“He’s back by Captain’s stall, My Lady,” the stable boy said, naming one of the farm horses.
Learning from Gemma, Lady Linnea tossed the boy a pastry she smuggled out of breakfast. “Good lad,” she said before slipping in the stables, leaving the boy to keep watch.
Lady Linnea ran down the aisle, frightening horses in her wake. “She escaped?” she asked, throwing herself over the top of Captain’s stall.
The large draft horse didn’t react at all and kept chewing his hay, but Prince Toril popped out from behind him.
“She escaped,” he confirmed, exiting the stall. “Like a ghost in the night. She talked my father into removing her guard. He stubbornly watched for the first few hours, but sometime in the early morning, she gave him the slip. She still managed to spin a great deal of the flax, too.”
“Toril, this is marvelous!” Lady Linnea said, throwing herself at the prince to hug him tightly. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
“I-I didn’t do anything,” the prince stammered around the same time that Lady Linnea realized she was hugging a boy and not Gemma, a horse, or her parents. The prince’s body was much stronger and, oddly enough, was as comforting as hugging a large dog.
Still, it felt foreign and…different.
Lady Linnea hastily backed off and brushed her dress off, trying to restore some of her equilibrium. “But you did help us,” she argued, inspecting her shoes for a moment so she wouldn’t have to meet Prince Toril’s eyes. “You have helped us since the start of this nightmare. I cannot thank you enough,” she said.
“It’s not over yet,” Prince Toril grimly said.
Lady Linnea almost bit her tongue when she hastily brought her chin up. “What do you mean?”
“Your maid—”
“She is my seamstress.”
“Yes, well, she won’t be safe until she’s across the Verglas border. My father is sending out a small army of soldiers after her,” Prince Toril said.
“She will make it,” Lady Linnea said. “Unless something happens, and she feels she has no choice but to give herself up, Gemma will wriggle out of Verglas.”
“You sound so certain,” Prince Toril said.
“Someone is helping her—someone who cares for her very much. I don’t think they will allow her to be captured. Which reminds me…are any male servants, guards, or soldiers missing from the palace?” Lady Linnea asked.
Prince Toril blinked. “Missing? No. Why do you ask?”
“No reason,” Lady Linnea said before smiling again. “I’m so happy I could scream,” she said. When she threw her hands in the air, a carriage horse across the aisle spooked.
“So, you think this mission is over?” Prince Toril asked, scuffing the toe of his boot on the dirt floor.
“Yes,” Lady Linnea said, her smile mixed with joy and sadness. She would miss Gemma like she would miss her right hand or favorite sword, and although the past few weeks were dangerous, they were also thrilling compared to her normal, boring life. And if she was being completely honest, she would miss the secretive meetings with the prince.
Prince Toril lifted his gaze so he looked above Lady Linnea’s head. “Although it is over…would you care to continue our acquaintance?”
Lady Linnea adjusted her grip on her shawl. “What do you mean?”
“I mean…could we still arrange to meet?” the prince asked, his words going up an octave, as if he was afraid of her answer.
Lady Linnea studied the bashful prince before nodding. “I would enjoy that,” she said.
Prince Toril relaxed, dropping his hunched shoulders. “I’m glad,” he said with a painfully genuine/puppy smile that made Lady Linnea want to throw something at him in embarrassment.
“Yes,” Lady Linnea said, pressing her lips together.
The pair stood in the stable for several awkward moments before the stable boy interrupted them. “My Lady? It looks like your father is coming to see his horse.”
“I should leave,” Lady Linnea awkwardly said.
Prince Toril nodded. “Of course. I will see you…tomorrow?”
“Yes. Until tomorrow,” Lady Linnea agreed, wrapping her shawl around her head again. She scurried out a door on one side of the stable while Prince Toril scurried out of the door directly opposite. Both of them managed to miss Lady Linnea’s father as he greeted the stable boy at the entrance.
“How are the horses?” Lord Lovland asked.
“Quite well, sir. Aerie is back on her grain,” the stable boy said, luring Lord Lovland into the stable.
When the two of them had left the entryway, Lady Linnea hurried past the gardens, heading for the house. When someone released a sharp, piercing whistle, Lady Linnea turned around. Prince Toril stood at the border of their lands. He waved, and didn’t slip into the street until Lady Linnea returned the gesture.
Lady Linnea smiled as she returned to the house. Yes, I will miss Gemma terribly. But maybe this won’t be so bad.
Chapter 13