I wasn’t certain our trip to The Enchantments was a good idea in the beginning. But I’d come to realize I was looking forward to it.

It would be a time where it was just him and me, riding through the beauty of Dellish forests in autumn, getting to know one another. Then being in my home, having the opportunity to show him my home, not to mention meet his daughter, and finally introduce him to Dora.

All right, it was just him and me, and Hera, Jazz, Rosehana, Mac and Ian.

But getting to know his men, and Cassius getting to know my women, was another form of getting to know one another.

And when he wasn’t being annoying, I’d stopped denying to myself that I thought he was fascinating (and I’d found I liked his men—Mac was a scamp, wicked and mischievous, but almost always fun to be around, Ian was thoughtful and soft spoken—these traits oddly, but I found it very telling, mirroring Jasmine and Hera).

Further, Cassius was always attractive.

And I wanted more.

But now…he was nothing.

There but far away.

Distant from even his men.

But mostly, distant from me.

“So, what’s up his arse?” Jazz demanded to know, her attention directed at Mac and Ian.

“Jazz,” Hera said quietly.

Jasmine, being Jasmine, did not even glance at Hera.

Her gaze remained pinned on Cassius’s men.

“I mean…now. What’s up his arse now since it seems something is always up his arse?” Jazz amended.

“He has many things on his mind,” Mac replied tetchily.

“And?” Jasmine pressed. “Who doesn’t? Who,” she tossed both hands toward the fire and then spread her arms wide, “sitting here under the night sky does not have many things on their minds? Not one of us is out here for an enjoyable jaunt. Change is afoot and we’re all going to be facing some very serious things.”

“You will not face assuming rule of an entire kingdom, one where the changes you intend immediately to make will not be taken well,” Mac reminded her.

“I will be at the back of my princess, who will be queen to your new king, and her very presence in your land will not be taken well,” Jasmine retorted.

“You should follow him,” Rosehana said softly.

I turned my gaze her way to see hers and Hera’s on me.

I focused on Hera.

She nodded, affirming she agreed with her lover.

“I agree, you should follow him,” Ian added.

I turned my attention again and saw Ian watching me.

I also saw Mac studying Ian uncertainly.

Mac gave voice to this uncertainty, saying, “I’m not sure that’s a good idea, brother.”

“Why not?” Jasmine demanded to know.

Both Ian and Mac looked to Jazz, but it was Mac who spoke.