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But still, it stings to ask about my life like it’s separate from his.
I take a bite of food to give myself time to appear unfazed. “Nothing in particular. I probably have to start thinking about getting back to my normal life.”
I can’t read his face as I say it. I hope he’ll be proud of how independent I’m being, how much I’m not trying to take over his life.
“Really? I was thinking kind of the opposite. That I’m not ready to go back. I want to enjoy being newlyweds with my new bride.”
My eyebrows perk up, and yet again, I’m trying to disguise my happiness behind a poker face. “Oh, yeah? That would be so nice. Are you sure you’re able to, with work and everything?”
Please say this is happening.
“Oh, yeah, my staff has it all. Especially with the new money coming in from the King, there’s a lot of extra hiring.” He comes closer to me and wraps his arm around my shoulder. He kisses me on the cheek, then nears the corner of my mouth. “I was thinking of maybe having a honeymoon. Like a real one.”
“Are we going somewhere? I don’t want to be too far from…”
“Honeymoon, staycation version.”
I finally allow a huge grin to break through my poker face. “How do you know me so well, when we’ve only really started to spend time together in the last three weeks?”
“Well, three weeks, plus twenty years. Give or take.”
I roll my eyes. “As the palace staff’s awkward child? Don’t exaggerate. You barely knew I existed.”
“Not true. But we can debate that on the road.”
“On the road? Where are we going?”
He shoots me a devilish smile. “I’ll tell you when we get there. You’re all packed. Just, there’s one thing we have to do.”
“Oh, yeah? And what’s that?”
Cedrick gets the same sly grin on his face as he pushes his chair in and gets two intricate bags. One is made of rich, dark blue material, the other a lighter blue, both made of material nicer than anything I’ve ever known.
He starts laughing as he opens the bag more fully for me to look. I rifle through several silk scarves, each more beautiful than the last, and several pairs of oversized sunglasses, along with a few delicate hats and a makeup kit.
“What’s all this for?” I ask.
He opens his own, the dark blue, and starts putting on his own elaborate disguise. “So no one bothers us. And to make things even more fun getting to know each other.”
I shake my head, then run over to the hallway mirror to look at myself in a honey-blonde wig, amazed at the transformation.
I laugh at myself in the mirror. Then I see his image behind me, and I lose it. He’s wearing a false mustache, clear spectacles, and an old bowler hat.
“You’re crazy, Cedrick, you know that?”
“Is that an official diagnosis?”
“Maybe we can ask for different opinions on our trip. Are there any prominent doctors where we’re going?”
“No cheating. I see what you’re doing.”
We get into his vintage Jaguar, pulled in front of the circular driveway of the palace, as the staff loads suitcase after suitcase along with our disguise-satchels.
“How long are we going to be gone for?” I ask, suddenly alarmed.
“However long we feel like it.” He places an arm around my shoulder in the convertible, and I feel like I’m in an old Hollywood movie.
Although I’ve traveled the world as a doctor, in my own country of Solvaria I’ve hardly been outside of Virkas, the capital. I was always too busy with school, and then work.
