“I’m glad someone here appreciates my wit,” I replied between spoonfuls. “I hope your mother won’t be too offended if she hears you speak the wrong name.”
“Oh, let her be offended.” He waved a hand in dismissal. “My mother could use a little push now and again. Father coddles her more than he ever did me.” I caught a quick glimpse of sorrow in his eyes.
“I noticed that. I’m sorry.” I lowered my bowl to match his gaze. “I overheard most of the conversation today. Your family seems a tad.......difficult.”
“That’s one way to put it,” Elias teased sarcastically. “They could be worse, I suppose. At least they haven’t sent a bounty hunter after me yet.” He winked at me, causing me to roll my eyes back at him.
“Well, aren’t you the lucky one then,” I chided back at him. He was far too fun to talk to for a lord, and perhaps more men of nobility should spend time on the streets.
“Speaking of the hunter,” he began. “Have you devised any plans to get around him?” His question sent a surge of uncertainty through me.Did I have any ideas?
“I might have one thought,” I slowly concluded. “But it isn’t very good.”
“I’m sure it’s better than nothing.”.
“I’m not sure if I ever mentioned this before, but I’m a rather fond acquaintance of Queen Arabella.” I smiled proudly as his eyes grew wide. “I half-considered writing to her for assistance, but she’s bound by the law. If she can’t invoke any permanent changes, then all I’ll be doing is broadcasting my location.”
Elias’s stunned expression shifted into understanding. “I see what you mean,” he sympathized. “If the letter came from our residence, then you wouldn’t be safe here anymore. If she’s your friend, she truly might want to help you. But regrettably, the court would hold her to the law, my father especially.” His face darkened shamefully.
“That’s what I assumed.” I smiled in acceptance. “It can’t be helped. Unless I can find a way to discreetly message her, the court will bring me into custody the instant they discover my location.”
“It appears we will have to get a little more creative,” he said daringly. “The good news is that your supposed hunter hasn’t caught on to your whereabouts yet.”
I nodded in reply, grateful for that truth.
“I must ask though...” He shifted forward. “How does a runaway noble end up being an acquaintance of the Queen of Isalla?”
“She wasn’t the queen when I first met her.” I laughed fondly, recalling my first meeting with Arabella. “In fact, she wasn’t much of anybody when I met her.”
Elias tilted his head in clear confusion. I laughed once more at his adorable curiosity.
As I filled him in on my adventures with the endangered princess, my bowl slowly emptied, filling my stomach. Concluding my story, I sat back comfortably in my chair, feeling satisfied and properly sleepy. My eyes had just begun to flutter shut when an abrupt knock frightened me out of my seat. My heart rate sped up again, but Elias gave me a reassuring look that settled it.
“Yes?” he responded with ease.
“Elias, come downstairs right away!” Lady Jenna’s panicked voice startled me. What caused her to run all the way to Elias’s room instead of sending a servant? I shot Elias a panicked look, but he remained calm.
“Of course, is everything alright?” He coolly rose to his feet and opened the bed chamber door for me to sneak into. I stepped inside while mouthing a silent thank you to him.
“No!” Lady Jenna shouted through the wall while Elias slowly shut my door. “There’s a bounty hunter at the door!”
chapter eleven
I stood petrified over the ventilation hole. Elias had left without a word, but the last look he passed me spoke aloud on its own.
I’ll deal with this.
His hazel eyes both relaxed and concerned me in the same blink. I pressed my ear as tightly as I could to the ventilation grate. My body shook nervously with both anticipation and terror for what I might overhear.
There were clear signs of activity in the lower section of the house. However, they weren’t in the proper locations where I could overhear. I paced a quick circle around the room to try to ease my anxiousness. When I returned to the vent, soft voices were just beginning to grow clear. I pressed my ear tight once more.
“I understand, madam, but I’ll need your utmost cooperation if I am to bring this child home.” A deep voice with a slight rasp spoke gently. A shudder flicked down my spine at the recognition that this could very well be my pursuer. Before I could ponder the thought, a dramatic sob blasted my eardrum. I pulled away with a painful squeak.
“You cannot expect me to remain calm at a time like this!” Lady Jenna bawled hysterically in between her shouted words. “There’s a lunatic out on the loose, and you think they may have been in our house! How am I meant to remain collected under such dire news?” Her sniffles died down just enough for another voice to speak up.
“It isn’t quite that bad, Mother.” Elias’s familiar voice stepped in. “As the man said, it’s a runaway noble, not a madman. Surely, they wouldn’t be capable of causing harm to anyone, nor are we certain that they were ever here.” As soon as the words left his mouth, an offended snort sounded from his mother.
“Any young lady who runs away from home could only be a madwoman... or in love. They’re the same thing honestly,” she huffed in irritation at her son’s dismissal. I let out my own huff of frustration in a one-sided reply. She sounded even more childish than I was.