Disclaimer: We do not own the characters of Rowan Ashcroft, Jewel Chase, or anybody else from the Jewel or Flower Trilogies. They belong to Lauren Royal. We do however, own James Darcy, Earl of Francois and anybody else who wasn't a part of either trilogy.
Chapter 1
Trentingham Manor, the South of England
July 1685
Despite the constant chatter that swarmed through the hedges of the Ashcroft's prized garden, two young adults moved in surreptitious silence, trying desperately to attract as little attention as possible.
"Can you see them?" Rowan Ashcroft whispered.
"Shhh!" Jewel Chase hissed beside him. Stuck in the intensity of the moment, she completely disregarded the fact that her brand-new pink dress was getting sloshed in the dirt underneath one of the large hedges.
"Any minute now." His voice was bubbling over with excitement.
"Shhh!" she hissed louder.
Right on cue, a small explosion erupted underneath a delicately crafted table, overturning it and sending the food that once rested on it towards the heavens. All the women screamed, the men jumped, and Rose Maryn's youngest daughter, Daffodil began wailing at the top of her lungs. It was a perfectly good afternoon temporarily trampled. Jewel and Rowan literally rolled with laughter.
Their little bubble of victory was quickly popped when Colin Chase's voice sued through the stunned silence.
"Jewel Edith Chase," he bellowed out, scanning the yard for any sign of his daughter.
Rowan grinned at her, his eyes gleaming.
"Run!" he ordered, and sprang from his hiding place just in time to see Colin and his own sister Violet lumbering over. "Come one."
Following suit, Jewel stood up and ran after her best friend, giggling as the adrenaline pounded through her veins. Screaming and shouting followed behind them, but being 18 and 20 definitely had its advantages - they were easily able to escape pursuit.
Rowan burst through the door of their secret hideout in the woods: an abandoned wood shack they'd transformed over the years into their own personal refuge. He collapsed on the floor, chest heaving. Jewel stumbled in a few seconds later and nearly tripped over his sprawled body, her long dark hair flying wildly about her head as she crumbled to the floor beside him.
It was several minutes before either of them spoke, not that they didn't try. Ever time one of them opened his or her mouth the only sound that came out was another round of laughter.
"I think is quite possibly the best prank we've ever played," Jewel declared once she'd stopped laughing.
"Yes, your decision to put the cherry bombs under the table was genius," Rowan added, leaning on an elbow to face her.
"Me!" she exclaimed. "It was your idea to steal the materials from Uncle Ford's lab." Then, getting up, she walked to the shack's door to look outside. "Do you think anyone followed us?"
"Nah. They're probably all back at the party, cleaning up the mess we made. I can imagine Mum's frantic with trying to replace the food. She and dad will be fit to be tied for days after this."
Jewel turned away from the door, brushing the dirt from her skirt. Then, figuring that the dress was beyond repair, she sat back down on the floor next to Rowan.
"I'll imagine my mum and dad, and your sisters are angry too. What was that party for anyway?" she asked.
Rowan shrugged. "Don't know. Probably another of mum's matchmaking schemes, seeing as most of her grandchildren are coming of age. Either that or its part of what Violet calls 'empty nest syndrome.' Honestly, if that's what I've got to look forward to later in life, I'd just as soon not have children or get married for that matter."
Jewel looked down at her feet solemnly, absently picking a piece of grass off of her skirt as if she didn't care about Rowan's future. If Rowan had noticed this behavior, he didn't say anything.
"Hey, did you see Emily filling her plate when the explosion went off? She must have jumped at least a mile," he eagerly recounted. They both smiled at this victory. Emily Nesbitt, Lily and Rand's seven-year old daughter, was constantly tattling to the adults if she found out about any of their upcoming pranks.
"Serves her right," Jewel agreed. "Especially after she told my mum that we were going to switch one of Kit's blueprints with a picture of...what was it again?"
"That picture of the magnified fly in Ford's office?" he remembered. "That would've been great. Though Rose would skin me."
"Its not necessarily a bad thing," she teased, a slow grin spreading over her face. Something flashed in his eyes, a sort of challenge that was met with just as much intensity as the sly smirk in her grin.
"Why you," he growled, and sprang forward. But she'd known him long enough to expect his ambush. She leapt out of the way, and burst out the door before his grasping fingers could close around the back of her dress.
Soft grass swished under her feet as she ran through the trees, racing around tree trunks in an attempt to lose him. Rowan was faster than her though, so it was only a matter of time before she was caught. Trentingham was in sight. If she could just reach the door...
In a wild leap, he lunged and grabbed Jewel around the waist, dragging them both to the ground. A high pitched shriek echoed through the forest, followed by massive amounts of laughter. Still, she refused to give up. her small, delicate frame thrashed around with tremendous force, but he held fast to her waist. making quick work of flipping her on her back, he hovered over her, pinning her arms with his hands and her legs with his own.
"Take it back," he demanded, though the broad smile on his face removed even the slightest hint of anger. Both were breathing hard, and words were hard to form, but the adrenaline rush and even the laughter was broken.
"Never!," she declared, grinning up at him.
Dropping his face just inches from hers, Rowan whispered more seriously, "Take it back."
All the rebellious amusement left her face, and she stared up at him with a breathless fear in her eyes. the realization of the intimacy of their situation began slowly to leak from his mind, and he was suddenly uncomfortably aware of the warmth of her breath on his face, and the seemingly endless green of her eyes that searched his own.
Instantly, he let go of her arms and legs and stood up. For a moment, Jewel just stared up at him. What had just happened?, she wondered. Sure, they had wrestled before as children, but just now.. Somehow this time had been much different. The feeling of having him on top of her left Jewel with a pounding heart and a strange ache down below. Just remembering it took her breath away. Why?
"We better get back. We'll be in even more trouble if we're gone to much longer," Rowan said, his voice had a serious tone just as it had a moment ago. But he wasn't smiling this time. He offered his hand to help her up, and she took it. Then, not looking at each other, they walked back to Trentingham Manor in silence.