by Rachel Angel
“If we’re lucky,” I said, hiding the sudden nervousness that took over me. “Rosie will have a great big salad ready with strips of crispy chicken. How does that sound?”
“Delicious,” he said in a tone that was deep and full of sexual undertones.
“Come on,” I said, and I turned to lead the way inside.
“Here are all you requested items, Rosie.” I set the fruit on the counter.
“Oh, thank you. Thank you. You are too sweet.” Rosie looked at Avery as he set the cheese and wine down on the counter. “I didn’t request him, but I’m happy you brought him.”
I looked at her with a teasing smile. “I thought you might like him. But, alas, he has come to have lunch with me.”
“Your salad is almost ready. I’ll have Ruth bring it out to you.”
“Thank you, Rosie. We’ll be out on the patio by the duck pond.”
I turned around to head out and bumped into my father.
“Going somewhere?” he said with a chuckle.
“Father! I thought you were busy with all the preparations for the evening’s festivities.”
“I am,” he said as he walked around the kitchen checking in on everything that was being prepared. “But I still have time to sit and have lunch with my favorite girl.”
I smiled as he dipped his pinky in the hollandaise sauce and licked his finger clean.
“In that case,” I said, “we’ll be in the dining room.”
“I’ll be with you two in a minute,” Father said as he moved onto the mushroom and raisin gravy that was to accompany the pork.
There was something so sweet and endearing about seeing such a big and powerful man dipping his pinky into a sauce. While he had the responsibilities of a king, while he had armies to watch over, he never failed to make a daily connection with the entire staff of Kingsbury Castle. It made me love my father all the more.
He was a kind and just leader; a firm and respected leader. And he was also a loving and generous parent, never coddling, but always compassionate.
I turned to walk out, and this time bumped into Avery. I instantly blushed as I looked up at him, my hand against his strong muscular chest. He was too sexy to be believed and being so close to him was a delightful torture.
Seeing my reddening cheeks, he chuckled softly, but didn’t mock me. He was too mature for that. At twenty-two, he was already living on his own. As the eldest son and prince of Arcadia, he could have chosen to live anywhere in his father’s kingdom, but he’d opted for Arcadia, a small island to be near Kingsbury.
I was thrilled with his decision. This way, he was always close-by. His father’s vast network of islands were mostly far away, and while I knew that he would one day move to one of those distant islands, for now, he was close and that made me happy.
Smiling, I looked at him and imagined the day when he would take a bride, when he would set aside his Bachelor Prince title. I dreaded that day. The thought of him living happily ever after with a beautiful young princess made my insides tightened.
I like having you here, I wanted to say. I never want you to leave.
But I knew that he would never look at me as anything other than a kid sister, a childhood friend. A pal. Oh, how I hated that word. His pal.
I led him to the small, informal dining room I so often shared meals with my father in. Avery sat beside me as Rosie came in with the huge salad. Slices of chicken were set appealingly over the lettuce and vegetables. Moments later, after Avery and I had filled our bowls with the light crispy salad, Father joined us.
“I’m happy you came by, Avery,” Father said, patting him on the shoulder as he walked behind him to get to his chair. He sat down and served himself a generous amount of salad.
“It’s hard to refuse Violet’s invitation.” Avery’s eyes gleamed with admiration and respect for my father.
It pleased me immensely to see that Avery liked my father. I knew that many people retained a guarded amount of respect for the kingmaker. He was in a position that often pleased people by way of the choices he made, but, inevitably, there were those who were unhappy.
“I heard that since you’ve become of age, you’re looking to find a bride,” Father said.
I was instantly miffed by my father’s choice of topic. I didn’t want to hear about the girls Avery was considering. I didn’t want to hear about his latest fling, his latest flame, his latest conquest.
Avery was a close friend, and my first massive teenage crush. While I knew I would never be his wife, the thought of him marrying another was upsetting.
Father, my angry eyes said. How could you?
“Well, sir,” Avery said, obviously to my distress. “My father would like nothing more than to see me make a decision, but I’m not quite ready for that yet. I may be of age up here,” he said, pointing to his head. “But I’m not sure I’m truly of age down here.” He put his hand over his heart.
Father waved Avery’s comment away as if it’ll all been nonsense. “I’ve heard that Princess Jule, and Lady Kira are very smitten of you. Both lovely girls. I think they would make lovely brides; wonderful wives.”
Oh, Father, I wanted to say. Stop it already.
Avery chuckled, but said nothing for a while. “I’ve heard that you’ve equipped your army with some effective weapons.”
Yes! Change of subject.
“Ah, yes,” Father said. “The men and women that defend our borders are quite pleased with my new acquisitions.”
“I truly admire your constant desire to remain modern and up to date on the latest in weaponry,” Avery said. “I would love to sit down with you one day and discuss other weapons I’ve been hearing about. I’ve heard of new materials that are being used in the fabrication of certain weapons. It’s all quite fascinating… the science behind it all.”
Father nodded, obviously impressed with Avery.
Looking at them, I realized just how similar they were. Both strong, of mind and body, both fair and loving, but with a firm and undeniable belief in what was right.
My father could sometimes be loud and intimidating, but Avery seemed completely at ease as they continued to talk about military strategies, agricultural advances and the need to better patrol the waters that surrounded the kingdoms.
“Well,” Father said as he pushed his empty bowl aside. “I have to go check on the preparations for tonight’s ceremony.” He stood, gave me a quick peck on the cheek and reached out to shake Avery’s hand.
As he headed out, Rosie came in. “Will you two have tea? Dessert?”
“That sounds wonderful,” I said. I speared the last piece of cucumber in my bowl and popped it into my mouth. “Do you have time?” I asked Avery.
“Sure.” Avery took the last few bites of his salad and set his fork down.
I looked up to Rosie. “Is it all right if we go out to the patio by the duck pond?”
Rosie smiled knowingly. “Yes, of course. And I’ll make sure to put a few crusts of bread on the tray.”
I laughed nervously, a little embarrassed that my little secret was out. Yes, I liked to feed the ducks whenever I could.
“Come on,” I said to Avery. “It’s this way.”
We walked out the side door, past the herb garden and down the pebbled path to the duck pond. A fragile looking but heavy wrought iron table was flanked by two chairs, each adorned with intricately forged peacocks on the backs and a floral pattern on the seats. The table and chairs were set on a stone patio surrounded by beautiful flowers of orange and yellow.
Many mallards quaked loudly among a few snow geese, a pair of swans and several sandhill cranes. Each had their own distinctive personalities; the cranes shy and unapproachable, the mallards eager to eat out of anyone’s hand, and the swans who seemed to persistently be angry at everyone who dared get close to them.
“It’s beautiful out here,” Avery said as he walked up to the edge of the pond that was filled with beautiful water lilies.
While most of
them were white, several were lavender; my favorite. A few colorful frogs sat lily pads, quietly soaking up the sun.
“I think that this has always been my favorite place,” Avery said.
“That’s funny,” I said, grinning at him. “I seem to remember a time when you hated it. I think that was when Milo, that big black swan that we used to have, chased you straight into the pond.”
Avery let out a laugh. “Please, don’t remind me. I ruined a perfectly good riding clothes that day, not to mention my pride.”
“And, if I remember correctly, you jumped for joy when Milo finally died of old age a few years later.”
He turned to look at me. “I know you loved that mean old swan.”
Laughing, I came up beside him. “I did, even though he was a mean old bird.”
Maryjane, a shy and reserved servant, brought out a tray laden with scones, French pastries and wedges of crumb cake along with a pot of tea with my favorite tea cups; the ones with the bold black and white geometric pattern dotted with small specks of gold. She looked up questioningly at me.
“You can put it right there on the table, Maryjane. Thank you.”
She set the tray down, bowed and quickly left. Smiling, I noticed the stack of bread crusts.
“Still feeding them?” Avery said with a mocking grin. “You were always a sucker for a hungry animal.”
I went to the table to get the bread and returned to Avery’s side. Shrugging, I tore a piece of bread off and tossed it to the ducks who quickly came around for more.
“Hell,” Avery went on. “I bet they’re not even hungry. They just want easy and free food.”
“Can you blame them?” I said pointing to the bottom of the pond. “Look at the alternative.”
The swans came around, slowly wading through and pushing the mallards aside.
“Here,” I said, handing Avery a chunk of bread. “Why don’t you make friends with our new addition; Milo Jr.”
Avery took the piece of bread and looked warily at the swans. “I don’t know about this. He already looks angry and I haven’t even done anything yet.”
The black swan had already made its way up to him, extending its long neck in the hopes of snatching the piece of bread from Avery’s hand.
“You have no choice now,” I said with a giggle.
Instead of breaking off a small piece and tossing it at Milo Jr., he threw the entire chunk of bread just as the big black swan charged him.
With a shrill yelp, Avery stepped back and out of Milo Junior’s reach.
“I guess I’m not going to have better luck with Junior.”
I quickly broke up the bread that I had and tossed it all to the ducks before joining Avery at the small wrought iron table.
I couldn’t help but notice the way he looked at me. There was something different in his gaze. For years, while I kept my crush on him secret, he continued to treat me like the kid sister he’d always considered me to be. He’d always friendly and playful, but he had never looked at me as a girl.
But now, there was something that was darker, more sensual in his dark green eyes. I sat across from him and poured tea in both cups.
“That Milo Jr. is heading this way,” Avery said nervously. “What am I supposed to do now?”
I smiled. There was something amusing in seeing this strong and brave man cower so helplessly before a feathered animal.
“Ignore him,” I said. “He’ll cry out his irritation and frustration, then leave.”
Avery looked at me. “You really like these animals don’t you?”
“Of course, I do. They’re like an extended part of the family.”
“You know, they say that you can tell a lot about a person by the way they treat animals.”
I chuckled. “That’s funny. That’s exactly what my father says. He has seen farmers, men who raise cattle or sheep or chickens, treat their animals with respect. They fed them properly, housed them sufficiently, and when it came time to slaughter them, it was done in the most humane way possible. But there were others who chose to neglect and abuse; men who felt empowered by tormenting a helpless animal. Who do you think my father respected more?”
Avery nodded. “I know what you mean. But in addition to being the humane thing to do, treating your animals with respect is also more profitable. The animals are happier and healthier. I remember Mr. Forsythe from Arcadia. He was a mean old buzzard who treated all his animals with disdain and a hard hand. Every single year, dozens of his hens died and several of his cows as well. Instead of changing his way with them, he blamed them for their own suffering.”
I shook my head. I had heard horror stories about Mr. Forsythe.
“I hope you don’t begrudge me the fact that I hunt,” Avery said, suddenly concerned with my opinion of him.
“No. I know the kind of man you are. I know the kind of hunter you are. You would never kill a doe and you would never kill just for sport. I know that the animals that you’ve killed did not die just for the thrill of it. They died in order to provide nourishment for yourself, for your family. Maybe even sometimes to feed a village.”
He nodded solemnly as he took a sip of tea. “Food, however, is not the only reason to kill an animal.”
Perplexed, I tilted my head to the side and looked quizzically at him. Was he about to divulge something about him that I would not be able to accept or respect?
“It’s not only your swan who are mean. There are other creatures we need to look out for,” Avery said as he reached out to the éclair, his fingers brushing against mine as I went in for a religieuse.
“What do you mean?” I said, trying desperately to ignore the tingling sensation that ran throughout my body at his touch.
Damn.
I took off the top part of my dessert and popped it into my mouth, anything to distract me from the growing need to get closer to him. The pastry barely made it down my throat as I sought a way of touching him again. My body was suddenly alive with the need for him and while eating was the last thing on my mind, I tried to focus on taking another bite.
“The other night,” Avery said in a hushed tone. “I was at my lodge and there were strange sounds coming from the forest.”
“Well,” I said, not at all alarmed by his statement. “That’s typical here, Avery. You know the forest is filled with creatures, and many of them are active at night; the raccoons, the skunks, foxes, coyotes…” I shrugged. “Even the occasional bear.”
“Yes,” he said softly, thoughtfully. “I know, but this was different.”
“How so?” I finished my religieuse and reach for angel wings and broke off a piece.
“For one thing, the sound didn’t really come from inside the forest. It was coming from the edge of the woods.”
“Animals are known to come out of the forest every once in a while,” I said.
“Violet,” he said, almost exasperated. “I know that.”
“Well, then,” I said. “What is all the alarm about?”
“There was something about the aggressive nature of the sounds that was strange, that was different from anything I’d ever heard. It wasn’t just the hungry sounds of the hunt or a kill. I heard growls that I’ve never heard before… ever. I couldn’t even tell you what kind of animal it might have been.”
“You’re new to these islands, Avery. Arcadia is a lot more to the north then where you are from. We have different beasts here. I’m sure after a while you’ll become more familiar with the critters you share the island with. I don’t think there’s anything for you to be worried about”
His jaw tensed and I could see he wasn’t happy with my assessment of the situation. He took the last bite of his éclair, wiped the crumbs and chocolate off his fingers and looked intently at me.
“Violet,” he said solemnly. “I’ve been around long enough to know what forest creatures sound like, whether they are from the south or from the north. This was nothing like any animal sound. Besides, it wasn’t just the odd sounds t
hat alarmed me. The other night there were lights coming from deep inside the forest. And before you say it, no, they were not from the direction of the castle. They were in the completely opposite direction. They were near the knife’s edge that leads to the northern peak.”
I looked at him. “The northern peak? No one ever goes out there. Especially at night. It would be suicide.”
“Exactly.” He finished his tea and stood. “Look, just keep your eyes and ears open, all right. Don’t just take for granted that all the creatures out there are as sweet and docile as your beloved bunny rabbits and squirrels.”
“I will. I promise.”
“I’d better go,” Avery said. “Thank you for lunch. And thank you so much for tea and dessert.”
Smiling, I stood and put my hand to his arm. “I’m glad you could stay. It’s been a while since we last sat down to just chat.” I walked with him, slowly meandering through the grounds as we made our way to the moat.
Before crossing the drawbridge, he turned to face me, taking both my hands in his. I was thrilled by his intimate touch and anticipated a goodbye kiss.
“Violet,” he said softly.
I resisted the urge to close my eyes and pucker up. I longed desperately to have his lips over mine.
“There’s something else that I didn’t tell you,” he went on.
Okay. So, there would be no kiss after all.
“What is it?” I said as dryly as possible.
He looked around and seemed deeply troubled. “I didn’t want to scare you, but I think it’s only fair that you know. I know that you like to go for moonlit strolls.”
“Yes,” I said. “They’re my favorite. There’s something so eerily enticing about the dark of night but with the brightness of the moon to light the way.”
“I think you should limit you strolls to the gardens well within the castle grounds.”
“Avery, you are scaring me. What else has you so worried? It’s more than just strange sounds and lights in the forest.”
“Yes. There is more.”
I waited.
“Chants.”