"I thought we were meeting by the entrance?"
She shrugged. "You took so long that I got bored. Besides, it's such a beautiful day I figured I'd cool off a bit."
She flicked her hand toward me, and I flinched, except no water hit me and she laughed.
“Sorry for making you wait, but I needed to make sure that everyone had already left."
"Oh, I get it. Meeting me in secret?” She arched her eyebrow, playful, but the words stung in my chest like darts.
“No. Of course not." I snapped. Lord Marchand’s warning burned bright in my head. Veda may not have the poise or upbringing as the noble girls, but what she lacked in grace she gave back in fire.
"Easy, prince. Plus it probably took you forever to change out of all that royal garb."
"Yeah. I couldn't wait to get it off. It's so hot and constricting."
"You mean you didn't want to keep the crown?" She ruffled her hand through my hair, the skin of her fingertips still cool from the fountain. I closed my eyes for a second, reveling in her touch and using it to try to push down my toxic thoughts.
"The crown is what I hate the most.” I shoved my hands in my pockets and jumped up on the edge of the fountain walking around, one foot directly in front of the other and my arms outstretched for balance. "Are you hungry? Because I'm absolutely starving."
"I could be."
I jumped down from the fountain stomping my feet in front of her and she giggled, a playful smirk breaking across my own face. "Great. I know a place that makes the best hand pies in the kingdom."
She slid her arm to the crook of my elbow. "Then let's go. I can't miss out on the best hand pies in all of the kingdom, now can I?”
We turned the corner, leaving the theatre grounds and back into the narrow streets of Mosa. People in their colorful dresses and perfect jackets scurried down the narrow sidewalks. Lines of candy-colored window shutters stood open to let the fresh air in. The beauty of a typical day in the city under the warm heat of the afternoon sun, but something seemed off, broken, as it lacked the same buzz and magic it used to. The incident in the marketplace had fractured the spirit of the city and even though they tried to continue on, as usual, the dark cloud of my father's sins hung over them.
"Thank you for your help in there. You really have a way with words, don't you?”
She flexed her arm against mine. “Well, I am a writer. Or at least trying to be. But I'm sure you would've handled it without me. I just moved things along a little faster."
"Maybe." I struggled with her faith in me as I doubt I would have the same if our situations were reversed. "I didn't know you'd even be there. When I hadn't heard from you, I just assumed you were still at the temple or had just gone home."
"Well, I stayed there for a while, but it's not like it was that bad. My father has quite the temper, but once he calms down he typically realizes his ways."
"So he didn't punish you for bringing me up there?"
"Unless you mean beating me in eight straight games of checkers as punishment, then no. However, he did make me clean up after the chickens."
She laughed and the muscles in my back and shoulders relaxed.
"But, I did have a long talk with him about your situation. He wouldn't tell me anything, said it really wasn't my business, but he has agreed to speak with you again if you want to?"
I peeled out of her clutch and stepped in front of her with my hands on her shoulders. I gazed into her deep green eyes as they sparkled in the sunshine, like the lush mystery of the forest at the top of the hill. “Of course, I do. I can have someone from the capital bring him here right away."
"Hold up.” She slipped her arms between mine and pushed outward, breaking my hold on her then slipping her arm back in mine. “He will only talk to you on the contingent that you go back up to the temple. He has things to attend to there and since this is your issue, he feels you need to make sacrifices for the information."
"I guess that's fair, but I have no idea how I'll get back there. I don’t know my way up the sides of the mountain, at least not that high. Maybe Griswold or someone else might have an idea of how to get there.“
"Just borrow Alizeh. If you call her, I'm sure she would come. If she doesn't have time, she won't. You'll just have to wait, maybe, that's all.” She nodded her head as she spoke, subliminally coaxing me to agree. "Besides, since you are a king now I guess everything belongs to you anyway."
"I could never do that. I'm not like that, you should know."
I pulled my arm back, but she squeezed it tighter.
"Wow. Does that crown suck out all of your sense of humor? Not that you are a sparkling wit, to begin with, but it was just a joke."
"Sorry. It's been a rough few days." I tugged her over to the right side of the street and the door of a small two-room shop with a dark blue awning to match its navy shutters. A rough hand-painted sign sat in the window, Madame Madeleine's Perfect Pies, it read with an oddly-shaped pie drawn in the corner.
The sweet, buttery smell of the shop wafted outside and I let my nose guide us to the entrance.
I
