Aleksander never in a million years, past or to come, expected to hear that those trees were waiting to thank him.
He was too deep in thought about the woods; he forgot somebody had been intensely staring at him. Aleksander carefully turned his attention to the person. "Is something the matter, Empress Lucien?"
The way Lucien intensely stared at him, he could feel the stare digging into his bones. She was staring at him as though she was observing and reading him from his head to his toes.
"There is something about you that is putting me off."
Before Aleksander could defend, Lucien approached. She circled around him, studying. She felt like something was missing like a piece of a jigsaw and it made him tense. He felt like he was the prey and her, the predator.
