Audrey knocked on Austin's study door once and walked in without waiting for an answer.
"How's your leg?" she asked.
"Fine."
"The physician said…"
"Not again," Austin sighed. "The man never stops talking."
She sat across from him.
"You used to say the same thing about your tutors," she smiled.
"Because they never stopped talking either."
"Really? Or did you hate being told what to do?"
He smiled.
"I still do."
She crossed her legs and looked at him as she used to when they were kids.
"Do you remember when you fell off the grey mare at Harwick? You were… twelve? Thirteen?"
"Twelve."
"You sat up with mud on your face and told the stablemaster you had done it on purpose."
"I had."
She laughed and he joined her a second later. At that moment, they weren't the duke and the princess. They were just two people who had been each other's friends for a very long time.
"I missed this side of you," Austin said softly.
