~ ZARA ~
Ash helped me mount and we started out, his eyes darting in every direction—the intensity and tension I'd see in Arinel now fully taking him in its grip.
He'd been so much more relaxed before, I grieved the stress in him now. And I ached because I suspected I knew what was going on in his head.
The easy way he touched me now when he thought he had reason to. The way his eyes stayed on me when we were in a safe space.
And his quiet assurances to my father about getting me out of Arinel safely when the King rejected me.
They were both still firm on that point. I'd gotten my father to agree to let me try to attract the King's attention for Selection, but he insisted on planning for my failure.
It didn't matter.
What mattered was that Ash was falling for me all over again.
