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Blossom and the Beast (The Alder Tales Book 1) Page 13

Blossom turned her horse toward the manor and tried to ignore the violent pounding in her chest that wouldn’t fade. For several minutes they walked in silence, the only sound the clop of horse hooves and the night animals beginning to wake in the surrounding wood. Blossom, for one, didn’t know what to say.

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  “WERE YOU REALLY named for an alder blossom?” The Vice Syndicate spoke the first words since they’d left the mountain top, though they were already more than halfway back.

  Blossom chuckled in the dark. “My brothers picked it, supposedly. They all take credit for it, so who knows who really did it. My mother was a bear from the Greane Clan. All my life I heard stories about her. She was the most beautiful woman and the best hunter. She loved the alder trees, so I guess when she died, they picked a name they thought she would like.” In her head, she could hear Hale or Parson tell the stories, arguing about the details but nonetheless insisting she listen.

  “Do you miss them?” With the sun having all but disappeared behind the mountains and the alder canopy blocking what little light remained, Blossom couldn’t see his face. She could only hear the softness in his tone.

  “Of course. They always treated me like the baby and never let me do anything on my own, but they were good brothers.” Guilt stabbed her like a knife to the chest to think of Hale without his stupid sister to follow around all day. She couldn’t help but wonder what he did with his time now.

  “I’m sorry I took you away from them.” Blossom looked up but found his features hidden in shadow.

  “If you didn’t, someone else would have.”

  “Did you have many offers?”

  “Just one. The day before you came.”

  “One?” Even the darkness couldn’t hide his shock.

  “Yes, one. Why?” Blossom narrowed her eyes and glared in his direction until she remembered he probably couldn’t see her.

  “I’m disappointed in the Alderwood clans. I’m disappointed in men in general. There is no reason why you should have received only one offer. I hope for your sake he was the most wealthy, attractive man in the Alderwood.”

  Blossom covered her mouth with her hand and laughed. “Not exactly.” Taking the time to compare the two, Norin was vastly older than the Vice Syndicate and far less handsome. He’d given her a sickening, sinking feeling from the first moment they met, but then again, so had the Vice Syndicate.

  Given the option, he was by far the better choice. And now that he’d decided to give her some measure of freedom, there was nothing Norin could give her that the Vice Syndicate couldn’t.

  All at once, the Vice Syndicate stopped short on their path, close enough to see the light of the manor between the trees ahead. “Then, as it’s your last night in Pyrona, would you, Ms. Blossom Frane, join me for dinner? It’s the least I can do after you’ve suffered such a travesty of offers.” He bent forward in a formal bow.

  Blossom threw her head back with laughter at the grandiose gesture. When he reached out his hand, she offered her hand in return and accepted. With a mock curtsy she’d seen as a child, she held out the side of her wide-legged pants and said, “Why thank you, Mr. Lord Vice Syndicate for your gracious invitation. I will happily accept your offer to dinner.”

  “Mr. Lord Vice Syndicate?” he asked between hearty chuckles. “How about Kaide?”

  “Kaide, then.” Blossom was, for once, relieved that the surrounding darkness covered the bright-red color she knew must have reached her cheeks by now. She pulled on the reins and got her horse in motion again. Only a little farther to go.

  “Do you like Blossom?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Is that what you’d like me to call you?”

  “It’s what everyone calls me. You know, because it’s my name.” She rolled her eyes. For a leading political figure, he sure had some dumb comments come out of his mouth.

  “If you won’t hold it against me, I’ll be honest and tell you I don’t think it suits you.”

  Blossom blinked and tried to decide if she should be offended. Was he trying to say she wasn’t pretty?

  “Stop right there.” Blossom froze mid-step at the sound of his words—sharp and demanding—where he’d been so casual only a moment before. Kaide took a single step to stand in front of her. “I mean, you’re not some dainty flower to sit on a wall and look nice. It is a disservice to you to think of you that way.”

  “I’m a little rougher around the edges?”

  “Exactly.”

  “So what would you suggest? Pine cone?”

  Kaide’s face lit up with laughter. “Some ugly brown thing? Absolutely not,” he managed between chuckles. “You’re a beauty. Though I will admit you do have a few sharp points.”

  Blossom wanted to be mad and offended and off-put, but when he smiled that way and called her beautiful, she couldn’t quite manage. He stood so close, she could lean forward and press her face to his chest if she wanted, but she didn’t. She remained frozen in place, annoyed that he could make her lock up like this.

  Kaide’s hand tugged at her chin, forcing her to look up at him. Blossom allowed it, her eyes tracking upward until they met his. “I was serious about dinner. And about you staying here. Living here. Marrying me. You don’t have to answer now, but at least think on it. Make a good, informed decision, not because of what I want or your brothers want or some Alderwood clan leader wants to trade for you. It’s up to you to decide what you want for your life. For now, we should go in and get dressed for dinner. If this is my last night with you, then I mean to have you enjoy it.”

  Blossom felt all the air go out of her as he pulled back and walked his horse to the front steps of the manor. There, Druma and Olin waited, and when he was near enough, Kaide handed over the reins and went inside, though not before looking back at her with a shy smile.

  With his servicemen watching her, Blossom felt as if she’d been caught, though she didn’t even know why. Had they seen her laughing with him? Or gazing up in his eyes as he said he wanted her to stay? Did they see the way he looked at her?

  Blossom cleared her throat and forced her feet to move. Druma met her halfway, saving her the walk under Olin’s watchful eye. “Good evening, Ms. Frane,” he offered with a pleasant smile as he took the reins and headed off with the horses.

  She strolled right past Olin and into the manor, refusing to acknowledge the crooked look in his eye. While she had no doubt Olin blamed her for Kaide’s involvement in the warehouse, she hadn’t asked him to come get her. Kaide made that decision on his own, and she wouldn’t let Olin make her responsible for it.

  Once inside, Blossom took the hallway to the left and found Norsa and Valenta already waiting in her room, a dress laid across her bed and the tub full of steaming water.

  “I’m not wearing that,” Blossom asserted as she walked past them, pulling at the shirt she apparently couldn’t manage to get off on her own.

  Valenta appeared behind her and made quick work of the straps tied around her waist, freeing them in a few quick motions. “You don’t like it?”

  Blossom looked back at the dress, the same scarlet-red as everything in Pyrona, with some sort of beading around the waist. She shook her head. “I barely like this,” she said, motioning to the enigmatic pants she still wore.

  “I think it would look lovely on you, bring out the red in your hair.” Valenta’s quick hands loosened the straps that held up her pants.

  When she was free, Blossom stepped into the tub, the water like a hot cloud against her skin.

  “Leave her be, she can wear what she wants.” Norsa clucked like a mother hen, moving about the washroom collecting her discarded clothes from the floor.

  Blossom let the water soothe her muscles as the women chattered over her, arguing over something she couldn’t begin to care about. Her mind was all muddy, thick with doubts, swirling with words he’d said or promises he’d made. No amount of hot water could clear the fog in her head.

  Following N
orsa’s instruction, Blossom kept her injured hand from the water. The woman pulled up a stool along the side of the tub and set to work changing the bandage and pressing thistleroot leaves into the wound before she dressed it again.

  Blossom leaned back in the tub and chewed on her lip as one woman worked at her hand and the other at her hair, trying to tame the wild curls that never quite yielded.

  “You all right, child?” Norsa’s voice brought Blossom back from the endless tumult of her thoughts.

  “I’m fine.” She pulled her knees to her chest and squeezed them to her chest with her good arm, waiting for Valenta to finish.

  “You look nervous. Would you like a glass of wine?” Norsa looked down at her with a half-cocked smile, as if she had a secret she hadn’t yet decided to tell.

  “I’m not nervous.” Blossom wrinkled her brow at the comment. She had nothing to be nervous about. She was in complete control of her nerves. There was nothing Kaide could do or say that would make her nervous. “A glass of wine would be fantastic,” she admitted.

  By the time Norsa returned with a wooden goblet full to the brim of pink wine, Valenta had finished with her hair and worked a towel through it, drying it enough that the curls started to bounce again.

  “Thank you,” Blossom said as she accepted the glass and took a good long sip.

  “You don’t have anything to be nervous about, child. He’s a good man and he means to take care of you. There are worse things.” Norsa wrapped Blossom in a soft towel before returning to the bedroom to fetch her outfit for the night.

  Blossom continued to drink her wine as the women worked at her hair and draped her in fresh Pyro clothes—a black shirt and crimson pants with the same wide-legs as always. She felt like a puppet with someone else moving about and putting her together, but she couldn’t concentrate enough to care. Just as she downed the last of her drink, Valenta declared her ready.

  She almost spit out her wine. When she looked down, she found she was indeed dressed, except for shoes, but she didn’t want them anyway. Neither of the women looked at all surprised when she refused them.

  Norsa took the empty goblet from Blossom’s hand and said, “Just try to have a good time. That’s all you need to worry about tonight.”

  Blossom nodded her thanks to both Norsa and Valenta and tried to get her thoughts back under control. She couldn’t very well sit in a daze all through her evening with Kaide. He would notice and ask what was on her mind, and she’d have to explain, and she didn’t even know what she could say. It was so very hard to be sure of anything when he said those things and looked at her with those eyes.

  When she reached the landing at top of the stairs, she found his office dark. Blossom continued on through the space until she found him, as he’d been before, standing in the doorway in wait.

  Kaide’s hard features dissolved into a sweet smile. “Hello, Beauty.”

  Blossom reached up to capture a stray curl and tuck it behind her ear.

  “There’s no need to be nervous,” he said as he held out his hand for hers, and she accepted.

  “Why does everyone keep asking if I’m nervous?” Blossom tried to sound as nonchalant as possible.

  Kaide laughed under his breath. “Your cheeks are pink.”

  “Oh,” she breathed and put her hands over her cheeks. Sure enough, they were warm. Blossom was all too aware of how transparent she’d been.

  “It’s all right. I’m nervous, too.”

  Blossom looked up and asked, “Why?”

  “This might be the last night I have with you. And if you decide you want to leave, I’ll understand, but I will spend the rest of my life wondering how this night could have gone differently.”

  There he went again. Saying things that sucked the air out of the room. Blossom inhaled a sharp breath to make sure her lungs could still hold it.

  And she’d thought his Vice Syndicate voice was bad. His formality intimidated her. But this. This casual, relaxed version was so much worse. Kaide made her stomach flop about in a way the Vice Syndicate never could.

  “Wine?”

  “Yes, please.” She breathed easier when he walked to the far side of the room and poured them each a glass. By the time he walked back over and held her glass out to her, Blossom’s hand shook. She hoped he wouldn’t notice, but of course he did. Kaide gently placed his hand over hers to steady her, though that only made it that much worse. He smiled at her—a small, shy little smile—before he pulled away.

  “Pyrona is famous for its strawberry wine. It’s nothing compared to the amberwine of the Alderwood, but it has its merits.” Kaide busied himself pulling out a chair for her but didn’t so much as bat an eye when she walked to the far side of the table and did it for herself.

  “That’s what that Trean guy said.” She could scarcely believe the warehouse had only been a day ago.

  Kaide’s features hardened. “You’re very lucky. They have a tendency to slip norweed into a woman’s drink. It makes them careless, unaware they’re being led into a dangerous situation. It could have been much worse if you’d accepted a drink from him.”

  Blossom stared at her lap and felt the heat creep further into her cheeks, deepening her shame. She’d rather talk about anything else. Then, she remembered what the commissioner had said about it. “What’s a Prentis?”

  “A group of local criminals. If you don’t mind, could we not discuss them tonight?” He interlaced his fingers across his lap.

  Blossom wrinkled her brow. “Why?”

  With measured, even eyes, he replied, “Because the thought of them makes me angry, and I don’t want to ruin your evening.”

  As if summoned, Norsa appeared with a plate of fresh fruit and nuts for each of them. “Imported from the Alderwood,” he explained. Blossom wondered if he knew this was just the sort of thing she would have had for lunch had she been home, though it wouldn’t have been served on an antique glass platter.

  “Can we talk about your totem now?” She popped a berry into her mouth and savored the sweet juice while Kaide adjusted in his seat across from her.

  “I suppose there’s no avoiding it now. What would you like to know?” His tone had turned sour, and his eyes remained on the food he didn’t touch. Blossom immediately regretted asking, but she wanted to know, and he’d said to make an informed decision.

  “What is it? A wolf?”

  Kaide snorted out a half-laugh. “Yes, but also, no. What do you know about the transformation process?”

  Blossom shrugged. “You go to the capital for an interview. They evaluate your family history and your personal traits. Hale said it was some sort of injection, in the neck I think. Most people transition into the same totem as their mother, but some are different.”

  Kaide nodded though his eyes remained distant. “Do you remember I told you what Raene’s totem will be?”

  “A tiger.” How could she forget? Her family had traded her for someone far more valuable.

  “And her mother was a tiger, and her mother before that.”

  Blossom munched on the fruit, unable to figure out what he was saying. If his mother was a tiger, then he should have been as well, but the creature in the warehouse was definitely not a tiger.

  “My totem doesn’t have a name, but it is without a doubt, a monster. Wolf and bear and tiger all mixed together in the worst ways. Thirsty for blood and pure instinct. I am, most certainly, a beast.” For the first time, Kaide reached forward and selected a berry from his plate, tossing it into his mouth with his eyes cast down.

  He was afraid to look at her, she realized.

  Blossom knew her whole future might depend on what she said next, so she chose her words carefully. “Can I see it?”

  His eyes shot up. “What?”

  “I want to see it. In the light.”

  Kaide shook his head fervently. “No. Not tonight.”

  “Why? I’ve already seen it.”

  He pushed his plate back and pressed his elbows to t
he table, leaning in toward her. “The last time you saw me, you were frightened. And you should be. It’s not the sort of thing most would want to see. I won’t have you scared of me on our last night.”

  Blossom let her teeth sink into a sweet raspberry, chewing slowly as her thoughts worked to catch up. Her words didn’t stick in her throat as she’d thought they would. Instead, they flew out faster than a bat from a cave. “Then I guess I’ll have to stay for another day.”

  Kaide listed his head to the side and pressed his lips into a hard line. “That’s not funny.”

  Blossom knew she’d made the right choice when she saw his face, saw the twisting of his features as he struggled to believe her despite how he feared she was playing a trick on him.

  “I didn’t mean it to be.”

  “You can’t tell me you want to stay simply because you want to see my totem. That’s not a good reason, and I won’t have you making promises you don’t intend to keep.”

  Blossom did her best to hide her smile. She could see he wasn’t in the mood to listen, but when he was ready, she’d tell him again.

  Norsa returned with perfect timing and took Blossom’s empty plate and Kaide’s mostly full one, replacing them with the second course of duck with vegetables. They remained at the table and ate, but Blossom couldn’t help but feel the shift. He no longer smiled at her like he did before, all his focus on his plate. He wouldn’t even look at her.

  Blossom only ate a few bites of the duck before she gave up. The buttery sauce was too greasy and rich, and she was more confused now than ever. She set her fork on her plate and leaned back in her chair, satisfied to sip her wine until she figured out what to do.

  In an instant, he put down his fork and swallowed the food still in his mouth. “I’m sorry. I don’t like to talk about my totem, and I don’t want to think about last night.”

  Blossom swirled the wine in her glass, watching it spin as she answered. “It was my choice to leave.”

  “I know. But I also know that I contributed to that. And the idea that my actions resulted in you being in danger is not something I will easily forget.” From the dejected hang in his shoulders to the way his jaw rippled with tension, she knew he meant every word.