Ever After (Unfinished Fairy Tales #3)(27)
And where can I go when I return to Athelia? It’s unlikely that I can stay at the palace. I have to find a place to live and learn how to take care of myself, without servants helping me dress or serving me meals. I don’t think I’d want for money—Edward won’t let me starve—but can I go back to pretending I am Katriona Bradshaw? Impossible. Bianca can easily prove that I’m not her sister. I’ll have to use my own name.
Moreover, how are we going to pull Katriona Bradshaw off the throne? Mr. Davenport warned us that adultery is the only acceptable reason to grant a divorce. Katriona Bradshaw is in the most coveted position of most young ladies, and if it were me, I’d be hard-pressed to let it go either.
My troubles are just beginning.
* * *
Early next morning, Henry enters the bedroom and informs me there’s a carriage waiting for me outside. I’m still wearing that horrible gown I got from Jér?me’s former mistress, since Henry doesn’t have any clothes that I can change into. Unless I could disguise myself as a man, but I don’t want to learn how to bind my breasts. My dress is all wrinkled, but there’s nothing I can do about it. It’s already a relief I’ve escaped from Jér?me.
“Thank you for helping me.”
“I’m only doing it because Edward asked me.” There is a pause, and his gaze hardens. “You’d better make him happy this time, Katherine Wilson. Or I’ll never forgive you.”
The curtains are drawn up in the carriage. It is barely dawn, the light breaking over the horizon. Yet there are already sounds of horses trotting, of people hawking their wares in the streets. A few young men who look like scholars, judging from the long black cloaks they wear, are heading in the direction of the Royal Institute.
I adjust the wig on my head and enter the carriage. Instantly, I am seized by the waist and deposited on someone’s lap.
Edward.
I gaze at him as if it has been twenty years we have been apart. He looks thinner, paler, and there are dark areas under his eyes. When is the last time he had a good night’s sleep? Gently, I touch the darkness under his right eye. “You look terrible.”
A noise comes from his throat. “This is the first thing you say to me when you come back?”
“Edward, we already talked last night at the masque.”
“In private,” he amends.
“Because you are looking even worse than when we had those nightly conversations.” I glare at him. “You haven’t been taking care of yourself.”
“And whose fault is it?” He yanks my wig off, and my red hair spills over my shoulders. “Gods above,” he whispers. “Last night wasn’t a dream. You have really come back to me.”
This time I let the tears come. I gather his face in my hands and kiss him. He fastens his arms around my back, pressing me close to his body, and responds with such ferocity that I’ve no doubt my lips will be bruised and ruby-red. It goes on so long that I have to break away from him with a cough.
“Didn’t the fairies cure you of your breathing problem?” There is alarm in his voice.
“Of course, but a kiss as long as that would always take my breath away.”
“Hmm.” He draws his thumb over my lips. “Then we need to practice more.”
I flush, a wave of heat and pleasure washing over me at the ardent desire in his tone. “I’d love that.”
Edward smiles, pleased at my answer, and kisses me again. “I wish that we didn’t have to separate so soon. If I could get away with it, I would swap you with Katriona Bradshaw and have you back by my side, but we must be patient.” He places his hands on my shoulders. “Listen carefully. I have arranged for Bertram to accompany you back to Athelia, on the pretense that his mother had suddenly taken ill. You are to pose as his elder sister. You will need to board a ship, which will take several days, and then Bertram will escort you to Amelie’s sister.”
“Amelie? Is she here or in Athelia?”
“She is here, as Katriona Bradshaw needs assistance.” He says the words like they are lemon rind in his mouth. “I would prefer to have her accompany you as well, but that would arouse suspicion. I can spare Bertram, but Katriona Bradshaw cannot do without Amelie.”
Edward retrieves a bag lying under the carriage seat. “You cannot wear that gown for days, so I asked Amelie pack a change of clothes. Do not ask me how she managed it, I have no idea. Also, there’s a letter I’ve written for Mary. I have told her to take you under her wing. She owes me a debt and is unlikely to refuse.”
Before Edward and I married, I had moved into the palace and Amelie became my maid. Anyone could see that Bertram (and several other young men) were smitten by her, but she had always remained cool and distant. I had asked Amelie why she isn’t interested in men, and she told me it’s because of her sister. Her sister suffered from domestic abuse and had to apply for a divorce, even though it’s not widely practiced in Athelia. It is her sister’s misfortune that made Amelie reluctant to open her heart.
“What’s the debt she owes you?”
“Her husband beat her whenever he was in a bad mood, even when she was pregnant. There was an occasion I happened to witness him shouting at her, and she was trying to protect her belly from his foot. I stopped him from assaulting her and got a restraining order. She gave birth shortly after, and I am certain that if it weren’t for me, she might not have survived, nor her child.”