Page 6 of Pippa of Lauramore (The Eldentimber #1)

I t’s too hot to hide under a cloak, so I sneak down to the laundry and find a garden maid outfit in one of the cupboards. There’s no one in the laundry today. They’re all enjoying the festival. Many are competing in the events.

It takes me a little longer to find a wide-brimmed straw hat, but I manage it. I wrap my hair up with a scarf, careful to cover up any sign of red, and top it with the hat. The bodice is a little itchy, but the skirt’s not as long as my gown, so it’s easier to move in.

It will do.

Anna had her tea, and I sat with her until she fell asleep.

I have my embroidery with me, and I plan to work on it while I watch the event.

Even with as horrible as she felt, Anna inspected it before she dozed off.

If I don’t have a good chunk of it finished by tomorrow, she is going to know I slipped away.

I nod to the guardsmen on duty. Only one recognizes me. He gives me a wink and then looks the other way .

The sunshine on my shoulders feels marvelous. I’m thankful I didn’t find a long-sleeved kitchen girl’s shift first.

The events are outside the palace walls, but there is still a lot of hustle and bustle in the garden. Very few villagers work during festivals, and those who do choose to run food and trinket stalls. Children chase each other around the flower beds. Friends sit on benches, chatting.

No one pays me any mind.

A few months ago, the fruit trees in the courtyard were in full bloom, and now they are covered in small, green fruit. The mountain cherries blush pink. Soon we’ll have summer pies.

I pass several cottages and their small vegetable gardens.

Chickens cluck from their little yards, and several sheep bleat in greeting as I pass.

The stones are almost hot under my slippers.

I would have liked to wear my riding boots, but the skirt is short enough they would have been visible.

It will feel good to leave the courtyard and walk in the meadow grass.

Another set of guards stands at the palace gates, but even as they keep watch, they laugh and call to people they know. I tilt my head to the side so my face is shadowed by the brim of my hat and pass through without question.

The mountains are vibrant green after yesterday’s rain.

Unlike the craggy, jagged peaks up north, these mountains are soft-stepped terraces blanketed with meadow grass and moss.

The arena has been set up on the terrace below the palace.

There are a few sheep grazing near the festival grounds, but most of the herds have moved farther up the mountains.

Sheep are the only livestock that do well on our rocky, flat cliffs, and we have a special breed that thrives here. With little black faces and the softest white fleece, Lauramorian Whites are the dearest sheep.

The visiting princes and lords have tents set up on the other side of the arena, and with the slight breeze, their colorful flags wave in a lazy manner. I pause on my way to the arena.

Do I dare go find Galinor? Surely someone will recognize me.

“Can I help you find something? Are you lost?” a familiar female voice says from behind me.

I close my eyes and scrunch my nose. I suppose I do look a little misplaced, standing by myself, staring into the distance. I turn slowly and give Leonora a guilty smile.

“Pippa!” she whispers, her voice low but harsh. “What are you doing?”

“Anna has a headache. She’s sleeping now. I thought I would sneak out for a moment and see how everything is going.”

“Where did you find that?” Two dainty fingers pull on the fabric of my skirt like it is infected.

I grin. “In a cupboard in the laundry.”

“No one saw you?” Her voice is incredulous.

“That’s the beauty of it—everyone’s here!”

I shouldn’t be, but I’m pretty proud of myself.

“Listen,” I say. “I’ll just find a seat and watch the rest of the competition. I have embroidery to work on,” I add, holding up my needlework.

She looks at me, more than a little skeptical. “You’re not going to try to find Galinor?”

I huff out a frustrated breath. “I want to, but I don’t think I dare with all these people. Who knows who I’ll run into.”

“Alexander was there last time I checked, and I do believe that’s where Percival disappeared to.” Leonora looks thoughtful. “I’ll see if I can find Galinor for you. Where will you sit?”

I point out a spot in the shade of the awnings.

“Keep your hair tucked up.” She coaxes a few loose strands into my scarf. “If it escapes, you’ll be found out for sure.”

She turns to leave, but I grab her wrist. “Leonora—thank you.”

She smiles. “If you get caught, don’t mention my involvement, all right?”

I nod, and she disappears into the crowds.

Archer notices me right away. Our eyes lock, and his eyebrows shoot up. Then he scowls. I stare at him, daring him to run to my father again. Instead, he wrenches an arrow out of a target and hands it to the boy next to him. Finally looking away, he stands back and tells the men to take aim.

I wait, barely breathing.

He doesn’t look at me again .

“Sit down, would you? You’re blocking the view,” says an impatient woman behind me.

I’m startled by her tone, but I bite my tongue before I respond. I don’t want to sit in front of her, so I move a little farther down. I’m not in the shade, but it’s nice to be in the sun anyway.

Archer hands out the winner’s purse, and a few of the men in the arena congratulate the man who won. I take out my embroidery and stab the needle in the fabric.

It’s not like I want him to come over. I can’t say what I need to say in front of all these people. I might as well scream, “I’m the princess!”

That doesn’t seem wise.

I take a deep breath and let it back out. I work a few more stitches into the fabric and then smack it all down on my lap.

How dare he look at me like I shouldn’t be here! I’m in this mess because of his loose tongue.

“You don’t seem like the kind of girl who brings needlework to an archery tournament,” a deep voice says from behind me.

Galinor.

“You came,” I say, setting my embroidery aside and turning my knees toward him.

He must have been sparring with the knights, because he wears chain mail over his tunic. His dark hair glistens in the sun like he just washed up. He smiles at me, showing the dimples in his cheeks. His eyes are even bluer today in the bright light.

“Of course, I came,” he says. “How did you find a way to slip out? ”

“I don’t let much separate me from what I want.”

His smile widens. “And what do you want?”

My cheeks get hot, but I just shake my head.

He leans forward. “I didn’t think I’d see you for days.”

“I might not see you again until after the scavenger hunt.” My enthusiasm wilts at the thought. I’m going to miss everything.

The prince nods, watching the new round of men prepare for their turn. I watch too, but my eyes find Archer leaning against a post, speaking with one of my father’s knights. He glances over, and our eyes meet again. He gives me a small smile, but I look away, refusing to acknowledge him.

“Come with me,” Galinor says, standing.

“Where are we going?”

He offers me his hand. I take it and step down from the stands.

“I don’t know if we should,” I say when I see he’s leading me to the tents. “What if someone recognizes me?”

“We’ll go around the back.”

We duck around several tents, avoid a few knights, and then finally enter a red and yellow tent with his family flag over it. Once we’re safe inside, I pull off the straw hat and toss it in the corner. I unwind the scarf and shake my hair free.

“That feels so much better,” I say. “You have no idea.”

Now that we’re alone, Galinor looks nervous.

“Are you ready for the scavenger hunt?” I ask as I sit on a bench.

The prince’s tent is surprisingly well-furnished considering the competitors are staying in the palace at night. Rugs, tables, chairs, chests, candlesticks—why does he need all this? Are all the tents like this?

Sitting in a chair across from me, Galinor clasps his hands in his lap…then he moves them to the arms of the chair…and then clasps them in his lap again. I resist the urge to smile, not wanting to make him any more uncomfortable.

“As ready as I can be. We won’t know what we’re looking for until the morning of the hunt, so I don’t know how to prepare.”

I wish I knew what was on that list. Who came up with it, anyway? Was it Percival? I think it was. I’ll get it from Leonora.

“You’ll be fine,” I assure him.

“I can fight,” he says. “I’m good at that. I’m not sure how I’ll do searching for a collection of obscure items.”

So, he’s not anxious about me in his tent; he’s nervous about the first event.

“Difficult items—yes,” I say. “Items that will put you in peril—certainly, but we don’t know they’ll be anything obscure. I can’t even think of an obscure Lauramorian item to put in a scavenger hunt.”

Galinor rises from the chair and kneels in front of me, taking my hands in his. “The stakes are higher now, Pippa. I won’t lose this.”

I’m about to answer, but the tent swings open and three men in mail stride in. A mousy-looking young woman follows behind them.

We freeze. They freeze. Their mouths hang open.

Finally, the most handsome of the three—a blond man with laughing eyes—turns to his comrades. “My tent didn’t come with a princess. Did your tent come with a princess?”

The tension lessens, and they laugh. We join in after we catch our breath from the scare, but our laughter is forced.

“Galinor, you held out on us,” the youngest of the three says. His hair is sun-bleached, and his skin is very tan. “You were the one caught with the princess last night.”

He makes it sound so tawdry.

I stand and try to appear as regal as possible, which is rather difficult in a garden maid’s shift. “I am Princess Pippa. And you are?”

The first to speak, the handsome one, quirks an eyebrow, and I recognize him as the scoundrel who winked at me last night from the crowd. “I’m Prince Irving of Primewood. This is Lady Marigold—my sister of sorts.”