Page 56 of Legacy of Glass
Olivia scanned the surrounding groups, her dismay rising. She had been so focused on Bess that she hadn’t noticed a couple of the girls slip away. Apparently, they had been so eager to share the news of her presence that they had already begun the task, flitting with glee from group to group. Many of the other people on the grass were already making their way in her direction.
Olivia stepped backward and looked again for her guard. He was down the far end of the road, only just turning back in her direction.
“Your Highness!” A group of men and women hurried over, curtsying and bowing politely.
Some of Olivia’s nervousness abated. These people didn’t wish her any harm, quite the opposite. They all looked excited to see her.
Another group arrived and another. Olivia kept smiling and nodding at them all as they called her name and shouted excited questions. One woman patted her arm in a motherly way, but it unleashed a flood of hands reaching for her. They patted her arms and her hair or grasped at her hands.
She tried to look for the groom again, but she could no longer see through the wall of people. Panic rose up in her throat. She was trapped, and the growing crowd kept pressing closer and closer. No one was trying to harm her, but her overwhelmed senses received it as an attack, screaming at her to get away.
She ripped her hands free of the reaching fingers and flung her arms up to shield her face. Pushing blindly, she struggled through the throng, bursting free onto the edge of the street.
But the crowd followed, still calling to her with so many overlapping voices that she couldn’t catch the individual words. She plunged blindly across the street, weaving through traffic. Ducking behind a moving wagon, she put herself momentarily out of view of the people coming behind her, but the cover wouldn’t last long.
With a burst of speed, she reached the other side of the street. Before she could call for the groom, a hand shot out from an alley between two shops and seized her arm. With no time for more than a squeak, she was yanked off the street and into the dark shadows beyond.
Chapter19
Julius
Julius wanted to find Olivia and ask about her afternoon plans, but his mother had her on an even tighter schedule than Julius himself. So instead he directed his steps to the palace library. The airy space, with its reassuring rows of solid shelves, had been a haven for him in his younger years, but he hadn’t visited in some time.
On this occasion, it wasn’t the library itself that attracted his interest, but a private study room located near the back. Inside, he found three men and a woman seated at a table covered in haphazard piles of books. All four were engaged in a lively debate.
They stopped talking abruptly at his entrance, standing to bow deeply. He waved them back into their seats, dropping down to sit beside them.
“I’ve been meaning to come and check on your progress for some time,” he said. “Have you discovered anything?”
The small team of scholars and historians had been working nonstop since the Midsummer Ball to devise a strategy to release him from his betrothal. In all that time, he had yet to hear anything about their progress.
The woman exchanged a look with one of the men, and Julius’s stomach swirled. What did that look mean? And what did he want it to mean? He wasn’t even sure he knew anymore.
“We have found nothing conclusive, Your Highness,” she said cautiously.
Julius frowned. Did that mean they had found a possibility or not? Or had his mother already instructed them not to give him any details? If so, he wasn’t likely to get anything out of them.
“I see,” he said slowly. “So there’s been no definitive progress.”
“There’s no need to despair yet, Your Highness,” the oldest of the men said. “We remain hopeful. But we’ve agreed not to share anything with your family until we can come to a consensus between us.” He nodded at the others and chuckled. “We have some differing opinions, thus the enthusiasm you witnessed earlier.”
It wasn’t much in the way of reassurance, but at least his parents weren’t concealing the truth from him. He stood again, pretending not to notice the relief on their faces at his swift departure.
“Thank you for your efforts,” he said. “I look forward to hearing your conclusions once you reach agreement.”
He walked more slowly back through the library, his mind heavy. Near the door, he encountered his mother, for once not accompanied by her usual bevy of court ladies.
She greeted him with a glad cry, and he quirked an eyebrow at her. “You’re here for an update as well? I can save you the bother. They still have nothing conclusive to report.”
His mother sighed. “The same as always, then. And yet I can’t seem to stop myself from checking every day. I’m probably driving them to distraction.”
She looped her arm through Julius’s and let him lead her out of the library. He glanced down at her quizzically.
“Are you so desperate for them to succeed? I thought you and father were coming around to the advantages of my marrying a commoner.”
His mother sighed. “It is our job to examine every eventuality and plan for each to the best of our ability. The fact that we are considering how best to utilize the current situation doesn’t mean it’s our first preference. Olivia is a dear girl, but there’s so very much for her to learn.” She gazed ahead of them, her eyes appearing distant and unfocused. “Do you think she could ever be comfortable here in our world? It was difficult enough for me, and I was raised in one of the most prominent court families.”
Julius frowned, wishing he could reassure her, but not confident in his answer. Olivia had impressed him in the days since her arrival at the palace, but that said nothing about her own comfort and happiness. And, somehow, that consideration had grown in importance in his mind. He had initially opposed the match for the sake of himself and the kingdom. Now he wondered if he should be opposing it for Olivia’s sake, as his mother seemed to be.
