“It was my idea for him not to change,” Lucas said with a grin afterward. When Norah stared at him, he only winked. “Come now. It makes him look robust and debonair. You must admit that.” He nodded at the crowd of stuffy-looking nobles loitering near the tables of food that had been spread out. “And they must as well.”
Norah couldn’t argue with that, though she did wish they’d had time to scrub out more of the blood. Still, when the ceremony was finished, she couldn’t have been happier. It had been simple and short, just the way she had hoped it would be. A short ceremony meant that soon, she would finally get her husband all to herself.
That desired time of seclusion seemed to take forever to arrive, for, as Oliver had told her before, it turned out that Phillip was quite the talker. And as he had ten years of catching up to do, he seemed to find something of interest to talk about with every guest present. Of course, Norah reminded herself, this was only to be expected. He was a king now, and she was queen, and though she remembered her family spending a significant amount of time together when she was small, very little of it had been alone.
But unlike her intrepid husband, Norah couldn’t carry on that way forever. Exhausted from the day’s events, Norah eventually made her way into a more secluded part of the garden, the rose-covered gazebo into which Phillip had dragged her just that morning. Much to her relief, it was empty, so she went inside.
And was more than a little surprised when she sat on the bench to find that she was not, after all, alone.
“Nanny!” Norah cried. The next moment, she was enveloped in the fae woman’s arms, sobbing as Nanny rubbed her back and whispered soothing words in her ear. Only when Norah had quieted did Nanny lean back and look her up and down.
“Well, I had hoped for a good ending, but love, you’ve really outdone yourself.”
“But where were you?” Norah wiped her face with the handkerchief Nanny handed her. “I thought you might have died!” The longer she sat here with Nanny, the more she began to feel the familiar resentment growing inside her. Here Nanny was, the picture of health with her silver curls shining and her figure still plump and strong. She was also looking more than a little smug. Why–
“Oh, you can’t possibly think I could be bested by a bunch of pirates.” Nanny chuckled. “No, love, I was watching you.”
Norah’s mouth fell open, but no words came out. Finally, she shook her head. “You… you werewatchingme?”
“Of course! Seeing as you weren’t going to visit the gate voluntarily any time soon. So when the pirates created such an opportunity, I simply took advantage. I knew you’d run to the gate if you had no other choice.”
Norah gaped. “You… you tricked me!”
“My dear.” Nanny’s eyes sparkled. “Haven’t you heard that tricks are one of the fae’s specialties?”
“But… then you heard me on my balcony!” Norah put a hand on her head. “There I was, mourning your death, and you were just… just listening!”
“I never took a single word for granted,” Nanny said firmly. “But we were at an impasse together, and you know it. You had to see how much TiFiore needs you, and nothing I said could convince you more than hearing it for yourself.” She shrugged. “Also, it was quite delightful to hear how much you missed me after treating your dear Nanny so abominably before the pirates came.”
But Norah wasn’t finished. Her mind was reeling as she reconsidered the past month. “Where were you then when we needed help today?” she demanded. “I was kidnapped, and Phillip wasstabbedto death!”
Nanny put her hands on her hips. “Young lady, who do you think notified the Maricantans and Ashlandians that youneeded help? And before you argue with me, I may be fae, but I can’t be in more than one place at a time. Besides,” her smirk returned, “you can’t tell me you didn’t find new appreciation for that husband of yours when he swept in and saved you from your captors.”
Norah glared at her, not at all willing to admit that she was right, but internally wanting to sigh in defeat. Just the same, Nanny was right. She had been right, it seemed, about everything.
She was, however, looking a little too pleased with herself for Norah to admit that just yet.
“But think back,” Norah pressed. “If you had slipped onto the palace grounds years ago and told them we were here, we wouldn’t have even needed all this drama. You could have told Lady Freya that we needed–”
“I did.” Nanny sighed. “And I’m afraid I frightened the poor lady out of her wits. From what I understand, she had nightmares for weeks. And the second time I appeared, she fainted outright.”
“Oh.” Norah hadn’t thought of that. Poor Freya. The answer she had been looking for was right in front of her, but she’d thought it to be a ghost.
“So I remained in my human form every time after, not that it did much good.” Nanny sighed. Then she smiled and gave a decisive nod. “But the Maker worked it all out in the end. Which reminds me. Now I need to find my new room.” She paused. “Where will the nursery be?”
Norah stared at her for another moment before breaking into a peal of laughter. “How am I to know? We haven’t even been married a full day!”
“It’s fine. I’ll just ask Freya.”
Norah stood. “But I thought you–”
“You’re married now. She’ll have to get used to me eventually. And I think we shall begreatfriends.” And with that, she was gone.
Norah took a deep breath, trying to convince herself that the last five minutes had been real. But as she was stepping out of the gazebo again, she found Phillip walking toward her. And she couldn’t help but smile. The joy on his face was infectious.
“I was just coming to look for you,” she said. “Before you get caught in any other conversations, there’s someone else you must meet.”
“Who?” he asked with wide eyes.
