Chapter 181

Joyce regarded me with a cool expression. His gaze trailed over me with disinterest. I felt suddenly exposed in my thin nightgown and robe. I wrapped my arms around myself.

“Joyce? You were the one who wanted to see me?” I asked in disbelief.

He nodded curtly. “I wanted to see if you were reckless enough to follow that note out onto a balcony, even knowing all the safety measures we have in place right now.”

“Oh…” I lowered my head, ashamed and embarrassed.

“My brothers are fond of you,” he said. “That gives me enough reason to be concerned for you too.”

“I see…”

I thought back on my actions since receiving that note. My overwhelming desire to see Nicholas had tainted my own self-preservation. I’d even sneaked away from the guards who were supposed to protect me.

Thank God it was only Joyce out here and not someone who actually meant to do me harm or I would have walked straight into a trap.

The note had even been typed rather than handwritten. I should have known better. Even if Nicholas and I had left similar notes to each other in the past, he wouldn’t recreate that now – not with the danger I’d been in.

Nicholas would have never wanted me to endanger myself by shaking loose my guard and meeting him out here in the cold night.

Joyce was right for having called me out. I was being dangerously reckless.

“Thank you, Joyce,” I said. “I’ll keep this lesson close.”

He tilted his head. He didn’t say anything, just watched me closely.

I shifted slightly, feeling like a sample under a microscope.

Joyce and I had been friendly enough, but our conversations had been few and far between. With my closeness to both Nicholas and Julian, it made sense for him to be curious about me.

But now that I thought about it… Wasn’t the balcony a strange place to meet?

I was proven reckless, so what would happen now? What was Joyce’s actual plan beyond this moment?

And why did I feel a chill run down my spine, suddenly unnerved?

No, that wasn’t fair. Joyce was a prince – Nicholas and Julian’s brother! – not someone to throw suspicions on.

He had a different way of doing things. This could simply be an extension of that.

I had enough enemies. Imagining more would do nothing to help me.

“Thank you for your thoughtfulness,” I said, hoping to end this entire scene. My embarrassment was immense. I wanted to hurry back to my room and bury myself under my covers until I stopped feeling so foolish.

Joyce nodded, and I felt relief.

“I’ll leave first,” he said.

“Okay,” I said, though I wasn’t sure why that would matter. It was so late, I doubt anyone would see us together unless they knew to look.

Although with the way tensions were so high, perhaps it was better to be cautious. If I was seen afterhours in the presence of yet another prince, I wasn’t sure the public would be so accepting.

Joyce went through the door, leaving me alone on the balcony.

I waited five minutes. I counted to sixty five times.

“59… 60…”

Then I headed for the door. I tried to turn the knob. It wouldn’t budge.

I blinked, surprised. That couldn’t be right.

I tried to turn the handle harder, but it wouldn’t move.

It was locked.

Joyce locked it behind him?

Had he done so intentionally? No, no, that couldn’t be. It had to be an accident. He seemed the absent-minded type. Likely he walked through and locked the door on reflex.

Why would he want to purposefully lock me out here? That didn’t make any sense.

But, even accidental, this left me with a problem. The temperature was dropping, and I was stuck out on the balcony in my nightgown. Anyone could happen by. I had no way of defending myself. Without a cell phone, I had no way of contacting anyone, either.

Looking around, I searched for another exit. There was another door further down, but it was more barred than the first, not just latched but also wedged with a piece of wood.

Okay. So the doors were out.

Giving up on the doors, I looked along the banister instead.

There. An old oak stood nearby with long, sturdy-looking branches. If I crawled up onto the banister, I could reach out and catch one of the limbs. Then I could climb down.

It wouldn’t be the most delicate maneuver. I’d likely ruin my nightgown and my thin slippers, but ruining a few pieces of delicate clothing seemed a fair trade for not freezing to death.

I used to climb trees all the time when I was a kid. This wouldn’t be any different than that, right?

Like riding a bicycle, once you learn, you never truly forgot. At least, that’s what I hoped.

I climbed up onto the banister, and reached out for the tree. I put some weight on it. It didn’t creak or crack. Safe, then.

Carefully, I lifted myself up onto the branch, then shimmied closer to the trunk. Once there, I began the arduous process of descending. The balcony had been on the second floor, so the ground wasn’t too far. This gave me more confidence than it should have.

I jumped down to the next lowest branch. I had not tested the weight this time.

The branch snapped in half, and down, down I fell.

I reached my hands out, desperate to cling to something. I grabbed handfuls of leaves, a few acorns, but nothing to stop my fall.

“Hey!” someone called from the ground.

I braced myself.

A loud thud sounded. Someone said, “Oof.”

The ground was a lot softer than I thought it would be.

I opened my eyes and found myself on top of Julian.

Quickly, I rushed up to my feet. “I’m so sorry!”

“Are you alright?” he asked, each word a pained grunt.

“I’m fine,” I said. “And you?”

Groaning, he pushed himself onto his feet. I grabbed him by the elbow to help him up. “I’ll live,” he said, and dusted away some of the grass from his backside.

“What were you doing out here?” I asked him. No one else was around, not even Brian. And Julian was still wearing his day’s clothes, like he hadn’t gone to bed yet.

“Sometimes I like to walk and clear my head,” he said. He looked up. “Piper, why were you in that tree?”

“Oh,” I said and pointed to the second floor. “I had gotten accidentally locked on the balcony.”

Julian frowned at me. “Why in the world were you on the balcony at this time of night?”

“I’d gotten a note…” My cheeks began to burn. The embarrassment that had dissipated with the fall returned tenfold. Of course, of all people, Julian would be the one to rescue me.

If I told him the truth, he’d never let me live it down. But why lie would I even tell? He’s see right through it.

“It said to meet someone there at midnight…”

“And you thought it would be Nicholas.” He crossed his arms.

I nodded.

His gaze narrowed. “Who was it really?”

“Joyce,” I said.

His eyes widened a little. “My brother Joyce?”

“I don’t know any others…”

Julian looked troubled. It was unusual, even I knew that. Julian seemed to know more than me.

“We should go,” he said and took hold of my arm. “Now.”

His urgency seemed unwarranted.

“Back to my room? I don’t think anyone’s awake yet.”

“Not to your room,” Julian said. “To find Nicholas.”

I nearly tripped, but Julian’s hold on my arm kept me upright. “Nicholas? Why?”

Julian’s frown seemed permanent. “I have a very bad feeling.”