18 Who Are You?

So Al was on the beach my first day in town. Interesting. He did say he liked coming here.

"You saw all that?" I asked hesitantly.

Percy's worry that I would be seen by someone important acting so impulsively was valid after all. I didn't think nobles went to the beach. Everyone else I saw then looked like an average citizen, not that there were many people there in the first place.

He nodded. "It was quite brave, what you did. Standing up to that old doctor even though the chances of him listening to you weren't high. I wanted to talk to you that day but you were gone before I could do anything. Imagine my surprise when I saw you present yourself in front of the monarchy the next day."

"Is that why you were staring at me?" I asked, unable to stop the words from tumbling out.

At least he had enough shame to look embarrassed. "You noticed?"

"It was hard not to."

Al scratched the back of his neck. "Forgive me, but I had a hard time believing someone so kind or knowledgeable could be a debutante. The earldom is nowhere near the ocean…how did you know the proper way to treat a jellyfish sting?"

Ah. This could get tricky. "I read about it," I said truthfully.

"In a medical textbook? I wasn't aware that jellyfish stings were common enough to end up in one. That doctor certainly didn't know what to do."

"Not a medical textbook…" I read about it online but there was no concept of the internet here.

"I was reading about ocean creatures when I came across that information." It wasn't a total lie. I only looked it up because I was already learning about jellyfish and got curious.

"I had no idea someone had written a book about what lives in the ocean. Sailors catch fish using large nets so I suppose a jellyfish or two could get stuck in them from time to time," he mused. "I may want to read this book myself. What was it called?"

"I don't remember," I said hastily.

Everything I knew about jellyfish came from the internet, placards at aquariums, or ocean documentaries. There wasn't a book about ocean creatures in this world!

"But if you ever want to know more about ocean life I can tell you."

He raised an eyebrow at me while his lips quirked into a half-smile. "You plan to stay in contact with me after running away?"

He had a point. I'd spoken without thinking yet again. There was a good chance this would be the last time I saw him.

"Do you have to tease me?" I asked somewhat pitifully. This guy really knew how to get a rise out of me but somehow I didn't mind it.

"My apologies. I suppose you're too easy to tease."

We went silent for a while, listening to the sounds of the waves and the seagulls soaring above us. It was kind of nice, sitting here like this with him. Almost like having a friend.

"You…won't tell my family about this, will you? That you saw me, I mean."

He was so easy to talk to that I had nearly forgotten he was a noble and could tattle on me.

"No, I won't tell your family. Goodness knows I wish I could escape as easily as you did. I barely manage to make it out for excursions like this. If I was ever to run away it would have to be too far for anyone to ever recognize me."

I looked at him in confusion. "Are you that recognizable? My brother didn't know who you were."

He howled with laughter, practically rolling off the rock, before breaking into a heart-stopping grin. "Really? He didn't? Fantastic!"

"No offense…but who are you?"

Al sobered instantly. "Believe it or not, no one important. I have two brothers ahead of me to inherit so I'm little more than a puppet to the whims of my family."

Hmm. Not important but too visible to eke out a living in the capital. He must be the son of someone who was a big deal here.

If I dyed and cut my hair and changed my name I could get away with it because my family didn't live here and only nobles, most of whom also didn't live in the capital full-time, knew who I was.

But Al grew up here. People knew him. He was right; he would have to go far away.

"Why not go to the countryside?"

"People still know of me, or at least my family, in the countryside. I'm afraid I would have to leave the country but I have no idea how to do it."

"I don't know either or I'd say we should make a break for it together," I said thoughtlessly, not noticing how he stiffened. "Right now my only hope is getting a job replacing that bakery girl who is going to the palace to serve the second princess."

"You would honestly want me to run away with you?" Al asked in a somewhat strangled voice.

"You realize I'm one of your suitors, right? Why would you ask a suitor to run away with you when you're running away from them?"