Page 58 of Legacy of Glass
On main market days, people would come from the surrounding countryside to set up stalls, but even on a non-market day, the permanent stallholders would be there. Julius headed straight for a small stall in one of the far corners, keeping his horse to a walk as he wove through the milling customers.
He had never openly approached that particular stall before, but his father’s aide—the one whose name wasn’t known to most of the court—had once pointed out the stall. Julius wasn’t supposed to approach it openly, but his worry was too great to allow for caution.
He stopped in front of the stall and pointed silently at one of the barrels of cider.
“Yes, Your Highness!” the man inside the stall cried, leaping to his feet. “At once, Your Highness!”
He dipped a tankard into the cider and carried it to the prince, who remained astride. Handing it up, the man bowed obsequiously, but his manner was belied by the light in his eyes, which was intelligent and knowing.
When he straightened, he murmured too quietly for even Julius’s guards to hear.
“If you’re interested in the location of Her Highness, I’ve heard word she was headed for the seaside—the popular beach south of the port, I believe it was.”
“My thanks.” Julius took a long draft before handing the tankard back to the man and tossing down a coin.
The man accepted the tankard with another bow, catching the coin with a practiced movement.
“My stall is honored by your visit, Your Highness,” he said, but Julius was already moving again, his guards behind him.
The man provided a flow of information to the palace on the state of the populace, and he could now see why his father valued him so highly. Julius might face the king’s displeasure for openly interacting with the man, but he didn’t regret it. He would never have tracked Olivia down without some direction.
As he rode, the panicked feeling in his gut slowly subsided. If Olivia had gone to the popular section of waterfront, it was good news—much better than imagining her poking around in the underbelly of the city. She must have been seeking information from the general populace rather than seeking the abductors directly.
And if she wasn’t in direct and immediate danger, he needed to rethink his approach. The southern beachfront was one of the places where the people of the city mingled freely, regardless of their usual occupations and ranks, and it was always a popular location when the weather was favorable. If he rode up with a squad of guards and plucked Olivia from the people’s midst, he might create the sort of stir that was certain to anger his father. Better to approach with a little more circumspection.
He pulled up short of the beachfront street, directing his men to remain there out of sight. Dismounting, he crossed the final distance alone.
Chapter20
Olivia
Yanked off the street, Olivia was too shocked to fight or scream. Just keeping her feet under her was a struggle as she stumbled across the cobblestones. Before she knew what was happening, her back was against one of the shops, and her captor had angled his body to block her from view of the main street beyond, his arm against the wall beside her.
But his other hand cradled the back of her head, ensuring it didn’t crack against the stone behind, and his face was familiar.
“Julius,” she breathed, her panic subsiding, replaced with an unexpected feeling of security.
His drastic action suggested she had been right to fear the crowd, and yet she felt infinitely safer than she had a moment before. The sound of running feet and the murmur of voices made him tense, but he didn’t pull back. Instead, he pressed closer, dipping his head toward hers.
Olivia froze, all thoughts fleeing her mind as his lips hovered just over hers, his body pressing her back against the wall. The crowd and street beyond faded, Julius filling her awareness completely. She couldn’t blink, could barely breathe. What was happening to her?
But he stayed there, just out of reach, his breath brushing her face, but his lips never touching hers. A heartbeat passed and another, his steady hand still cupping the back of her head, his fingers soft on her hair.
Olivia’s hands instinctively found the front of his jacket, clinging to him, and the ridiculous thought flashed through her mind that she could tip onto her toes and close the remaining distance between them herself.
But a breath later, Julius pulled abruptly back, his eyes dark and impossible to read. He dropped his arm from beside her head and looked toward the mouth of the alley.
“They didn’t see you,” he said. “And hopefully they’ll have dispersed now. I don’t think they meant you any harm.”
“No,” Olivia sounded more breathless than she would have liked. She cleared her throat and tried again. “I didn’t realize a crowd of people would behave like that.”
Julius turned back to her, a frown on his face. “Crowds can be unpredictable. Which is one of the many reasons why you shouldn’t have embarked on this foolish errand with only a single groom.”
His voice rose toward the end, and somehow the distance between them had closed again. When she didn’t say anything, he continued.
“You should have talked to me before leaving the palace.” His brows drew further together. “You were looking for Marigold, weren’t you? Must you insist on being so reckless?”
Olivia’s temper flared, her emotions still overwhelmed and seesawing wildly. She took a step toward him, her skirt brushing against his boots.
