Page 35 of The Marked Princess

Lily gave her a sympathetic smile. “I doubt you'll want to wander too far. The Antoski may be keeping their presence in Eldour quiet, but that doesn't mean they're absent from the city. Let's not forget the search party we encountered on our way here. They were headed this way, and I don't recall passing them going the other way. It's likely they're in the city somewhere.”

“Shoot, I did forget about them. I don't suppose I should test my grandma disguise more than necessary.”

“Well, I wouldn't recommend gallivanting around the town square, but I don't think it'd hurt too much if you stepped out at the harbor,” Dahlia reassured her. “The Valiant Sea isn't something to be missed.”

Josselyn's eyes lit with excitement, and she pressed her hands together. “Oh, yes, a glimpse of the sea would be enough to satisfy me, I'm sure of it.”

The atmosphere inside the wagon bed was considerably lighter as it continued to lumber down the crowded street, and soon they were coming to a stop beside a large pier lined with ships of all sizes. Alex came around to the back with Hiram to help the women out of the wagon. As he handed Josselyn down, she made a face at him.

“You do know I can climb out of here just fine by myself, right?”

“It's my job to serve and protect you in all things, Your Highness. Just doing my duty.”

“Sure you are. Such a diligent... ” She broke off mid-sentence as she turned toward the sea, taking it in fully for the first time.

“Oh!” She took a small step forward. “Oh, my goodness. Alex, have you ever seen anything so beautiful before?” She tugged on the sleeve of his tunic, her eyes still fixed on the water.

When he didn't answer, she turned to look up at him. “Don't you think it's amazing?” Her eyes locked onto his as they stared down at her.

“I should, uh... speak with the harbor master. Hiram suggested we arrange for a ship to take us down to Devon. You'll be safer there, with the duke's men to protect you, and, with any luck, we'll be able to contact General Weston.”

Josselyn bit her lip, feeling suddenly awkward in her disguise. I must look absolutely ridiculous in this get up. Her spine stiffened at the thought, and she mentally scolded herself. Why should it matter what you look like? You're engaged to Edmund, or have you already forgotten? Guilt settled in her belly, heating her cheeks as she realized she had, in fact, forgotten. She cleared her throat, clasping her hands behind her back to keep from fidgeting.

“Sounds good. I'm sure Hiram can point you in his direction. I'll just wait here with the others, if that's all right with you.”

“As you wish, Your Highness,” he replied, his formal speech restored. He walked over to speak with Hiram, who nodded and gestured toward a large building nearby.

“Alex and I are going to seek out the harbor master and discuss our travel options. Stay by the wagon, and try not to draw any additional attention to yourselves. We'll be back as soon as possible to take you over to the Banris'.”

“Yes, sir,” chorused the sisters.

Josselyn smiled. “I shall resist the urge to wander off, I promise.”

Satisfied that the girls would be relatively safe, the two men headed off to find the harbor master. Josselyn watched them go, her eyes lingering on Alex's strong back until it disappeared through the door.

“I saw that look,” Rosemary teased in a sing song voice, twirling her skirts with a little spin and looking over her shoulder at Josselyn with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

“Which look?” Violet piped up, coming around Josselyn's other side and giving her a playful poke. “The one she gave Alex just now when he wasn't looking, or the one he was giving her before that, when she wasn't looking? Really, you two ought to work on your timing.”

Josselyn crossed her arms over her chest with an indignant huff. “If Alex was looking at me at all, it was probably due to this dreadful old lady disguise I'm wearing. Not that I'm ungrateful for the disguise, but it's hardly going to turn any heads.”

“Interesting,” Violet murmured, tapping her chin with her finger. She looked around at her sisters with a knowing grin. “You'll notice she didn't deny looking herself.”

Rosemary giggled, while Dahlia and Lily attempted to hide their smiles behind their hands. Josselyn felt her cheeks heating with an all too familiar blush. She walked over to the low wall that separated the road from the water and rested a hip on it, twisting herself around so that her back was to the others as she stared out at the water.

“I didn't mean to look,” she whispered, and the others quieted, drawing closer as she continued. “I don't have the right to wish for anything like that anymore. I've accepted the proposal of an excellent man, a noble man who also happens to be one of my dearest friends. It's unfair of me to cling to old, unrequited feelings.”

She felt a hand touch her shoulder, and she turned her head slightly to see Lily standing beside her.

“We're sorry, Your Highness, the girls only meant to tease you. We had no idea you were already betrothed.” She looked toward the building the men had entered, then back at Josselyn again. “Although, I do wonder about the unrequited feelings. I've been watching you two these last few days, and I have to say, the way he looks at you when he thinks no one else is looking? I've never seen such intensity before.” She lifted her lips in an playful grin as she added, a bit louder this time, “Not even in David's eyes when he's with Dahlia.”

Josselyn shook her head, despite the sudden pounding of her traitorous heart. “That's sweet of you to say, Lily, but he told me quite clearly that he only saw me as the future queen and nothing more.”

Lily raised a skeptical brow. “Did he really?”

“Yes, really.”

Josselyn threw her hands up in the air. “What would you have me say? That shortly after he was appointed as my personal guard, I summoned every ounce of courage I had in my sixteen-year-old heart and confessed to him how I felt? That I was falling in love with him?” She covered her face with her hands, the old embarrassment stealing over her. “And he just looked at me, like... like I'd grown two heads or something. As if the very idea of my being in love with him was absurd. He told me I was confused, that I had mistaken admiration for love.” She dropped her hands into her lap, staring down at them as they gripped the dull, brown fabric of her dress. “Ever since then, he's been nothing but serious formality. 'Yes, Your Highness.' 'As you wish, Your Highness'. If I'd known how much his attitude towards me would change, I'd never have uttered a word about how I felt. I didn't just lose my first love that day, I lost my friend.”