"So that is what you think..." he said softly.

Tenebris snorted slightly; Ambrose guided his horse without tightening the reins. When his horse passed mine, that childish stubbornness flared up inside me again; I nudged Liora, matching his tempo.

"I am incapable of bearing children."

Suddenly, the chill of the forest seeped into my bones. My heart skipped a beat. He wasn't looking at my face, but his voice... It dropped onto the path like a sincere, fractured stone.

"You are only nineteen years of age, am I correct, Princess Deyanira? And I am your first husband."

"But even so—"

"People said you would die before coming of age, Princess, yet you are still alive." Exhaustion, not anger, settled into his voice. "I cannot understand why these people do not know how to speak of good tidings. Instead of accepting it as a gift from God, they treat you as though you are a curse. And you continue to believe them."

The shadows of the forest had intertwined; even the light filtering through the leaves seemed pale. For a moment, even the birdsong had ceased. Every word he spoke echoed across my heart.

"They believe it too. Say what you will—if you are to ascend the throne, they will want to secure their futures as well. A second wife, one without a curse."

"My first and last wife bears no curse."

"You cannot defend me to myself!"

"And you cannot disparage yourself so recklessly."

"I have my reasons, Your Majesty—"

Before I could find any more words to say, we emerged through the trees into a wide clearing. At the end of the trail, a landscape bathed in the golden-yellow rays of the sun awaited us. I blinked in astonishment.

The path continued straight ahead, but on the right... my chest tightened. A vast, mighty waterfall cascaded downward in stark white foam, while shadows and light danced upon the waters laid bare beneath the sun. Blooming water lilies and wildflowers swayed gently in the breeze. It was as if nature had painted this scene solely to welcome us.

I loosened the reins. Liora had grown excited; her movements quickened. I couldn't tear my eyes away.

"It's so... beautiful," I said as my breath slipped from my lips. In the face of such beauty, my heart felt momentarily stripped of its burdens. Liora quickened her pace, and I matched her, becoming one with the wind.

"Princess, be careful," Ambrose called out, riding up beside me on Tenebris.

The scent of flowers filled my lungs as the wind caressed my face. The sun was on the verge of setting, but that only made this place all the more magical. With the dull snap of my hairpin coming undone, my long hair caught in the wind; rather than wrapping around my neck, it mingled with the breeze. For the first time... my brown locks felt not like a burden, but like freedom. "Liora, do you see?" I said softly, my smile reflecting in my voice.

As luck would have it, she sped up even more, but I wasn't afraid at all. My eyes had watered from the wind, or perhaps for the sake of something inside me that was broken yet still shining... Where a scream might be expected, I began to laugh. It was a laugh so genuine, so sudden, that even the wind seemed to revel with me.

Tenebris no longer even waited for Ambrose's commands; he followed our path like a guardian. When I noticed his dark frame from the corner of my eye, I felt Ambrose's gaze on me for a fleeting second. Perhaps he was surprised... perhaps he hadn't expected me to be so full of life.

When Liora finally stopped to catch her breath, I realized the distance we had covered. We had truly strayed far from the fortress. In the middle of the forest, by the edge of the waterfall... we were far from the palace, the walls, and the prying eyes. For the first time, I was in a place where no one could watch me.

Sitting upon my horse's back, I opened my arms wide and closed my eyes. It was as if the voices of everyone who deemed me cursed had vanished here. I thought neither about my inability to ride nor the risks involved. In this silence, there was only nature and the sound of my beating heart. And... the approaching hoofbeats of Ambrose.

Tenebris stopped a pace or two behind, but Ambrose rode right up beside me. His reins were loose, his back straight, but his face—his face was far softer than its usual hardness. He looked at the landscape too, but it felt as though he was watching me more.

"I had never heard your laugh before," he finally said.

There was neither judgment nor mockery in his tone. Only a bare, wordless truth.

"I was taught that I shouldn't laugh," I said, without turning my head to look at him.

"Whoever taught you that... should lose their head—" he said, pausing briefly, "...they were cruel."

My eyes searched for his face, but his gaze was on the waterfall. The sun filtered through his hair, illuminating his eyes. In that moment, I realized for the first time that beneath the mask of the cold emperor I had always seen... was a quiet man who listened attentively.

"Of course, I will touch you too, Princess," he said suddenly, his voice low but resolute. "But I will not do it to ascend the throne."

My heart stumbled in my chest for a second. His speaking so directly... so confidently—rather than frightening me... brought a complex sense of trust. It was as if there was another intention, another darkness behind these words, but he had no intention of revealing it yet.

"You... are nothing like I thought you would be," I whispered.

"Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?" he asked, turning his eyes to me.

"I haven't decided yet," I said.

But this time, I didn't look away.

And he smiled, bowing his head. It was a faint, imperceptible smile. As if... he was pleased by an answer he had truly heard for the first time. "I hope you are not playing with me," he joked.

"No, playing at what?"

He dismounted and extended his hand to help me down.

I hesitated; getting down felt harder than getting up. Was it too high? Just thinking about the jolt of electricity that would shoot through my bones if I jumped, I had already felt it.

"Come on Liora, bow..." he said, and the horse obeyed the command as if she had been waiting for it. Leaning down a fraction was enough for Ambrose to gently lift me off—I wriggled a bit to contribute to the effort, but I almost fell on top of him. My hands sought support on his shoulders until my feet found the ground.

"Thank you..."

My messy hair had blown about; after taking off one of his gloves, he brushed my hair from my face with his bare hand. "There is no need to thank me."

"No matter how many times you say that, I will still thank you."

"And I will keep saying it isn't necessary."

I smiled. "Shall we walk?"

He offered his arm, and I took hold of his support. "I figured your legs would be aching. Even walking will feel better than staying on the horse. This way, you can continue to enjoy the view."

The horses playfully followed us, making it clear they were a couple.

"I thought Liora was almost a foal. She looks so small compared to Tenebris."

"Hmm, indeed. Tenebris is a very strong horse and can travel for hours. In battles, and on campaigns. Liora is smaller but fast. She had no owner, so I didn't know the limits of the distance she could cover... Truthfully, I didn't want anyone to claim her, not even someone from the Royal family. They would have had to be separated."

"That is very sweet, Your Majesty." I said this to praise his action, yet he didn't realize that it was Ambrose himself who was sweet.

"You are alright, you have no pain, do you?" he deflected the subject.

I laughed, "Do you want to carry me again?" I purposefully let go of his arm. I turned my back to the path and continued walking backward, my eyes still on him. "As you can see, I am perfectly fine."

"Yes, I would like to see you tomorrow morning as well. While you are moaning from your aches." He smiled too.

The wind continued to play with my hair. I hadn't known the forest could be this beautiful; it felt like a sanctuary I would want to retreat to, even on my own.

"Do you suffer from much pain after battles too?.. How many healers are there in the palace? Do they attend to minor aches as well? Do you have mages in the army?"

"You are very curious, which is lovely, but you are going to trip over something and fall soon," he said, taking a slightly larger step forward and placing his hand on my back. With that, I turned to face forward again. "The aches I experience after battles mostly remain on the surface; they fade with time. Deep wounds are healed by the palace's head healer. We have only one healer in the palace. But he is one of the five known high-ranking healers in these lands—the one who exerts her power the most. We do not bother her with minor aches. Besides, the body's own internal healing power is important as well. Not every wound requires an ointment."

While he continued to explain, I was studying him. His green eyes were more beautiful than this forest; the sunlight resembled the gold within them, the flecks of brown felt like a piece of me and the earth, while the surrounding green was the forest itself.

"...High-level magic users who have served the Empire loyally for years... Some from ancient guilds, others their blessed heirs." After finishing his sentence, he glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. "I hope you were listening to me?"

"It's not like you're going to test me. But I really was listening," I said with a slightly bashful smile.

Ambrose spoke without averting his eyes. "I will test you on the way back," he said. Then his voice turned faintly mocking, "Since it's getting dark... perhaps you'd like to ride ahead?"

It was a minor punitive warning, but woven with a joke. He was teasing me.

But, Deyanira, he was only teasing... right?

He was teasing, but it really had gotten dark.

And I had neither the courage to ride ahead, nor the strength to be left alone in the back, and certainly not the skill to ride alongside him... The path was growing increasingly dim, the birdsong giving way to the chirping of nocturnal insects.