Page 43 of Tangled Sails

The trees, hedges, and climbing flowers of the landscaped space offered a sense of privacy, and the layers of floral scents wound their way around me and made me smile. Maybe someday I would tire of the varied sights, sounds, and smells I encountered each day, but I doubted it. I was too familiar with the melancholy that came with a lack of such things.

I led Tavric deep inside the maze and to a little bench surrounded by all sorts of flowers, bursting with vibrant color and all tumbling over one another as if jockeying for position and prestige. “This is it,” I said, lowering myself onto the bench.

“It’s beautiful,” he agreed, sitting close enough that my shoulder leaned into his upper arm. “What about it is your favorite?”

“So many flowers. So many shapes and colors. But no roses.” I breathed deeply, loving the cacophony of scents.

“You dislike roses?”

“Not exactly.” I looked over at him. “There were roses that climbed my tower, and I was grateful for them since they were the only flower I ever saw up close, but…I’ve had enough of them.”

He grimaced in commiseration. “I wish I could tell you the names of the different flowers, but I’m afraid I don’t know.”

“I recognize a lot of them. Gregor brought me a book once that had all sorts of illustrations and information about flowers and other plants. It’s one of the reasons I was so excited to explore these gardens. I was seeing things in real life that I’d only ever seen in a book, or from too far away.”

His arm moved, and I suddenly felt the warmth of his fingers running over my palm and then threading with my own. “Can I show you my favorite part of the garden?” he asked.

I had been rendered speechless by the intimate touch, so I just nodded.

He pulled me to my feet and I was dismayed when he dropped my hand to pull back nearby draping vines to allow me through. He didn’t take my hand again once we were on the other side, and I tried to squash my disappointment.

“What was your land like?” he asked as we ventured further into the garden. “Was it forest or desert? Flat lands? Mountains?”

“It was somewhat similar to here. Lots of trees. Hills as far as I could see, but no mountains. It was by the sea, but the water wasn’t visible from my tower.”

He shook his head. “It’s so strange to think there is an entire land out there, hidden from view.”

“Would you want to go there?” I asked, slightly alarmed by the idea.

He shook his head. “From what you’ve told me, I wouldn’t like it at all.”

We approached an arched gap in the hedge covered by hanging white flowers I recognized as wisteria. It was magical.

“Here,” he said suddenly as we stepped under the archway. Instead of going straight through, however, he turned to slip through a small space between two hedges. “Careful not to let your skirt get caught,” he said as he shuffled sideways through the narrow gap.

I laughed as I tried to flatten my dark green skirt to my legs. “Where are we going?” I asked.

He turned to grin back at me. “To my hideout.”

“Just so you know, if I do snag my skirt, I’m telling your mother that it is your fault.” I kept my eye on the cream lace that edged the sleeves, trying to keep it away from the grasping fingers of the branches.

“I’ll willingly take the blame.” He ducked down and disappeared through a low gap in the hedge.

I shook my head, enchanted by how like a young boy he was acting.

Then his hand appeared through the gap and he beckoned. “Come along, then,” his disembodied voice called.

I took his hand and ducked through the hole. When I straightened, he pulled a leaf from my hair and turned to gesture toward the space we now found ourselves in.

“This is it,” he said with satisfaction.

I loved looking around and trying to see it through his eyes. This was not a curated portion of the gardens; it looked wild and abandoned. One large, sturdy tree occupied most of the area, and it was surrounded on all sides by tall hedges. Several small bunches of flowers had grown over the hedges from the other side, but for the most part, it looked unextraordinary. “Would you hide away here often?” I asked, wondering at its significance in his life.

“Constantly.”

I followed him as he circled to the other side of the tree, where a flat board was strung up horizontally by two ropes attached to a large branch above.

“Sit down,” Tavric instructed, pointing to the board.