Page 151 of Spar of Hearts

“It suits you.”

Mabel gasped. “You look like a pirate!”

“Maybe I am a pirate. Because I’m going to abduct a beautiful Princess!” Roderick did his best evil cackle as he swept Anya off her feet.

“Wait!” Mabel clambered onto the bench with a flower crown in hand. Roderick dipped Anya down, and Mabel carefully placed the circlet of pink and white flowers on Anya’s head.

“It’s for you!”

Anya smiled. “I love it, Mabel. Thank you.”

“Mabel! Time for dinner! You can’t just eat berries!”

Anya looked up, finding a Centarian woman waving to Mabel from the doorway of the Great Gryphon tavern.

“Okay, Mommy!”

The girl climbed down, then donned another flower crown before scampering toward her mother. Anya’s heart warmed as the woman picked Mabel up and hugged her tight.

“How does it feel?” Anya asked, bringing her fingers up to Roderick’s lips. His smile revealed the golden fang again.

“I’m not sure yet. We’ll have to try it out,” he said in a sultry voice. Anya’s cheeks heated. “But first, dinner.”

Birds chirped overhead, flitting between flowering dogwood branches as they reached the outskirts of town. For the first time, Anya noticed the tiniest details. The way the branches bounced when the little birds landed, the shake of the blossoms, the yellow pollen falling from the center of each flower, all things she’d never stopped to notice on Eteross. Though truthfully, she’d hardly noticed anything in the quagmire of duties and diplomacy, while she constantly clawed for a bit of freedom. She wore blinders, a mask.

Until him.

She’d noticed every detail about him from the day they met—even though she thought she loathed him at the time. He had a way of making her more aware of everything, of the simple act of being alive. He made her ponder a life outside of her gilded cage, and perhaps that was what irked her about him back then.

He made her see everything she’d been missing.

“Behold, a picnic fit for a princess!” Roderick set her on her feet under a willow tree, where a picnic had been spread out on a patchwork blanket. There was a plate of roasted meat, rolls, cheeses, a bowl overflowing with mulberries—and most importantly, a golden pie that gave off a sheen of heat.

Still warm.

She looked up at him. “Mulberry?”

He nodded. “I had Millicent make it special for you. She took it out of the oven an hour ago.”

“Well, it was the least you could do after that baking debacle,” she teased.

They settled onto the blanket and began to eat. When their stomachs were full—of mostly pie, Anya had to admit—Roderick laid back with his head on her lap. She stroked his hair in lazy patterns, watching the festival in the distance until her eyes grew heavy.

Some time later, she stirred at a pair of familiar voices.

Ornella’s came first. “Captain, I do not think they want to be disturbed.”

“Nonsense. They’ll need time ta’ prepare, after all!” Captain Verden boomed.

Anya blinked the sleep from her eyes and sat up. The sun was just beginning to set, illuminating the petals overhead with a warm glow.

“I apologize, Your Highness,” Ornella said.

“Just Anya, please,” Anya insisted. “I’m not a princess anymore.”

“You are to me,” Roderick murmured. Anya’s cheeks flushed as he nuzzled into the softness of her belly. Ornella simply smiled.

Anya prodded Roderick’s shoulder. “Roderick, we have company.”