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“You saddled your own horse?” He sent her a look and then lightly ran his fingers over her head. “I would have thought you’d have servants for that.”
“Yes, we did.” What did he smell like? Whatever it was, it was strangely pleasant, especially given what they’d been through in the last few hours. Spice and alpine leaves. It was as though he’d taken himself into the woods beyond the cabin and wrapped himself in all of the natural fragrances that abounded. Her words were breathy. “But I was very funny about my horses. I had this one Arabian – Lisandra – who was meant to be one of the Al Khamsa. I wouldn’t let anyone else touch her. I spent hours saddling her, and then brushing her down after we’d been out. She used to look towards the desert with the saddest expression I’d ever seen, as though all she wanted was to be set free.”
She was babbling. It was the first time in her life she’d ever chattered for no reason. Lilah, as a rule, was careful with every word that left her lips.
“You’re going to live,” he said, dropping his hands and stepping away from her. “The Al Khamsa is a myth, I thought.”
She arched her brow. “You have heard the story?”
Will didn’t reply. He’d taken up the hunt for a dustpan and broom. It was in the pantry, where he’d seen her look only moments earlier.
“Hey, Princess?” He stood up, a smile curving his lips. He was a good-looking man, but when he smiled, he was stunning. “Is it possible that you know everything there is to know about the United Arab Coalition and The Al Khamsa but you have no idea what a dustpan and broom looks like?”
Her eyes flashed with something like embarrassment. “I just didn’t see it. Of course I know what a dustpan looks like.” And now that she saw him holding it, of course she did. She’d seen them in books and movies, and the one time she’d broken an ancient vase in the dining room and the servants had swiftly cleaned it while she stood, inconsolable, in Ki’s arms.
“Uh huh.” His grin was teasing. “Come on. You can watch me work.”
“Watch you work?”
“I’d ask you to make us a tea but seeing as that involves boiling water I think it could be a recipe for disaster.”
“I can make a tea,” she promised, though looking around the utilitarian kitchen she wondered how true that was.
“Don’t worry about it.” His smile was disarming. “You’re a rookie in the real world. That’s nothing to be ashamed of, given who you are.”
So why did she feel so embarrassed? She walked behind him, her back straight, her spirit crushed. He crouched in front of the fireplace and pulled out the largest obstruction. “Look.” He held it aloft, his eyes sparking as they met hers. “Some little bird is going to get a rude surprise tonight.”
“Oh, no!” Her eyes widened with sorrow. “Do you mean it’s a nest?”
“Yeah. Lucky the bird wasn’t in it when the snow came.”
“But that’s terrible! We have to put it back.”
He laughed. “If we put it back we can’t light the fire and we’ll freeze to death.”
Her heart turned over in her chest. “Are you sure a bird was still using it? It looks old.”
“Yeah. They make them with whatever they can find. But it’s the perfect spot to ride out the winter. A chimney like this? Probably hasn’t been used in years.”
“How do you know that? You said this hut isn’t yours? Who lives here?”
He turned his attention back to the fireplace, resting the nest at Lilah’s feet. She scooped down and picked it up on instinct, fascinated by the way the leaves and rubbish and gossamer-like strands had been compressed to make a sturdy structure.
Will paused, brush poised above the bricked floor of the fireplace, so that he could watch Lilah. She was intent on her inspection of the little home. Her fingernails, manicured a soft pink, ran over the surface thoughtfully.
“Will?” She flicked her eyes to his, surprised to find him staring at her. A sharp bolt of awareness flared between them. It was an arc of electricity; a shock of sensation. Lilah’s cheeks flushed pink as her eyes refused to budge from his.
He was stronger than she; he turned back to the fireplace as though the world hadn’t tipped on its edge for him too. “No one lives here,” he said calmly, his pulse racing. “It belongs to the family of … a buddy of mine.”
“And they won’t mind us being here?”
“Nah. I’ll go explain it to them later. When this is all over. I’ve been meaning to visit them anyways.”
She watched as his hands worked, deftly scraping out the rest of the detritus from the bottom of the fireplace, emptying it into a bucket she hadn’t noticed before.
“We’ll have to find somewhere else to put this,” Lilah murmured decisively, earning a slanted look of sardonic amusement from Will.
“Oh, we will, will we?”
