The Most Beautiful One by Elise Spencer

Author:Elise Spencer [Spencer, Elise]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-08-30T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

A few pleasant weeks of wonderful, warm weather turned into oppressive heat. It was impossible to stay inside the castle at all. There was no air in the stone rooms, even when you flung the windows open and stuck your head outside trying to lure in a breeze. After a while, I gave up and started spending my days in the garden, in the shade of the large trees by the pond with my book. The warmer the days became, the lazier I acted.

“I wish I could go bathing. Whenever it was this warm in Port Paradiz we would go swimming after dark, my sisters and I. There was a bit of shoreline that was completely shaded by a wall, and it was deliciously cold. After a long day perspiring in our petticoats, it was perfect.” I gestured to the pond behind us. “If this was more than knee-deep, I would suggest it.”

“I think that this is mostly mud if I was going to be perfectly honest. You would come out of there completely brown. Do you remember the lake I told you about? We could go tomorrow if you like. It’s a few hours walking there, but I think that the scenery is worth it.”

“Is the lake large enough to swim in?”

“I think so. I cannot swim, so I wouldn’t know.”

I shook my head. “Really, you can’t swim?”

“No. Not at all. And I think I’m too old to learn now. If you would like to go, we would need to leave a little before sunrise tomorrow if we want to make it back before dark. As I said, it is a long hike.”

I agreed, and the statues woke me much too early the next morning. I rolled out of bed and into the walking dress provided and met the Beast in the hall. I didn’t say anything to him until we had been walking for a while and I had woken up properly. We went further than I ever had on the property, past the hedge maze and thickets of trees, and, to my displeasure, numerous hills. We stopped after a while and I ate my breakfast, before continuing the march.

We talked off and on throughout the day, less when I was exhausted from puffing up the hills. The Beast teased me about my outfit, saying that the white muslin with a blue bow around the middle was ridiculous for a forest hike, and I told him it was incredibly comfortable and suitable, even though the hem had been completely ruined by dirt and snagging on twigs.

It was just after noon when we climbed the last hill and the lake appeared before us. I stopped walking, and the Beast nearly collided with me. It wasn’t as large as I was expecting, more a pool than a lake. It was almost perfectly round, with a pebbled gray shore. A ring of trees surrounded the pool, with roots and branches dipping into the perfectly clear and smooth surface of the water.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.