Page 78 of When Eden Falls

Rooke hummed a distant response. I looked back at him. He was lost in thought, glancing around the bend in the path before us. Pulling me along with him, he continued around the curve. It was secluded around here, empty. A three-metre-wide promenade stretched out before us. To the right, the wide, stone balcony wall was topped by wooden trellises, edged with green foliage. The wooden beams continued overhead, where bunches of purple and red grapes hung. To the left, blue lanterns intermittently lined the fortress walls, brightening the long expanse.

“This is pretty,”I mused to myself.

The sound of the fight faded behind us the further we walked. Rooke eventually stopped and perched on the edge of the balcony wall. He checked we were alone and said, “I need to talk to you.”

“I’m listening.” Standing square on to him, I smiled softly. He was still looking back the way we came, checking no one was following. “Is something wrong?”

“No…no.” He looked up at me. “I saw you with Dybgo earlier. Are you okay? What did he want?”

I groaned, loudly, causing Rooke to chuckle.

“That bad, huh?”

“Yes.” I shuffled on my feet. “He apologised…I think. He also gave me this.” I raised my left wrist to him, allowing the yellow token to swing freely.

Touching the stone to take a better look, Rooke cursed.

“I told him to take it back, but he refused. Apparently, itcan’t be removed.”

Rooke cursed again. “He can’t have you.”

“I told him that as well…but…Rooke, I’m worried this is a trap. Yuska said females can refuse all but one of their claimers.”

Rooke frowned. “What else did Yuska say?”

I shook my head. “I can’t remember everything. I’m pretty sure she said any male to get in the way of a female’s choice will be executed. But what if a female only has one choice? And do those rules apply to me?” I felt a sense of panic rise inside me. Not as much as I expected, but it was there, unsettling the equilibrium currently falling over my senses. “I assumed we were guests, not partakers.”

“We are…but just in case.” He detached the token hanging from his left cuff. I hadn’t noticed it beforehand hiding under the gold embroidered edging of his sleeve. I watched him clip it onto the opposite side of my bracelet to where Dybgo’s far larger token hung. “If they force you to make a choice, you now have two. And you’ll choose me.”

He stood up and wandered a few paces along. I looked down at his token. It was a small black sphere with a jagged white line circling the middle.“I’ll always chose you.”

“Huh, what was that?”

I whipped my head round to see him reaching up, trying to pick a handful of plump grapes from the trellis above.Had I said that aloud?“Um…nothing.” My confidence seemed to be faltering. “It’s a good ploy.”

Watching Rooke jump and pull down a whole section of grape vine, I laughed.

“Whoops,” he chimed. “I know I’m not the tallest, but my height really doesn’t seem to be sufficient here. I actually feel small.” He popped a couple of grapes in his mouth, then smirked before forcing one into mine. Wow, they tasted good. I frowned, ripping a bunch from the vine dangling from Rooke’s hand. Everything seemed to taste good this evening. Everything smelt and looked good too.

“Havav’s kept his word,” Rooke said as I ambled along thepromenade, noticing the half-moon looming above the clifftops in the distance.

“Are you talking about the raft?” I leant back on the stone balcony wall, concentrating on eating the grapes.

“Yes. It’s ready.”

Looking up at Rooke, my heart skipped with purpose. Not at the news of being one step closer to fixing the ship, but because of where Rooke’s gaze was resting…

He was the ladies’ man who never,ever, looked at me inappropriately. Yes, he said things, but that was simply banter or to mock me. To my despair, never once had I seen him appreciate or admire my subtle womanly curves. But, to my utter surprise, he was currently tracing the length of my leg with his eyes—my bare leg, where the fabric of my skirt had fallen away due to the angle I was sitting.

I smirked to myself when he realised I’d caught him looking. He cleared his throat and refocused on his grapes again. “Are you feeling up to joining us in retrieving the ship tomorrow?”

“Of course I am.”

“Are you sure?” He peered at me, clearly concerned I wasn’t ready after everything that had happened the last time we ventured there.

The breeze shifted and strains of the music from the party wafted over us. I gave him my most dashing smile and said, “Yes, I’m sure.” Closing my eyes, I savoured how captivating the music made me feel, swaying in time with it.

An empty grape vine tapped the floor, followed by the sound of Rooke’s huffing.