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She peered curiously at him. “I must be dreaming. Was that ajest, Your Grace? A bit of humor?”
“I think it was.”
“Now you see, when the earth rotates...” Mr. Swann was instructing loudly from the fountain. He was obviously a very learned man. But the sort of learned man who was convinced that everyone around him wanted to learn from his knowledge.
Joshua looked up at the moon. He could see no sign of an eclipse. “I expected to see a shadow.”
The princess looked up, too.
“What do you see when you look at the moon?” he asked curiously.
“A hare.”
“Ahare?”
“Je,look.” She pointed at the moon and traced a shape that did not look like a hare to him. “Do you see?”
“No. Nothing in the moon resembles a hare.”
“But it does!” She shifted closer to him and pointed again. Joshua moved behind her and tried to follow her finger. He was distracted by the smell of rosewater in her hair, the sweet fragrance of her perfume.
“Just there is the Orion constellation.” Mr. Swann’s voice carried over the lawn to where Joshua and the princess were standing. “Named for a hunter in Greek mythology. You can see his club, his shield.” He pointed skyward, gesturing.
“Now do you see it?” the princess asked, ignoring Mr. Swann’s speech.
“No.”
She sighed with exasperation and glanced over her shoulder at him. “Then whatdoyousee?”
“Two things. I see a man.”
“Where?”
Joshua stepped closer. He didn’t know what made him do it, but he settled one hand on her waist and leaned his head over her shoulder. “He’s a bit lopsided, but see the two dark spots there,” he said, pointing out what looked like depressions in the moon.
The princess leaned her head against his shoulder and looked up. Her hair tickled his nose. He didn’t know what to do with this odd little bit of intimacy between them. But he didn’t stop pointing, and he didn’t nudge her away, because he liked the way she felt against him. It felt natural. It felt like she ought to be leaning against him all the time.
The crypt inside him began to rumble. He ignored it. “And the nose just beneath.” He pointed, tracing the air like she had.
“Ah,” she said.
“Do you see it?”
“No.”
“What else do you see?” she asked, and lifted away from his body, stepping forward, folding her arms across her middle.
He was keenly aware of the space she’d just occupied. It felt empty. Exposed to the elements. “I see infinity.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that the moon goes on and on, appearing every night, disappearing every morning. Nothing to do but orbit the earth. On and on and on. Seems tedious, doesn’t it?”
She snorted. “You are describing life, Your Grace. We go to sleep, we rise the next morning, and we do it again. The same thing every day.” She turned her attention to him. Her gaze moved across his face, then lingered on his mouth. His blood stirred—she was thinking about that kiss as much as he was. “Does it follow that our lives are tedious?”
“Would you have it any other way?” he asked. “The alternative is grim.”
She laughed softly. “There is no other way I may have it. I sleep at night, and I rise the next day, and I dress and maybe I ride and maybe I read, and maybe I have visitors...but mostly, I wait. I wait and I wait and I wait. The only thing that makes all that waiting bearable are the surprises that come along when I am least expecting them.”
