Queen of Rosewood Forest (On Hold)

Chapter 7

I turn around and gasp, pressing my back into the stone railing as I see the man that jumped now standing in front of me with a smirk on his face. His long pale blonde, almost white, hair goes past his shoulder and his piercing cerulean blue eyes shining with mischievousness in them as he took in my shock and confusion.

"I'm Neven," he chuckles, "and you are?"

"Evette," I whisper before I can even think about it.

"I see you finally visited this side of the castle." He takes a step closer to me but backs off when he notices me tense up. "I'm surprised it took you this long to find me. Who sent you?" He says as he walks back into the study and sits down on a chair facing me.

I furrow my brows and move away from the railing. "What do you mean who sent me?"

"No one sent you to come find me?" He seems genuinely confused while he looks me up and down as if he's sizing me up. "You didn't come from Rosewood, did you?" He asks as realization spreads across his face.

"Is Rosewood a village?" A tinge of hope seeps into my words as I speak. "I've been looking for refuge in the woods for the past couple days." I don't know why but something tells me I can trust him. "I got kicked out of my village and there were some scary animals chasing me, I've been hiding in here to get away from them."

"How did you find the map if you don't know where it came from?" He seems to become extremely curious now.

I look at him in confusion, "How did you know I had a map?" She bit her bottom lip and wrapped a strand of hair around her finger. "My father gave it to me. He died a couple of years ago and left me a journal with a map to this place inside. When I left, I decided to follow the map in hopes of finding a new place to call home."

"Why did you get kicked out of where you were staying?" he asked watching me. I could feel his eyes on me while I walked around the study looking at everything and shockingly it didn't make me nervous like when John would. It didn't seem to bother him one bit that I was looking at his things. He actually seemed to enjoy it, which confused me also. My brain kept trying to find reasons on why this place seemed so comforting and how I could actually call this place home but so far, I hadn't found a reasonable answer. "Or do you not want to tell me?"

"Oh sorry," I say when I realized I let my brain wander again, "kind of trailed off there." I cleared my throat and began to wring my hands together trying to figure out exactly what to tell him. He got up and walked over to me, out of habit I dropped my eyes to the ground and tensed up, waiting for the impact for upsetting him and making him wait for an answer.

Instead, I heard his footsteps take a couple of steps back, giving me some space. I looked at him shocked when the punishment didn't come, instead there was shock and concern on his face. "What happened?" He asked calmly even though I could see a swirl of emotions in his eyes, but they were so mixed I couldn't differentiate one from another.

"My assistant got hurt and the doctor thought he would die," I whisper, turning to look outside again and not have to face his scrutiny or judgment. "I visited him despite my husband's wishes. I was just trying to be a good friend and see him one last time since it was my fault, he got hurt in the first place. He was protecting me from getting hurt at work. Anyway, surprisingly the very next day he miraculously healed, and the village called me a witch since I was the last one to visit him so they imprisoned me for trial. I left before that could happen."

"What else happened?" He asked, making me jump in surprise. I never heard him come up behind him while I looked out over the railing on the balcony. "What else?"

I frown, "that's all."

"Don't lie to me Evette," he says mawkishly, placing a hand on each side of mine, effectively trapping me between him and the railing. "I don't like liars and I know you're hiding something. What else?"

"How did you know I had a map?" I ask instead trying to discern his intentions.

"I found it," he said with a just a tint of mischievousness in his tone. "And since you are the only new thing in this place, it's safe to say it came from you." He chuckled darkly, "Now what else?"

"I don't know?" I ask trying to keep that secret to myself a little longer. "I've told you how and why I am here. What else is there?"

He smirks and cocks his head. "You showed up a couple of days ago and suddenly the azaleas are blooming again there has to be a reason." He grins and closes most of what little space is between us. "Is it possible that you don't know either? And what about your husband?"