Princess Willowyn's Arc

Chapter 37 of 70

Willowyn pushed through the last gap in the hedge and stumbled onto a clipped lawn. Beds of flowers stretched around her. The minx bounded ahead across the grass. Then it stopped and reared up on its hind legs, pawing at the boots of a man in a dark cloak. Willowyn's breath caught. She knew that cloak. Before she could speak, a hand clamped her arm. A guard in green had come around the hedge and now held her fast. "Let go," she said, twisting. "I'm not a thief." But she had no words for why she was here. No papers. No name they would know. She had chased an animal into a stranger's garden, and that was all she could offer. The man in the cloak turned. He bent and gathered the minx into his arms. When he lifted his head, Willowyn saw dark curls and a face she had held in her memory for a year. Kai. His eyes found hers and went wide. He ran to her. "No. Release her at once. I demand it." "You demand it?" A woman's voice cut across the lawn. A tall queen stepped forward, a dark braid coiled beneath her crown, her purple gown catching the morning light. Behind her came a king in royal robes, gold on his brow, his dark hair curling at his temples. The guard's grip loosened. He bowed his head. Willowyn stood frozen between them all. The guard, the king, the queen, and Kai holding the minx she thought she had lost. She did not know these rulers. She only knew that Kai had spoken for her, and that he had not been a stranger to them at all. The queen studied Willowyn's silver circlet and her travel-stained gown. Her sharp gaze softened by a fraction. "You come far to reach our gate, girl." "I followed the minx," Willowyn said. "It was his." She looked at Kai. "It found him before I could." The king glanced from Kai to Willowyn, and something passed between them that she did not understand. He raised one hand, and the guard stepped back entirely. "Bring the girl inside," the queen said. She turned toward the castle spires. Then she looked back over her shoulder. "And son, follow behind us." Son. The word struck Willowyn like cold water. She stared at Kai. He would not meet her eyes now. He held the minx close and lowered his head, and he followed the king and queen toward the great doors. Willowyn walked where the guard led her, through the flowers, into the golden castle. She was no longer a trespasser to be arrested. She was a guest, brought in by royal command. But the man she had crossed an ocean to find was not a soldier in a war camp. He was the prince of this house, and he had never told her.