I blinked and even though I didn’t want to tear my eyes away from the sights they beheld, I twisted to look up at him.