Midnight in Everwood(69)
Captain Legat took a pull of his drink, dark and chocolate in a sheer glass. His eyes were buttery bright over the rim, dwelling on Marietta’s luminescence and the creamy cascade of butterflies. ‘I do believe you are imagining things.’ She heard the smile behind his words.
She stepped closer to him. ‘Actually, I am certain that you are the one imagining things. After all, I have read your thoughts. I know your mind now.’
The captain’s gaze drank her in. ‘Is that right?’ he murmured.
She wondered if she might rest her hand on his arm, a casual touch, inquire whether he cared to dance. But they had been too conspicuous on the last occasion they had succumbed to dancing and though she craved the touch of his hand on her back, his arm wrapped about her waist, she resisted. ‘Where have you been? You promised me certain assistance and that was several weeks ago now.’
He reached for her and twirled them both back, through a ripple of fabric. A fine layer of gauze the sole barrier preventing the rest of the throne room from setting eyes and ears upon their conversation.
Further back, other gossamer hideaways issued sighs and giggles and Marietta grew aware of the small space in which they both stood, her gown a voluminous cloud, pressing against the captain’s legs.
‘You are all too aware that I never promised such a thing. I said I would look into the matter, and I shall, but events have transpired in the palace, leading me to have set aside the concern.’ His words were fast and hushed, his attention locked onto her with urgency.
Marietta regarded him. ‘Do explain what you mean by that.’ She hoped the cryptic events he referenced weren’t regarding developments in Crackatuck. A burst of raucous laughter nearby and revellers flitting through the gauze came as a warning; their privacy was imagined.
‘It is not safe to discuss it here,’ Captain Legat said, watching the rippling fabric. It shimmered under the light of Marietta’s gown, little starbursts that danced over the captain’s face and white livery. ‘Will you allow me to send for you tomorrow night? Rumours of rebellion have been scattered through the town and the guards will be distracted.’
Marietta ignored the slight dance her stomach performed at his words. It was as if they were waltzing once more and she was close enough to see the faintest scar brushed across his left temple. The reddish tint his hair carried under a certain light. ‘You have never sought my permission before.’
‘I fear all those occasions I summoned you, had you brought to me, I gave you no say in the matter. I had little choice yet still they haunt me.’ His eyes locked with hers. ‘I should like to amend this. Though the enchantments do not allow you to leave these frozen walls since the king claimed you, there is a place I would wish to share with you. Things I must tell you. Please, Marietta, meet me.’
Her name poured off his tongue like velvet. Deeply tempting. And perhaps worth the risk of such a rendezvous in order to discover the cryptic events which he had referred to. Or so she told herself. Before she exited their gauzy enclosure, she threw a final look back at him. ‘Until tomorrow night.’
Chapter Thirty-Four
As it often transpires when one is anticipating an event, the following day seemed to take an age in dawning. When at last the evening arrived, Marietta had expected the captain to have had her brought to his study. Yet the doors had opened to reveal Fin, who had escorted her a few swirls down, to a winter garden.
A lantern of moonlight silvered a carpet of pristine snow. Snowflake-shaped petals studded bushes in dusky blue and pearl. Fir trees encircled the space, strung with tiny lights bespelled to peal like bells. The ceiling glittered high above in a bewitchery of stars and a large fountain tinkled in the centre. Stone mice danced and hopped over delicate vines entwined around the fountain, reminiscent of the thorny overgrowth Prince Désiré was destined to hack his way through to reach the Princess Aurora. Captain Legat was perched on the edge of the stonework, petals fluttering down onto his shirt and hair like snow. He rose upon sighting her and handed her a long-stemmed flower.
Marietta accepted it. ‘How perfectly lovely.’ Its blush-pink petals shivered as she ran a fingertip down them. She seated herself on the side of the fountain and, after a brief hesitation, the captain sat beside her. ‘The change in location is a welcome surprise,’ she said. ‘I was beginning to wonder whether I would ever be offered a glimpse into the jewels waiting behind the palace’s myriad doors.’
‘I’m glad it meets your approval. I often find myself stealing away here, to the winter garden, in search of a peaceful place to sit awhile.’
Marietta closed her eyes, the bell-lights and the melodious fountain sweet and soothing, bathing her senses. ‘It is beautiful here. I can feel my pulse slowing, my worries waning.’ She caught an echo of the captain’s smile upon re-opening her eyes. Precious and fleeting.
‘Besides which, an added precaution was in order. The king’s suspicions are deepening, paranoia is cutting into his thoughts. I am concerned by reports that he is mounting an investigation into the ranks, ordering his faceless guards to spy on my soldiers. It shall amount to nothing, I am certain of the loyalty in my men, but it is a worrying sign. We cannot afford to incite his attention now, not when I am at a pivotal point in—’ He abruptly ceased.
Marietta twirled the flower. ‘I would rather you not put your other activities at risk for the sake of aiding me.’