Page 54 of Slippers and Thorns
Fortunately, Ella was only halfway through her meal when a bleary-eyed Michael stumbled into the dining room. He was wearing the fresh clothes she had set out, but the cuff buttons were undone and his hair looked like he had forgotten to comb it before coming down to breakfast. She considered checking that his boots were on the correct feet – he would have had to remove the other one to get dressed, after all – but decided that he wasn’t asleep enough to have walked so far without noticing.
She was fairly certain she heard a sigh of relief from Jake, followed by the sound of Henry flicking the back of his head.
“Did you sleep well?” Ella asked when Michael set his plate on the table and dropped heavily into the chair next to hers. She didn’t think that she’d ever seen him so ragged, even though he must have been tired many mornings recently if he was as worn out as he had been last night. Was he simply settling into the role he meant to play?
“Mmm,” he answered without lifting his eyes from the table. He held his coffee under his nose for a few seconds before taking a slow sip, then turned his head slightly towards her and gave her a sleepy grin. “I had a good dream.” He tried to wink at her, but his eyes were barely open to start with, so it looked more like he was dozing off where he sat.
Ella picked up another bite of food to hide her dismay. Did he legitimately have a dream, or had he been partially aware while she was snuggled up to him? After her blatant rejection yesterday, she could see how he would be pleased by her head on his shoulder and her hand stretched across his chest, even if he thought it wasn’t real.
She hoped it wouldn’t cause him to think that she’d changed her mind.
While she struggled with her thoughts, Michael placed an un-princely elbow on the table to prop himself up while he ate. He kept giving her goofy grins until a combination of food, coffee, and being upright finally pulled him from his sleep haze into true wakefulness. Then he focused on his meal, finishing it off quickly.
When he rose, she followed him up and took his offered arm, noticing with the edge of her awareness when Oliver and one of his underlings casually finished their coffee, set their mugs on the table, and meandered towards the door after them. Truly, her observations of them in places like the market didn’t do their acting skills justice.
“So, my dear Ella, are you ready to continue our journey?” Michael asked as they approached the door of their room. “I notice you weren’t in a hurry to roll me out of bed this morning.”
“How could I when you were sleeping so peacefully?” she sweetly replied. His teasing manner tugged on her restraints, begging her to lower her walls, but she wasn’t willing. “You’ve clearly been working too hard, and I wouldn’t want to keep you from catching up on sleep now that you have the time.”
Michael frowned a little at her, but whether because he heard an underlying message in her words that he couldn’t identify, or simply because she hadn’t answered as he had hoped, she couldn’t tell.
“Now that you are awake, however, I am eager to be on our way,” she continued blithely. “I am sure our friends will understand the delay, but it still saddens me to know we have kept them waiting.”
Charlie nodded briefly to them as he and Ella’s fourth guard passed them next to their door. “Captain. Should I ready the horses?” he asked Oliver, who was only a short distance behind them, with the professional manner of a soldier.
The rest of the conversation was muffled when Michael shut the door behind them. “Yes, I suppose I did make things difficult for them, didn’t I?” he commented ruefully, glancing over his shoulder at the closed door. “The original plan would have had us on the road an hour ago. How did they handle it?”
“Well enough,” Ella replied without looking at him. She began shoving her remaining belongings into her saddlebag. When Michael didn’t move from the door, she paused and turned to him. “Aren’t you going to pack?”
He startled as if from thought. “Oh. I guess I should, shouldn’t I?”
Ella turned back to her bag so he couldn’t see her roll her eyes. “Yes. That would be one of those ‘traveling without servants’ things.”
“Right.” He quickly joined her in gathering his few scattered things and tossing them into a saddlebag. “Thank you, by the way.”
“For what?” Ella asked, surprised.
“For not keeping me on schedule.”
Ella stopped and stared at him, but he was busy stuffing yesterday’s trousers into a side pouch. Not knowing how to respond to that, she kept silent and finished her own packing.
They were soon on the open road again. The company of guards, who just happened to be leaving the inn courtyard around the same time as them, had already melted back into the surroundings.
It was still cold, but the wind had died down to a gentle breeze that fluttered the loose hairs hanging past the hood of Ella’s cloak. Her fingers were still cozy inside her fleece-lined leather gloves, although there was a better than even chance that they would be tingling by the time they stopped for the night.
Shadow’s head bobbed up and down as she walked down the road, content with the slower pace for now. Ella leaned forward and patted her mount’s neck affectionately. Her relationship with Michael might be a roller coaster, but Shadow was a constant in her life.
Speaking of Michael… She watched him from the corner of her eye, preferring he not be aware of her scrutiny. His entire demeanor seemed lighter today than it had been in at least a year. He always carried himself with confidence, but now his shoulders were less stiff, and his eyes were warmer as he gazed ahead, a slight smile resting on his lips.
He looked less like Crown Prince Michael, and more like the Mike she remembered from the ball. Maybe not exactly carefree, but certainly less serious and duty-focused. Like someone who might have time for the people around him, even if they weren’t participants in one of his endless meetings.
Ella felt a small smile tugging at her own lips as she considered him. She still loved the man she’d married, even if the crown prince was currently frustrating her. It was nice to see Mike poking through again.
Michael turned his head a little to the side. She immediately straightened her eyes so they were directed down the road again, but it was too late – he caught her looking at him. His smile grew.
“Admiring the view?” he teased.
Ella swept her gaze across the wooded area through which they were passing. Many of the short trees had lost the majority of their leaves, but the barrenness of the branches, highlighted in places by the sun drifting through, held its own sort of beauty. Besides, the lack of leaves on the trees meant that the surrounding ground, including the road beneath their horses’ hooves, was strewn with the rich reds, oranges, and browns of autumn.
