Braided Silver

Chapter 2

Chapter Two

The pantry room was as dark as always, and a little colder than I liked. Not that it mattered, I wouldn't be here long. Mother thought this way out of the tower was a complete secret to me, but she was wrong. I'd seen her use it often enough to have worked it out for myself. If she hadn't wanted me to know about it, then she should have made sure I was unconscious before she left.

I pushed on the secret door and waited for it to swing open. Before stepping through, I slipped my hand into the pocket of my simple dress to make sure I had the key still. The last thing I wanted was to get trapped outside the tower with no way of getting back in. Then I'd have to work out how to run away with no money, and no means to make it, or I'd have to wait for Mother and she'd learn my secret.

Neither of those appealed to me. Actually, that wasn't true. Running away appealed, but it wouldn't be easy.

Assured by the heavy weight of it, I left and went through the door and made my way down the stairs. I trailed my hand down the wall to make sure I didn't stumble. There wasn't anything to light my way, which made it slow going.

Once I reached the bottom, I left through a not-so-secret door. I supposed there was no reason to hide this when I couldn't see it. Which did raise a lot of questions. Like why Mother wanted me to stay in a tower and never leave. I'd tried asking her a couple of times, but she always ignored it when.

The walk into the village was only a short one. It had surprised me the first time I'd ventured out of the tower. If I were keeping a secret, I'd want to be further away from people. Then again, I supposed it made sense. Whether or not we were hiding from the world, we needed to eat, and the village was the best place to get food from.

I turned into the square and my heart skipped a beat at the sight of the tall blond man standing by the well.

Despite knowing it wasn't ladylike, I held my skirts up a little so I could free my legs easier. And then I broke into a run.

It only took a moment for Archie to notice and rush towards me. He caught me in his arms and spun me around, making me giggle.

He set me down on my feet and leaned in, pressing his lips against mine. My eyes fluttered closed and I pressed into him, enjoying the way he made me feel. Everything around us faded away, no longer mattering to me.

We pulled away from one another, both grinning widely.

"I didn't think you'd be here," I said.

"It's a month since you last got out of your tower," he pointed out. "I always come and wait."

"Oh." A blush rose to my cheeks. It was silly to feel this way. I knew Archie liked me. Not only had he told me, but we'd been meeting one another like this for months. Maybe even for a year.

"What do you want to do today?" he asked.

"Whatever you want to." We always had the same exchange. He was the one who had money after all.

I wasn't sure what he did to earn it, but he always had a ready supply and assured me he could afford the things we bought. I didn't ask many questions about it because a small part of me was afraid of the answer. What if he was some kind of outlaw? I'd heard they were responsible for a lot of lost wealth in the area.

"It's still early, so we could collect the things for a picnic then go for a walk?" he suggested.

I nodded eagerly. "That sounds nice. We could go down to the waterfall?" We didn't get many full days together, so it would be nice to take advantage of this one by going to that spot.

"Sounds good to me."

He held out his arm to me and I rested my hand on it. I loved it when he did this. It made me feel as if I was a proper lady and he was walking me around a fancy court while everyone whispered about what a good couple we made. I knew that was ridiculous, and I hadn't told him about the fantasy, but it was there.

After stocking up everything we needed from the local stalls and shops, we made our way to the waterfall. It was several hours' walk away from the village, but I didn't mind. The only consequence for me was that I got to spend more time with Archie, and that wasn't exactly a hassle.

The low rumble of the waterfall grew louder as we approached, and I took in a deep breath, enjoying the fresh scent in the air and the peace it brought. I had no idea why more people didn't come here. Perhaps they thought it was cursed, or something like that. I'd heard a lot of the villagers talk about superstitions like that before.

Archie shrugged off his coat and laid it out on top of one of the rocks for us. I took my seat, spreading my skirts around me so I'd be comfortable. They weren't anything fancy, so it didn't matter if they got dirty.

"Do you want to eat now, or later?" Archie asked as he sat down beside me. The small bag we'd filled with food and drink sat between us.

"Later." I wanted to enjoy the company and the scenery first. There was something so beautiful about this place. "I'm glad you were here today."

He chuckled. "I've been waiting for you every day this week."

"Oh. I'm sorry, I couldn't get away sooner..."

He reached out and took my hand in his, giving it a squeeze. "I know how it is. But you don't have to go back there, Cosette. You could come away with me and live a better life."

My eyes widened. He'd hinted that he'd be interested in that more than once, but he'd never outright offered.

"Where would we go?"

"Back to my lands," he admitted. "My parents have decided that it's time for me to get married."

"Oh. So you want me to come back as your mistress?" Hurt lanced through my heart, but a small part of me was still convinced I'd take the offer as a chance to be close to him.

"What? No. Of course not," he insisted quickly. "I want to make you my wife."

My jaw dropped. That wasn't an offer I'd expected him to make, no matter how much I'd wanted him to.

"You really want that?" I whispered.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I?" The earnest look he gave me was enough to know how serious he was.

The only problem was Mother. I had no idea why she wanted me to stay in the tower all the time, and a part of me had always assumed I'd find out before I left. But if I left with Archie now, then I'd have a couple of days head start on her finding out, and dragging me back. That could only be an advantage.

"If you're sure..."

"I am," he assured me. "It's a little bit more complicated than just coming home with me, but it won't be a problem."

I frowned. "What does that mean?"

The waterfall called my attention away from him. Mostly because I needed some time to process what he'd said.

"I can't really explain until we get there. But if you pack your bags and meet me in the square tomorrow, then I promise, I'll explain on the way."

I frowned. Why couldn't he tell me about it now? That made no sense.

"I'll think about it." The words hurt to say, but there was no getting around them. I couldn't run away from my tower and into the unknown, that was the reason I hadn't already done it.

He reached out and squeezed my hand. "Please do. Nothing would make me happier than if you were my wife."

"I hardly know anything about you," I pointed out.

"You know me better than anyone."

I let the words sink in, trying to work out if they were true or not. In some ways, I could see how they were. We'd talked about a lot of things during our meetings, and they'd happened every month, which was a lot of time. But I didn't know what he did for his living, or who his parents were. I didn't even know where he lived.

"I'll think about it," I repeated.

He rubbed a hand over his face. "All right. I'll be waiting tomorrow anyway. Hoping you'll show up."

I nodded. There was nothing more to say on the matter before I'd thought things through.

"Why don't we eat now?" I suggested, hoping it would distract both of us.

"Good idea." He started getting the food out, spreading it out around us.

We ate in silence, enjoying the freshly baked bread with creamy goat's cheese, and sweet honey. I pushed away the guilt that I hadn't paid for any of this. No matter how many times Archie assured me he didn’t mind, sometimes, it didn't help.

After eating, it was easy to slip back into our easy patterns of conversation. We knew how to talk to one another, and despite his offer hanging over my head, we did.