“Oh, I can come down–” she began, but he only grabbed hold of the branch above him and began to pull himself up. A minute later, he was seated beside her on the large branch, looking out over the town as well.
No matter how often she walked beside him, her hand resting on his arm, Norah couldn’t quite suppress the butterflies that erupted in her stomach every time she was near him. With his broad shoulders straight and upright, and his towering height, he was just sobig.
Doing her best to be discreet, Norah glanced at him through the corner of her eye and surveyed him as he stared down at the activity below. She had never been physically close to a man who wasn’t her father. And her father, while quite solid, hadn’t been tall, nor had he worked as Phillip did to maintain strength. When she had first arrived at the palace, Norah had nearly been driven to distraction every time the prince drew close to her.
Still… the longer she was there, the more she began to relax and feel comfortable around him. Not to the point that she was no longer very aware of his presence; she wasn’t sure she would ever be unaware of Phillip. But the more she had slowly become familiar with his likes and his dislikes and the little nuances in his expressions and movements, the more she began to let down her guard… just a little at a time.
“How did the fitting go?” she asked him once he was seated beside her.
He didn’t have to play his violin to let her know what he thought of the hours-long task he’d just finished. The pursing of his lips and the quirk of his brows sent her laughing.
“That bad?” She shook her head. “Well, I shall have to distract you then.” She pointed to a man with a cart of oranges and lemons. “That man used to park his cart down the street from our cottage. He has the best lemons in town, and he’s also bitterrivals with the woman who has the best limes. Half of the neighborhood is convinced they’ll one day get married.” She pointed to a set of buildings closer to the dock. “That set of shops is owned by a family with five grown children, each of whom runs his or her own shop selling what he or she makes. But the very best shop belongs to the mother, who sells pastries. Nanny used to take me there every time we were near, and she would buy me an orange and raspberry tart.” As she spoke, Norah’s mouth watered at the memory of the crystallized honey that coated the sweet and sour treats.
“The dockmaster who oversees that part of the water loves children. He has seven of his own, and now that they’re all grown, too many grandchildren to even count. But they all get together on the docks at night sometimes and play music and dance. And when others see them, they often bring their own instruments, and someone lights lanterns so everyone can join in past dark.”
Her breath caught in her throat as a wave of unexpected emotion hit her. For so long, she’d dreamed of leaving this city and traveling the world. Never had she even thought of making plans to return. The city and the island that lay not far off held memories of pain and loss, and Norah had dreamed of a new start for as long as she could remember. Surely, she’d convinced herself, everyone would be just fine without her.
Now, though, as she described the city and its people to Phillip, she realized that there had been good memories as well, both with her family and with Nanny. It was something she hadn’t expected to feel.
“I wish I could show you,” she finished lamely, casting a regretful glance at Phillip. “I’m sure you would love it.”
Phillip looked back out at the city before looking at her once more. Then, to her surprise, determination suddenly hardened in his eyes, and he pushed himself out of the tree before turning and holding his armsout to her.
“I’m not jumping, if that’s what you want me to do,” Norah laughed. But she did climb out of the tree and into his open arms, her heart rushing slightly as his large hands tightened around her waist to help her down the final limb, which was more difficult than she had expected it to be in the dress.
Then, after a long look around them, he went to one of the nearby stone walls and pushed some ivy aside to reveal a small gate in the wall. Removing a key from his pocket, he unlocked the gate, opened it, and pulled her through to the other side.
Norah’s heart soared. Were they going to leave the palace?
Was that even allowed? If Nanny were here, she would mostdefinitelynot approve of–
“Wait!” Norah stopped. Phillip looked back at her, his eyes wide.
“My hair,” she whispered, glancing back over her shoulder. “I can’t go out with my hair like this if the pirates are looking for me!” As she said the words, her heart fell. She wanted to pretend she didn’t give a flying fig about the pirates. Unfortunately, though, their attempted abduction was still fresh in her mind, and as much as she wanted not to care… she did.
Phillip gestured at her hair and pretended to put something on his head.
“I can’t use my headband either,” she said miserably. “They recognized me even with it on.”
He frowned for a moment before darting back toward the palace. A moment later, he reappeared, this time with a small bag of coins.
She blinked at him. “I’m not sure…”
He just rolled his eyes before grabbing her hand and dragging her through the gate.
As soon as they were on the other side, he locked it and then motioned to his head again.
“A hat?” she guessed.He gestured toward the town.
It was her turn to frown thoughtfully until she realized what he meant. “Oh, you want to buy me a hat?”
He grinned and shook the bag of coins again.
“Fine,” she said, hating very much to be the voice of reason when she really just wanted to have fun. “But you have to put that away! Normal people don’t walk around shaking their coins. You’ll get pickpocketed if you do.”
He blinked down at her as though this had never occurred to him, so she sighed and reached for the little bag and put it in her reticule. Fortunately, her reticule held little these days, as she never left the palace, so she was able to fit the little bag inside. Then she gathered her hair up and did her best to braid her wild locks so they would be less noticeable. And the first place they went was a milliner’s shop.
“Good day,” a woman said as they entered the store. “Are you looking for something in particular?” Her smile faltered somewhat when she took in Norah’s braids–a style generally worn only by little girls–but after looking their clothes up and down, her smile returned.
