My entire body, chin down, sat immersed in scalding hot water. My head rested on my arms at the side of the bath. My hair, mainly wet, slicked down my back, the tips floating in the water. Steam hazed around me.

The room was completely empty except for me. The cream-colored clay walls ran with water droplets from the temperature of the room.

This was my favorite time. After several trial and error attempts, I’d finally figured out the time when the no one came down to the community bath. Everyone preferred that I use my private bath, but I just liked the large open pool better.

Transferring my weight to my arms, I kicked my feet in the water, my toes brushing against the bottom of the pool. Setting my feet back at the bottom, I rotated so now I leaned back on my arms. Taking a deep breath of the heated air, I closed my eyes.

Not a full minute after I closed my eyes, I heard the door to the bath open. My eyes flew open, knowing I was full frontal to whoever had just walked in. I yelped at who I saw, scrambling to hide myself with my arms. “Errol!”

His eyes widened as soon as they laid sight on me. “Oh! I'm sorry!” He quickly turned around.

“What is it?”

“Really, I'm sorry. I just wanted to know what flowers you wanted at the ceremonies. I know lilies are your favorite.”

“Yes. Yes, lilies are my favorite. They would be fine.”

“Okay, great,” Errol said. “Enjoy your bath.” He quickly left the room, not once daring to look back at me.

Rattled from the prince bursting in on my bath, I could only get myself to stay in the pool for about three more minutes before I hopped out, quickly wrapping myself in my towel before anyone else could come through the doors. My feet left wet prints as I went to one of the dressing rooms to change into fresh clothes. I changed into a silk blue dress and fixed my hair into a tight bun that would give my hair a chance to dry. I dropped my wet towel into the basket and left the bath.

Since I'd finished my bath earlier than I'd expected, I figured I'd go see my mother who was visiting the palace. She wasn't visiting to see me however, she was checking on the preparations for the wedding.

I found her in one of the smaller dining halls, sitting at the table reading a few letters. I had to tap her on the shoulder for her to notice me.

She turned in her seat in surprise, then smiled upon seeing me.

“Hi Mother,” I said.

“Hello.” She gently pulled my head down so she could kiss my forehead. Looking at me, she then added, “Elody dear, you look flustered.”

“I'm not,” I said, trying to hold in my sharp tone. “I'm just a little hot. I came straight from a bath.”

“Oh,” but her eyes still moved across my face. “Well we’ll just remember that you need to take a bath the night before your wedding, not the same day.”

I resisted an eye roll as I sat down at the table next to her. “What are you doing? What are all these?”

“Things for the wedding, dear,” Mother replied. “You don't need to worry about them. I'm separating them into what I need to handle, and what Errol needs to handle.”

“What do I get to handle?” I asked.

Mother smiled at me, a smile that actually made my stomach flop. “You're the bride, dear. You don't need to handle anything.”

Now I rolled my eyes, but Mother didn't see.

“How is everything?” she asked. “How's Errol?”

“Everything is fine,” I replied. “He's fine.”

Mother frowned.

“What?”

“Just ‘fine?’”

“What did you want me to say?”

“I don't know, everything is magical. You're marrying a prince who also happens to be your best friend.”

“I thought you were my best friend.”

A smile tried to replace the frown. “I’ll always be your mother, dear. But Errol, he's your future.”

I couldn't help the cringe at hearing that one man was my entire future. “You don't think we’re rushing into this?”

“Rushing? Elody, I would have killed to have gotten married at twenty-two.”

“It's not about my age, Mother.” Although I did feel a little young. What was wrong with thirty? “I feel like I'm lacking experience.”

The blank look on my mother’s face told me she wasn't comprehending like I wanted her to. “What experience could you possibly have to prepare you for marriage? Unless you've been married?”

“I mean experiences. Like adventures,” I replied. “You've traveled. I haven't. You know lots of people on different places. I know the people in the noble circle. Don't you think I need more of that first?”

“I think that I love you, your father loves you, and Errol loves you. You're just nervous. Once you're married, all those nerves will go away. There'll be plenty of time to meet people and travel, especially when you're the princess. You'll be meeting people almost everyday.”

But the same type of people. I sighed internally. Talking to my mother was pointless. She was as caught up in this royal wedding as everyone else.

“Now,” Mother said, her attention back to the letters. She picked up one, scanned it, then asked me, “Would you prefer rice or doves at the end?”

I stood up and headed for the door. “You're handling it, so whatever you like.”

“I like the doves.”

I hated doves. “That's fine. I'll see you later, Mother.”

I paused just outside the door to see if she looked up to acknowledge me. She didn't. Her head stayed low as she scribbled something on the letter, but she called, “Love you, dear.”

“Love you,” I muttered as I walked down the hall.

#

Although I lived in the palace, I wasn't obligated to do anything. Attending certain lessons, such as cotillion and dancing, were expected of me, but not required. Most days I didn't mind attending. They at least gave me something to do during the day. The king told me I needed to appreciate my free days—there was always something to do once you came to power.

That particular day, I spent most of my day working with Heraldo to learn a dance for my wedding.

When I arrived back in my room, my legs were sore, and blisters were starting to bubble on my feet from the heels he had me wear.

Nurse Freda was putting away laundry for me.

I groaned loudly as I sprawled on my bed.

“How were your dancing lessons?” Freda asked me, immune to my groan.

“Fine. Boring,” I replied. “But I'll look well-bred on my wedding day.”

“You are well-bred, dear,” Freda said. “And that had nothing to do with your dancing ability.”

“Please. If I showed up without knowledge of a dance that didn't include some intricate footwork, the queen would probably mark me as an inbred.”

“You're so dramatic.”

I sat up, those words reminding me of the first thing I had wanted to tell her. “Do you know what happened today?”

“What dear?”

“Errol walked in with me while I was in the bath.”

Nurse Freda smiled at me. “Maybe you should use your private bath instead of the communal one.”

I shook my head. “I like having the big pool. And I've got it down where I know the times when I can be completely alone in it.” Or so I thought. “But anyway, he just walked right in! Just to ask me about the type of flowers I wanted.”

“He's got his father’s spirit.”

“Impulsive?”

“He's not impulsive, dear. If you think he's impulsive, trust me, you haven't met an impulsive man.”

“Then what part of his father’s spirit makes him walk in on me?”

“Growing up,” Freda replied. “Curiosity.”

“Curious as to what I look like naked?”

Freda flashed me a smile.

“Errol has more tact than that, Freda.”

“He's a man, Elody,” Freda said. “This isn't hopscotch down in the courtyard when you were kids. This isn't even one of those petty balls you attended as teens.” She touched the front of my shoulder, straightening my posture. “This is marriage. And one day, you're going to bare his children.” She smiled. “He just wants to know what he's getting himself into, that's all.”

“He can wait.” And I wished he could wait even longer.

Two hours out from midnight, I couldn't be in my room anymore. I couldn't be in the palace anymore. It was too easy for people to find me to ask about the wedding, which only increased my anxiety level. It was impossible to sneak out the palace completely unnoticed— I'd learned that a long time ago, although Errol kept trying long into his teen years. The best thing was to just act as natural as possible. Two servants stopped me along the way, one to ask me another question about the wedding, and one to ask me if I was warm enough in what I was wearing.

I slipped out the palace with relatively no problem, going through the back garden. Moving aside some overgrown brush, I found the trail only taken by Errol and I, and followed it down to the bank of a small pond. A single tree with a wide trunk sat on the bank, supported by a knot of thick roots curling above and below the ground. I sat on the ground, leaning my back against the trunk of the tree.

Before I moved into the palace, this served as one of the spots Errol and I used to meet to talk. As far as we knew, no one else came out here.

Which is why it startled me that after about an hour of sitting there with only crickets and the rippling of the water, I heard male voices a few feet away. I had to walk along the bank of the pond and then tread through some high grass before I came across the source of the voices.

Two men, and from their clothes, they looked like simple merchants. One man, wearing a faded gray flat cap, held the reins of a chestnut horse.

“You're going all the way to Amerenth? That's pretty far,” the man with the cap said to the other man wearing a shirt with a bright red stripe where a belt could have been.

The other man chuckled. “Someone has to do it, right?”

Cap man patted him on the back. “Good luck to you.” He untied the reins of his horse and walked away, his horse trailing behind him.

Before the other man could do the same, I hurried over to him, tapping him on the shoulder.

“Excuse me. I heard you're going to Amerenth.”

“Yes, that's right.”

“Do you by any chance have room for a passenger?”

The man’s eyes widened in surprise. “Aren't you—”

“Yes, my question was if you have room for a passenger,” I said.

“Yes, sure, I'm sure one passenger could fit in my wagon.”

“Good. I'd like to go with you then to Amerenth. I'll pay you if I need to.”

The man still looked surprised, though I guess he had every right to be. The future wife of Prince Errol was standing here asking to hitch a ride to a town miles away.

“Please,” I said. “I'd really like to go.”

“Alright,” the man said. “I'm assuming you don't want anyone to know you're leaving.”

I shook my head.

“If you meet me here in two evenings, we can leave.”

I resisted the urge to throw my arms around him. “Okay, I will be here. Thank you.”