I protectively clutched it closely. “How did you know I’d return for it?”
“Because it’s clearly something you treasure.”
His tone, expression, and indeed this entire gesture were all so unexpectedly sweet that I felt unhinged. I caressed my sketchbook, unable to believe it hadn’t been destroyed like I'd feared.
“Your talent is extraordinary,” he said. “I’ve never seen such exquisite work.”
Heat swarmed my cheeks. “You looked at them?”
“Of course,” he said without the slightest remorse. “Isn’t incredible artwork to be appreciated?”
“That’s no reason to invade my privacy.”
“Please don’t be upset,” he said in a cajoling tone that made me want to forgive him a bit too easily. “If not for me, all your drawings would have been destroyed. I didn’t have to wait for you for three days in order to return it. My time is valuable.”
I gaped at him. “You waited three days in the rain?” Why would he do that for a complete stranger? This man was proving to be quite the puzzle.
He shrugged. “I don’t mind a bit of rain, especially with your smile as a reward for my efforts. Besides, I only came three times before deciding to wait for the Forest to summon me once you entered it. You certainly stubbornly resisted doing so.”
The heat in my cheeks deepened. Clearly, I’d misjudged this stranger. I lowered my gaze. “Thank you. This means everything to me.”
“You’re welcome.”
Silence settled over us. I shifted my weight back and forth, looking everywhere but at him.
“Eileen?”
I peeked at him through my long, dark hair. Whereas I’d previously thought his noble accent made my name sound filthy, now he made it sound almost like a caress.
“Because I sacrificed three days of my time for you, I believe you owe me something in return.” He stated it in a business-like tone, as if he were about to draw up a contract.
Apprehension knotted my gut. “And what is that?”
“Perhaps I could get to know you better.”
I snorted. “Because already possessing my name isn’t enough?”
Despite my refusal, he grinned. “I take it you’re not willing to go along with that plan? What would it require for me to become friends with you?”
I frowned as I studied him. Was this another game? “I’d like your own name, for starters. It seems unfair that you know mine but I have yet to learn yours.”
He tilted his head, dark eyes teasing. “Perhaps you can guess.”
I responded with a scowl.
He chuckled. “Clearly, you’re in no mood for any more of my games. Because I desire to be in your good graces, I’ll humor you: my name is Aiden.”
“Aiden?”
He nodded. “And now we continue our proper introduction with the expected polite pleasantries. I bow”—he dipped into a deep bow, causing a single chestnut curl to dangle across his forehead—“and you curtsy.”
“I’m not going to curtsy,” I snapped. His lips twitched.
“I suppose we won’t exchange a friendly greeting after all. Will your stubbornness extend to refusing polite small talk?”
I folded my arms. He cocked an eyebrow.
“Is that a yes or no to engaging in polite small talk?”
“Why do you want to get to know me better? After today, we’re never going to see one another again.”
“I wouldn't be so sure of that. Didn’t you mistakenly assume that after our last meeting?”
I glared at him. He merely grinned cheekily in response. I wasn’t sure what he was playing at, but his friendly smiles and the light filling his dark eyes were doing strange things to my heart, things I didn't like, making me almost desire to humor him.
He waited a moment, but when I still refused to play along by answering him, he sighed. “Are you always this untrusting?”
“Only towards mysterious strangers I encounter in the woods.”
“How many such strangers have you met?”
“Just you.”
“So you have no previous experiences to compare our interactions with, meaning you’re basing everything on assumption rather than fact.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Forgive me, but your behavior has done little to earn my good favor.”
“You’re correct; it appears another apology is in order.” He bowed. “I’m sorry for my behavior at our last meeting. I was rather out of sorts, but it was still inexcusable. I’m now trying to make it up to you by returning your sketchbook and trying to get to know you better, but you’re making it rather difficult. Can’t we just start over?”
“Give me one reason why I should grant your request.”
He grinned. “Because I’m charming.”
I cocked my eyebrow skeptically. He sighed.
“I take it that’s not a valid enough reason.” A thoughtful pucker lined his brow. “I’m surprised you distrust me so easily. Considering we’re both on good terms with the Forest, I would have assumed the opposite.”
I frowned up at the trees swaying a bit too innocently, as if they found our exchange highly amusing. Mischievous creatures. Yet while their motives were questionable, they hadn’t yet led me astray. Could I trust their judgment?
I glanced back at Aiden, who watched me a bit pleadingly. He wanted me to trust him. Didn’t he realize that what he was asking was impossible to grant? I didn’t trust, not when doing so was foolish. But his expression was so imploring that despite my best intentions, I felt the walls of my reservations crack. I sighed in defeat.
“Fine, I’ll play your game…for now.”
He beamed. “Excellent. Time for the small talk I fought so hard for. Do you come to the Forest often?”
“All the time.”
Aiden looked up at the branches twisting together in an intricate canopy; the sunlight poked through the budding leaves to caress us in dappled gold. “I do, too. I love this place. It’s my perfect escape: mysterious yet incredibly peaceful. I often feel as if the Forest is—”
“—alive,” I finished. Heat tinged my cheeks as his gaze caught mine and his lips curved up.
“The Forest has led me to some wonderful places over the years, but the day we met, it was most insistent on leading me towards you. Perhaps we were destined to meet.”
Goosebumps pinpricked my arms. Could that be possible? But what reason would the Forest have for me to meet a nobleman?
“Where are your favorite places to explore?” Aiden asked.
“Everywhere. Like you, the Forest leads me to whichever destination it has in mind, each more magical than the last. I feel it’s always waiting to show me something new. It’s taken me to lakes, meadows, orchards, groves of changing trees…”
Aiden gave me a cheeky grin. “…me?”
I scowled. He chuckled.
“I suppose it’s too early for you to know whether our meeting was lucky coincidence or not.” He glanced down at my sketchbook, which I still held like a shield in front of me. “Do you always bring your sketchbook wherever the Forest takes you?”
“Of course. It’s my journal, preserving each of my experiences.”
Aiden stepped closer, and I instinctively backed into a tree. “Warning: I’m about to be intrusive again.” He tugged my sketchbook from my hands and opened it seemingly at random to a drawing of a lake reflecting the cloud-filled sky, lily pads dotting its surface. “In all my years exploring, I’ve never stumbled upon such a place within these trees. This is found in the Forest?”
I pressed my hands to my hips. “Nobleman or not, it’s rude to grab someone’s personal property without their permission.”
He ignored me as he turned each page with reverence. “Your style is exquisite. I love your use of color; you use just enough to draw the viewer’s attention to the focus of the piece.”
“In case you’re missing it, I’m hinting for you to return my sketchbook.”
“This drawing is my favorite
.”
Aiden tipped my book to show me my panoramic view of the Forest drawn from the attic window of my cottage, captured half in charcoal, half in colored wax. From left to right I’d created a timeline of the Forest passing through not only the day—from dawn, to dusk, to fading into night—but also experiencing all the seasons.
Aiden raised my picture eye level to more closely examine it. “You perfectly captured the majesty and mystery of the woods; the emotion practically crawls off the page. Stunning.”
His generous praise pierced my annoyance. If he was trying to flatter me for whatever nefarious purpose he had in mind, it was working…but I couldn’t let him know that.
“Aiden, please return my sketchbook.”
Using his name finally got me a response. Aiden’s gaze met mine. “Can’t I admire your work a bit longer?”
“I need to return home before my mother returns from the market and realizes I snuck into the Forest.”
He closed my book with a scoff. “How old are you?”
My cheeks prickled with another blush. “I’m nearly nineteen.”
His eyes flickered over my small build and petite body. “I’ll have to take your word for it.”
Heat flashed through me. I scowled at him, but as usual, he ignored it.
“Why are you so concerned about your mother? Do they really cut the apron strings so late amongst the peasantry?”
Ugh, his nerve. “She’s just worried about me,” I said through my teeth. “And she has great reason to be.”
“Worried about what? I assure you, there’s nothing in the Forest to be frightened of.”
“Except for you.” And to reinforce my point, I motioned to the cut on my neck.
Remorse twisted his expression. “I told you that was an accident.”
“And I’m telling you I don’t care. Return my sketchbook. Now.” I yanked it from him. I expected to have to wrestle it from his grip, but surprisingly he didn’t put up a fight. His crooked grin merely widened, as if I was the most entertaining spectacle.
“Spunky thing, aren’t you?”
I took a deep breath. “I’m leaving.”
He bowed with a flourish. “Be my guest.”
“Goodbye and good riddance.”
I turned towards the trees and sighed with relief that the path I’d used to arrive was still there. I’d barely stomped three steps towards it when Aiden called after me.
“We still haven’t discussed my form of payment.”
I froze before slowly turning back around. “Payment?”
He crossed his arms and leaned back against the same birch where I’d found him waiting when I’d first arrived. “Naturally. My time is valuable, so I expect compensation.”
My heart hammered. “What kind of payment? I don’t have any money.”
“That does present a problem.” Aiden rested his chin on his fist, considering, before mischief flashed in his eyes. “You don’t happen to know how to spin straw into gold, do you?”
I gaped at him. Was he serious?
He chuckled. “No? Well, lucky for you, the payment I desire will be much more simple. What I want is”—he held up three fingers—“three days.”
“Three days of what?”
“Your time. I spent three days coming to the Forest in order to meet you, so naturally I expect three days of your time in return. A fair exchange, wouldn’t you say?”
I opened my mouth to give him my exact feelings on the matter, but he talked over me.
“And before you come up with any nefarious motive behind my request, allow me to reassure you that during our time together, I merely hope to get to know you better.”
I swallowed the refusal I’d been prepared to give, for as much as I ached to deny it, I wanted to get to know him as well, for I admittedly found him rather intriguing. “What if the Forest never leads me to you again?”
He stroked the trunk of the tree he still leaned against. “I’m sure you’ve noticed how much the Forest likes me. Don’t doubt it will do my bidding. The next time you step within its trees, you’ll find there’s only one path for you to take. I look forward to it.”
With that, he bowed before walking down a path opposite my own. I watched it disappear behind him as the trees closed in and swallowed it up.
Chapter 5
Several days later, the trees were still beckoning me, their invisible hands reaching to pull me inside. I felt their urgency in each rustle of their branches. I slowly approached the Forest’s border and peered into the dark foliage. Even without stepping inside, I sensed the Forest’s desires to lead me to the mysterious Aiden, a man I didn’t want to meet again. I tipped my head back so that even the Forest’s tallest branches would see my determination.
“I don’t understand your relationship with that Aiden, but I don’t appreciate your leading me to him twice now.”
The leaves merely swayed in response, feigning innocence despite my laying their betrayal at their roots.
“He might insist on your guiding me to him, but I refuse to allow it. If you want me to visit you at all, it has to be under my rules.” My piece given, I pulled my shoulders back, lifted my head, and stepped within the trees.
The pathways immediately wriggled into a new position, undoubtedly ignoring my request. I tightened my jaw and determinedly stepped off the path into the dense foliage. The Forest would have none of that; a new path instantly appeared. I gritted my teeth and stepped off it once more, but only a few steps through the undergrowth, another trail appeared.
The Forest seemed intent on forcing my hand, but I was determined to ignore its guidance. How dare it dictate my actions after I’d specifically told it not to? So much for being my friend. I stomped my foot and glared up at the trees.
“I told you I don’t want to meet Aiden again; I only want to explore.”
A large gust of wind stirred the surrounding branches, signaling the Forest’s disapproval. I took advantage of its distraction and scurried off the path—nearly tripping over a protruding root in my haste—before another immediately sprang into existence, twisting deeper into the trees, where Aiden undoubtedly awaited me. Even my attempts to go in the opposite direction only resulted in the path looping around to force me back onto the Forest’s intended course.
I gritted my teeth. Mischievous Forest. Fine, it might not allow me to blaze my own trail, but it couldn’t make me leave. I plopped down on the ground at the border, remaining in the Forest while still within view of the cottage. I glared up at the trees so they understood in no uncertain terms that I was miffed with them; they returned their annoyance with the resulting breeze that blew roughly through my dark hair.
I yanked open my sketchbook to a fresh page and began to draw in rapid, angry strokes a rather destructive scene of a forest fire, being sure to angle myself so the surrounding trees could see my picture and thus fully understand the extent of my ire. But as time passed, the tension tightening my chest slowly eased, especially as the Forest’s harsh breeze gentled into a cooling caress, as if it were apologizing. I offered a repentant smile in return. I hated being out of sorts with such a good friend for long.
“Eileen?”
I glanced up to see Mother approaching, a basket of mending looped through her arm.
“I’m surprised to see you. I thought you might have gone exploring.” She frowned at the Forest as she settled beside me. “I’m relieved you haven’t, especially after I asked you not to.”
Guilt knotted my gut. I’d only kept the promise—which I’d never intended to keep—for three days before going back to retrieve—
My grip tightened around my sketchbook in my lap, evidence of my disobedience. Mother’s frown deepened as her eyes lowered to it.
“Is that…”
“A gift from Rosie.”
I winced at my lie, one easy to give considering Mother assumed my old sketchbook had been ruined by the rain. She didn’t deserve my dishonesty, but honesty would only cause her to wor
ry, something she’d already done too much of these past several years as we’d struggled to survive without Father.
Desperate to distract her, I motioned to the basket resting beside her. “Do you need any help with the mending?”
She blinked down at it before shaking her head. “No, dear. Continue filling up your new sketchbook with drawings, and I’ll tend to the mending. Do you mind if I sit with you?”
I shook my head and returned to my sketch of the Forest’s demise. I frowned at the picture, additional guilt prickling my heart for drawing such a gruesome scene. It would be in my best interest to stay in the Forest’s good graces, considering it had the power to get me hopelessly lost with a single shift in its pathways. I tore it out and crumpled it in order to start a new drawing; with the way the branches rustled above me, I knew the Forest approved.
We worked in cozy silence. I paused in my drawing depicting a much more pleasant portrayal of the Forest and watched Mother. She focused on the mending in her lap, a soft contentment filling her gentle, lovely features. I marveled at her quiet strength that had sustained us these last ten years since our lives had transformed so drastically.
My heart tightened to think of the times before Father’s absence. I closed my eyes and touched the locket around my neck, transported to one such moment of our little family tucked inside our snug cottage around the fire as a storm raged outside. Mother and Father had snuggled together as they worked, while I’d lain on my stomach in front of the hearth, sketching. I looked up in time to witness Mother and Father exchange adoring smiles before Mother returned to her mending and Father to his whittling…until he’d paused and looked out the rain-splattered window. A small frown played across his mouth as the light in his eyes dimmed, a frown whose meaning still gnawed at me, even all these years later.
Father had eventually looked away from the window to notice my watching him. He grinned and stood. “Will you walk with me, sweetheart?”
I scampered over at his invitation, a common one considering Father never could sit still very long. Looking back, I now realized he possessed a restlessness that he could never quench. Was it this restlessness that had caused him to leave us?
Pathways (The Kingdom Chronicles Book 1) Page 5