Home > Besotted (The Fairest Maidens #3)(3)

Besotted (The Fairest Maidens #3)(3)
Author: Jody Hedlund

While I found no hint of basilisks, I also found no hint of anything secret. My hunt was futile, and the growling of my stomach reminded me I needed to return to fishing. As I spun on my heels and began to retrace my steps, a faint voice wafted on the wind—or at least what sounded like a voice.

I halted but heard only the brushing of leaves overhead. Intrigued once more, I reversed my path, heading deeper into the forest and keeping my tread light so that when the voice rose on the wind again, I knew I hadn’t imagined things.

I craned my ear. Was someone singing?

Another breeze rippled through the trees, bringing the sound with more clarity. A woman was most definitely singing.

I picked up my pace, my anticipation mounting. Tracking the direction of the voice, I veered off the deer path onto another trail of some kind. Since arriving in Inglewood Forest, Jorg had decided I was his pupil and he needed to pass all his knowledge to me. Of course, I’d already had rigorous training from some of the best knights in Scania as part of my education as a prince.

But I could admit, Jorg’s skills had saved our lives on more than one occasion, and I’d benefitted under his tutelage. Even now, I took in every bent blade, crushed leaf, and broken twig, seeing far more in the forest than I would have a year ago.

The singing grew more distinct until I was almost upon the person. Through the shrubbery ahead, I caught a glimpse of blue before it was gone. I inched forward, making sure to stay hidden behind tree trunks and stumps until I reached the edge, where the forest opened into a small glade filled with long grass and wildflowers.

A woman was dancing.

I peered through thick branches, guessing this was the woman I’d heard singing. But now she was twirling and humming a familiar tune. In a simple blue gown, her skirt rustled and swished with each turn, showing bare feet underneath. Her unbound hair flowed in long blond waves that reached to her waist. As she spun, her hair floated around her, sunlight turning it to gold. A crown of dainty, light-blue flowers graced her head, the same flowers that dotted the clearing.

When she paused and brushed her hair out of her face, I sucked in a breath at her beauty, the arresting violet-blue eyes, elegant nose, rosy cheeks, and full lips.

At my intake, she paused, her hum fading and smile disappearing. She scanned the woods, and I ducked, hoping the foliage concealed me.

A moment later, as she resumed humming, I raised my head and peeked at her again. She’d returned to dancing except slower, her arms out as though she had an imaginary partner.

I could only watch speechless at her grace and poise, stunned all over again by her exquisite beauty, unlike any other woman I’d met—and I’d met many in my life whom I considered beautiful.

Who was she? And why was she here in the middle of the forest by herself?

In addition to the woodcutters, who were allowed a certain quota of trees and windfall, Inglewood Forest was also home to a fair number of charcoal burners. Such men and their families had a more isolated existence, and they oft went months before they ventured to Birchwood and other hamlets that bordered the forest. Jorg and I had met most of the charcoal burners within our woodcutting vicinity, but perhaps we’d yet to encounter those in this hidden area.

The young woman danced a few more steps, then stopped and shook her head. She bit her bottom lip and attempted the move again. The courtly dance was one my mother had taught us, one she’d learned while growing up on the Great Isle. In my mind, I played out the next few steps, and I was tempted to call out to her to use her right foot forward instead of the left.

Of course a poor peasant girl like her wouldn’t know the dance and would need instruction. But why bother telling her when I could show her?

Cautiously, so I didn’t startle her unnecessarily, I stood and parted the brush. The branches crackled and drew her attention. As I stepped through into the clearing, she halted and gasped, her eyes widening. She stood frozen in place, her body taut.

“Looks like you could use a partner in your dance.” I gentled my tone and offered my most winsome smile.

Bunching her skirt, her gaze darted toward the opposite edge of the clearing to a basket and her discarded shoes. From the fear rippling over her beautiful features, she was like a doe about to bolt. And once she did, I might not ever see her again.

“Wait. I know the dance and can teach it to you.”

She held herself rigid, her shoulders straight, her head high. I could almost hear her inner debate about whether to trust me or whether to race away as fast as her feet could carry her.

“I assure you, I’m quite good at it.” I stepped with my right foot forward and flawlessly performed the dance step she’d been trying to learn.

She watched, unable to hide her curiosity.

I twirled the next several complicated moves. When finished, I bowed with a flourish. “Kresten, at your humble service, my lady.”

 

 

Chapter

2

 

 

Aurora


I couldn’t keep from staring at the young man. He wore the common, threadbare garments of a woodcutter—a simple long tunic belted at the waist above loosely fitting hose. But his bearing and mannerisms were like none of the woodcutters I’d ever seen.

Granted, I’d only met a few woodcutters in passing during my sheltered life. Even so, none had looked like this one—muscular, handsome, and yes, even dashing. He was the kind of man who existed in fairy tales but not in real life.

His hair, a soft woodland brown, was overlong and in need of a trim. And his scruffy face required a shave. Even so, the shagginess couldn’t hide the rugged lines of his jaw and strong contours of his cheeks. His smile added to his charm, revealing clean and even teeth. Most of all, his eyes beckoned me. The pale blue resembled the same shade as the cornflowers I’d threaded together and placed on my head.

“Shall I show you the dance again?”

“No.” I couldn’t stay. And he needed to leave. Right away. My mind echoed with Chester’s command urging me to run, hide, and stay secluded until the stranger was gone from the area. If Chester had accompanied me, he would have dragged me off. In fact, he would have heard this man coming and whisked me away to safety long before I was exposed.

As it was, Chester was gone for the week to the market. And though he’d bidden me to stay close to the cottage during his absence, I’d ventured from home each morn with my blackberry picking anyway. Aunt Elspeth and Aunt Idony hadn’t minded. Agreeable and good-natured, they never hovered over me, probably because Chester had enough caution and concern for all of us combined.

Nevertheless, my aunts would have wanted me to dash away the moment this man appeared as well. They wouldn’t approve of me striking up a conversation, much less taking dancing lessons from a stranger, no matter how harmless he might appear, especially since I’d wandered much farther from home than I normally did.

“Please?” The young man lowered himself to one knee and held out his hands to plead with me, his expression earnest. “I beg of you, my lady. Give me but a moment of your time, and you shall make me the happiest man to ever walk the face of the earth.” The soft smile playing across his lips made him even more handsome. And irresistible.

It wouldn’t hurt to have him teach me the next steps in the dance, would it? What could come of spending just a few minutes with him?

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