the Villainess they took for granted

Chapter 49: Chapter 49: The Second Day

Marian woke to birdsong.

For one glorious second, she had no idea where she was.

Then reality returned.

The forest.

The storm.

The shelter.

Cassian.

Wonderful.

Just wonderful.

She sat up slowly.

The morning sunlight filtered through the cracks in the wooden walls.

The storm had passed.

The air smelled fresh.

Clean.

Almost pleasant.

Which felt suspicious.

Marian didn’t trust pleasant things anymore.

Across the shelter, Cassian was already awake.

Of course he was.

The man appeared to possess some unnatural ability to function before sunrise.

He sat near the doorway, sharpening a small hunting knife with a flat stone.

The repetitive sound echoed softly through the shelter.

For a moment Marian simply watched him.

The morning light caught the side of his face.

His sleeves were rolled.

His hair remained slightly untidy from sleep.

He looked younger somehow.

Less duke.

More man.

The thought arrived uninvited.

Marian immediately stood.

Because clearly she had lost all sense.

"Good morning."

Cassian glanced up.

A smile appeared.

Small.

Automatic.

As though he was genuinely pleased to see her awake.

The realization was unexpectedly warm.

Dangerously warm.

"Morning."

Marian stretched.

Every muscle protested.

Apparently sleeping on wooden floors was not recommended.

Who would have guessed?

"I’ve decided I hate forests."

Cassian nodded.

"A sensible conclusion."

"I also hate shelters."

"Fair."

"And storms."

"Reasonable."

"And being lost."

"Understandable."

Marian narrowed her eyes.

"You’re agreeing too easily."

Cassian looked thoughtful.

"I am attempting to support you."

"You sound insincere."

"I am."

The infuriating man.

An hour later they were walking again.

The plan, such as it was, consisted of finding a stream.

Streams led somewhere.

Somewhere led to people.

People led to civilization.

Civilization led to food.

Marian approved of this plan.

Particularly the food part.

The forest, however, appeared less cooperative.

Every path looked identical.

Every tree looked identical.

Everything looked green.

An unreasonable amount of green.

"You have absolutely no idea where we’re going."

Cassian glanced sideways.

"That is not true."

"It isn’t?"

"No."

Hope flickered briefly.

Then:

"I have several ideas."

Marian groaned.

"We’re doomed."

To her immense irritation, Cassian laughed.

The sound was becoming familiar.

That was probably a problem.

Several hours later they finally found water.

A narrow stream winding through the forest.

Marian nearly cried from relief.

Not because she was thirsty.

Because she was tired of trees.

The stream represented progress.

Possibility.

Hope.

And most importantly—

clean water.

Marian immediately knelt beside it.

Splashing water over her face.

The coolness felt wonderful.

For a few moments she simply sat there.

Eyes closed.

Enjoying the sensation.

Then she became aware of silence.

Suspicious silence.

Marian opened one eye.

Cassian stood several feet away.

Looking elsewhere.

Very deliberately elsewhere.

A realization struck.

Immediate.

Unavoidable.

They were filthy.

Both of them.

After two days in the forest, that was hardly surprising.

The problem was that Marian suddenly wanted to stop being filthy.

Immediately.

"Turn around."

Cassian blinked.

"What?"

"Turn around."

Understanding appeared.

Slowly.

Then all at once.

"Oh."

Marian pointed deeper into the trees.

"You can go over there."

Cassian looked amused.

She disliked that expression immediately.

"You find this funny."

"A little."

"I am suffering."

"You are ordering me into the wilderness."

"You’ll survive."

Cassian considered it.

Then bowed.

Actually bowed.

The ridiculous man.

"As my lady commands."

Marian threw a pinecone at him.

It missed.

Unfortunately.

Several minutes later she finally stepped into the stream.

The water was freezing.

Absolutely freezing.

Marian nearly screamed.

The forest heard words it had never heard before.

Afterward she felt better.

Human again.

Cleaner.

Lighter.

Less miserable.

When she finally emerged from the stream, wringing water from her hair, she found Cassian sitting on a fallen log nearby.

Waiting.

Not watching.

Waiting.

The distinction mattered.

More than she wanted to admit.

Something tightened unexpectedly inside her chest.

A strange warmth.

The dangerous kind.

"Your turn."

Cassian looked at the stream.

Then at her.

Then back at the stream.

"I regret encouraging this."

"You should."

For the first time in days, Marian felt genuinely pleased with herself.

An important achievement.

Later, after Cassian returned, Marian discovered another problem.

A deeply inconvenient one.

He looked better.

Not cleaner.

Not more polished.

Simply—

better.

The dark hair remained damp.

His sleeves remained rolled.

The sunlight caught tiny droplets of water still clinging to his skin.

The realization arrived before she could stop it.

Marian immediately looked away.

Wonderful.

Just wonderful.

The problem was becoming impossible to ignore.

Because attraction was one thing.

This—

This was noticing.

And noticing was much worse.

They continued walking.

The afternoon passed.

The forest stretched endlessly around them.

At some point Marian stumbled over a root.

A completely unreasonable root.

She would maintain this position forever.

Unfortunately Cassian caught her before she could fall.

One hand around her wrist.

The other against her waist.

Everything stopped.

Just for a second.

Marian looked up.

Cassian looked down.

Neither moved.

Neither spoke.

The awareness hit immediately.

Sharp.

Unwelcome.

His hand remained against her waist.

Warm.

Steady.

Far too present.

The world suddenly felt very quiet.

Then Cassian released her.

At once.

As though he had remembered himself.

Marian stepped back.

Also immediately.

Because she had remembered herself too.

The silence afterward lasted several minutes.

Neither seemed eager to address it.

Probably wise.

Because neither had any idea what they would say.

By evening they found another shelter.

Better than the first.

Larger.

Drier.

A small victory.

As darkness settled over the forest once again, Marian found herself watching Cassian build a fire.

The movements looked familiar now.

Which was alarming.

Two days ago he had been Adrian’s cousin.

The duke.

The problem.

The temptation.

Now—

Now she knew the boy who climbed walls because someone told him not to.

The man who argued with wet sticks.

The person who laughed with his whole face.

The realization settled quietly inside her chest.

Dangerous.

Very dangerous.

Because for the first time, Marian wasn’t merely attracted to Cassian.

She was beginning to understand him.

And somehow that felt far more frightening.

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