The corridors of Ravenmoor had become a maze of unanswered questions. Alina wandered through them without any purpose, thinking about the same thing again and again.
What did he want from her? What would happen to her when he married Audrey?
She turned a corner and bumped into something huge. She gasped as her breath left her. Her feet slipped on the polished stone, and she began to fall, trying to grasp something…when strong hands caught her.
Someone's warm hands wrapped around her waist, pulling her back against a chest she recognized immediately.
She looked up and Austin looked down. And for a few seconds, time seemed to stop.
His grey eyes looked into hers, and in them, she saw something she couldn't name.
Concern? Surprise?
He straightened up, set her back on her feet, and stepped away. But her body remembered the warmth of his hands long after they were gone.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
She should have thanked him and walked away.
But she didn't.
"What I do during the day," she said, sharper than intended, "is not your concern."
He raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"You just fell into my arms."
"It was an accident that won't happen again." She stepped back. "I'm sure you have more important things to attend to. Like wedding plans or visiting the king."
She noticed genuine confusion flickering on his face.
"Wedding…"
"I wish you happiness, Your Grace," she curtsied, mockingly. "Now, if you'll excuse me."
She walked away before he could respond. Behind her, Austin stood in the corridor, watching her go with confusion evident on his face.
Later that day, after concluding discussions on grain imports, Austin stood reviewing ledgers as his steward gathered documents, nearby.
"Your Grace?"
"Yes?"
"The princess met with Miss Ashworth this morning. The princess personally requested a walk in the garden. They talked for almost two hours and had tea together."
Austin stilled.
So Audrey told her about our wedding and my plan to visit the king. That explains her mood. But why does it matter? Also, Audrey has never approached any of my previous bed warmers before. So why now?
After her encounter with Austin, Alina had gone to the library, looking for comfort in books and silence.
She picked up a book on military history and sat on her usual chair near the window. Time passed, but she stayed there, turning page after page.
Eventually, she paused and looked up. The sky outside had darkened and clouds were gathering.
She stood, walking to the window. Trees swayed and somewhere, a door slammed.
Then the lightning struck. It was so close that the windows rattled.
The world blurred and suddenly, she was four years old again.
Rain pounded the roof of Ashworth Manor, lightning split the sky into pieces, and thunder shook the walls until it felt like the house might collapse.
She was supposed to be asleep but instead, crouched at the top of the stairs, watching her mother pace in the hallway below. Her mother had been sick for weeks but tonight she was walking, and moving.
"It's just a storm," her mother called up the stairs. "Nothing to be afraid of."
Alina wanted to run to her. She wanted to feel her mother's arms around her and hear her say that everything would be all right.
But her mother had been too tired and weak for the hugs lately.
"Go back to bed, my love. I'll check on you when it passes."
Alina returned to her room and waited for her mother to come.
The lightning flashed again. And in the room below, her mother started coughing again. Soon, it got worse, with her mother gasping for breath.
Alina could hear everything through the floorboards. She got out of bed, ran to the stairs, and found her father standing at the bottom, his face pale and his hands trembling.
"Go back to bed," he said.
"But Mother…"
"Go back to bed, Alina."
She obeyed and lay in the darkness, listening to the storm and the coughing of her mother.
In the morning, they told her her mother was gone.
Another crack of thunder snapped Alina back to the library.
Her book had fallen from her hands. She didn't remember dropping it. She didn't even remember moving away from the window, but somehow she was across the room now, pressed against the shelves with her back to the books and hands clamped over her ears.
Thunder roared again. She flinched so hard her head hit the shelf behind her.
Her breathing broke apart and she began trembling. The room suddenly felt too bright, and loud, full of sounds of her mother's coughing.
She slid down the shelf and curled into a ball on the floor. Her hands were still on her ears and her eyes were squeezed shut.
"Alina."
She looked up.
Austin stood over her, holding a book. His expression changed from surprise to concern as he saw her curled on the floor and trembling.
"What happened?" He crouched, setting his book aside. "Are you hurt?"
She couldn't answer. She gasped for breath, overwhelmed by the thunder and the memories.
He glanced at the storm raging outside, then back at her, and understood.
"The storm," he said softly. "You're afraid of the storm."
She shook her head. It wasn't the storm. It was everything the storm brought with it.
Austin looked at her for a moment, then sat down beside her and opened his book.
"The supply lines from the southern marches," he read aloud, "run through three primary passes in the Tivekry Mountains. The first, known as the Widow's Pass, is navigable only during the summer due to snow at higher elevations."
Alina stared at him in surprise.
"The second pass, called the King's Road, was constructed during the reign of…" He paused, glanced at her, and continued reading. "During the reign of King Aldric II, it remains the primary route…"
It was the most boring passage of military history she had ever heard. But she knew he was reading it on purpose.
"The third pass, known as the Raven's Cleft, is the shortest route but also the most dangerous…"
Thunder cracked again. Alina flinched but Austin kept reading.
"Attempts to widen the Raven's Cleft were undertaken in the year 1623, but abandoned after three workers were killed in a collapse…"
"The year," Alina whispered suddenly. "What year?"
He looked at her.
"1623."
"That's wrong. The collapse happened in 1624. I read about it." She wasn't sure why she was correcting him or why it mattered.
But her breath was becoming steady now, and her hands started to loosen their grip on her ears.
Austin looked at his book, then back at her.
"You're right. This edition is old." He turned the page. "In 1624, a second collapse killed five more workers, including…."
He kept reading. But she didn't listen to the words anymore. She listened to him.
Slowly, she stopped trembling and her hands dropped from her ears. Her breath also became steady.
The storm still raged outside but it no longer reached her. They both didn't know how long he had read.
At some point, she leaned against him. She didn't remember moving but her head rested on his shoulder.
He didn't stop reading or move away. He only moved slightly, making both of them more comfortable.
He kept reading. Soon, her eyes closed.
"When travel through the mountains was considered…"
Her breathing steadied and deepened. She was asleep.
Austin closed the book. The storm had passed. The library was almost dark, the candles flickering low, and the fire in the hearth was also dying.
Instead of moving or waking her up, he stayed where he was with her head on his shoulder, watching the rain falling on the windows.
Soon, the candles flickered out. The fire turned to ash and the library became completely dark.
He didn't know when, but his chin had come to rest on her hair, his arm wrapped tightly around her shoulders, and his eyes had closed.
The rain fell outside. And in the dark library, the Duke of Ravenmoor slept with a bed warmer in his arms for the very first time.