Dividing Eden (Dividing Eden #1)(56)
She pulled the stopper out of the bottle then put it back in a dozen times as need warred with common sense. If given another minute, need might have won, but a knock at the door had Carys sliding the bottle back into hiding before opening the door to find Garret waiting on the other side.
His red mane of hair looked almost like licks of fire against the black of his tunic. His nose looked more crooked than it had before. He had fought hard since he had left the Palace of Winds, and knowing Garret’s power, she was sure he had won. His eyes met hers and the intensity of the gaze and the strength of his large shoulders and arms pulled at the girl who longed for someone to shield her—a girl she never had been allowed to be.
Garret bowed. “I have been sent by my uncle to act as your escort, Your Highness. I hope you don’t mind.”
She should have known Garret would be the one Elder Cestrum sent to find her. The fact that she hadn’t immediately seen that possibility set her on edge. “Should I mind?” she asked as she closed her door behind her.
“I shouldn’t think so,” Garret said, holding out his arm.
She smiled, then turned and headed down the hallway toward the steps, leaving Garret to catch up. Once he did, he quietly said, “There are a great number of people who have done you harm over the years, Your Highness. I have never wanted to be one of them.”
“Is it any wonder I find that hard to believe, Lord Garret?” she asked, glancing at him. “Plotting with your uncle to seize the throne from my family would do me considerable harm.”
“I had nothing to do with my uncle’s scheme.”
“Of course not.” She laughed. “It was loyalty to your fallen king that made you ride your horse into the ground to get here so quickly.”
“It was loyalty to you.” Garret reached out and grabbed her arm. She pulled back, but he held fast and stepped close as he said, “I am not your enemy, Your Highness. You are the reason I left the Palace of Winds in the first place, and whether you choose to believe it or not, you are the reason I have returned.”
The sound of stringed instruments drifted down the hallway. The ball was beginning. “If you think I will let you use me in order to climb the steps to the throne, you are sadly mistaken, Lord Garret.”
“You will find, Your Highness, that I am the only person in Eden who has no interest in using you for personal gain.” He tightened his grip on her arm. “Unlike my uncle and your father and Micah, I understand how important you are.”
“Because I might become Queen.”
Garret studied her for several heartbeats. “You still don’t know you are so much more.”
He let go of her arm, but she could still feel the heat of his touch as he stepped back and began walking down the hallway. “The ball will be starting and your guests are waiting, Your Highness. I need to deliver you safely to the Hall of Virtues.”
She hurried to catch up with him and spotted her brother in the antechamber that the royal family used during formal occasions to wait for their entrance to the Hall.
“I must leave you here,” Garret said, not crossing the threshold of the antechamber. “May the winds guide you until we speak again, Princess.”
With a bow he turned on his heel and disappeared out the door.
Once she was certain Garret had truly gone, she turned to her brother. Andreus was eyeing her with suspicion. “Lord Garret was sent by his uncle to escort me here. He is trying to make me believe he has no interest in the throne.”
“And do you believe it?”
“Of course not,” she said. But there had been something in the way that he spoke that made her wonder if there was more to his purpose. “But there might be value in making him think I do.”
Father always said to keep your friends close and your enemies even closer, mainly so that they couldn’t see the dagger until it slid into their gut. “It couldn’t hurt for you to appear to be friendly with him as well,” she suggested. “Elder Cestrum might start questioning whether Garret has changed allegiances, and sowing uncertainty in the Council can only help us get through these Trials and secure the throne.”
“You mean help me secure the throne.”
“Of course.” Carys frowned at the way Andreus stood looking at her. His posture was stiff, formal. She sensed doubt. “Do you think I have changed my mind about wanting you on the throne? Andreus, it’s not my fault you didn’t get all three points today. I had to defend you.”
“I know,” he said, taking her hand. “I’m sorry. If it weren’t for you I wouldn’t have to worry about the Trials or the throne. I’d be in my grave instead. I’m having a hard time thinking about that or the man who . . . tried to kill me.”
“But he didn’t kill you,” Carys said, squeezing his hand. “And tonight you will charm everyone at the ball and win whatever contest we are given.” He looked handsome in his gold-and-black doublet. With his shining dark hair and sword at his side, he looked as if he stepped out of a storyteller’s tale.
“You’re right,” he said with a small smile. “I have to concentrate on tonight. We both do.” He dropped her hand and stepped back to look at her. “You certainly look lovely. That dress isn’t your typical style. Who made it?”
She glanced down at the dress and back at her brother, who was eyeing her with an intensity that made her shiver. “Why do you ask?” The only interest her brother ever displayed in women’s attire was assessing how quickly he could get ladies out of it.