Through the trees was a pale yellow light. “We can meet in the morning and go—” He broke off, then gave a sound of exasperation. “She is there! I can smell her. That woman is waiting for us.” He pulled back a shrub and there, right in front of their end of the house, sat the guide—and her face showed her fury.
Mekos let the shrub go back in place.
“We can go in through the other side and tiptoe past her.”
He grimaced. “There’s someone else there. A guard, maybe. They’d hear you.”
“But notyou?” she snapped.
“No.” He looked thoughtful. “I can stay out here all night, but you need to go inside.”
“Because I’m a princess? I’m too delicate to stay?” He didn’tseem to hear her and she knew he was thinking about what to do with her. Aradella thought how she’d had a lifetime of people wondering what to do with her. “I’m going to stay here,” she said firmly.
“You can’t do that,” he said, but then he looked into her eyes. “All right, but it’s going to get cold. I’ll get some covers.”
She was pleased that he wasn’t sending her away, and also excited and a little frightened at spending the night outside. “Are you going to sneak through a window?”
He smiled. “I’m a fox, remember? I’ll walk right past her.”
“Ha! I’d like to see that.”
“Then sit here and watch.” He cleared a small area among the shrubs. “Look through there.”
She could see the open area of the house and the guide sitting there, arms crossed. “Yes, I can—” She cut off because Mekos was gone. She looked back at the house, straining to see in the growing darkness. There was a shadow but it could have been a night bird flying past. She tried hard to hear but it was only night sounds.
As she waited, she began to grow concerned. What if he didn’t return? She told herself it would be fine. She’d just walk to the house and—
When she felt something touch her she made a squeak.
Mekos sat down beside her. In silence, they watched as the guide looked around. She’d heard the sound.
After a few minutes, he stood, held his hand out to her, then led her through the forest. It was too dark for her to see but she trusted him.
When he stopped at the foot of a big tree, she saw a pile of bedding. He’d not only been to the house and retrieved the things, but had put them by a tree. He picked up a blanket and wrapped it about her. She knew it was made of swan cloth, that fabric that the Order of Swans had been making for centuries.
“You move in silence,” she said.
“I can. I brought food. Sorry we can’t have a fire.”
She sat down on one blanket, her back against the tree, and he spread a second one over her.
He opened a bag. “I brought bread and cheese and a jug of some kind of juice. Do you mind?” He meant that he would get under the blanket beside her.
In answer, she lifted the cover, he sat beside her, and they began to eat.
“We’ve talked too much about me today. Tell me about you.”
“My life has been simple. My parents were king and queen. It was lovely, but then my uncle married Olina. Not long after the wedding, my parents died. It was said to be an accident.”
“And you were locked away,” he said.
“I have my cousins,” she said solemnly. “They are a delight.”
He laughed. “Sojee’s daughters are not like him. They stand there and stare at me. Try this bread. It has some spice that I’ve not tasted before.”
Smiling, she ate the buttered bread he held out to her. For a while, they sat together, not speaking, just listening to the sounds around them.
“Papá told me that Kaley read Nessa a story to get him to go to sleep.”
