Page 20
Chapter 20
Olivia
Y anked off the street, Olivia was too shocked to fight or scream. Just keeping her feet under her was a struggle as she stumbled across the cobblestones. Before she knew what was happening, her back was against one of the shops, and her captor had angled his body to block her from view of the main street beyond, his arm against the wall beside her.
But his other hand cradled the back of her head, ensuring it didn’t crack against the stone behind, and his face was familiar.
“Julius,” she breathed, her panic subsiding, replaced with an unexpected feeling of security.
His drastic action suggested she had been right to fear the crowd, and yet she felt infinitely safer than she had a moment before. The sound of running feet and the murmur of voices made him tense, but he didn’t pull back. Instead, he pressed closer, dipping his head toward hers.
Olivia froze, all thoughts fleeing her mind as his lips hovered just over hers, his body pressing her back against the wall. The crowd and street beyond faded, Julius filling her awareness completely. She couldn’t blink, could barely breathe. What was happening to her?
But he stayed there, just out of reach, his breath brushing her face, but his lips never touching hers. A heartbeat passed and another, his steady hand still cupping the back of her head, his fingers soft on her hair.
Olivia’s hands instinctively found the front of his jacket, clinging to him, and the ridiculous thought flashed through her mind that she could tip onto her toes and close the remaining distance between them herself.
But a breath later, Julius pulled abruptly back, his eyes dark and impossible to read. He dropped his arm from beside her head and looked toward the mouth of the alley.
“They didn’t see you,” he said. “And hopefully they’ll have dispersed now. I don’t think they meant you any harm.”
“No,” Olivia sounded more breathless than she would have liked. She cleared her throat and tried again. “I didn’t realize a crowd of people would behave like that.”
Julius turned back to her, a frown on his face. “Crowds can be unpredictable. Which is one of the many reasons why you shouldn’t have embarked on this foolish errand with only a single groom.”
His voice rose toward the end, and somehow the distance between them had closed again. When she didn’t say anything, he continued.
“You should have talked to me before leaving the palace.” His brows drew further together. “You were looking for Marigold, weren’t you? Must you insist on being so reckless?”
Olivia’s temper flared, her emotions still overwhelmed and seesawing wildly. She took a step toward him, her skirt brushing against his boots.
“And what if I was? I was trying to consider you—your resources, your feelings—by not involving you. Is that a crime now? I was trying not to use any resources except my own time, but I still respected what you’d said about bringing an escort. If I needed a larger escort, you should have made that clear. How was I supposed to know?”
She was almost vibrating with the force of her anger by the time she finished. Distantly she recognized she wasn’t being fair, but the aftermath of her recent flight was still coursing through her, roiling her emotions in its wake. Not to mention whatever that had been between them when he had held her so close.
Julius didn’t back down, meeting her gaze fiercely as sparks leaped from his eyes to hers and back again.
“Do you really think I was worried about using the palace’s resources?” he asked with none of the usual princely polish in his voice. “I was trying to protect you !”
Olivia wanted to scoff at the suggestion, but she couldn’t entirely dismiss it. Even so, she wasn’t ready to let him off the hook.
“But that’s my choice to make,” she snapped, “not yours. If you truly wanted to protect me, you should have accepted that this is important to me. We could have worked together to find a safer way. I won’t let you stop me from doing what I believe is right. If I let you control me in the name of keeping me safe, where does that end?”
Her breaths heaved in and out, and there was no space left between them. Their eyes locked as something intense and charged bound them together, too much emotion overflowing the small alley.
Distantly, behind her anger, she wondered how he had found her. He must have ridden across the whole city in her wake. What had driven him to do so? Was it really only his sense of responsibility toward her?
The tension built, and unconsciously Olivia swayed even closer to him, her eyes dropping to his lips.
“You’re right.” Julius stepped back, breaking the tension.
Dazed at his sudden movement, Olivia blinked at him. “What?”
“I shouldn’t have dismissed your determination to help your friend—even if I was doing it for your sake. And by the same token, you shouldn’t have acted alone in the name of protecting me. You’re right that we’ll do better if we work together and not at cross purposes.”
Olivia drew a steadying breath, nodding her agreement. She had blamed him for trying to protect her when she had been doing the same thing to him.
“On that note,” he added, “if you’re going to start roaming the city, interrogating the populace, you would save me a great deal of stress if you take a squad of guards with you.”
Olivia glanced toward the street and shivered. “Yes, I can see now that it was naive of me,” she said quietly. “But I’ve seen your father riding through the city, and I didn’t think there was any danger.” Her lips twisted.
Julius sighed. “If you’d stayed on horseback, there probably wouldn’t have been. And honestly, in a few years’ time—when the excitement of both the betrothal and the wedding is past—you can probably visit the beach with a single groom and be fine. But right now, you’re a novelty. The city is intensely interested in you, but no one is used to seeing you yet. You need to give them time to adjust.”
Olivia nodded slowly, trying not to place any weight on his phrasing—the assumption that their wedding would proceed. It gave her a fluttery feeling inside that she wasn’t ready to analyze.
The rest of his words made sense. But nothing in her life had prepared her to even consider such matters. It was yet another reminder how out of depth she was in her new role.
“Thank you for coming for me,” she said softly. “I know they weren’t trying to hurt me, but I was truly frightened back there.”
Julius’s face softened. “You’re my betrothed, Olivia. If I think you’re in danger, I’ll always come for you. Just as you are doing your best to protect me and my family with those endless lessons.”
Olivia smiled at him, but her heart wasn’t in it. His words depressed her a little instead of providing the reassurance he obviously intended. It wasn’t Olivia he had ridden out to save but the public figure of his betrothed.
She turned her thoughts to more practical matters. “So if I take a squad of guards in the future, I’ll be safe?”
“You should be.”
She sighed. “They won’t help me when I’m trying to talk to the people of the city, though.” She hummed to herself as she considered the possibilities. “What if I took Cade with me as well? He could stay at my side while I talk to people, and the guards could hang back a little, ready to step in if needed.”
“Cade?”
She frowned, confused by his sharp response. “He said he was happy to be my escort whenever I needed one, remember? As a younger son, he has more free time than a crown prince. And then I’ll be safe without needing to bother you at all.”
“Not bothered?” Julius almost growled, running a hand through his hair. “When did I say I didn’t want to be bothered?”
Olivia’s frown deepened. “But back at the palace, you said?—”
“I said that I didn’t want you bothered. It’s not the same thing.” He sighed and let his hand drop. “If you’re determined to come out with a squad of guards, of course I’ll accompany you. I’m sure I can find some windows of time in my schedule. If you run into trouble, I’ll be more use to you than Cade.”
“Thank you,” Olivia said, surprised at his insistence.
She hadn’t expected him to use all his limited free time on her project—especially when he disapproved of it. But secretly she was pleased. Between her lessons and his responsibilities, they’d been seeing much less of each other than she’d expected. And the less they saw of each other, the more likely they were to keep miscommunicating.
“Your Highness?” The voice of a concerned guard pulled their attention back to the main street.
His guards had found them, along with Olivia’s groom.
Julius helped her mount before swinging himself into his own saddle, positioning his horse beside hers as they turned back toward the palace.
“So, was your attempt at information gathering successful?” he asked lightly. “Did you find anything?”
Olivia told him Bess’s tale, and he frowned in response.
“It’s a concerning occurrence, if true,” he said. “I’ll check the records kept at the guard’s barracks to see if there’s any mention of it. But I don’t see any connection to Marigold’s situation.”
“Perhaps not,” Olivia said lightly, not wanting to fight with him again. Logical or not, it felt like a start to her.
“I was actually looking for you with some news of my own,” Julius said after a long minute of silence.
He gave her an update on the scholars’ efforts—which seemed to amount to no progress, from what she could understand. She should probably have felt something about that news, but her emotions were so disordered from the afternoon’s events that she couldn’t be sure what she was feeling.
“And I ran into my mother,” he added. “You’ve officially graduated to royal meals and court events now, so you’re to join us for dinner. And I should warn you that she’s planning a soiree.”
It turned out Olivia did have room inside for more anxiety, after all. But there was some anticipation as well. She was ready to spend more time outside the classroom, putting what she’d learned into practice.
Later that evening, when she approached the small private dining room used when the royal family were eating alone, she found Julius waiting in the corridor. He smiled reassuringly at her.
“I know you haven’t spent much time with my father,” he said softly, “but I promise he’s quite friendly in private.”
Olivia’s brows rose. “To his own son, perhaps.”
“And for the moment, you’re family as well,” Julius said lightly.
“For the moment,” Olivia murmured under her breath, but she took his offered arm, relieved to have him at her side as she entered. It was thoughtful of him to have waited.
Thankfully, Julius’s claims turned out to be accurate. The atmosphere over the meal was casual, and King Robert treated her with genial good humor. Like Julius, it seemed he had a public and private facade.
Most of the conversation was taken up with the queen’s plans for the upcoming soiree, and Olivia began to feel some enthusiasm for the event. The queen had treated her with kindness, and she wanted to repay those efforts by performing creditably. But it would be more comfortable if she had some friends of her own, instead of relying only on those Julius had introduced to her. If only Daphne had already arrived.
A sudden thought made her put down her fork.
“May I make a request for the guest list, Your Majesty?” she asked the queen.
Queen Elsinore smiled, but Olivia thought she detected a hint of caution lurking behind the expression. Hopefully the queen’s fears would be allayed when she heard Olivia’s small request.
“Would it be possible to include my aunt and two cousins on the guest list? I know they aren’t usually invited to court functions, but it would be a great relief to me to have them there.”
The queen immediately relaxed, her smile widening. “My dear girl, of course we can invite them! I should have thought of it myself. It’s true that they haven’t previously moved in court circles, but as your family, they have every right to join us.”
Olivia smiled in relief at the queen’s warm response. Nell and Hattie would be over the moon to receive the invitation, and enjoying the event through their eyes would make it much less nerve-wracking for her.
The days before the soiree passed quickly and without any opportunity for Olivia to return to the city in search of further word of Marigold. But she did fall into the habit of meeting Julius and his friends every morning in their private courtyard. Sometimes she arrived in time to watch their bouts, cheering for first one young nobleman and then another. Other times she arrived at the end, missing the actual fighting and contenting herself with exchanging a few words with Julius.
She had spent long hours of darkness lying in her grand bed and considering what had passed between them in the alley. Her conclusion was that she needed to be wary of him. Her resolution to guard her heart had wavered for a moment, and she couldn’t let it do so again. But if they were going to act as a team, they needed regular contact. She only hoped that daily conversations would inoculate her against his handsome face and princely charm. As the population would one day grow used to her, so repeated exposure would enable her to grow used to Julius’s proximity.
On the morning of the soiree, Ashton bounced to her side the moment she appeared and assured her earnestly that she could count on him. Olivia regarded him in surprise until Cade approached more sedately and grinned at her.
“Julius has enlisted us to make sure your cousins have a good time. Helen and Harriet, is that right?”
Olivia threw a look of surprised gratitude toward Julius who was in the middle of a bout with Zane.
“Oh, that’s kind of you,” she said. “They actually go by Nell and Hattie. No one ever calls them by their full names.”
“Excellent information,” Cade said. “Any other gems to impart?”
Olivia laughed. “I’m sure they’ll be utterly swept away by you both.” She considered. “Perhaps you could introduce them to some of the younger girls at court? The ones who’ve only just started attending grown-up functions? Both Nell and Hattie are a bit younger than me.”
Cade looked to Ashton. “There you go, youngster. It’s your moment to shine.”
“One year,” Ashton grumbled. “I’m one year younger.” He gave an elaborate shudder. “The girls you’re describing are my younger sister’s friends, and I normally avoid them like the plague.”
Cade raised his eyebrows, and Ashton turned quickly to Olivia.
“But of course I would be more than happy to assist you in this matter, my lady! Your cousins are safe in my hands.”
Olivia thanked him gravely while privately worrying that neither of the girls would be safe at all. She would be much surprised if they didn’t both fancy themselves in love with the young lord by the end of the soiree.
But she wasn’t going to interfere. Now that Nell and Hattie were to gain royal approval and entrée into court circles, she didn’t think a court match was out of the question for either girl—not given their father’s wealth. She had no interest in taking advantage of the queen’s matchmaking offer on her own behalf, but when the time came, she would gladly request that her cousins receive the honor in her stead—if either girl was interested.
All of that would have to wait until they were a little older, though, and for the moment, Lord Ashton seemed a safe option for their girlish flights of fancy.
Julius won his bout and strode over to her, wiping his brow with his forearm. She waited until he reached her side before speaking.
“Thank you, Julius,” she said softly. “I appreciate your consideration for my family.”
Julius shifted uncomfortably. “It was nothing, just a word with my friends.”
Olivia shook her head. “It was thoughtful, and I appreciate it.”
Kasper and Zane strolled over to join them, and the conversation shifted. All five young men would be at the soiree that evening, and they joked with each other about people she’d never met—although she recognized many of the names from her lessons.
A flutter of nerves erupted in her belly, but Julius sent her a reassuring look that steadied her. He wouldn’t abandon her that evening, and she would have her cousins and aunt as well.
“If there was to be dancing, I would ask you to save me a dance,” Zane drawled. “But since there will only be music and conversation, I will instead ask you to stand ready to rescue me. If the inane chatter becomes too much to bear, I will escape to your side and demand at least ten minutes of sensible conversation.”
Olivia laughed and agreed. She didn’t feel as comfortable with Zane as she did with his brother, but she was determined to make an effort for Cade’s sake. And she liked the idea that at least one person at the ball would view her as an oasis and not like a bug under glass.
But even that thought wasn’t enough to steady her as she waited to enter the soiree, her arm gripping Julius’s far too tightly. Since the soiree was in honor of their betrothal, their entry had been carefully managed by his mother, meaning they were left to wait, the buzz of voices reaching them through the closed door.
A voice called, “His Royal Highness, Crown Prince Julius and Lady Olivia,” and the doors swung open.
Julius stepped forward, and Olivia managed to keep pace despite her shaking knees. The initial hush gave way to a rush of murmurs, but to Olivia’s relief, the majority of the staring eyes soon turned away, the normal ebb and flow of conversation resuming. She released a breath and looked around properly.
She had discussed the queen’s plans for the event extensively, but it was different to see the results of Queen Elsinore’s efforts in person.
The receiving room was smaller than the full ballroom, but like the ballroom, it also contained a wall lined with double glass doors. Unlike at the Midsummer Ball, however, they were all thrown open, giving free access to the broad stone terrace beyond. Only a few steps led down from the terrace into the gardens, and the event flowed freely between indoors and out. The small orchestra had even been set up on the balcony outside so the volume wouldn’t overwhelm conversation inside.
To enhance the integration of the two spaces, vines had been twined around the balcony railing and throughout the ballroom, along with a plethora of vibrant blooms.
“How lovely,” Olivia breathed.
Julius smiled down at her. “Mother’s aim is to host all three of the summer’s best events—every year.”
Olivia laughed. “How exhausting. But I’m sure she always succeeds if she puts on events such as this.”
She continued to look around the room, wide-eyed, until she caught Julius’s gaze. He was watching her with a smile that made her duck her eyes and will herself not to flush.
“Since the soiree is in your honor, I’m glad you approve,” he said.
Olivia smiled back and tightened her grip on the small bag that dangled from one wrist. She had slipped a certain mirror inside, feeling that its presence might give her a last-minute confidence boost. She was certainly in need of any insight it could give her.
As it was, she had been fighting the urge to use it on Julius ever since he had appeared in his party finery. She longed to know what was truly behind the friendly smile on his lips. But she had to wait for a surreptitious moment, and none had yet arrived.
“Olivia!” Hattie’s glad cry gave her a second’s warning before both cousins launched themselves at her, full of giggles and happy exclamations.
Her aunt smiled over their heads, clearly also happy to be present, although she showed more reserve than her enthusiastic daughters.
“Now, now, girls,” she chided. “Your cousin is a princess, and you must treat her with more deference at court.”
Nell and Hattie immediately let Olivia go, although they continued to giggle as they dropped into deep curtsies.
“I’m not a princess yet,” she said to her aunt. “I am, however, very glad to see you.”
“Thank you for inviting us, niece,” Aunt Helen said in reply. “The girls have been in raptures ever since the invitation was delivered.”
“I hope they have a lovely time.” Olivia smiled at her cousins affectionately. “I’ve asked some friends of mine to make sure you’re well looked after.”
As if on cue, Ashton appeared, dragging Kasper in tow. The two young men bowed to Nell and Hattie, sending the two girls into a fresh round of giggles.
“If you’ll allow us to escort you to the refreshment table, my sister is most eager for an introduction,” Ashton said with his particular, engaging charm.
Both Nell and Hattie flushed red and glanced at their mother for permission. She waved them off with an indulgent smile, and the girls accepted the arms offered them.
As soon as they were out of earshot, Olivia turned to her aunt, intending to reassure her as to the young men’s identities. But her aunt was watching the two retreating couples with a knowing eye.
“That’s the first time one of our neighbors has given a single one of us the time of day,” she murmured. “Our status truly has changed.”
Olivia winced. Her aunt clearly recognized Kasper, at least, without her assistance. But she just as clearly still knew nothing of Olivia’s history with Marigold.
Queen Elsinore swept over to them, embracing both Julius and Olivia before exchanging polite greetings with Olivia’s aunt. When she finally bore Aunt Helen off to meet some of the court’s matrons, Olivia let out a breath of relief.
“Maybe we’ve been a little too welcoming to your family,” Julius said with a wry note. “Weren’t they invited to keep you company?”
“Just having them present makes me happy,” Olivia said. “And I’m relieved to see them starting to make their own acquaintances here. Besides, we have company of our own.” She nodded toward Cade and Zane who were approaching them, both bearing a glass in each hand.
Cade handed one of his glasses to Julius, leaving Olivia to accept one from Zane.
“Don’t tell me you’re already overcome with inane conversation, Lord Zane,” she said with a smile. “We’ve only just arrived.”
“ You have only just arrived,” he said with a sardonic smile. “I’ve been here for more than half an hour.”
Cade rolled his eyes. “And spent that whole time talking to two of Father’s allies. If I hadn’t pulled you away, you would be talking business for the next two hours. You are allowed to be young occasionally, Zane.”
“I thought you were being young for both of us,” Zane said lazily.
Cade protested strenuously, and the brothers’ banter distracted Julius. Their group had drifted into a corner, and Olivia finally saw her chance. Slipping her hand into her bag, she closed her fingers around the mirror’s handle.
She pulled it out and turned it toward her own face, as if she was taking a moment to check her appearance. But she didn’t stop there, subtly angling it further until she caught a flash of greenery and bright flowers and then someone else’s face. But it wasn’t Julius’s features reflected in the mirror.
Zane’s expression was amused, and his eyes looked straight back at her through the reflection. Olivia’s eyes snapped to his real face and, sure enough, he was watching her, a single brow slightly raised.
Olivia flushed and pushed the mirror back into her bag. She should never have brought it. There was no subtle way to use it at the soiree, and she was only going to look foolish trying.
“Is my hair straight?” she whispered to Zane, trying to cover for her odd moment.
The amusement that she found so difficult to read still lurked on his face, but he reassured her with perfect solemnity of her neat appearance. Leaning close, he murmured, “I believe young ladies usually take such actions in the ladies’ dressing room provided for the purpose.” He indicated a plain door on one side of the receiving room.
Olivia mumbled almost inaudible thanks and threw herself into the general conversation, resolving not to risk taking the mirror out again. She had wanted to use it so she could learn how to read and understand people as the roving merchant, Avery, did. But now that she was at the palace, perhaps she needed to rely more on her own intuition and less on the mirror.