Page 43 of Rapunzel's Gambit (All That Glitters)
“That’s my chess motto—three steps ahead.” His eyes flicked down once to my mouth then with a start, he set me down and began helping me unfasten the harness straps. “We need to hurry. I don’t know how long we have before the dragon comes back.”
My brain seemed to have jammed. “Right. We should get back.”
He rolled the rope and harness and shoved it into a saddlebag before lifting me up to sit on the saddle and swinging up behind me. His horse set off, cantering along the path back to Donover.
“I sent away for an amulet that’s supposed to make someone temporarily weightless,” Griffin called loudly as we wound our way through the forest. “I intended to use that to help you, but I also didn’t want to wait.”
“The harness was a smart idea,” I called back. “I’m glad you thought of it.”
The path shrank so it was barely visible beneath the vegetation, and Griffin slowed his horse to a trot. “Did you use the dragonsbane?”
I felt where I always kept his gift in my pocket and withdrew it to show him before replacing it. “No. I didn’t think it would do any good to weaken the dragon if I had no means to kill him.”
“Smart plan. It isn’t something that should be squandered, and if we have it with us, we might be able to kill the dragon today if he comes after you.”
My stomach lurched unpleasantly. Should I have told Pollox about it?
“Your father sent out a proclamation expanding his original offer,” Griffin went on, his lips close to my ear. “Anyone who rescues you, regardless of station, would get your hand in marriage.” I felt acutely aware of my back pressing against his chest as we sat on the horse together. Pollox had been right to question my motives—Ididwant to be held.
“So that means…”
“If we make it back safely and you’ll have me, we could get married. Hopefully a married woman is less appealing to a dragon.”
“Oh.” Of course I’d fantasized about Griffin from time to time, but the prospect of actually marrying a man I barely knew had me balking.
“I even wrote up a letter we can send. Here, take the reins.” Griffin shifted the reins to me and leaned over to dig in a saddle pocket. “It states that you’re safe and that I rescued you. Prince Ijor had plans to come this afternoon, and I didn’t want him to send a carrier pigeon ahead to claim that he was the one who saved you. I don’t think my word will hold up against a prince and I know your father would prefer him, but…quite selfishly, I want to marry you.”
I wished I could see his face as he said those words. “I would prefer you over Prince Ijor as well,” I admitted quietly, keeping my gaze fixed forward.
Griffin’s arms reached back around me to reclaim the reins and he handed me a paper. I stared at it. He had drafted a very eloquent letter saying that he had succeeded in rescuing me and had pre-signed his name at the bottom, next to an empty space that was meant for my signature.
Was I ready for such a commitment? He clearly was. I held the paper in front of me, pretending to read it, but my gaze drifted. There was the dry riverbed where I’d been thrown off the horse more than a month ago, and there that log where I’d swallowed a fly on accident. This rescue was much more successful, so why did I feel so empty?
Griffin pulled the horse to a standstill just as Donover’s castle became barely visible through the tree line.
“You’ve been very quiet,” he ventured, his hand gently grazing my side from behind. “I wasn’t trying to pressure you before, I hope you know that.”
“I know,” I said, pivoting so I could face him better. “It’s just sudden, and even though I know the goal is to rescue me, I don’t like feeling like I’m owed to whatever man?—”
Griffin paled and began stammering. “O-o-of course not! No, no, I didn’t mean to…to give you that impression at all! I’m so sorry. I just…” Color returned to his cheeks as he blushed. “I overheard someone talking about how it would be easy to…hold on, I need to phrase that better. Some men think it’s impossible to rescue you.” He raised his eyebrows meaningfully, but I was lost.
“I don’t understand.”
He sighed heavily. “I don’t want to frighten you, but a few knights were talking and said that if you died during a rescue attempt, it would be easy to persuade your father to give the kingdom to the prince they serve, who in turn had promised them financial favors, and I don’t want that to happen to you.”
Chills exploded all over my body. Of course they would be getting frustrated with the lack of success and want to solve the issue. My captivity had dragged out for months. And as I was the only heir to the throne, without me there, Father would be likely to sign a treaty to join our small kingdom with a larger, wealthier one. I was no longer a means to more power; I was an obstacle, and I was expendable.
“You don’t have to marry me if you don’t want to,” Griffin hurried on. “The signature is just to show that it was me who rescued you and not someone else. I can’t bear the thought of someone trying to…you know.”
“Of course I’ll sign. Do you have a quill or something?” Here was the main difference between Griffin and Pollox. Pollox sometimes got jealous and possessive and didn’t want me to leave his hoard. Griffin, however, appreciated my independence as a person and left the decision up to me. I signed and stared, unsettled, at my name on the paper. It wasn’t finalized; I still had the optionnotto marry Griffin if I decided I didn’t want to.
“I want you to be safe,” Griffin told me, carefully rolling the parchment back up and tucking it back into his sack. “Ready to go on?”
“Yes.”
The horse walked forward into the vast meadow between the forest and the drawbridge, and my mind was so filled with thoughts about what a future with Griffin would look like that I didn’t register the sounds coming from above until an alarm gong rang out at Donover castle.
“The dragon! It’s coming!” one of the guards shouted.
