AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When he returned to us, the footstool in his arms, I gaped in shock as he set it directly before me to rest my feet on. I lifted my gaze from the stool, but he’d already straightened and swung away, walking off without saying a single word.
Beside me, Allera chattered on about what I needed to write in the announcements and where to find the list of people they were to be sent to. Suddenly, she paused. “What’s wrong? Do you not think we should send an announcement to Far Shore?”
“What? Oh, no,” I said, flushing. “Sorry. I wasn’t thinking about that at all.” My stare wandered back toward her brother who was climbing the ladder again to assist Brentley.
Allera followed my gaze slowly, only to whip her attention back to me, her eyes wide.
Feeling caught, I flushed and blustered with the need to say something to distract her from my ogling ways. “Your brother’s quite an enigma, isn’t he?”
“Urban?” Allera asked in a high, worried voice. “What makes you say that? I’ve always found him to be one of the most forthright and open people I’ve ever known.”
“I…” Realizing I didn’t have a ready answer for my assumption, I shook my head. “I’m sorry. I’m not sure why I said that. I guess I just haven’t had much contact with him yet to form a valid opinion. I… Huh. Actually, I don’t believe we’ve spoken together at all since you two arrived. Not even once.”
How curious.
Allera nodded, almost humbly, and set the box of stationary on my lap, before she began to turn away without comment, which was all so very unlike her. Especially today. It made me want to keep addressing the subject because it left me even more intrigued.
“It’s just…” I lifted my voice, making her pause and turn back, her eyebrows raised. Leveling my tone back to normal, I said, “I get the strange sense he avoids me on purpose.”
“I…” Something wide-eyed and almost panicked entered Allera’s expression before she shook her head and sent me a puzzled look. “I don’t… I mean…”
“Of course, I’m probably only imagining it,” I rushed to add, feeling as if I’d misspoken. “It’s just that I’ve seen him speak with everyone, even Soren and Yasmin, but I don’t think he’s ever said a single word directly to me. It made me wonder if he didn’t like me for some reason. But then he brought me that stool to rest my feet on just now without any kind of prompting, which I found to be uncommonly kind, and now I worry that he and I have never spoken because I’m the discourteous one who never approached him.” I bit my lip, glancing after the puzzling prince. “Have I been terribly rude and unwelcoming?”
“What? Oh, no. No, of course not!” Allera laughed as she covered my hands I didn’t realize I had started to wring. “I promise you, my sweet Vienne, he doesn’t dislike you. And you’ve been a bit preoccupied, preparing for your first child’s birth to worry about other new arrivals to the castle. Urban hasn’t expected anything from you at all. I swear it.”
I nodded, even though something told me more was going on with him than I thought.
As if sensing my unsettled thoughts, Allera admitted, “He… Urban hasn’t entirely been himself lately, either.” After an uneasy pause, she lifted her face from our connected hands and looked into my eyes. “You’re aware he met his one true love recently, right?”
I nodded. “Yes, of course. I remember him telling Nicolette on the first night you two arrived. He said she was already married to someone else, if I recall.”
Allera smiled softly. “That’s right. She’s not…available to him, which has taken quite a toll, I’m afraid. He’s still not sure how to deal with the fact that he can’t be with her. So… Any moodiness or standoffish behavior he has exhibited as of late is no fault of yours, I assure you. He’s just dealing with an inner battle at the moment that is far different from any other he’s experienced before.”
I gazed toward the prince, my heart going out to him. And I actually felt a little guilty for doing nothing but appreciate his fine appearance from afar when all the while he’d been going through… Well, whatever misery he was going through.
“I should speak with him more,” I decided. Surely pleasant contact with others would help soothe whatever troubled his soul. “Make him feel included.”
Except Allera cried, “No!” with such passion that I snapped a startled blink her way.
She flushed and pressed her fingers to her lips before pulling her hand away and saying, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be so forceful. I just… Urban doesn’t really work that way. I think it’s best if he dealt with his…his misery in his own way, without anyone bringing attention to it.”
I nodded, respecting her wishes since she certainly knew him better than I did. “Do you think he’s suffering much without her?” I had to ask, though.
My friend lifted her eyes and looked at me directly before admitting, “Yes.” She said it baldly enough to shock me. “I think he’s suffering a great deal without her. She’s an incredible, kind-hearted woman. And he knows it.”
Chapter 14
Urban
On the eve before Allera and Brentley’s wedding, celebrations had already started at the castle. All the king’s important council members, dignitaries, emissaries, and their families, plus Soren’s three oldest offspring—ranging in age from six to nine—came to feast with us in the dining hall.
I wasn’t a fan of the extra crowd, the boisterous noise, and rowdy cheers that went up. The few people I was used to interacting with—either Allera, Brentley, or Nicolette—were all busy. Brentley was escorting Allera around the room to introduce her to everyone while Nicolette led some kind of chasing game with Soren’s children.
Feeling as separated from everyone else as I’d ever felt, I made my way out of the keep to check in on the soldiers who’d become my friends in the back bailey.
They had a low campfire burning, and about half a dozen of them were sitting around it talking when I strolled up.
“Hey, if it isn’t the high and mighty prince in his preppy pants come to visit,” one called in teasing welcome. “What? Are you already tired of all the big important nobles flooding into the castle to celebrate the fancy wedding tomorrow?”
