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THE SMALL, PERSISTENT beam of sunlight crept through the narrow crevices of the distant mountains, its determined line breaking out from behind the clouds, cutting through the pockets of night and the early morning fog. Rose was transfixed by the sight before her, enraptured by the staggering amount of simple delight it gave her. The edge of Crystal Lake, for which the kingdom of Philip’s sister-in-law was named, was in sight at last.
Now, Rose thought, all I have to do is get back to Rhone, and Magdalina’s reign will end.
Rose glanced down at the ruby shining in the hilt of her sword. The slim beam of sunlight teased out its darkened red heart, where the dragon’s blood resided.
A small burst of pride soared inside of her; Rose knew what the deadly jewel had cost her, but it was well worth the price she’d paid. Since leaving Poiyana, the city in the heart of the Romani territory, she had the power she knew she would need to destroy her greatest foe.
Rose continued to stare at the scene before her, as she folded her arms and leaned back against the sturdy tree behind her. Good. We’re here. That means we can finally say goodbye to Natala.
Rose wasn’t sure if she was happy to see the Crystal Lake Kingdom more for its beauty, or because it meant she would be free of Natala; the middle-aged woman traveled across the continent for her living, but it seemed more like she drew her sustenance from sucking the life out of her clients’ souls.
Not even the prickly bark grabbing the growing hair at her shoulders could dampen Rose’s spirits at the thought of leaving Natala behind.
As he had promised, Nikolai, their guide through the Romani mountains, had introduced them to his sister, Natala. He had told them she was more than willing to lead them back through the worlds between the Romani territory and the small kingdom of Crystal Lake.
Much to Rose’s dismay, it turned out Natala’s temperament was far from the gruff, philosophizing manner of her brother’s. Rose was certain she’d never known a woman more capable at setting her temper ablaze with her constant criticizing and perpetual moaning.
Rose sighed and bowed her head, squirming only a little as her hair pulled free from the bark. On some level, she had to wonder if she deserved the small twinge of pain. She knew it was a very practical thing, to have a skilled guide along for the ride. It was also a very fortunate thing, since they were navigating across the Romani plains, traveling through the northern passages of Greek territories, walking through the Apylian Mountains, and drifting down the Gaullian riverways. Natala had promised, for half the price upfront, to take them to Crystal Lake, where Prince Derick, Philp’s older brother, would be holding court.
She knew she should be grateful.
But if she had to do it all over again, Rose would any other way to go; she would even choose to go by boat, a shocking revelation in itself, since they had been shipwrecked on an island and blown off course for days in their latest attempts to cross the great seas. Rose never thought she would be content to set sail again.
She felt better knowing that she was not the only one who had trouble with the bad-tempered guide. Over the past several weeks, she had a wide range of small talks with her traveling companions, whether to talk them down from their irritation or to have them chastise her for her own disgust.
Even Theo has had a hard time dealing with Natala.
Rose felt surprised, as she smiled her first fully genuine smile in weeks. The thought of her best friend struggling to hold back his temper was amusing in the worst sort of way.
“You seem happy this morning. I hope you’re not thinking of drowning Natala in the lake,” Theo said. He appeared beside her suddenly, and Rose nearly jumped at his voice; she wondered if she had been that distracted by the scenery not to notice his approach.
“I wasn’t,” she promised.
“That’s good to hear. It would have been unpleasant to fight you for the privilege.”
Rose laughed before she quickly covered her mouth with her hand. She knew she had to be careful not to wake anyone, especially Natala.
“I wouldn’t worry about waking her,” Theo said, as if he had known what she was thinking. “Philip managed to get her some more wine last night, and she’ll sleep longer thanks to that.”
“Well, thank God for Philip,” Rose whispered back, still trying to stifle her giggles. “We should have figured out her weakness weeks ago.”
“I’m in complete agreement,” Theo said, “even if I would have to repent for it later.”
“I don’t think God should hold it against you.” Rose rolled her eyes. “Surely he would not be adverse to us putting her to sleep, especially if it means we don’t actually kill her.”
“There is no sin greater than another.”
“Come on, Theo, let me rationalize any possible guilt away.”
He smiled at her. “If we could only rationalize away the things we feel all the time.”
Despite the simple, seemingly harmless reply, Rose felt the heat rise in her cheeks as she experienced a mix of guilt and mortification. There were some feelings she did wish that she could rationalize away, banishing them at the mere thought. She had spent a good portion of the trip trying to do just that, but there were plenty of reasons to keep that from Theo.
She glanced over at him now, seeing the warmth in his emerald eyes, and she decided it was best to change the subject. “I guess we are getting closer to Rhone. You should probably be practicing all that priestly stuff again, if you are going to visit with your grandfather and Thad at the church in Havilah.”
“I might have been raised in the church, but I would have thought all this time traveling would have shown you I don’t intend to stay there.”
His words were measured and calm, but Rose could have sworn there was a bite underneath them. She could not resist replying spitefully. “Well, all this time we’ve been traveling should have done a better job of drumming it out of you.”
He shrugged as she huffed. He turned back to face the lake water, allowing her a moment to stare at him openly without fear or hesitation.
Certain he was not able to see her expression, Rose allowed herself to blush without restraint. Over the past month since they had left Poiyana, Rose had been unable to forget that moment in the inn.
Theo had been sitting across from her, his shirt was off since Mary had just finished applying a new layer of healing ointment to the wounds he had sustained in their fight against the Thorneback dragon. And while she was confessing the worst of who she was, he had only placed his hands around her face, and drawn her close to him. Rose was convinced if they hadn’t been interrupted, he would have kissed her.
And she would have let him.
Nothing about that moment had left her memory. She could close her eyes and slip into it all over again. Sometimes her dreams let her do more than remember it.
Rose felt that tension inside of her return in vengeful force as she peeked over at him, as he stood next to her, looking out into the distance at Crystal Lake.
Neither of them had said anything about it.
But Rose knew she was thinking about it. And she had a feeling he was, too. For all their trouble with Natala and dealing with the harsh elements of traveling on the road, there were times when she would look up to see him watching her, or she would catch herself staring at him, and something would rise inside of her, and she would have to force it down again.
She cleared her throat, trying to rid herself of any remaining wonderings. Rose had closed the door on romance and true love a long time ago, and she was not about to let anyone change her mind—not even Theo.
“So,” she said, “how long do you think it will be until everyone else is up and ready to go?”
“If you can convince them there will be a comfortable bed and a warm dinner, I’m sure it won’t take long.”
“I’ll make that Philip’s first job this morning then,” Rose decided. “He should have a better idea of what kind of hospitality we should expect here.”
“From everything he’s told me so far, we should be quite welcome.”
“He would be; it remains to be seen about the rest of us.”
“Crystal Lake has a good reputation for taking in strangers,” Theo said. He reached over and pulled a lock of her hair free from the clinging crevices of the tree bark behind her. “And I have yet to see someone who wasn’t charmed by you.”
Rose stiffened, paralyzed with fear and, to her self-horror, longing as well. Forcing herself to breathe normally, she stepped forward. She gripped her sword with renewed determination. “I guess I can always evoke Isra’s name,” she said, thinking of her younger sister. “Since she’s pretending to be engaged to Philip.”
“I forgot about that. That would work, too. If the news has reached to this part of the kingdom, that is.”
He was so infuriating, Rose thought. Theo was acting so ... so normal! She was standing only a foot away from him, suffering even while she enjoyed his company, as she had done an uncountable number of times before. Why was it different now?
Or, she admitted very, very softly to herself, was it just harder for her to ignore how much she wanted him, now that she had admitted it?
That moment of surrender, of submission, sank into her once more, and inside she reeled at its force.
She needed to find another distraction, she thought. “How are your injuries?” Rose asked.
“They seem to be getting better. Mary said the scars will still be visible across my back, but that doesn’t bother me.” He ran a hand through his black hair, pushing it back from his face. “I remember my dad and my uncle had plenty of battle scars.”
“I guess it is a sign of accomplishment,” Rose said. She almost reached out for him, knowing it was hard for him to talk about his family even after so many years had passed. But this time, her pervasive and unpredictable thoughts kept her from offering him comfort.
“Not everyone can boast of an encounter with a dragon,” Theo said.
Rose nodded. “That alone should make it easy to promote you to the royal counsel.”
His eyes gleamed appreciatively. “When you are Queen of Rhone, I will remind you of that.”
You won’t have to remind me, Rose felt like telling him. But she only nodded again.
Weighed silence passed between them again, as they looked at each other. Theo took a step closer to her. “Rose—”
They were swiftly interrupted as Natala’s voice screeched out in angry tones, crying out from their camp. “Oh, my head!”
Rose and Theo both looked back.
“Where’s my wine?” she cried. “Why didn’t someone get me up sooner? Why aren’t the rest of you up? We’re almost there. Get up. Get up!”
“Great,” Rose muttered. “She’s awake.”
“And she’s moving,” Theo said, cringing as various clanks and clashes rang out in the background as Natala began scrounging around, dumping out supplies and tripping over the others.
“Let’s just hope she doesn’t get into Sophie’s tools again,” Rose muttered. “Sophie was not happy about all the iron filings in Natala’s hands, and Mary wasn’t able to help her remove them any.”
“I’m more worried she’ll step on Ethan’s harp again. When she stepped on it last week, I was pretty sure Ethan was going to cry.”
“On the upside, he has been doing better at his training, since his harp needs repairs,” Rose said. “I’ve noticed you’ve been teaching him more advanced techniques lately.”
“I’d still hate for his motivation to be compromised—or inspired—by Natala,” Theo replied. “We’d better get over there before everyone’s in a bad mood.”
“I guess I better get Philip up.” Rose pursed her lips. “Natala is making this unpleasant.”
Theo laughed. “We’ll make it through, Rosary,” he promised. “I said my prayers this morning.”