Cass blinked and stared at her as if no one in the world had raised their voice to him before. No one probably had, she thought grumpily.
“I’m fine. I went sledding, I rolled off and I made a snow angel.” She gestured to the imprint behind her. “See?”
Cass let out a harsh breath and scrubbed a gloved hand over his face. “I saw you lying on the ground and thought...” He shook his head.
“I’m fine,” she said again, but gentled her voice. “I can take care of myself.”
“I’m fully aware that.”
Was he irritated with her? Before she could question his cryptic remark, he grabbed her hands and pulled her to her feet.
“Regardless of whether your tumble in the snow was intentional or not, you shouldn’t lie in the snow for too long. You could get frostbite.”
She rolled her eyes as she picked up the rope attached to the toboggan and started trekking back toward the hill.
“I did grow up on the prairies of Kansas. I’m well aware of frostbite.”
Cass didn’t respond, but fell into step beside her. For a moment they walked in silence, the crunch of their boots in the snow surprisingly pleasant given the tension between them.
“Why did you come out here?” Briony finally asked.
“I went to your suite to confirm tomorrow’s plans. The maid said you had decided to go sledding behind the rose garden.”
“And you couldn’t have confirmed the plans by text?”
Cass shrugged. “I’ve been up to my ears in financial statements and planning committees all week. I figured a walk would do me some good.”
He reached down and grabbed the rope from her as they started up the hill, towing the sled behind him. Briony rolled her eyes again.
“Does your sense of duty and honor apply to pulling sleds?”
He surprised her with a small chuckle. “Perhaps.”
A question rose to her lips, but she bit it back. Despite his overbearing attitude and need to protect, the walk itself was pleasant. She didn’t want to ruin the first alone time they’d had in over a week.
“Something’s on your mind.”
Startled, she glanced over at him.
“When you’re thinking about something but not sure you want to say it out loud, you get this little crease between your eyebrows and bite down on your lower lip.”
She laughed. “I didn’t realize I was that transparent. But yes, you’re right. I was just wondering if sometimes you focus too much on your sense of duty and not enough on your life.”
For several long moments, Cass said nothing. Briony inwardly cursed. Yes, she was engaged to the man and yes, they’d shared an intense, soul-stirring kiss. But that didn’t give her the right to pry into the man’s personal life. Not when their engagement was based entirely on business.
“What makes you ask that?” Cass finally asked as they neared the top of the hill.
“It’s just that here you’ve been focusing on getting revenge and getting your family’s banishment rescinded. You’ve accomplished that. But the few times I’ve seen you, you don’t seem very happy.”
Cass stared ahead as they reached the top, then turned to look back over the plain.
“I’m not.”
She stared at him. She hadn’t expected an answer to her question, much less an honest one.
“Why?”
“At first I thought it was the letdown that comes after something you’ve been anticipating or working toward for a long time. Almost like the aftermath of a holiday or celebration. But now...” His voice trailed off as he stared at the trees in the distance, his dark profile standing out in stark contrast to the pale walls of the palace behind him. “Most of my life has focused on achieving revenge against Daxon. The night I came back to Linnaea and was brought before your father, I felt powerful. It was as if that moment in the apartment in Rome when I felt so helpless and cowardly and the moment I stood before him merged. I righted the wrongs done to my family and I stood up to an oppressor.” He turned to look at her. “Except there was nothing after that. I had focused so much on that moment that not even restoring Linnaea had become a focus. That anticlimactic emptiness has only grown since I acknowledged how I’ve treated you.”