She nodded, her head close to his shoulder. “Now?”
He glanced through the invisible folds of robe. There was no sign of the saleslady, and Nigel thought he could hear her rummaging around in the back somewhere. It was as good an opportunity as any. “Yes. Now.”
At an awkward shuffle, they made their way back through the crowded shop. It wasn’t as easy as one might think, for some of the turns were very pokey, and the robe wanted to catch and pullover every display they passed. Luna continued to hold Nigel close, matching her stride to his, and Nigel couldn’t remember a time in his life when his body had felt more awake and alive. He honestly didn’t care if they were caught. He didn’t care if they were dragged out by their ears, cast from the park, and told never to return. This sensation of Luna’s arm wrapped around him was worth any price, even imprisonment, if it came to it.
Fighting with everything he had to keep his breath steady and betray nothing of the thrilling excitement coursing through his veins, he somehow managed to navigate them to the door. The shop clerk was still in the back somewhere, so Nigel hastily opened the door. Bells tinkled, a different tone from those at The Arcane Bouquet. They sounded oddly threatening, and Luna gasped a little, “Eeep!” of surprise and pressed even closer to him. But no one shouted, no one came running, and they staggered out of the shop into the ruinous and roofless stone passage on the other side of the door.
Nigel looked down at Luna. Both his arms were up, holding the robe out so that it could cover them in its magic, but he fought the temptation to let the whole thing drop and encircle her in his embrace. She tilted her face back, and he realized how very, very close she was. Her breath was sweet; she smelled like raspberry scones and spiced orange blossoms. An intoxicating medley.
“Where to next?” she asked, turning away and peering into the gloomy castle passage.
“Erm. This way, I think. Through the long gallery.”
She nodded. Of an accord, they remained under the invisibility robe as they progressed cautiously together. At one point, Bonnibelle the tour guide appeared in the distance, looking very stern as she emerged from the Staff Only section. Nigel’s heart leapt, but she turned the opposite way and stomped off out of sight.
Luna breathed out a sigh. “Something about that woman unnerves me!” she said. “What do you think, Mr. Grimm?”
“Terrifying,”he answered with vim.
Luna giggled. And it was too adorable for words. If he could make her giggle like that every day for the rest of his life, it would be a life well spent.
Nigel pulled himself together with an effort. “Shall we continue?”
She nodded. They shuffled back into motion, their footsteps scuffing along the ancient stone floor. They made it to the turret stairs without mishap. Here they could not continue as they were, for the stairway was much too narrow. “You should keep the robe on,” Nigel said, reluctantly slipping out from under the silken folds and out of the half-circle of her embrace. “I’ll go first and make certain it’s clear up top.”
Luna’s voice appeared from the seemingly empty air beside him. “What if you’re spotted?”
“I’ll pretend to be lost and searching for you.” He nodded in what he hoped was her general direction. “Don’t worry. I can play the bumbling idiot if necessary.”
Feeling strangely bereft without her pressed to his side, Nigel climbed the turret stairs, listening to her soft footsteps behind him. He looked back once, but it was uncanny to see absolutely nothing, not even the faintest shimmer of magic. Old Yorik Balthazar’s robe was quite a spectacular piece of spellwork.
At the top of the stairs, he peered out to make certain there was no one else up on the so-called Lover’s Tower. All was clear, and he beckoned. Luna slipped out of the robe as she stepped into the open air beside him. As she did so, the silk shivered back into full view and appeared like nothing more than a very ornate dressing gown. Luna draped it over her arm and looked around.
Then, with a little “Oh!” of delight, she sprang to the viewing rail. Nigel followed after. Ballycastle did indeed look quitespectacular under the glow of sunset. It was a different city from the one they’d observed only a few short hours ago. But his gaze wasn’t really drawn to the stunning vista of orange light on shimmering rooftops and distant monuments. He enjoyed the much nearer pleasure of watching Luna’s face. Her expression was strangely sad, he thought. Sad and . . . longing, somehow. He wondered why. And wished he had a right to inquire.
She turned to him after a little while, brushing a strand of windblown hair back from her cheek. “Where do you think the star will appear?”
Nigel blinked and looked away, embarrassed to be caught staring. “Directly overhead,” he said, pointing upward. “That would be my guess.”
She tipped back her face, holding her hat on with one hand. “We’ll get cricks in our necks!”
“We could lie down,” he suggested. “In the middle there. That would be the best view, and if the star is real, we’ll be sure to see it.”
Luna nodded and relinquished the robe when he reached for it. First setting aside the empty carpet bag, Nigel spread the robe out like a blanket, then motioned for her to sit. She settled down in the middle of the silk, reclined onto her back, hands folded across her stomach, her pretty ankles neatly crossed. Nigel took his place beside her, with his legs sticking out beyond the edge of the robe. Their heads were fairly close, but angled so that each watched a slightly different portion of sky.
Luna shivered suddenly. Despite the lovely Fool’s Spring weather, the temperature was dropping back into wintry chill now that the sun was setting. “A bit nippy for stargazing,” she said.
Nigel grunted. But he was in no hurry to leave.
“I used to go stargazing with Auntie Apolonia, you know,” Luna continued after a little silence. “The rooftop of the backshed was relatively flat, and we’d climb up there on summer evenings and lie back to watch the sunset and all the stars coming out, one by one. Auntie Aurora thought stargazing might be heathen behavior, and Auntie Arabella was much too timid to dare the ladder. But Auntie Apolonia was an avid astrological enthusiast. She taught me all the constellations.”
A small smile tilted the edge of Nigel’s mouth. He felt he’d come to know Luna’s aunties rather well over these last few months and half-suspected if he were to bump into them randomly on some street, he would recognize them in a heartbeat. “Did you have a favorite constellation?” he asked.
“Oh, I always like Thalira the Warrior! We had an old book of Plymian poems, and there was one about her I dearly loved.‘In armor adorned with the scars of her fight, she stands unyielding, a symbol of light.’It felt right, somehow, that she’d made the heavens her immortality. I always liked to imagine that one day I would leave Tealeaf Cottage and set out on adventures like Thalira.” Luna sighed and wriggled her booted feet. “I suppose Iamon an adventure now. But it’s not quite what I’d imagined.”
Hearing the sadness in her voice, Nigel fought the temptation to reach out and take her hand, to give her fingers an encouraging squeeze. But her hands were still both clasped rather tightly over her stomach, and he didn’t think it would do to pry one away.
After another silence, he asked softly, “If we do see this miraculous shooting star, what will you wish for?”
