Chapter 24: Kidnapped

Within ten minutes, our stomachs were full. I still hadn’t figured out how magic worked in this house, but it was like the dishes sensed that we were full, because once we put our knives and forks down, the entire table setting disappeared.

There was nothing else left to do but follow the guys’ instructions and go meet them outside.

Celestria fanned her face with her hand. “Do I look okay?” she asked, sounding very unsure.

“Sister, Tanner looks at you like you’re the sun. He likes you for you. I don’t think you have to worry about it, so just breathe and be yourself.”

I meant what I said, even though I didn’t feel particularly brave or in control myself.

As soon as we stepped outside, two young guards appeared beside us.

“Lady Drake, you are needed at the stables. Lady Celestria, I will take you to the kitchen,” one of them said.

“Are they going to put us to work for the fun of it?” Celestria asked.

All I could do was shrug.

The two of us gathered ourselves and made our way to our destinations. I hadn’t explored the entire property just yet, so I asked the guard to take me all the way to the stables.

“Here is where I leave you,” he said, then he bowed and walked off.

The stables were huge. Bales of golden hay were lined up in front of it. Horses with shiny coats and beautiful eyes neighed as they saw me approach.

I might’ve still been getting used to magic, vast castles, and handmade dresses, but the stables smelled of home.

My old family was too poor to own horses, but we did have a couple of shaggy donkeys. They were pretty friendly. They also helped us till soil when it was time to harvest the vegetables we had grown.

I wasn’t sure whether to go inside or wait by the entrance. I didn’t wonder for long because the sound of hooves digging into the ground caught my attention. Before I could get a look at what was coming toward me, someone snatched me up and tossed me in the air. It happened so fast, I barely had a chance to grab a sliver of a white shirt and keep myself from tumbling over.

“Hold on. I’m kidnapping you,” Hunter said, laughing at my reaction.

I didn’t need to be told twice. I wrapped my arms around his waist as he picked up speed. As we rode away from the mansion, my hair fell from the stylish bun Lilly had spent at least fifteen minutes crafting.

“Where are we going?” I asked him once we passed through the gates.

He glanced over his shoulder. “Does it matter?”

“No,” I said honestly, pressed my temple to his back, and let wind ripple over me.

Riding a horse and being so close to Hunter felt amazing.

We kept going until the sun began to set. Eventually, we stopped by a small riverbank.

Hunter jumped off, then helped me off as well.

“Good boy,” he said and patted the horse on the neck. “You can go rest now.”

As though the horse understood human speech, he trotted over to the water and began to drink.

“It’s nice to see you when you don’t have your nose in a book,” Hunter said.

I opened my mouth to tell him that he was wrong, but then I realized that I would, in fact, crack Master Rhoslyn’s potions book open whenever I had a free minute.

I slapped him on the shoulder anyway. “I’ve been studying. Something you should be doing too, if you want to do well on the test.”

“I haven’t been thinking about the test much,” he said. “I have more important things on my mind.”

Soft golden hour light made him look even more handsome than usual, so much so that when he looked deep into my eyes, I was sure my knees would buckle.

“Come, walk with me.”

We walked along the edge of the water and watched the blue and yellow fish swim around. Eventually, Hunter pulled off his boots, sat down, and dipped his bare feet into the water.

I hesitated, but when he pointed to a patch of grass next to him, I couldn’t resist.

“So, you watch my every move, but you don’t talk to me. Why is that?” I asked.

He smiled like a child who had been caught stealing a cookie from the cookie jar. “You noticed, huh?”

“That you went from going through the trouble of picking a name for me, to not saying a single word to me?” I asked. “Yes, I definitely noticed.”

It might’ve been the reddish light that enveloped the surroundings, but I was pretty sure Hunter blushed.

“I shouldn’t have done it, but there were so many things I had to think about and talk to Tanner about.”

I pursed my lips. “Tanner? Did he tell you to ignore me?” I asked, feeling genuinely hurt and not doing anything to hide it. “I thought he was happy to be my partner. He was supportive when the news about my family came out, and now you’re saying that he ordered you to stay away from me? For what reason?”

I was about to get up and leave him when Hunter’s hand landed on mine. I was mad at him, so I should’ve pulled my hand away, but his warmth did something to me, and I simply couldn’t.

“Your explanation better be really good,” I told him.

Hunter pulled his hand away and took a deep breath. “I did talk to Tanner about you, but it had nothing to do with him not wanting us to be friends. Actually, it was quite the opposite,” he said, glancing over the riverbank. “He sees you as a sister, and he does care about you, a lot. He’s my best friend, so he obviously cares about me too.”

“Okay, that’s great. But I still don’t understand why you’ve been so distant, or why you gave me this beautiful bracelet at the festival and then ran off without an explanation.” I dangled my wrist before him.

He smiled at the sight of the bracelet before growing serious again. “I had asked the queen a question. I had to leave early because I got word that she was ready to answer it.”

~Why is he giving me snippets when I’m dying to get to the bottom of what is going on, and why does he sound like he’s struggling to get his words out? ~

“I don’t understand why you brought me here,” I told him. “What does your conversation with the queen have to do with me anyway?”

“It has everything to do with you because I asked her if I could end my engagement to the princess,” Hunter said quickly without taking a single breath. “I was promised to her since before I was born, and I had a responsibility to the royal family. To Tanner, too, but even he agrees that’s not what fate has in store for me.”

He took a moment to compose himself before he continued. “The princess is gone, and I fell for you, Drake. I liked you since the moment I saw you at school, even though I can’t shake the feeling that we met long before school started. I didn’t think you felt the same, and when I finally got the courage to talk to you and ask, I couldn’t get you alone because Celestria and Kenley were always around.”

The air grew hotter with every word that came out of his mouth.

“But now that we’re finally alone, I have to ask you—do you have feelings for me, or did I completely misread things and you actually can’t stand me?”

I stood up and he did too. For a moment, I lost my ability to speak, but the hopefulness in Hunter’s eyes pulled me back into reality. “Are you saying you’re no longer engaged to the list princess?” I asked.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” he told me, drawing closer. “Now that you know why I’ve been distant, and why I don’t have to be anymore, I need you to repay me for keeping your score a secret by being honest. Do you have anything you want to tell me?”

“I’ve never had a boyfriend before,” I blurted out. “I’ve never even liked anyone until…”

“Until what?”

A cloud of fireflies rose from the grass and made the sky above us glimmer. I let my body relax. “Until I met you.”

I’d seen Hunter smile before, but not like this.

“Will you break my heart?” he asked.

The question caught me off guard, but he seemed eager to hear my answer. “Let’s make a deal,” I told him. “You don’t break mine, and I won’t break yours. How’s that?”

“Deal,” Hunter said and extended his hand.

“Deal,” I told him. When I reached for his hand and our fingers met, he pulled me close.

“There’s something about you I can’t resist. You’re sweet and kind, even when you pretend to be tough,” he said. “You leave me wanting to know more. Just hearing you speak melts my heart.”

A flutter next to my left ear made me turn, and I saw a white flower hover near my face. Slowly, more flowers floated up and turned into a flower crown before landing in Hunter’s hand.

“You might be amazing at making potions, but I have some tricks up my sleeve too,” he said. “May I?”

“You may.”

He placed the flower crown on my head. Then, he slowly lifted my chin with his index finger. This time, he didn’t ask for permission and slowly pressed his lips to mine.