Her Highness and the Highlander: A Princess Brides Romance by Tracy Anne Warren Page A

with a small, padded footrest that
     could be brought out should she wish to prop up her feet and sleep during the trip.
     Until this moment, she had never fully appreciated all the little things that made
     her life so pleasant and easy. Seeing the world from the perspective of those less
     fortunate made her realize how truly lucky she had always been and what an extraordinary
     life she lived.
    For now, she must do as others were accustomed to doing.Clearly, there would be no sleeping on this journey, not even if she’d felt safe enough
     to close her eyes and make the attempt.
    Her fellow passengers seemed no worse for the experience—including Sir Lionel, who
     was seated across from her, apparently content to read the book he held in his lap.
     Beside him sat a burly man she’d decided must be a farmer or laborer of some sort.
     He wore faded brown workingman’s clothes, a battered straw hat, and a pair of boots
     that were crusted with dried mud and bits of hay. He leaned back in a low slouch with
     his meaty palms clasped over his rounded stomach. Every so often she would find him
     staring at her, his eyes too dark and much too direct for her liking.
    She did her best not to glance in his direction. Truthfully, she was relieved that
     Sir Lionel had offered his protection and that she was no longer traveling alone.
    The last passenger riding inside the coach was a thin, sour-faced woman, who hadn’t
     spoken a single word since she’d climbed aboard and squeezed into the narrow space
     next to her. Despite their both being slender, the woman’s bony elbow jabbed into
     her side every few minutes, no matter how she tried to shift away.
    At first she had assumed the pokes were accidental, caused by the bumps and jostling
     of the rough road. But after nearly an hour of such abuse, Mercedes had begun to wonder
     if the woman was doing it deliberately in order to gain more room for herself. With
     that in mind, she had sent her several cool, pointed looks, and said a few meaningful
your pardon
s and
excuse me
s, but the woman had simply ignored her and continued on with her jabbing.
    She’d considered confronting her, but clearly the other woman had no manners and Mercedes
     refused to engage in base behavior no matter the provocation. So she pressed herself
     into the corner of the coach as fully as she could and did her best to ignore the
     woman in turn.
    Being royal, she had always been assured a certain amount of personal space wherever
     she went. No one except closefamily members and dear friends ever dared to actually touch her without asking her
     permission. This coach ride had changed all that, forcing her to realize just how
     many things she had taken for granted.
    A wave of sadness swept over her, not for the creature comforts she was having to
     do without, but rather for the people she was missing. Her family and friends, and
     her dear maid, who had been a constant in her life since she had accompanied her from
     Alden so many years ago. She couldn’t bear to think of her and her cousin gone along
     with all the rest.
    How could it be only yesterday that so much tragedy had occurred? That a few minutes
     of a single day could shatter her life so completely? Suddenly she had gone from being
     Princess Mercedes, cosseted daughter of the Aldenian royal family, to a young woman
     forced to travel alone, who didn’t dare admit what had happened to her or who she
     truly was for fear that she would not be believed. How ironic that she had been sent
     abroad to school in order to protect her from the dangers of the war raging on the
     Continent, yet now that the war was over she was in the worst danger of her life.
    It was so dreadful as to be almost funny. But not funny enough to make her laugh.
     She did not think she’d be able to laugh again for a very long time.
    “How are you faring, my fine young miss?” Sir Lionel asked, intruding on her thoughts.
    She looked across at the baronet, ignoring