Page 93 of Thorn of Rose
“It appears to have been cut from the other side,” Luca explained as they walked to the canyon.
When they arrived, Isa lay down on her stomach to peer over the edge. Sure enough, the bridge was hanging from their side of the canyon, swinging down toward the river below.
She quickly scrambled back.
A group of villagers were already gathered across the chasm, waving to them.
“What happened?” Luca yelled.
“Someone cut it last night!” a villager yelled back. The wind carried just enough of his voice that they could hear him. “We caught the fellow, though. Sent him back to the capital where he came from. The magistrate can deal with him.”
Isa felt a small giggle in her throat.
Aden looked down at her, confused.
“It was Macklin,” she said. “He was angry that I rejected him, so he tried to retaliate. Instead, he’s given me exactly what I wanted.”
“You wanted to be stuck here again?” Aden asked.
“No, I just wanted some time to get to know you,” she said. “This new you...” Her eyes ran up and down his body.
He was still taller than she was, but he no longer towered over her.
She looked back up at his eyes, her stomach fluttering at the way they looked down at her. “This new you is still different. But now we get to spend a few more days here, just us, getting reacquainted.”
His hand reached out and slipped around hers. “I like the way you think,” he said.
Her mouth spread into a happy smile. She could get used to hearing that every day.
* * *
“And,I don’t think I shall ever tire of seeing your facial expressions,” Aden continued, admiring the smiling woman in front him.
Her eyes were bright, despite the deep shadows underneath them from the overexertion of the past few days. Her brown hair was loosely held back, but it seemed to be doing its best to escape its binding as curls twisted free on either side of her face. She was perfect.
"I want to get to know everything about it,” he continued, referring to her face. “Like the way you crinkled your nose just then—were you displeased with something?"
"No, it was just tickling and I was trying to avoid a sneeze."
"It probably would have been a cute sneeze," he responded.
"There's no such thing as a cute sneeze."
"Well, there's only one way to find out. Go wave an old dusty scroll from the library under your nose, and we'll see if the sneeze is cute or not." His kept his face completely serious.
“Well, let’s head back to the library and find out,” she responded, also looking completely serious.
Luca and Blanca were still shouting at the villagers across the canyon. It sounded as though they already had a plan for re-attaching the bridge.
Still holding her hand, Aden walked back up the hill. He could not tear his eyes away from her. The way she moved, the way she smiled, the way she stole glimpses of him when she thought he wasn’t looking.
As they neared the house, a small white ball of fur dashed toward them. Warrior was barking at the top of his puppy lungs.
Aden squeezed Isa’s hand. He couldn’t tell if the dog was barking in excitement or yelling at this new stranger.
Then the ball of fluff was upon him, jumping in the air, yelping in happiness.
Aden sank to his knees. “Warrior, you remembered me.”
The pup jumped into his arms, attempting to lick his face and bounce around in circles at the same time.
“Good boy, Warrior. What a good boy you are.”
Aden felt his heart constrict in his chest, stopping his flow of air. His own nose tickled as tears forced their way into his eyes.
He was back. He was really and truly himself, and he was alive. He looked up at Isa.
She leaned down, placing her hand against his cheek and touching his nose with her own. “I love you,” she whispered, then tilted her head to press her lips against his.
