Elissa awoke the next morning to light streaming through a window and hitting her face. She instinctively groaned and covered her eyes with her hands. “Damnit...” Her head was pounding. She could smell the bits of food still in the room, and it made her horribly nauseous. She then turned her face away from the window and was face to face with Hayward. She groaned, rubbing her temples. Had she fallen asleep in here? Had that been intentional? How much did she drink? She turned back toward the nightstand and saw a little wine was left in the glass's bottom and downed it. “I need water,” she groaned, looking at the pitcher across the room. Determined, she sat up and the entire room spun, and she gagged. “Uh-uh...” she mumbled, falling back to a laying down position. “I’ll just die. It’s not worth it.” Hayward was resting just on the edge of sleep, having already been partially awakened by the morning light. He couldn’t help laughing. “Good morning to you too, beautiful,” he teased her

  “If you want to go slow, we can talk and ride, and I believe I owe you an explanation.” She sighed. “So, it started back with the prior explanation... about the boy who my father sent away. I was young and stupid and angry, and I wanted to punish him. So I had heard talk that there were witches that came to the woods for full moons to pay tribute to the powers given to them by the moon goddess. And I sought them out. This was where hunting really came in handy.”She paused to see if he actually was interested in this part of the story, or only how it worked.Hayward nodded. “No need to rush. It’s a lovely day.” He wasn’t terribly interested in her history with the soldier, but could at least look like he was. At worst, it would be a window into her relationship with her father, something he was probably going to navigate sooner rather than later. As soon as she mentioned

They reached a staircase, and she descended. It curved at every ten feet or so, then continued down in the opposite direction. After going down four sets of stairs, they came to another area of the cave. There were a few men scattered about inside, and one was carefully chipping away at a rock as something shiny gleamed through it. He wondered what else he might see as he followed her down the stairs, and the answer was... people, pretty much the last thing he wanted. He had to behave, couldn’t make lewd remarks, or do anything scandalous while there were witnesses. One was actively mining, it seemed, as the prince’s eyes focused instinctively on the gleaming object. “Ooh, that’s neat. What’s that going to be, gold? Or gemstones?” “Gems. Gold is generally found in deposits in the water.” She leaned closer, examining it. It had a slightly green tinge. “Looks l

She picked up her own sandwich, took a bite, and chewed thoughtfully in silence before glancing back over at him. “Can we just address the thing we both dance around constantly?” She raised an eyebrow as she propped up on her elbow. “We were both raised to hate each other. That’s just... standard. I’m supposed to hate you, but I don’t. You’re supposed to hate me. But you don’t. So, I’ll try not to be too offended when you inevitably say something really offensive. And can you do the same? Please?” He nodded. “Absolutely. Hell, it’ll probably be easy. I was raised to believe things about you that are mostly untrue or at least exaggerated. I wouldn’t be shocked if your beliefs about us are still fairly accurate,” he explained, smiling a little. “But this is why I’m so afraid to drink around you, ya know? I got lucky last night, didn’t say anything awful... but I’ve thought much worse things than I’ve said, and I’m worried that one of those thoughts will pop out and rather abruptly end t

“Is it supposed to happen this fast? I always assumed I’d just... grow to love someone. Maybe. At least tolerate them,” she shook her head. “I didn’t expect... this...” her bottom lip was quivering as she attempted to explain something she didn’t understand herself. “But I am falling hopelessly in love with you, and it’s the best worst thing ever.” Hayward hugged her warmly against his chest and kissed her on the forehead. “That sounds like an apt description of falling in love. I’ve done it before... once or twice. It’s wonderful and amazing and awful and terrible all at once. Which is why I decided to quit doing it years ago. Unfortunately...” he trailed off and kissed her again. “I met you. And you are... pretty damned exceptional. So I’ll take it. At least it’s not some stupid teenage infatuation again.”