Excerpt: Principle Seven

His hand was on my cheek. I immediately felt my body stiffen, my cheeks flush and my heart quicken. His hand was warm and soothing…

Like coming home.

I forced my face and my body away, knowing the… dire consequences of his actions. If anyone saw… saw him doing that to me… and they reported it to The Supremacy… No. I couldn’t let that happen. He gave a chuckle, my face turning up to him, my eyes wide. He was… amused, a smile – warm – on his tapered face.

“I’m checking on your wellbeing, nothing else,” he said.

My heart… was soothed by his voice, his actions, though I portrayed an outward distance, peering down and turning my head down. “People may see it and perceive it as something more… intimate.” I tried to make her voice even, steady… normal. He laughed and his hand went out to signal around the park.

“Ah, but remember what you said? We’re alone. There’s no one around miss.”

I sighed and peered up at him. “Yes, but it is the principle of the –“

“The Principles…” he said over my ranting. I paused and peered up at him, seeing his blue eyes were distant now, an almost… embittered expression on his formerly happy disposition. “Those are a trite impeding, don’t you think?” he added, eyes shifting to her again, his striking blue back to that warm gaze he had, not long ago, been wearing.

I peered at him, not quite… sure what to think of him. My brows were furrowed in confusion, my eyes… almost feeling for him. It seemed… those Principles had done him an injustice somehow. Finally I spoke, not words of reassurance – no, I was not one to pry – but a simple question:

“What is your name, Sir?”

He bowed his head as a smile spread across those features of his. “Adison Faerhart. What about you, miss?”

I hesitated before sighing out softly. “Evelyn Wallace.”