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“Right.” William took her hand in his and squeezed. “How am I going to walk past the guards?”

Victoria pursed her lips, holding back laughter. “We are going to smuggle you through.”

He raised a brow. “How?”

Victoria slowly started shedding her clothes, and that’s when he realized that not only was she wearing a few layers, but her clothes were far too big for her.

In his defense, he’d only seen her face in the barred opening of the door, and when he’d gotten free, he was more interested in her lips than her clothes.

“Wear this,” she said, handing him women’s items of clothing one by one, complete with a wig and a shawl to put around his head.

“You’ll have to crouch to look womanly—you’re too tall—but we’ll pretend to weep,” Victoria instructed with a mischievous grin.

William pulled her close, planting a desperate kiss on her lips before donning the clothes and wrapping the shawl around his head. Arm in arm, they shuffled out, shoulders shaking with fake sobs. William buried his face in the crook of Victoria’s neck for the duration of their escape, his knees and thighs aching from the uncomfortable position. But he could endure a bit of pain for the end goal.

The guard barely spared them a glance as they passed, too distracted by something Caroline was telling him, her hands frantically waving in the air.

Kensington stopped by another guard to inquire about William’s execution date, while Victoria and William shuffled away.

Once outside the prison walls, they bolted down shadowy alleys, Victoria pulling him in farther away. Leaning against a damp stone wall to catch their breath, they looked at each other, grinning wildly as exhilaration coursed through them.

“The carriage is waiting just around that corner,” Victoria said and tugged at his arm again. They made the last wild dash toward freedom, giggling as they reached a black, unmarked carriage. Matthew was at the helm.

“Thank god!” he cried as John opened the door for them, gesturing with his hands for them to hurry.

William looked at the overcast sky before climbing into a carriage. He was free.

As soon as they settled inside the carriage, William pulled Victoria onto his lap, holding her close, savoring her warmth and the soft curves resting against his body. He leaned his forehead against the top of her head, his nose burrowing into her hair, and inhaled her dear scent. “Where to now?” he asked. “You know as soon as people realize I am gone, I will be hunted like an animal.”

She nodded. “I know.”

“We can’t return to the tower, we can’t travel openly. We’ll need to hide out, and that means hiding with the cargo on a ship, staying in cramped little shacks for extended periods until we find a safe haven. Can you live like that?”

Victoria nodded without hesitation. “I don’t care where we live as long as you’re beside me. I never felt as though I had a home until that little tower we lived in. But it wasn’t the tower, not really. It was you. You are my home. And as long as we’re together, I do not care where or how we live.”

William shook his head, his heart aching for everything he couldn’t give Victoria, everything she deserved. “How can you agree to that? You’re a princess.”

“Yes, your princess,” she said with a smile. “And you’re my bastard. My glorious bastard.”

Epilogue

A month later…

When the carriage stopped, it was pitch dark outside. Victoria, who was sleeping curled up by William’s side, her head on his chest, her arms around his waist, lifted her head with a frown. But as soon as their gazes met, her lips curled into a smile.

“Where are we?” she asked, the remnants of sleep clinging to her hoarse voice.

William tightened his arm around her and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Home.”

Rubbing her eyes, she leaned over him and stared at the darkness outside. “Home?”

“Yes. Come.” William jumped down from the carriage and helped her alight.

They had spent the past month on the road: first, smuggling themselves from London to Calais, then making their way to the South of France.

Her hand in his, another holding her skirts, she tilted her head back to take in the sight before her.

They stood in front of an elegant chateau, stone turrets and arched windows rising amidst sprawling wings framed by manicured gardens. It was difficult to see the full grandeur of this place in the dark, but Victoria’s mouth hung open as she stared at it in awe.