“I suppose apple picking isn’t a terrible idea,” he drawled as if the idea bored him.
“There are other things to do besides pick apples.”
“This sounds like the sort of thing I should exclude myself from.” Mateo cleared his throat. “I wouldn’t want to intrude on any… activities.”
Zyacus grinned and looked at me. “What sort of activities might one do in an apple orchard with his incredibly beautiful girlfriend?”
I rolled my eyes. “None that either of you is alluding to.”
Both of them laughed like I’d told the best joke in the world.
“You’re too fun to tease...Race you to the stables!” Zyacus kicked his horse into a gallop through the front gates.
Proud Boy and I chased after him hoping this race wouldn’t end like the last one.
Chapter 14
Zyacus leaned against a tree, looking as delicious as the perfect fruit hanging above us. I reached up and plucked a bright red apple, inspecting it for blemishes. Finding it clear I rubbed it against my shirt to make sure it was free of dirt.
Watching me with curious eyes, Zyacus pushed away from the tree. “Has your cat come up with anything Fae related yet? We need to find out how to kill them. One in particular.”
“I haven’t seen him. I’m beginning to worry.” It had been a week. I couldn’t imagine him taking a vacation; he had a duty.
Moving close enough that I could feel his body heat, Zyacus backed me up against smooth bark and toyed with my hair. “When the pointy-eared bastard was questioning you, I tried so hard to break free of his hold. I wanted to help you. I want you to know that.”
I nodded slowly, feeling a little intoxicated by his closeness. “I know. Don’t blame yourself.”
“If there is a next time, I’ll find a way.”
I hoped he could. “Do you think kirune works against them like it does magic born? Kirune blocks magic ability so it should. You could carry a manacle. If we could get it on him, he might lose his power.”
Zyacus drug his nose from my collarbone to my ear causing waves of wanting to course through me. “It would be worth a try,” he murmured.
“Princess, Prince?” a male voice called, drawing us apart. “Is that you?”
Ugh, right when we were getting a moment alone.
“Yes?” Zyacus sounded as annoyed as I felt.
We both turned to a professor, my Herbology professor, Nimblewatt. “Pardon my interruption.” He cleared his throat and patted his silver hair with a wrinkled, gnarled hand. “I seem to have lost my glasses. A few students told me they thought they found poisonous plants in the orchards which we can’t have, and my glasses must have slipped off my head. Could you two help me find them?”
“Of course.” I slipped by Zyacus and approached Professor Nimblewatt. “Do you have any idea where in the orchards they might be? If it’s close by perhaps we could do a calling forth spell.”
“I don’t know, but I’ve been all over the orchards. I went to grab them off my head and put them on and found them to be missing.”
“I’ll try it,” Zyacus said. He rubbed his fingers together and we waited in vain. No glasses appeared. “Hmm, they must not be close enough. We’ll take a look around.”
“We should split up so we can find them faster,” I said and waved to my left. “I’ll go this way.” I started off, eyes scanning the ground. I was far away from the others before I knew it with no glasses in sight. When I reached the end of the orchards I turned on my heel. I froze when my eyes fell to my glittering black crown sitting inside a swirling, knotted cage of thorns that hadn’t been there moments ago.
Eyes darting, I pulled my sword and readied my magic. This time I wouldn’t play the victim. “Show yourself,” I demanded.
No stirring of the trees, no black cloud of mist, nothing, but my crown and the thorn cage. After waiting several minutes in the quiet of birds calling and bees buzzing, I sheathed my weapon. Tapping a finger against my lips, I cautiously moved around the black vines and turquoise thorns that encased my crown. An opening wide enough for it to slide out of, if I was careful, revealed itself upon close inspection. This had to be a trap or trick of some kind.
“Oh, dear,” Professor Nimblewatt said, drawing my eyes.
Zyacus stood beside him, staring at the cage of thorns and what lay within.
Nimblewatt, with his glasses in hand, moved close. Apparently having found them, he put on his spectacles and stooped until his face was within an inch of one of the thorns. “I’ve never seen a thorn bush like this.”
Zyacus stepped to my side with a worried expression. “Is he here? Did he try to hurt you?”
I shook my head. “No. If he is here, I haven’t seen him.”
“Is that your crown in there, dear?” Nimblewatt asked, pointing with a shaky hand. “How did this happen?”
I shrugged and told them that it just appeared there.
“I’m afraid these barbs could be poisonous and since I don’t know what it will do, I think it’s best we don’t touch it.” He straightened his spine and folded his arms.
Zyacus took out his sword and swung; the moment his blade collided with the vines it bounced off and he stumbled back. Recovering, he flushed and rubbed the back of his neck. “It was worth a try.”
We took turns hitting it with spells but nothing affected it. It seemed the protection enchantment over this thing was impenetrable. I squatted down to eye level with my crown and noticed a small piece of paper underneath it. I tentatively reached my hand for the opening and Zyacus caught my arm.
“Don’t,” he warned. “That’s what he wants you to do.”
“How else can I get my crown? Also I think he left a
