Susan had tears in her eyes as she watched Alicia and Paulina embrace each other while crying hysterically inside the carriage.
No one could tell if they were shedding tears of relief or tears of shared suffering. Only the two could explain what they had endured and survived together.
As Susan sniffled, she looked down when someone offered her a handkerchief, and she looked from the hand up to the face. It was Harvey.
Her brows pulled together in confusion as she looked at him, wondering why he was being nice to her and if he had changed his mind about their arrangement.
"It's for your tears. Dry it," Harvey offered as he continued to hold out the handkerchief.
"Thank you," she said politely as she took the handkerchief from him. She looked at Alvin as she cleaned her tears and noticed him staring at her before he turned his attention to Harold when Harold asked him a question.
"What about Thorn?" Harold asked Alvin when he didn't see Alvin's horse anywhere, and Alvin returned his attention to Harold.
"Thorn?" Alvin asked in confusion as he wondered why Harold was asking for his horse.
"Aren't you riding with us?" Harold asked Alvin, who looked at him in surprise.
"Am I?" Alvin asked, and Harold simply gave him a pointed look.
"What about the palace? Now is not the time for us to leave the palace at the same time. Someone needs to tend to things in your absence," Alvin pointed out.
Even though Harold knew that Alvin would never complain, he could see how exhausted he looked. He had been very busy lately and would need to relax and get some fresh air outside the palace too. He would have told Alvin to stay back in the palace and do nothing but rest, but he knew Alvin. He would be uncomfortable sitting in one place for a long time, so that wouldn't work.
"Lord Vincent and Sir Oscar will take care of things in the palace," Harold said, giving Alvin the go-ahead to go get his horse. Immediately, Alvin bowed to him and left to do as he had been told.
"How long will you be away?" Harvey asked Harold as he stepped away from Susan and moved closer to the carriage, his gaze landing on Alicia, who had stopped crying now, but she was still hugging Paulina, who was seated beside her.
How long? Harold had no idea. He just needed to take her away until she was okay. He didn't care how long it was going to take. If he needed to be in the palace for anything, he would have to find a way to do so.
"I don't know," Harold said, and Harvey frowned. He hadn't been expecting that response.
"Are you not going with any guards?" Harvey asked when he noticed that the only people with them were the two carriage riders and Alvin, who had gone to fetch his horse.
"Alvin is coming with us," Harold said simply, and Harvey frowned. Was that not too risky?
"Just Alvin? Are you sure you will be safe alone?" Harvey asked, not sure he was okay with that. He had no idea what the Queen and Ivan were going to eventually come up with, hence he was worried about their safety.
"I can take care of her," Harold said, knowing that Harvey's concern was for Alicia, or rather, Amber, and not necessarily for him.
Ordinarily, he would have been angry, but at the point he was now, he didn't mind Alicia having a lot of people who cared about her other than him. What was most important to him was that there were people who were looking out for her and she would be safe. If not for them and their contributions, she would have probably died before he woke up.
"I do not doubt that you can take care of her, My Lord. But travelling alone with two sick ladies is going to put you at a disadvantage if you meet any foe in the way."
Harold said nothing and just raised his eyebrows. He knew that Harvey still had more to say.
"Therefore, I would like to come with you... if you don't mind," Harvey offered and added the last part when Harold's already raised brow went higher.
Harold shook his head. "You are a part of the assembly. You can't just leave," Harold reminded him.
"Yes, I can. I will ride alongside you and Alvin. I'm sure you must have heard about my swordsmanship," Harvey said, and without waiting for Harold to raise another objection, he bowed as he said, "I will go get my horse." With that, he walked away from there to get his horse and send word to inform his father that he would be leaving with Prince Harold.
As Harvey was leaving, Luciana was hurrying toward them, and she didn't forget to glare at Harvey as they passed by each other.
"Is Princess Amber awake? I heard they were leaving the palace and came to check." Luciana asked Susan as she approached the carriage, but seeing Harold beside the carriage made her stop beside Susan instead.
"How is she?"
Susan turned to her and sighed sadly, "She seems different. The execution broke her. She cried a lot." Susan murmured just as Alvin returned.
"She always acted so strong. I never would have imagined that she could shed tears," Luciana said with a sad sigh as she remembered the day she had been crying in Princess Amber's bathroom and she had come in to console her. That seemed like ages ago now, and she wished she could offer her the same comfort.
Seeing as Alvin was back and Harvey was following closely behind, Harold went to look inside the carriage to let her know they would be leaving now.
"Are you going with them?" Luciana asked in surprise when Harvey rode past them on his horse, and he gave her a nod.
Since when was Harvey this close to them? Luciana wondered to herself as she watched the smug look he was giving her. That made her even angrier at him. She just couldn't shake off the feeling that he was suspicious.
Harold was about to slide the door closed when Susan stepped forward and asked, "Can I come too?"
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