Page 6 of The Time Of Queens

“And what when the King discovers our part in this…? No, I cannot put my wife in harm’s way.”

She snorted a laugh and bounced up to him before taking his face in her small, dainty hands.

“Oh, my handsome husband, no one would ever dare try anything to punish me, not when they fear your wrath and the destruction it could bring. Trust me, sugar plum, no one but you can punish me.”

He scoffed but the second she said,“Please,”he softened quickly and pulled her into his arms.

“Why is it I can deny you nothing?”

“Because of what I can do with my mouth?” she offered with a wink, making me laugh.

“Mmm indeed, but I think more to the deep love and affection I hold for you, my dear,” he replied smoothly, making me nearly melt.

“Oh well that too, of course, for it is true, I am great at being a wife.”

I giggled at that, but not enough to miss his sweet reply.

“That you are, my Winnie…”

“…That you are.”

3

MAKING OF A MAID

“Okay, so I’m not sure this is what I had in mind,” I said, looking down at myself in my long black dress with a thick, frilly, lace white collar and long bell sleeves. The pair of plain black boots were a size too big, which was way better than them being too small and causing me blisters. As for my blonde hair, this had been pulled back either side and pinned into a simple bun at the nape of my neck.

“Why, what do lady’s maids usually wear in your time?” Pip asked, cocking her head to the side like a curious and adorable puppy.

“Well, we don’t have them, as even the rich tend to dress themselves.” At this her mouth dropped.

“Holy smog of London, are you quite serious?”

“I doubt she refers to our King, for he would still…”

I started shaking my head, stopping Adam in his tracks. Then I held up a hand and whispered behind it to Pip, telling her,

“He doesn’t even have a butler.”

“Nooo! Did you hear that, Bonbon?”

“It is a small carriage, my love,” Adam replied, his lips quirking.

“It sounds so wonderfully different,” she hummed, looking out of the window as if trying to imagine it.

“Nearly two hundred years will do that,” I said, sticking my head out of my side window and seeing we were getting closer to the house. Hence why my nerves started to kick in and my heart beat faster.

“Do you really think this is going to work?” I asked, the fabric of my skirt twisting in my hands and my lip finding itself in between my teeth. At this Adam took pity on me and covered my hand.

“Be at ease, Keira, we will do our best to get you home.” At this Pip looked a little sad. As if only just remembering what we were trying to achieve here and that would eventually mean saying goodbye.

Because after Pip had convinced her husband to help me, we had made a plan. Doing so while Pip had helped me clean up my scraped knees, the small cut at my neck, and the larger cut at my palm.

While Adam refused to steal from his King, he had no qualms about Pip stealing clothes from a mortal. Say, like a lady’s maid outfit, along with shoes and stockings. However, I had drawn the line at underwear, telling her I had that covered.

As for the plan, Pip and Adam had been on their way to Witley Court as summoned by their King weeks ago. So, it wasn’t going to look odd them just arriving out of the blue. That was one problem solved, the next was getting inside and remaining unseen enough to search for a coin. Hence why I was now posing as Pip’s lady’s maid, someone she had left at their own home, Ham House in London, south of Richmond.

Just the idea of Pip having maids was mind blowing as I just couldn’t see it. If anything, she would be the one braiding their hair and dressing them up like life-sized dolls. But right now, well, I had a part to play, as it was a sure way to get me insideand unseen. Of course, I was nervous in case I got it wrong about creating a new timeline. Because I discovered we were in fact in the year 1867. A whole sixty-eight years since I left him, which was no more but a single day for me.

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