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“Urban,” she scolded, slapping my arm and backing away with just enough force to break free of my hold. “There’s no time for that. We have a castle to save. Heck, an entire kingdom to protect.”
I rather thought there was always time for such contact, but I sighed and cracked my neck from one side to the other. “Okay, fine. So you know where to find the magic nanny, right?”
She bit her lip and winced. “Maybe. I think. It’s the only place she might possibly go at a time like this, anyway.”
“Great.” I rubbed my hands together. “Where?”
But Vienne only winced again. “Um…actually, I can’t tell you. You might have too hard of a time believing me.”
I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. “Why’s that?”
She didn’t have an answer. All she did was cringe even more. “I’ll just have to show you.”
Chapter 35
Urban
She took me out of the castle through the secret tunnel.
First, we went along a narrow corridor that passed behind the kitchens and down a dark stairwell, where she had to grab a torch resting in a wall sconce at the top before descending. At the bottom, I found myself in a dank, cool wine cellar.
“Hold this, will you?” She handed the torch to me so she could turn to a stone wall and dig the fingers of both her hands into a crack I wouldn’t have noticed otherwise. Then she gritted her teeth until the tendons in her neck strained and she began to pull open a concealed doorway.
Feeling the fool for standing there, holding the light while she did all the muscle work, I dryly said, “I could’ve done that for you, you know.”
Once the door was opened enough for us to pass through, she straightened, blew out a breath and moved some hair out of her eyes with her fingers. “I didn’t mind,” she told me brightly, reaching back to retrieve the torch.
I handed it over, asking, “Who usually holds the light for you while you open this door?”
I didn’t want to be jealous, but dammit, I was jealous of anyone who got to see this hidden side of her.
Her shoulders shrugged as she moved into the tunnel ahead of me. “No one. I don’t bring people down here, and I’m adept at traveling this in the dark. I just thought you’d like to actually see where we were going. Could you close the door behind us?”
She moved ahead without waiting on me, so I rushed to pull the door shut, and son of a bitch, my one true love had some muscle in her compact little body to handle such a heavy boulder.
I always knew she was more awesome than anyone else suspected.
Once I was finished with my task, I dusted my hands off on my thighs and turned to hurry after her, only to curse swiftly and hunch my shoulders before I could hit my noggin on the ceiling.
Thank God for her light, otherwise I’d have a raging headache right about now.
Cursing under my breath, I bent my knees to keep low and scrambled after Vienne. “So, you’re adept at sneaking out of the castle in the dark, huh?” I asked conversationally. “Why do I get the sense you could provide me with a whole heap of surprising revelations from that one sentiment alone?”
She grinned over her shoulder at me, the reflection of the torchlight on her cheeks surprising me all over again with how stunningly beautiful she was, especially with the added impish gleam in her eyes. “My old nanny isn’t the only contact I meet with in secret. It takes a lot of quiet, behind-the-scenes work to help the king keep this realm running smoothly, you know.”
“I see,” I said. “Crochets baby booties by day and saves the kingdom by night, one secret rendezvous at a time. Yes, it all makes perfect sense now.”
She snorted out a laugh. “How did you know about the booties?”
“What? You’re not the only one who’s been furtively slinking about. I had to learn about you somehow. Those booties were adorably awful, by the way. Did they even fit poor Anniston’s feet once she was born?”
“Of course not,” she muttered. “The heel was wider than the toe so they just fell right off her.”
“Ah, well,” I said on a sigh. “They’ll be perfect little mementos to put in her keepsakes chest, regardless.” With a smile, I added, “I still have a set of booties my mother stitched for me before I was born. Allera says they never fit me either, as I had huge baby feet, apparently. But does that matter now? No. They’re the only thing I have that my mother made me, so I cherish them anyway. As Anniston will cherish hers.”
Vienne was quiet a moment before murmuring, “Thank you. That actually means a lot.”
I nodded. “Every time I see you with her, I always wish I’d gotten to know my own mother. She—dear God. Are we passing under the moat right now?”
