A Courtyard of Roses

Chapter Eighteen

"WYATT! OVER HERE!"

Alice waved fervently, the stack of papers in her hand while Miles stood a step behind her. They had scoured through the entire palace grounds — or at least the areas which they were allowed to access — in search of Wyatt but to no avail. It wasn't until Alice had spotted a streak of white headed towards the main gates before she perked up again, running like mad towards Wyatt.

"Alice!" A little shocked, Wyatt's eyes widened a little. They glittered like rubies as it caught the last rays of sunlight right before it disappeared past the horizon, dazzling and mystical as he looked at Alice before turning to Miles. "How did you two get into the palace?"

"The guards posted at the door recognized me. We told them you left some important documents behind and they let us in," Miles answered, nudging Alice forward a little.

"Oh." Pushed forward, Alice finally remembered the documents she held. Holding them out for Wyatt to take, she said, "Here. You dropped these on your way out just now." As Wyatt took hold of the papers, shuffling through the stack to tabulate if they were all present, Alice continued, "We tried calling you but you mustn't have heard us. So we thought it would be better to bring them over to you than to have you come running back to the mansion. That would've been a waste of time and it's already so late." She gestured pointedly at the missing sun in the sky, nodding towards the blanket of stars and the silver moon that had started its journey to the zenith.

Wyatt sighed out a puff of air, his shoulders slackening as he did so. Gently smiling, his expression seemed much more sincere than all of Wyatt's smiles Alice had seen combined.

"Thank you," he replied, arranging the papers in his hands back into a neat stack after having jumbled through them. Hugging them close to his chest as if afraid those papers would disappear into thin air if he let go, Wyatt shook his head slightly, laughing now that all the tension had finally melted away. "I don't know what I would've done if I had actually lost these documents. They're important reports that took months to compile. Again, thank you, both of you."

"You would've done the same for any of us." Alice shrugged. "It's the least I can do."

"Don't you have a meeting to head to? With the crown prince?" Miles piped up, crossing his arms over his chest. "I don't suppose he'll be happy if you keep him waiting for too long."

"Oh, you're right!" Pulling out his pocket watch, Wyatt scanned the time before jumping a little. "Darn, I'm late. Well, I'll be off now. Alice, if you wish to explore the palace, there's a library that you can take a look at. I saw how interested you are with books earlier today," Wyatt suggested, eyes glittering. "Miles, you can head back first. I'm plenty capable of bringing Alice back to the mansion once I'm done. Charlie will be looking for you if you linger too long outside the estate. You know how he is."

Nodding, Miles wordlessly took a step away. He cast a quick look at Alice, waiting to see if she had any qualms in regards to the arrangement. After confirming that she was willing to linger in the palace a little longer — either to wait for Wyatt or to scout the palace's ginormous library — Miles left on his horse, satisfied. That left Alice alone with Wyatt, scurrying to keep with his quick steps as he crossed the hallways and curved corners, rushing towards the palace library.

"Wait for me here, Alice," Wyatt instructed, turning back to quickly glimpse at Alice as he spoke, still walking. "You can wander around the palace but don't go too far into the inner palace grounds. That area is strictly restricted to members of the royal family and their immediate guests. If you're caught there, the punishment will be quite severe. The library, the rose garden, and the ballroom are all areas that you can explore while waiting for me. These places are usually restricted from the general public but since you've debuted as a noble with ties to the Ragan family, you should be fine. If anything goes wrong," Wyatt huffed, pausing when they've finally arrived at the large mahogany doors of the library. "If anything goes wrong, ask a palace guard to contact me at once. They should know where to find me. If they don't, or if you need to find me for any reason, I'm usually in Prince Hartley's office or my own, which is the study next to his. The guards know the way."