Page 38 of Legacy of Glass
Her hands stilled against her head, and she threw him a look. He finally looked away from her, and she frowned. He must be impatient to get going.
But when she walked over to join him, he didn’t move, instead looking down at her with an expression she couldn’t read.
“I’ll talk to my mother,” he said, “and make sure she doesn’t schedule any lessons for tomorrow morning. I believe she’s planning a more sustainable schedule going forward anyway.”
“Thank you,” Olivia said, touched by his thoughtfulness. She had attributed his steadfast gaze to annoyance over her outburst, but he had been thinking about how to fix the problem he had created.
He smiled back at her, and her breath caught. Why did he have to look so attractive when he smiled? And what was wrong with her feelings? One minute she was forgetting his true status and snapping at him as if he were nothing more than the stranger on the hill. The next minute she was all too aware that he was the handsome prince who featured in many girls’ dreams.
It was hard enough to stay on guard without him confusing her with unnecessary smiles and small acts of consideration. Olivia couldn’t afford to get too involved with either Julius, the man, or Julius, the crown prince. His parents were actively seeking a way to dissolve the betrothal, and when they succeeded, Olivia would never see Julius again. She just needed to get through that time without making a fool of herself—or the royal family—in front of the court.
Julius’s smile dimmed when she didn’t return it, but he nodded and led her through the palace, moving along an unfamiliar route. Despite it being her third day of residence in the palace, she had still seen little of the building beyond the ballroom, the queen’s receiving room, and her own suite.
The path they walked still felt familiar, however, thanks to the consistent white marble of the corridors with accents of aquamarine to match the tower roofs. It was more airy than such a large building had any right to be, aided by internal courtyards and long stretches of corridor with only pillars to support the roof instead of full walls.
Julius walked with purpose, and Olivia had to extend her stride to keep up. The further they went, the more he radiated a subtle, tense excitement. On both the last two days, the queen had mentioned he was busy in meetings with the king, and for the first time it occurred to her that he might have spent the time since their betrothal feeling as trapped as she had.
“Where exactly are we going?” she asked as they rounded another corner.
He slowed. “I thought we would start by introducing you to my closest friends. The most likely place to find them at this hour is in our courtyard.”
“You and your friends have your own courtyard?” Olivia asked before she remembered he was the one and only prince. He could probably have as many courtyards as he wanted.
He chuckled. “It doesn’t officially belong to us. But the guards train in practice yards behind the palace, next to their barracks, and traditionally this courtyard has been used for the same purpose for the young men of court—at least the ones with families powerful enough to keep suites in the palace as well as houses on Manor Row.”
“And those are your friends.” Olivia tried not to sound dismayed.
Julius shrugged. “Growing up, they were the only boys my own age that I knew. Since there are only five of us, we grew accustomed to always being together.”
Hearing him describe friendship that way made Olivia feel a reluctant twinge of pity. But it wasn’t really that different from her own experience growing up in Henton. There had been a limited number of girls her own age, and she had considered herself friends—or at least friendly—with them all, even if she’d had no particular close friend beyond her distant cousin. Apparently growing up in a palace or a small town wasn’t so dissimilar after all.
“It was the same for me in Henton,” she ventured.
She had just been lecturing herself on keeping an emotional distance from Julius, but she couldn’t distance herself too effectively. They needed to establish some small sense of rapport before their stumbling, awkward interactions alerted the court to the true state of affairs between them.
“Do you miss your friends and family there?” he asked, but she couldn’t tell if he was truly interested or just being polite.
“Sometimes,” she answered truthfully. “And sometimes I feel guilty that I don’t miss them more. But while I’m fond of my five younger brothers, they are high-energy and exhausting, and I never got any space to myself. Besides, my closest friend is actually a cousin who lives in Glandore, so I’ve been able to correspond with her from the capital as easily as I could from Henton.”
“You have a cousin in Glandore?” Now the prince was definitely interested. “That’s unusual.”
Olivia nodded. “Daphne is actually the one I’ve asked to come and stay with me. Since you said I could have a family member to keep me company here.”
“If she’s from Glandore, she’ll attract interest from the court,” Julius said. “At least among the younger members. Even here at the palace it’s rare for us to get foreign delegations, and they seldom stay long. They find it too uncomfortable.”
Olivia had no chance to reply before they turned into a large courtyard, more sparsely decorated than the ones they had previously passed. A large clear area gave room for the casual sparring session currently taking place between two young men. Decorative greenery ringed the courtyard, however, and in one corner a small fountain was positioned next to several seats. Two more young men lounged on the seats, calling occasional jokes or encouragement to the sparring men.
All four of them were tall, well-dressed, confident, and imposing in Olivia’s eyes. She fell back a couple steps without meaning to do so, bracing herself for their unknown reception to her and Julius’s supposed romance.
One of the seated men—a dark-haired, good-looking young man with a friendly face—spotted the new arrivals first. He leaped to his feet with a glad cry of “Julius” before his eyes fell on Olivia, slightly behind the prince.
His brows quirked, and he looked blankly shocked for a moment. But he recovered quickly, his easy smile returning as he bowed low in her direction. His movement caught the attention of the others, and the sparring match broke off, all three men turning curious eyes on Olivia.
“Well, well, well,” drawled a second dark-haired young man, wiping the sweat off his brow with one arm as he slid his sword back into its scabbard. “This is an unexpected pleasure.”
Olivia, who had given the first young man a friendly smile, gave this second one a more wary look. His lazy tones hid a mocking hint that she didn’t know how to read.
“You’ve been released from your punishment, then?” the first asked Julius with a chuckle, ignoring the sally of the fencer.
