The Princess and the Guard (Book 1)

Twenty-Seven

Juliette leaned against the wall, sinking her head into her hands and forcing air in and out of her lungs. She slid to the ground, wrapping her arms around her knees. It was over, and she survived. She didn't panic or start to feel like she was going to pass out.

It was a victory, albeit a small one.

Glancing to the side, she saw Noah rounding the corner, moving straight toward her.

"Is your shift just starting?" Juliette asked, glad that her voice didn't shake. She pushed herself up and started toward him.

"Yes," he said, the smallest hint of a smile tugging the corner of his mouth.

Juliette breathed a sigh of relief. "I just want to run to my room and then we can go to my study."

Noah nodded, but he didn't make a reply. He'd been much quieter lately when he was on duty, and Juliette was afraid he was starting to regret being on her personal guard instead of a rotation.

Juliette started down the corridor. She hated walking in front of him. It just served as another reminder that no matter what she felt toward him, there was a wedge between them.

Once she tried to deliberately slow down so he could catch up to her, but it didn't work. He slowed down as well for all of six seconds before nudging her to pick up the pace.

"Odette's been being sent various gifts from the Houses, but she's throwing most of them away recently," Juliette said, keeping her voice low. "I've been sneaking them back into my room and repurposing them, making all kinds of jewelry. It's actually pretty cool, all the things people send her. I've been distributing the more useful things to the maids and guards, and recently some of them have picked up on it and started helping me accumulate everything that's being thrown away. We have a whole system going. I thought once we're, you know, not here anymore, I could sell them on the side and bring in a little extra money."

"That's a good idea. I hope you're being careful, though," Noah said, keeping his voice down so that none of the other guards they passed would overhear. "If Odette knew you were taking things from her, she would be furious."

Juliette nodded. "I'm only taking the things she's throwing away. But I am being careful."

One of the things she discovered over the past few years is that she liked to was sew. She had made countless sweaters and scarves, gifting them to her team of servants and sending them home with things for siblings and parents. The items from Luxe wouldn't be of any use to anyone, so Juliette had been tucking those off to the side to take when she and Noah left.

A few months ago, she started making a cloak out of the most beautiful material she'd ever seen. She gave up on it after only a few days. If she finished it, she would be able to sell it, either in Demetria, or after they'd left. It wouldn't be much, but it was something she could to do contribute. She hated not having a way of earning some steady income.

Walking with her to her room, Noah held the door open and Juliette walked inside. Her cloak, or rather the pieces that would eventually be her cloak, were scattered all around her room in patches of shimmering white that looked like ice. Hurrying through, she gathered the pieces and stuffed them in her shoulder bag.

Slipping back out into the hallway, she smiled at seeing Noah waiting patiently against the wall. His face warmed when he saw her, and her heart did a little flip. She bumped the doorframe, almost losing her bag. Heat flared in her cheeks.

Noah's eyebrows shot up, amusement crossing his face.

"Not a word," she mumbled, dropping his gaze. Smiling to herself, she started toward her normal study—the one with the real windows and door that was made of wood instead of steel and didn't lock from the outside.