Page 101 of A Kingdom's Heart
either side of my hair to keep it from blowing into my face. I draped a soft pink shawl over my white gown and stepped out onto the balcony again. The air was cool against my skin, and themoonlight made the roses gleam like drops of pearl and blush scattered across stone.
Carefully, I climbed over the railing. My fingers gripped the carved edge as I lowered myself down to the ledge below. It was narrow, but solid enough beneath my slippers. I kept one hand on the stone as I followed the trail, each step slow, careful.
When I finally reached the ground, my breath came in short bursts. I glanced around. No guards in sight. The torches on the walls burned faintly in the distance, leaving most of the garden in shadow.
I gathered my shawl closer and followed the roses across the grass. The petals glowed faintly in the moonlight, leading me through rows of trimmed hedges and flowering trees. The farther I went, the quieter it became. The wind had died down, the air heavy and still.
At last, the roses led me to the farthest corner of the castle grounds, a place I had never been before. There were no guards here, no lights, only the high stone walls and the soft rustle of leaves.
And then I saw something.
A tall, muscular figure stood leaning against the wall as if he had
been waiting for me. His posture was calm, almost casual, but something about it made my pulse quicken. The moonlight caught
his outline, and for a moment, I couldn’t move.
The figure straightened, stepping out from the shadows. The moonlight caught his face, and my heart nearly dropped.
William.
He was leaning against the stone wall, his arms crossed, a faint smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. The look in his eyes was calm but unreadable, the kind that made my pulse trip over itself.
“William?” I managed, my voice barely above a whisper.
“I didn’t think you’d actually come,” he said with something that sounded like amusement.
I blinked, glancing down at the trail of roses at my feet before looking back up at him. “You put those there?”
“I did.” His smirk deepened slightly. “I remember you said you liked the white ones. But I also saw the way you looked at the pink ones that day in the gardens.”
For a moment, all I could do was stare at him. The night air pressed cool against my skin, and my heart was still racing, caught between confusion and something else entirely.
“You remembered that?” I said softly.
He nodded once, his gaze steady on mine. “I remember a lot of things about you.”
My eyes drifted to his hands, and that was when I saw it. The
book. The same one we had read to each other by the riverbank.
My breath caught. Memories flooded in all at once. The sound of his voice. The warmth of sunlight through the trees. The
feeling of peace I hadn’t known in so long. My heart began to beat faster.
He lifted the book slightly, noticing my stare. “If you’d like to stay,” he said quietly, “we could read this together. Just like we did back in Elarion.”
My heart skipped. I looked up at him, and for a moment, everything else fell away. The castle, the crown, the worry. All that mattered was this. Him, me, and the book.
“I’d love to,” I said softly.
A faint smile curved his lips. He held out his hand. I hesitated, then took it. His hand was warm and steady.
“I know the perfect place for this,” he said.
I followed him to the far end of the courtyard, where the walls met the shadows. He stopped in front of a small wooden door built into the stone. When he pushed it open, a rush of cool night air brushed against my skin.
“Secret door,” he said with a small grin.
