“Here, let me.” Wyneth reached up as if to massage her neck, but Aerity moved away, laughing.
“Nay, Cousin, you pinch.”
Wyneth giggled and lifted the hair from her own neck. “I can’t believe how warm it is.”
They stared out at small waves, the tide buffered by barrier islands.
Deep in the woods behind them came the sounds of movement—the crackle of twigs and rustle of leaves. Aerity and Wyneth stood at once, and five bows were swiftly drawn, arrows pointed at the tree line. The men spread, shielding the unarmed royal lasses. Aerity wished she had her own bow.
“Seas, no, please,” Wyneth begged, grasping Aerity’s hand with all her might. The princess’s stomach had risen into her throat.
In seconds, a small figure came bursting from the trees, laid eyes on the hunters and guards, then gave a loud yelp and fell back, covering his face with an arm. It was a page boy from the castle.
One of the guards yanked him to his feet. “Deep’s sake, son, you almost got yourself killed. Call out next time!”
“Aye,” said the boy, looking around as the bows lowered. “The king sends message to remind the princesses and lady to be back by dusk.”
Aerity rolled her eyes. As if they needed a reminder. As if they could forget the dangers for a moment—oh, how she craved that.
“We’ll have them back,” the guard promised, and shoved the lad gently back toward the woods. “Rush back now, don’t dawdle in the forest.”
Tiern and Lord Alvi both chuckled, and a sense of relief blew through their group.
Aerity felt even hotter now after the scare. She gazed longingly at the water.
“Remember when we used to race to the barrier islands?” Aerity mused.
Wyneth laughed. “We were well matched, weren’t we? It’s as if we took turns winning.”
Truth be told, they’d never been competitive with each other. Those races were for fun, and she missed those days of childish wiles.
“You swam to those islands?” asked a deep voice beside them.
The girls looked up into the handsome face of Lord Alvi, his glistening skin on full display. Wyneth quickly averted her sight back to the water.
“Aye, it’s not that far,” Aerity said.
He nodded. “I could make that in a blink. It’s just that most Ascomannian women don’t swim, so you’ll forgive me for finding it hard to imagine the two of you out there.” His smile was so dashing that Aerity’s breath caught, and then his words hit her.
“You don’t think we can do it?”
His smile turned to a teasing grin. “Well, if you say you can, then I’ve no choice but to believe you. It’s just that all I can picture is a bit of this.” He flapped his hands wildly, like an amateur swimmer flailing to stay afloat.
Wyneth and Aerity had to laugh at his ridiculous antics. The others came over to see what was going on.
“I assure you we can swim as well as any men,” Aerity said.
“Or better!” Vixie grinned.
The older guard stepped up. “We should get you back soon, Your Highnesses.”
“Soon?” Wyneth asked. “But we’ve got a couple hours before dusk. Plenty of time for a swim.” She shot a rather challenging glance toward Lord Alvi and his chest seemed to puff in pride that she’d acknowledged him.
Aerity looked at Paxton, whose eyes were trained on the trees behind her, as if lost in thought. “How about this?” she began. “Us three girls versus you three lads. We race to the Isle of Loch and you race to Red Crab Island—that’s what Wyn and I used to do.”
“Absolutely!” Tiern rubbed his hands together.
“We can’t let you go alone,” said the younger guard to Aerity. The older one frowned at him.
