I bristled at the nickname, and the edge of his smile quirked. It was unsettling how easily Evander could observe me, even with his sight taken away. I sighed. “Any chance you memorized the course before they blindfolded you?”

“Nope.”

“Didn’t think so.”

“You’ll have to lead me across.”

I nearly choked. “Um. Only one problem with that. I can’t step across the logs. Not with my ankles tied together.”

He grinned, the edges of wrinkles poking out from under his blindfold. “Oh. Well, that is a problem, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know why you insist on acting like this is funny,” I said.

He crossed his muscular arms. “And I don’t see how acting like it’s the end of the world is contributing to our success, given the situation.”

“It’s not like I can hop across the logs!” There was no way I could clear the distance with my ankles tied together, though the logs were spaced far enough apart that I likely wouldn’t have been able to make the jump anyway.

“Don’t fret, my dearly betrothed. I have an idea.”

“Oh, really?”

“Oh, really. And the best part is that you’re not going to like it.”

I opened my mouth to retort, but I never got around to it, because Evander reached for my hand, then traced his fingers up my arm until he found my upper back.

My throat closed up, and not from the bargain this time. “Wha—”

Quick as an ember springing from a fire, he stepped closer, pulling me into him. For a moment, I thought the imbecile was going to kiss me right here in front of everyone, but then he leaned down, placing his other hand under my knees. The ground left me, and I found myself cradled against his chest as he picked me up.

My heart pounded.

Dizziness overwhelmed me.

I told myself it was the heights.

“No. Way. In. Alondria.”

He smirked. “Do you have a better idea?”

Unfortunately, I did not.

“Just tell me where to step, my love. You’ve got my ears.” The tips of his pointed ears perked, as if they too thought the situation was worthy of a joke.

I bit my lip. “Fine. Take a step forward. A small ste—” I yelped as he almost stepped off the platform. He grinned and drew his foot back to the edge. My chest was practically rattling, and I shot him a scowl. “You did that on purpose.”

“I’m blindfolded, remember?”

“That sounds like a way to get around a lie.”

He craned his neck so that his nose practically scraped mine. “You know me so well. No wonder we’re getting married.”

I coughed in his face, which he answered with a grimace. I turned away, trying to focus on the bald edges of the logs rather than the ground far below us. “Alright. Now shuffle to the right a bit.” He did as I asked. “And you’re going to have to take a step out, probably about half of your leg span.”

“How long have you been noting my proportions, Ellie?”

I groaned. He was going to get us both killed. With a jolt, he did as I asked, and I had to fight back a squeal. If I was going to die today, in front of all of Othian and my parents, I was not going to go down squealing. Even if every inch of my body claimed otherwise.

His foot landed on target, and I sighed. One launch later, and both his feet were on the narrow log.

“Well, look at that. Those were pretty good directions, after all. You really must have been paying attention to my physique.”

“Just shut up while I try to think,” I said, my head spinning at the height.

“I thought you’d enjoy me distracting you.”

“Well, you thought wrong.”

“Noted. Heights are not a turn-on. I’ll remember that for when we’re wed.”

I blocked him out and searched for the nearest log. Unfortunately, the nearest log was thin, and would probably only support one of the prince’s feet. In fact, as I looked around, all the nearest footholds seemed to be too small to bear the entire weight of both of us.

Great.

There was one pole, an extra row down, that looked like it was large enough for two feet. But we’d have to traverse the small logs to get to it.

“Okay, listen—”

“What else am I going to do? I’m blindfolded, remember?”

“All the poles surrounding us are too small for both your feet. You’re going to have to step on one of them with one foot and use it to launch off to the next log.”

That wiped the smug look off his face.

“Are you sure?”

“No, Prince Evander. I’m just trying to trick you into misplacing your foot so that we can both fall, and so I can die a romantic death in your arms.”

“For the record, if you’re going to use my name to be snarky with me, it sounds better if you just call me Evander.”

I grunted and decided to ignore him. “The first log is pretty close, probably about three cubits away.”

“The fae don’t use that method of measurement. It’s not precise enough for our tastes. After all, isn’t there variation in the length of a human forearm?”

“Agh!”

“My apologies, Lady Ellie. I’m just kidding. I know how long a cubit is.”

“Anyway, it’s to your right, on a forty-five-degree diagonal. You’ll have to launch off of it with your right foot to get to the log to your left diagonal, which you’ll probably have to jump for.”