“But I have wedding planning after class,” I said. I’d barely been focused at all on Ethan and I’s upcoming nuptials with everything going on, and as such, I was really behind… even if I really didn’t care what flavor the cake was, or whatever other silly decision I had to make about the reception.
“Do it later,” Delmare said. “It’s not like you can’t take an afternoon off.”
I glanced at Kiara, and she sighed. “I do agree that if I hear one more lecture on intricate illusions, Iwillfall asleep.”
“So it’s settled,” Delmare said. “Off we go.”
I wasn’t sure, until I realized that everyone, even Kiara, was gathering their things and putting them away. I didn’t want to be caught by Professor Elm packing up if he so chose to stroll in here at any second, so I swept my things into my bag, and we hurried out of the classroom. We deposited our books in Odette’s room, then ran off giggling down the corridor.
“We should get out of the palace, before Elm comes looking for us,” Kiara gushed. “Oh, this is such fun! I’ve never skipped school for fun before.”
“Where shall we go?” Delmare asked. The question was problematic— as queen, I couldn’t go anywhere without drawing attention.
“The countryside,” I burst. “We’ll have a picnic. It’s one of the last warm days before winter starts blowing in. We should enjoy it.”
“Is it safe, though?” Kiara wondered. “There are a lot of troops stationed from here to Pruska.”
“That’s on the east side of the city,” I said. “If we go to the west, no one will be out there. It’s nothing but farmland. I can make a portal that’ll take us there and back.”
“Our mates are going to freak out,” Kiara said. “They’ll think we’ve gone missing.”
“We’ll leave letters behind, so they’ll know we ran off. They can be mad at us later,” I said, waving my hand.
It was childish, risky in a time of war, and a bit stupid. But I was tired of playing it safe and being a goody-goody all the time. I wanted to have a little bit of fun, and after months of being the best queen I could be, I thought I deserved an afternoon playing hooky.
We wrote our letters, then left them behind in our individual quarters. The girls stole a picnic basket and a bunch of food from the kitchens as I bloomed a portal in the dining room. The portal showed the expansive Malovian countryside, and I felt a thrill of glee. We stepped on through, and the hot sun soaked into my skin as I entered the warm fall air.
The grass here was up to our ankles, green and lush. Dolinska was miles off, and the only sight around us was the cloudless blue sky.
“Wee! Come on, girls!” Odette sang. We giggled as we picked up our skirts and ran through the grass. The breeze blew back my hair, and we came upon an orchard of wild apples. Kiara spread out a blanket and began taking out things for our picnic as Delmare and Odette summoned their wings and fluttered up to the treetops, picking the wild apples and tossing them down to me.
I felt a prodding from Ethan, who’d found my letter and wanted me to come back home. I indicated I was having fun, and sent him a mental picture of the beautiful field around me. A huge smile spread across my face as I literally felt him scowl.
Delmare raised an eyebrow. “Stefan’s being very adamant.”
“Ignore him,” Kiara said, before she gave a giggle. “They’re all gathered together, talking about what they should do about us.”
“Ooh, they’re peeved. I can sense it through Theo,” Odette said. “How fun.”
“Maybe Emma will get a spanking later,” Delmare teased, and the girls laughed.
“If I’m lucky,” I cracked. I felt a note of annoyance pass through our bond, but Ethan left me alone.
“They’ve given up,” Delmare said. “They’re just going to wait for us to get back, instead of deal with the aggravation of coming out and getting us.”
“They know we’re uncontrollable.” Kiara snickered.
We sat on the blanket and began gorging ourselves with raspberry pie and cherry tarts. It was splendid, not having to worry about anything and merely enjoying the nice weather. I needed to get out of the palace more often.
“Ooh, it’s such a lovely, magical day,” Odette sang. “It reminds me of the time Theo and I met arusalka!”
We’d all heard this story many times from Odette, but it was always fun listening to it again. “Can you remind me what arusalkais?” I asked.
“Rusalkaare fae water spirits, found only in rivers in Eastern Europe. They are closely related to mermaids, but they have faekin blood, and therefore, are much more powerful,” Kiara explained. “They are low in number, and very difficult to locate. They haven’t been seen in years.”
“Which is why you probablydidn’tfind one, and ran into something else,” Delmare teased, poking Odette in the side.
Odette’s face got red. “I did too see arusalka! Ask Theo yourself!”
