Chapter 22.

Rebekah.

The following day, I decide to take a walk alone in the woods. Mother had asked us to rest, while she went to the fleece market.

The path is familiar, yet it always feels like I’m discovering it anew. The cold wind dances through the branches, rustling the leaves and brushing softly against my skin.

I breathe, letting the forest soothe me, but my thoughts wander, again, to the stranger.

The dance he invited me to is later today.

I’ve never been to a dance before. Oh, Mother taught me all the right steps since I was a girl—waltzes, circle rounds, and the like—but I’ve never danced in any real celebration. And now this mysterious man, always clad in humble hunting clothes, has invited me to a grand event at the castle.

What power does he hold? What right does he have to summon me there?