Page 4 of Save a Wish

I wouldn’t be participating, however. No thank you.

Hard pass. I’d heard a girl in the airport say that phrase when I’d been waiting to board this plane and if I’d caught its meaning correctly, it definitely applied to my situation.

While I’d been waiting, I’d also been constantly looking over my shoulder for Verdalachian guards marching toward me, intent on dragging me back to my father’s court.

Back to Cian.

Back to a life I didn’t want, hadn’t dreamed of, and never would accept.

“There are places all over the world that do not use marriage like this,” I’d protested.

“Verdalach is not one of those places, my dear girl,” my father had countered. “It is a great honor for you to act as a bridge between our kingdom and Cian’s. We will all benefit from this association.”

Not all of us. I’d seen enough of Cian’s callousness, temper, and general disagreeability to know spending a lifetime by his side would not result in bliss. Not like the bliss I’d secretly read about in the books my attendant and friend, Orla, had snuck into my chambers. She had a cousin who lived in America who had sent her these wonderful stories of romance and strong women and . . . passion.

Oh, the passion . . .

I fanned my face now as I still peered at the ocean below the plane. Swimming in that water might cool me off after thinking about those steamy scenes where the heroes made the heroines feel absolutely wonderful.

I wanted to feel absolutely wonderful. I deserved to feel absolutely wonderful. At least, that was what Orla had told me, and I wanted to believe her. When she’d hatched this crazy plan to get me a new identity and help me leave Verdalach under the cover darkness, I never thought it would actually work.

But, somehow, it had.

Orla had managed to secure me travel documentation under the name Sadie Rodgers and provided me with an American driver’s license—even though I was thirty and had never driven a car. I knew how to drive. I’d just never had to actually do it.

“You take these.” After a quick bow, she’d pushed the fake materials into my hands. “Fionn will get you to the airport undetected.”

“How?” I’d asked. Fionn was Orla’s brother, another servant and friend, but what did he know about sneaking princesses out of palaces?

“Put these on.” Orla had handed me clothes made of simple fabrics that were probably her own. “These will hide your royalty, but when you arrive in America, buy an outfit that fits the fashion there so you’ll blend in better.”

She’d helped me change and had freed my long, red hair from the bejeweled braid it had been in. Brushing through it, she’d said, “Let this hang about you, Princess. It makes you look more casual and less royal.”

I’d fingered my unbound tresses, marveling over how . . . independent the carefree hairstyle made me feel.

The next hours had been a blur as Fionn whisked me away from the palace, my home, my parents, my unwanted fate of being Cian’s wife. He’d ferried me across an expanse of water to the mainland where he then drove me to an airport.

“Orla managed to sell some of your jewelry and gowns.” Fionn had handed me an envelope as we’d stood together outside the entrance to the airport. “There’s enough here to buy a ticket and secure lodging in America. The rest is up to you, Sadie.” He’d winked at the use of my new name.

I’d taken the envelope. “Thank you, Fionn. I will never forget what you and Orla have risked for me.”

“It was the right thing for us to do,” he’d said. “To help you. You’ve always treated us so kindly and we will miss you greatly. Maybe one day things will change in Verdalach and you can return.”

I’d had many things I’d wished to say to him, more gratitude to express, some fears to reveal, but Fionn had nudged me toward the airport doors.

“Choose a nice place to begin again, my lady.” He’d bowed slightly so as not to attract attention, backed away a step, then hopped into the flow of people bustling about outside, becoming lost to me in mere seconds.

Then I’d been alone. Utterly and completely alone.

The fear had almost gotten the best of me. I’d nearly flagged down another driver and demanded to be taken back to the palace, but laughter to my right had me turning in that direction. A man and a woman had been leaning against each other, their lips locked in a kiss that announced to the world how happy they were to see each other.

I would never, ever experience a kiss like that if I stayed in Verdalach. If I married Cian. If I lived my royal life.

And I wished, more than anything, to be kissed like that.

That desire had been enough to send me into the airport where I’d fumbled my way through purchasing a ticket to a destination called Vermont in the United States. I’d selected it purely because it began with V-e-r like Verdalach, and although I’d been fleeing my home country, I also wanted something that still tied me to it. Luckily, English was spoken in Verdalach—allowing me to enjoy those romance novels Orla loaned me—and language wouldn’t present a problem for me in America.

Now, I was about to land in this Vermont place, hopefully play the part of Sadie Rodgers to some success, and find the love Orla’s books made seem possible.