Silence Reigns

Chapter 7

Ransom called on her multiple times throughout the week, and each time, they did something different. At times, it was only possible for him to take her on short walks during court breaks. He rode with her, drank tea with her, and just sat in the grass and talked with her. Erielle found that with every passing minute she spent with him, she was drawn to him in a way she couldn't imagine she ever could be drawn to a man. Not only did he seem to have so much in common with her—reading novels, sitting out on the grass in the sun, riding—but she also felt something when she was around him that she had never felt before.

She felt herself.

Nothing she did or said could turn him away from her; in any of their discussions, she never felt that he judged her for her ideas or beliefs. Like no other man she had ever seen, Ransom listened to her talk of equality, or how the blooming of flowers made her feel, as if she were the most important thing in the world.

There was nothing she would trade that for. Not the kingdom, and certainly not her future role as queen.

Early one morning, Ransom's dark head popped in her door, a surreptitious smile on his face. Erielle had already awoken, but she lay in her bed still, gazing at the morning light in her window. When she heard a knock at her door, she turned and saw him approaching her bed with a tray full of scones, pear, blueberries, eggs, and lavender tea.

"Breakfast for the princess." His smile made her stomach jump; she hadn't expected him, of course, and she sank lower in her bed, for she was only in her nightgown.

He brought her the tray, set it on her nightstand, and propped her pillows up behind her back. Erielle sat up, bringing the covers as high as they would go about her, and he set the tray on her thighs. She smiled, not sure how normal-looking it was, and she was sure that her hair was askew, but she tried to focus on Ransom instead.

"Thank you," she said.

He surprised her by kissing the top of her head and smoothing down the strands of hair that had come loose from her braid. "Welcome. Now hurry and eat; we have a big day ahead of us."

"What do you mean?" she asked, reaching for his hand at his side.

He held her hand and looked at it, tracing over the tops of her fingers, making her shiver. "If you're up to it, I thought we might take a picnic to the lake."

"You're asking me if I'm up to it?" she asked, playfully swinging their hands back and forth.

He looked up at the ceiling, but there was laughter on his face. "Let me rephrase that, then," he said, looking dangerously at her from under his eyebrows. "You and I are taking a picnic, whether you like it or not."

Erielle pouted a little. "That's not very considerate of my freedom. What if I didn't want to go?"

Leaning over so that his face was close to hers, Ransom said, "Then I'd have to kidnap you." He kissed her.

"That's unfortunate," she mumbled against his lips.

"Is it?" He chuckled softly.

She giggled back as he tickled the nape of her neck. "No."

"You, my dear," Ransom said as he pulled back, "have some morning breath."

Erielle's mouth dropped open. With a laugh, Ransom dodged her swinging foot, aimed at his leg.

"You need manners. The military has made you terribly rude," she chided and took a pompous bite of her pear. Her mouth exploded with delicious juice. "Did you make this?"

He sat on the footstool by her dresser. "Actually, you'd be surprised at my breakfast-making skills, but I won't lie. I didn't make it. Just ferried it up here."