His eyes pinned on Sophie as he stopped in front of them, his mouth a sensual grin.

“Can we go somewhere, Sophie? You and me?”

Sophie smiled and glanced at Agatha plaintively, as if asking her permission . . . but she’d already let Tedros take her hand.

As he led Sophie away from the house, Agatha waited for her prince to look back at her.

He never did.

Standing there, alone on the moors, Agatha watched the two shadows nestle closer, before Tedros slipped his rose into Sophie’s palm. Gazing at her prince, Sophie clasped it to her chest and whispered something to him. The future king smiled and guided her ahead, their silhouettes melting into the moonglow, as if a door to Ever After had opened . . .

Then they were gone, like the last beat of light in Agatha’s heart.

“Here I was expecting you to swing in on a vine, bearded, dirt-smeared, and thumping your chest like Tedros of the jungle,” Sophie ribbed as they treaded through darkness hand in hand. “A bit disappointed, actually.”

“Stopped at the house and cleaned up,” the prince said tersely.

“You’ve been gone more than a week. What have you been doing all this time?”

“Thinking.”

Sophie waited for him to elaborate, but they walked more than an hour before he said another word. His clean-smelling hair tickled against her neck and the prince led her so firmly that a hot flash rippled up her spine. Sophie’s other hand cupped the soft pink rose, making sure it was still there. Once upon a time, at a Welcoming, Tedros had thrown his rose to see who would be his true love, and she’d failed to catch it.

But Sophie had the rose now.

A muffled roar echoed ahead and she looked up to see the moon reflect off a broad river bounded by walls of dark rock. The river slipped ahead calmly before it plunged down a cavernous waterfall, too deep to see the bottom. Beyond the waterfall, there was nothing but the moon’s white glare.

“Leave it to you to find the ends of the earth,” said Sophie.

“In here,” said Tedros, pulling her towards an opening in the river rock.

Sophie crammed into the hole, trying to find her grip without crushing her prince’s rose. As she came through, Tedros clutched her waist and helped her stand to full height. For a moment, she couldn’t see anything. Then she heard the scrape of a matchstick and watched Tedros light a tall candle he must have taken from the house—

Sophie gasped.

They were in a shimmering sapphire cave, the walls made entirely out of the rich blue gem. Bands of flawless sapphires distorted her face back at her like a hall of mirrors. A blanket and pillow lay in the corner and crumbs of food littered the ground, along with a few discarded baskets. Clearly this had been Tedros’ camp for the past week.

He spread the blanket and helped Sophie sit down before he cozied in beside her, his leg touching hers, and placed the candle in front of them.