"She is a flighty one," his brother commented, and Ember felt a strange sensation gripping his chest when he felt his brother's gaze following his own after the beautiful woman.
"Would you excuse me, brother?" Ember asked, though he did not wait for a response before he began to make his way after her.
"We have business to discuss!" Asher called after him, irritation obvious in his voice. Ember could not stop. Whatever was wrong with Iris seemed much more important than whatever business his brother had to discuss with him. After all, the business of kings was often made to sound much more important than it really was.
He rounded the corner of a hedge and found himself face to face with a couple of uncertain guards. Though they bowed immediately upon seeing him, he still managed to recognize them as the guards he had assigned to keep an eye on Iris.
"Where is she? Where is your mistress?" Ember demanded, frustration and fear gripping his heart. Had she run off? Did she regret what had happened between them the night before?
He glanced around and up, half expecting to find the beautiful fae woman soaring high above his head, but she was nowhere to be seen.
"She asked for a moment alone, your grace," the guard who stood further away announced and gestured through a grapevine archway toward the cliff's edge.
"You allowed her to the cliff's edge alone!" he bellowed at the guards. "Are you stupid?"
He raced away before either of them could answer. Though he knew she was in no real danger of falling, Ember couldn’t help but fear something terrible might happen. Scared that she might have flown right off the cliff, even more fearful of what that meant for what she might feel for him, he skipped to a halt when he found her sitting upon a bench overlooking the cliff. Beyond her, rolling hills and open blue sky were a picturesque landscape, but Ember couldn't take his eyes off her. Though she had her back to him, she was still the most radiant creature he had ever laid eyes upon. Shades of blonde, red and brown in her auburn hair caught the sun and turned to fire, and when she turned to look over her shoulder, sensing him standing there, he saw tears glimmering at the corners of her eyes.
Seeing the pain in her eyes, he raced around the bench and dropped down into a crouch before her, fluttering his wings to stop his momentum from carrying him over the edge of the cliff. When he reached for her knee and squeezed it, she flinched and quickly raised a hand to wipe her eyes.
"Your Grace, what are you doing here?" She gasped, half turning away from him as if she didn't want him to see her tear-stained face.
"I saw that you were in pain, and nothing could have stopped me from following to make sure that you were alright," he told her, unable to miss the look of surprise that flashed momentarily across her face, "I do hope I have not caused your pain by leaving you to sleep this morning."
A sad smile spread across Iris's face and Ember began to think he had hit the nail on the head. Then, she began to shake her head and her eyes dropped to his hand on her knee.
"Then what is it?" He demanded, "I cannot fix it if you do not tell me."
Iris's eyes fluttered closed for a moment and she breathed in deeply before they opened again. She gazed down at him with fear sparkling in her eyes and said, "I am fearful that you got what you wanted last night and now you will grow bored of me."
"How could you possibly think that?" Ember gasped, his hand falling from her knee. He glared at her, preparing himself to admit the feelings that he hadn't even allowed himself to believe yet.
I must tell her, he thought, going against all he had ever believed in. To admit one's feelings was to admit weakness and yet just looking upon her face now drew the words to his lips.
"Iris, I…" he began, but the sound of footsteps shuffling just on the other side of the archway caused him to pause. He heard the hushed voices of what he guessed had to be Iris's guards, and the thought of being overheard professing his love for her, made him freeze up.
"Yes?" Iris enquired, her voice hopeful. Ember closed his eyes and held his breath, bracing himself for what he would say instead.
Iris looked fearful, leaning away from him the moment that he hurried to stand. The last thing he wanted was for any guard to see him kneeling before her as if at worship.
"If you are so concerned that I will pass you on, you need not be," he shook his head and glared down at her, hoping she would see all the love and affection he had for her written on his face, "If I must prove it to you then we shall be married by the end of the week."
Iris gasped, her eyes widening until they were as round as full moons. She looked as if she were about to question or even protest but before she could, he turned and began to walk away, unable to bear the thought that she might attempt to reject him.
She can't reject me, he realized, the law prevents her.
His stomach twisted as he walked away, wondering whether she would have rejected him if she'd had the choice.
Chapter 13 - Iris
Her entire body trembled with disbelief, the world around her spinning so badly that she had to grab the edge of the bench. The cliff's edge seemed dizzyingly close now that Ember had shocked her to her core.
Since his almost-proposal, she had been unable to move. She might have been sat like that for a few minutes, or perhaps hours, she couldn't be sure. All she could do was stare out over the edge of the cliff and wonder, did that just happen?
Though his suggestion had clearly come from a place of anger and frustration, Iris couldn't help but feel a thrill of excitement. She had never thought to feel that at the idea of being a wife, but feel it she did.
Then she remembered, a wedding ring is just another prison.
And the excitement died as quickly as it had been birthed. Bile in the back of her throat turned to full blown nausea and she had to clench her jaw to keep from gagging on it.