Lady Barrow and I start drinking, and the Tudor crew picks up on the basics of flip-cup with surprising ease. Yelling and cheers erupt as the game progresses. Richard is the anchor of his team and victoriously flings his arms up in the air when he clinches the win at the very end. We take turns playing and rooting other players on until everyone in the room has had a chance. Then we’re moving on to the next game.
“My turn,” Bessie says through a laugh a while later. “Never have I ever said I was going to the chapel for confession but really I went swimming naked in the lake while on summer progress through Wiltshire.”
Everyone oohs and aahs, except for Lady Wessex. She continues to pet Theo, who’s in her lap, as she takes a drink from her cup. When she’s done, a knowing smile spreads across her face. “Why, Bessie, you sneaky thing. Enjoy the show, did you?”
Bessie hides her smirk in Richard’s shoulder as the room continues to laugh and drink. One of the courtiers stands up, taking a big gulp from his cup. “Someone else go now. And no more talk of getting your jollies off in the great hall. It was fun the first three times, but now it’s just repetitive.”
A half hour later, our group is well on our way to Tipsyville, if they’re not residents there already. We’re gearing up for a round of hide-and-spy, which is apparently what they call hide-and-seek here.
Lady Wessex rolls her eyes. “We are in a palace. This game could take hours, if not days.”
“Don’t go too far, then,” I suggest. “And if you want to hide in pairs, you can.” I give Bessie a pointed look. She nods in anticipation and grabs Richard’s hand, pulling him off to “hide.”
“The saltiest person is the one to count. That’s you, Lady Wessex.”
She half smiles, half hisses at me as she covers her eyes and starts to count. Everyone goes running from the room in opposite directions, most stumbling and laughing along the way. I take my time, walking down a hall as I look for a decent spot when a door I never noticed before opens beside me. I carefully steal a glance inside. The second I do, I’m pulled in all the way and the door shuts behind me. I’m about to start swinging when my abductor turns to lean back on the closed door—Simon.
“Barely any effort and you already happened upon my hiding space.” His voice is playful, his eyes are smiling, but he looks tired, too.
I move closer to him and touch my cheek to his hand. “Hello,” I say, feeling the beginning of scruff beneath my fingers.
“Hello,” he answers softly.
I let my hand drop from his face and look behind me, seeing that we’re actually at the top of a stairwell and not in a closet, as I assumed. It’s a jarring realization. “Where are we?” I ask.
Simon walks up behind me, and I lean my head back on his shoulder as he wraps his arms around my waist. “It’s a stairwell that leads to a lower room that has a hall leading to the kitchens. It’s how the servants get up and down to deliver your meals without walking through the entire palace.”
I slip out of his grip, moving to the top of the landing to peek down. It’s quiet and dark. Probably out of bounds from hide-and-spy. I doubt anyone would be brave enough to look for us if we ventured down.
“Should we stay or go?” I ask.
Simon only pauses for a moment. “We should go.”
I smile, awash with a pleasant kind of nerves as I head into the darkness and down the steps. I hear Simon behind me as we move farther and farther away from the party, until finally we’re in an empty room with a long wooden table. The door is shut, and only faint moonlight is dripping in through the windows.
I walk around the rectangular table, moving my fingers along the surface, when Simon suddenly speaks.
“I’m to leave court. Tonight.” My stomach drops, but I keep my features neutral as he goes on. “The king is sending me on an urgent errand to London. It shouldn’t take more than a few days. I didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye first.”
I nod at the news. The table is between us, with Simon standing on the other side.
“That’s too bad,” I tell him. “I promised Bessie a party every night to celebrate her coming into womanhood. It’s going to be fun.”
“I’ll be sorry to miss it.” He starts to walk around the table, and I stay where I am.
“You should be. I’m going to introduce the court to the finer points of game called beer pong, and it’s a crowd favorite. It would have appealed to your competitive nature.”
He’s on my side of the table, taking slow but steady steps closer. “It’s not the games that I’ll miss,” he says. We’re only a couple of feet apart, and he takes my hand to interlock our fingers together. My stomach swirls, and I don’t want to let go. I also don’t want him to know how scared I am for him to leave.
I give his hand a reassuring squeeze. “At least we get to see each other now. For a while.”
Simon nods. “It feels unfair. That all we have is a while.” He looks down before going on. “I want you for longer than that.”
His words strike a chord deep in my chest. “A while” might be all we’ll ever have. Whether I stay or I get back home, he’ll be out of reach for me, and the thought forms a painful lump in my throat.
I let go of his hand and turn to sit on the table, my feet dangling a foot above the stone floor. I turn to face him, catching his stormy, quiet eyes. “Tell me something about you that no one else knows.”
He sits beside me and looks ahead. The room is deep in silence when he eventually says, “I’m a very good liar.”
