We’re in the shadows of the trees, but there are other dancers close behind us and my face is not unknown.
I take his fingers and plunge us into the forest. “Not yet. I still haven’t decided if I’m going to let you do this.”
“You’re the one leading me into parts unknown,” he teases. “Maybe I should be afraid for my virtue?”
It’s safer here. No eyes to see us. No ears to hear us.
I pause, with my back to a nearby tree. “I… find it difficult to trust.”
He searches my face again. Nods. And then he goes to one knee. “Then I grant you control over me for this one night. Command me, my fair lady. I bind myself to your whims. I promise once, I promise twice, I promise thrice—whatever you ask of me until the dawn rises, I am bound to give you.”
He can’t be serious.
The fae are bound by their oaths and this effectively gives me control over him. If I asked him to kill someone, then he must do it.
“What are you doing?” I take a step back. “What if I asked you to do something you’re not comfortable doing?”
“You won’t.” There’s not even a single hint of doubt on his face. “You don’t trust me, Vi, so this grants you the power between us.” A slight pause. “You won’t hurt me. You won’t ask of me anything I don’t wish to do. I have faith in that.”
To see him like this on one knee before me—
“Get up.”
He pushes to his feet and I clap my hands over my mouth. His eyes are twinkling as he sees my dilemma.
I push away from him. It feels overwhelming. I’ve never had such power and now it lies in my hand, it’s a horrifying burden. Every word I speak must be carefully chosen.
“Come,” he whispers, extending his hand. “You’re safe now. Because now I can’t hurt you. There’s a place by the lake that I would like to show you. The views are spectacular.”
And it’s no doubt private.
I look down at those gloved fingers.
I don’t even know what’s come over me as I place my hand over those leather-clad fingers. “Okay,” I whisper.
The small outcropping of stone by the lake juts a little higher than everything else.
We’re so far away from the rites that it seems like a dream. Lights glow through the forest below, and music comes in drifts of the wind. On the lake, the stars dance across those dark waters and I look up to see them shining brilliantly in the sky.
“It’s beautiful,” I whisper.
I can’t help thinking that I’m safe up here, so far away from Etan that he’ll never find me.
“Truly,” my handsome stranger breathes, and there’s a reverence to his voice that makes me seek him out. His eyes are on my face but he remains seated on a boulder, giving me enough space to feel comfortable.
“I don’t know why you’re doing this,” I blurt.
He smiles, leaning back on his hands. “Doing what?”
“You could have danced with dozens of others—”
“I only wanted to dance with you.”
“But why?”
This time, he’s the one who looks away. “Do you believe in fate, Vi?”
A shiver runs down my spine. “I believe in the gods. I believe in… in magic. I believe we are driven by our own choices. But fate? I think fate is what you make of it.”
There’s something ancient in his eyes as he stares back at me. “I believe in fate. I believe I was meant to meet you this one night. It feels like the world has been holding its breath forever, and the second I saw you, it finally exhaled. You and I—this night—was meant to be.”
“I think you’ve been drinking too much of the elderberry wine.”
He laughs. “You don’t believe in fate and I do. Let us agree upon this then—if fate is what you make of it, then what are we to make of this? This chance encounter.”
It’s a heady feeling. If fate is what we make of it, then what do I wish for? He’s a stranger. I don’t even know what I’m doing with him. Or why. But I can’t deny there’s something intriguing about him.
“What do you want to make of it?” I ask.
Dark lashes flutter over his eyes. “I would like to kiss you. Just once. To see if fate has been telling me the truth.”
“And what truth would that be?”
“That this kiss was written in the stars.”
I step closer, between his thighs. “Do you know what I think?”
“What?” He tilts his face back to look up at me. It’s barely an inch in difference, but it makes me feel powerful.
“I think you would have made an excellent courtier.”
His teeth flash white in the night. “Maybe I am one.”
“Maybe.” I press my finger against his lips. “No. Don’t tell me. It would ruin this.”
It’s easier if I don’t know who he is, because then I don’t have to pretend. I don’t have to think of politics or alliances. It doesn’t become a bad idea, a regret. It simply stays as it is….
A harmless, slightly-flirtatious encounter with a dark stranger on a moonlit night.
“Ruin this?” Reaching up slowly, he tries for my mask again. “I want to see you.”
I don’t know why but the simple act of removing my mask feels like he’s stripping me to the skin.
“Stop panicking,” he says.
“I’m not panicking.”
“No?” There’s a teasing light in his eyes and his fingertips graze my cheeks. “All you have to do is say one little word, Vi, and I am bound to obey you.”
“I don’t like this bargain.” The mask slips from my skin. “I don’t like holding your fate in my hands. I can’t believe you made that promise.”
“Maybe it was a test.” He lowers the mask.
He looks at me as if I’m beautiful, as if he’s trying to memorize the fine lines of my face. His eyes flare wide, drinking me in.
It’s such a vulnerable
