She made two false starts before determining on the third way, which led her down a set of stairs that spilled out into one of the palace’s many secluded courtyards.The pale marble square was lined with white pillars that shimmered in the moonlight.The lights and noise of the party rose softly from beyond a darkened wing of the palace.
Neil was still walking.He had nearly reached the far end of the marble paving stones.
“Where are you going?”Constance called after him.
He paused but didn’t look back.“Does it matter?”
Fury replaced the colder fear that had driven her after him.She set her hands on her hips.“Yes, it bloody well does!”
Neil finally turned.He took in her pose and laughed.The sound was dark and helpless.“You looked at me like that thirteen years ago when you were defending using my fountain pen ink to paint the Bayeux Tapestry on one of the bedsheets.”
Constance waved dismissively.“You had plenty of ink.”
“You tookallof it,” Neil countered.
“It was an expansive mural.”Constance crossed her arms defensively over her chest.
The tired flash of humor fell away, and Neil dropped to one of the benches that lined the softly moonlit space.He put his head in his hands.
He looked…broken.
Constance had seen Neil frustrated, horrified, or furious.She had deliberately provoked those reactions from him throughout most of their childhood.
She had only seen him like this once before, back in Egypt when he had thought his terrible choices might have cost Adam and Ellie their lives.What could be happening right now that was anywhere near as awful as that?
Constance sat beside him.“Neil… can you tell me what’s wrong?”
He kept his palms pressed to his eyes under his spectacles.His voice was raw in his throat.“I don’t think that I can, Connie.”
Fear tangled inside of her again.“Why not?”
“Because it wouldn’t be fair.”
“Fair to whom?”
Neil’s face was drawn in the moonlight as he finally raised his head.“Toyou.”
Constance stood and faced him, planting her hands back on her hips.“I don’t care if it’s unfair, then.I want you to say it.”
Neil’s spectacles glinted with silver light as he stared up at her.
“No,” he said.
He stood, moving past her to walk away.
Constance grabbed him by his untucked shirt and anchored him in place with sheer stubborn strength.She hauled him closer.
“I will tie your socks into knots.I will cut open the pockets of every single one of your waistcoats.I will hound you through every nook and corner of this palace, night and day and back around again, until you tell me what is wrong,” she vowed, her voice seething with threat.
Neil’s eyes flickered with a sad shadow of amusement.“You would, too.Wouldn’t you?”
His expression shifted, the poetic lines of his face drawn with dismay.“I’m in love with you, Connie.”
The pillars that framed the courtyard tilted as Constance’s mind blanked with shock.“You’re… what?Butwhy?”
Neil ran a hand through his soft brown hair and laughed helplessly.“Why?Why do you bloody think?!Because you walk into danger like it’s a birthday party.You’ve threatened me with knives.Put a live trout under my pillow.Saved my life.Kissed me like I was…”
He trailed off, the words catching in his throat.A tear slipped past the line of his spectacles to run down his cheek.
