“Have you?” Edward sounded intrigued. He learned forward. “You know the treasure exists?”
“O’course, I do. I seen it with me own eyes.” She flashed a toothy grin, showing off stump teeth. Then dug back into the soup.
Edward sat back in the chair. His gaze drifted from the old woman to Rosamund. Deep in the honey color depths, she saw the glint of excitement. In fact, she felt that zing of excitement from him, almost as though she read his mind.
She shook her head to indicate she was not interested in chasing dragons or looking for treasure. He lifted one brow as if to reply she was missing out on the adventure for which she longed. Then she tipped her head to one side in a silent reply to tell him he was out of his mind.
“I see I’ve caught yer attention. I have a map to the cave. That is, if ye have an interest.”
Olga had witnessed the silent exchange and was clearly intent on encouraging the quest.
“I’m interested,” he said. “I’d like to see the map.”
Rosamund dropped her hand into her lap, clenching her fist. The thought of heading deeper into the forest looking for a dragon who likely protected its treasures with deadly force did not sound like a good idea to her.
Olga, however, grinned with triumph as she pushed her old body from the table and shuffled off to another room. Rosamund leaned toward him and dropped her voice to whisper.
“Do you think this wise?” she asked.
“Come now, princess. You said yourself you’d love a good adventure. I can’t think of a better one than to hunt a dragon and see if this treasure really does exist.” He flashed her a wicked grin.
Irritation simmered under the surface as she sat back in the chair, annoyed he flung her words back at her. She’d said that in a moment of dreamy hope, when she was still trying to figure out where she was going and what she was to do with the rest of her life. She had never expected to meet anyone to journey with, especially someone like Edward.
Though, she was starting to wonder who he truly was. Something told her he was hiding something, too. That perhaps he hadn’t been completely honest with her, either.
Telling the truth about who she was felt as though a load was lifted from her shoulders. She was grateful he didn’t want to hand her over to the soldiers. She paid close attention to his mannerisms and the way he spoke. He was definitely part of the nobility. Perhaps he was a lord from Woodhaven. But if he were, it did not explain why he traveled alone. A man of stature would have attendants. He did not.
And he had this insatiable need to chase the wind.
Was she so different?
As she pondered this, Olga shuffled back into the room with a rolled parchment clutched in one hand. She handed it over to Edward. He took it and shoved his bowl out of the way to unfurl it on the table in front of him. Rosamund stretched taller in her chair to get a good look at it.
Indeed, it was a map of Mystwood Forest with a trail leading right to a cave. He stared down at it, tracing his finger along the dotted line leading to the cave.
“In case yer wondering, yer not far from there.” Olga picked up his discarded bowl with an encouraging smile and headed back into the small kitchen.
“How far away?” he asked.
“I’d say you’d be there in…” She paused, tapping a gnarled finger against her jutting chin and hmmed as she made the calculation in her mind. “…a couple of days.”
“A couple of days,” Rosamund repeated.
She and Edward exchanged a glance and she wondered if he was thinking what she was thinking. Her birthday was in a couple of days. A wide grin spread upon his face.
“Perfect,” he said.
His eyes sparked with newfound resolve. Rosamund knew they were headed there in the morning.
“Mercy. Listen to me goin’ on. I better see to yer horses.”
Olga shuffled out of the cabin, leaving them alone. Rosamund sat back in her chair, her nerves jangling.
“I think we should do it,” he said.
“Raid a dragon’s cave for treasure?” She shook her head. “I think not.”
But he was not to be dissuaded. “Think of it. We can split the treasure between us. And I can’t think of a more perfect birthday present than that.”
