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“Can’t you two be late some mornings?” Gale asked, his tone annoyed.
“I’m sorry, sir?” Balduin questioned, completely lost as to why he was angry.
I giggled. “It’s fine, Balduin. We were just talking. What is it?”
“Your schedules for the day,” Wolfgang said, walking over to me to hand me mine as Balduin walked over to Gale.
From the corner of my eye, I could see him give the poor man a dirty glare. Which made me kick him gently. Feeling it, he paused and looked at me, kicking me back…and we ended up playing footsie under the table.
“Should we come back, sir?” Balduin asked when he noticed we were distracted.
“Yes,” he said.
“No,” I said.
So they both stood still, not sure what to do.
“We are going to arrive soon,” I reminded him.
He sighed and nodded.
“We can continue later, though,” I muttered, lifting up the schedule to hide my face.
“Good, I will wear shin guards.”
I kept my head down, trying not to laugh.
Finally! Fucking finally, our cold war had come to an end…over jelly bagels no less. But I’d take it over another day of the cold silence. I was nearly losing my mind. I so badly just wanted to talk to her, explain again, plead. But she had shut me out completely. Which made me angry at her for being so harsh. Then angry at myself. Which left me staying silent because I didn’t want to throw gas on an already burning fire.
I just kept to Hadrian’s advice—stayed close but remained patient. And it worked. Her giggle and feeling her foot smash up against mine made me feel like spring had come in the middle of winter. Only we couldn’t go further and fully turn the chapter on this because we were still on tour. I didn’t mind meeting the people with her; it was the only time she would let me hold her hand or kiss her cheek. I knew it was all for the press, but again I was a desperate man, and so I took anything I could take. Now that we were on our way to making up, though, it felt like everyone was blocking us from being alone again.
“And this very sacred chapel was built by your great-great-great-great-uncle Lord Philibert Fizroy, the first Duke of Amersborg,” the priest explained to us when we stood at the altar, where a nativity scene was on full display, in the small local church, with blue stained glass and the smell of incense in the air.
Everyone in Amersborg seemed beside themselves that we were here, even more so than other cities or towns. Amersborg was so small, with only about 500 hundred people in it, that when I saw it was on the list of our stops, I was confused. The reason why my great-great-great-great-uncle Lord Philibert Fizroy was the first and only duke here was that he was the second illegitimate son of King Maximus the V. He wasn’t given the title prince; however, I guess they wanted to give him some sort of title, and so…Amersborg. I knew the history, so it was all boring to me. And yet Odette looked completely marveled, asking him about everything.
“The stained glass is so stunning. Was it made here?” Odette asked him, moving to see it better.
I wasn’t sure if she was serious or this was part of her benevolent queen persona.
“Yes, ma’am, it was!” The mayor, a very, very old man with a fur hat and thick red scarf around his neck, interjected as he came up beside me as fast as he could with his walking cane. “Amersborg had some of the finest craftsmen in the whole kingdom.”
Had…being past tense.
“Everywhere looks like a movie,” Odette said and looked back at me. “You know those types where a girl leaves the big city and tries to find herself, only to find the true spirit of Christmas within the town!”
I grinned at her. What movie was she watching?
“She loves the sweetest and cheesiest of movies,” I said to the priest. And apparently Christmas. I noticed the closer we came to it, the more excited she was every time she saw snowfall or Christmas lights.
“If you have a second, some of the local children want to sing a Christmas carol for you.”
At the words, Christmas carol, her eyes lit up, and even though we were supposed to be moving on, I just nodded.
“Yes, we’d love that,” I said, looking around for the children.
“Everyone.” The mayor clapped his cane on the floor.
Like we were in a movie, the children came from every direction, even the altar, already dressed in costumes.
