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“One bed?” I ask as he watches me inspect the close quarters with uncertainty.

“Well, it was this or the thicket you were freezing to death in,” Riven snaps back.

“Gonna die anyway,” I grumble with my teeth still chattering from the cold.

“Don’t be so morbid,” he says with a smirk.

“Are we not going to talk about how you hunted me and captured me? Twice?” I remind him.

“I didn’t tell you to run away into a freezing forest in the middle of the night, leaving behind a castle full of perfectly good beds. Also, I just saved you… so yeah, it kind of cancels one of those out.”

“Oh, I’m sorry! I guess I should’ve stayed in the Castle of Doom so I could be safe and cozy in bed as I awaited my certain death. Yeah, but no thread count is worth that, especially if you’re just going to take me back to her.”

“Well, you do have a point,” he mutters. “We don’t have much time because we need to keep moving.” He looks around the cabin and walks up to the fireplace. “Starting a fire for warmth is too big of a risk that we’ll be discovered, but let me see if I can warm up something hot to drink. But for now, drink this.” He passes a leather canteen to me, and at this point, getting poisoned again is the least of my worries. I unscrew the cap to remove it, lift the canteen to my lips, and take a heavy swig, thinking it’s water. I start coughing uncontrollably as I was not prepared for the sudden burn that slithers down my throat and into my lungs.

Riven steps over and takes the canteen away from me before pounding me on my back. “Easy there. You okay?” he laughs, taking a drink before putting the cap back on and setting it on the small wooden table.

“You could’ve warned me that that wasn’t water!” I sputter out as soon as I can breathe again.

“Where’s the fun in that?” he says with a mischievous grin.

“Oh, so now we’re back to the banter? Do you always flirt with your prey?”

He sighs and gives me a knowing look. “Why do you have to make everything so difficult, Adelaide? Oh wait, I’m sorry, I believe it’s supposed to be Your Royal Highness.” He bows at me, and I roll my eyes at him.

“Let’s take a look at that leg.” He changes the subject, pulling out a chair for me.

“It’s just a scratch.” I wave him off, even though it is bothering me.

“Stop being so stubborn and sit,” he orders. “Please.”

I nod. “Well, since you said please.” I lower myself into the chair, and Riven approaches like I’m a skittish doe lost in the woods. The irony is not lost on me.

His eyes ask if it’s okay while his hands slowly pull up the snow-soaked hem of my dress, resting it on my knees to inspect the raw patch of skin through torn leggings just below my knee. It’s not like he didn’t just see me naked the day before. I remember in tantalizing detail the way my skin felt on fire under his touch as his cold fingertips skim the area, inspecting the wound for splinters.

“I don’t think you need stitches. But this should help.” He reaches back into his pouch, which is lying on the floor, and withdraws a vile filled with rust-colored liquid before dabbing some on a cloth and rubbing it on my leg, all before I can ask if it’s going to burn. It does.

“Ouch!”

“Sorry! We can’t risk infection. It’s not like we have an urgent care on every corner like in your realm.”

“No, but you do have magic, so can’t you just, like, wave a wand or something?” I tease back, so caught up in this push and pull of who we are… who we’re supposed to be. I want to see how it plays out, but I’m also afraid of the ending.

“It doesn’t work like that.” He laughs, clearly amused, as he wraps a piece of fabric around my leg and ties it off. “How about your hands,” he asks, and I turn over my palms to show him the damage done by the ice and rocks. “Adelaide!” he scolds me. “You’re lucky it’s not much worse. What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking… ‘Don’t stop. No matter what. Don’t let yourself get captured again.’” Tears fill my eyes, and he wordlessly repeats the process with the ointment on my scraped and bruised palms before adding some for the damage done by the frost. I watch his every move. But instead of wishing time would speed up, I wish it would slow down because I’m not ready for him to stop touching me yet.

Without saying a word, he lifts my bandaged palms to his lips, very slowly so I know his intention. Instead of pulling away, I can’t help but watch this lethal man wearing a leather cape and a quill of arrows at his back with a quiet curiosity, relishing the sight of him on his knees before me.

A gentle sigh escapes my lips as he places a careful kiss on each tattered palm before releasing my hands and pushing up to his feet, the moment broken as he proceeds to walk into another room off the side. I follow him and discover it is a small bathroom.

“Is there water here?” I would kill for a hot shower right about now.

“Not like at the castle, unfortunately. We would have to warm water with a fire, but we can’t risk being found.”

“Why? Who’s going to find us if you’re the one that’s supposed to be hunting me?” I question, my gaze narrowing in on him.

“It’s more complicated than that.”