𝑩𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒍𝒅

chapter forty-nine

Emriana

"No, try this one." I laughed as Zeke tried to put his foot on the branch and almost slipped. He released a high-pitch scream that made me almost fall as my head fell back into laughter.

"Stop laughing. You should be helping me, Princess," he whined like a little kid as he tried to put his foot on the branch again.

"I can't believe you're so bad at this," he sent me a glare, and I only laughed harder. Tears were rolling down my face, and I could barely breathe. I had never seen someone so bad at climbing a tree.

I had already climbed up to where the massive trunk split into two smaller limbs. The floor of an abandoned tree house occupied the space and made a large sitting area for us. I had been sitting there for almost ten minutes.

"What do I do now?" His voice was panicked as he held on to the tree for dear life, and I couldn't help the other round of laughter.

"Place your foot on the branch— no, not this one, it's too weak. The one on the right—Yes. This one," I said, and he listened to my every word with precision. His movements were clumsy as he almost fell every time he moved. I had to bite my lip from laughing as he let out a series of curses as he lost his footing again.

"Princess, just come down. I don't want to do this anymore," he said, and I grinned at him.

"Come on, you're almost there," I tried to cheer him up. It was so weird. Watching the Prince of Ekudal struggling so hard to climb a tree.

"I'm going to fall. Help me." He yelled, and I rolled my eyes as I jumped down on the branch underneath me with agility and pulled myself down using the different branches as support until I got to his level.

"Zeke, you need to put this hand over there and your left foot over here," he looked at where I pointed.

"I won't fall?" I smiled.

"No, you won't fall. How about you just follow my lead and simply put your hands and feet wherever I put mine?" He looked down at the ground before looking up at me and nodded.

I moved slowly as I made sure he saw every movement I made. I could feel his body just behind me as I pulled myself up with the branches. I used the trunk as support before moving to the next branch. I looked back at Zeke, only to see him looking at my butt.

"Hey!" His eyes snapped to my face before he smirked.

"Sorry." He said, but the playful smile on his face didn't look apologetic.

I climbed the remaining distance to the spot I found earlier, shooting Zeke an occasional glance to see where he was looking, earning me his too-charming low chuckle each time.

"There," I said as he pulled himself up on the last branch. His gaze moved to the view of the kingdom ahead, and he stayed silent for a few seconds. I couldn't decipher what he was thinking, but he looked away and smiled at me.

I moved to the side to let him sit next to me, but he frowned.

"Stand up," he said, and I raised a brow.

"Huh?"

"Stand up, I said," he repeated. I did and gasped as he took my place and laid his feet sideways so there was no more place for me.

"Zeke," I whined, and he winked at me as he yanked me toward him, and I screamed as I lost footing and fell forward. His arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me against him.

"You can't do that when we're so high up," I scolded him as he pulled my back against his chest, so I sat between his legs.

"Sorry, Princess," I rolled my eyes.