Limitless

Hattie loves nothing more than getting away from palace life and spending time with her best friend in the village. The simple life with Cedric is much more exciting than being a princess with the weight of the kingdom on her shoulders. When her parents announce that it's time to find a suitor, Hattie knows there is one boy who has already stolen her heart.

Living on the streets after his father is banished for using magic, Cedric has learned to fend for himself. Working for the man who took him in keeps him from starving, but he wants to make something of himself. Otherwise, he has no hope of winning Princess Hattie's heart.

When a mage curses Hattie's family on her sixteenth birthday, she and Cedric must flee the kingdom to keep her safe. Now Cedric’s absent father may be the hero they need to help defeat the mage—if they can find him. Will Hattie and Cedric manage to find their happily ever after, or will they be destined to live apart forever?

 The village was packed with people, ready for market. Vendors shouted, advertising their wares, while shoppers moved from stall to stall.
They came from all over, dressed in their fanciest clothes of multiple colors of reds, blues, and oranges. Most villagers looked forward to the celebration each year, but for Cedric, it just meant more work. He ducked around a corner with the apple he’d bought from a farmer to avoid the chaos. Lunch wasn’t for a few more hours and he was starving.

As soon as the apple was gone, Cedric snaked through the alleyways until he got to the inn. He snatched a rose from a flowerbed along the way and hid it in his pocket. The matron glared at him from her front window, but he simply waved and continued through the alley. When he got to the backdoor, Cedric picked up the
barrel of ale he was supposed to deliver to the innkeeper and knocked on the back door. It should have already been delivered, but Cedric always got a little leeway for finishing his work. His father had been banished because of magic, and the villagers seemed to think Cedric would explode with it at any
moment.

“You’re late.” The innkeeper, Merek, grunted as he opened the door wider and glared at Cedric. He was the one person who believed it was laziness and not magic running through Cedric’s veins.

“Sorry, sir. I got lost.” Cedric hid a smile as he set the ale down on the counter. “Anything else I can do for you, sir?”

Merek rolled his eyes. “The guests need their bags delivered to their rooms. Think you can do that without messing anything up?”

Cedric took the keys, gave him a mock bow, and headed for the front of the inn. He chuckled to himself and grabbed the bags of a woman and her three children. She was dressed in rich velvet, and her boys looked miserable in their fancy suits.
He could relate. “Hello, Ma’am. If you’ll follow me, I can guide you to your
room.”

The woman sniffed in disgust and followed him up the stairs. She had one of the larger rooms in the inn with three beds, a washing table, dining table, and windows on two walls, but she still glared at it. “This is my room?”

“Yes, ma’am. Would you like to take your dinner in your room?” Cedric winked at one of the woman’s sons, making the boy giggle and duck behind his mom’s skirts.

“No need. I’ll be at the festival until sundown.” She dug through her purse and pulled out a few of her smallest coins. “For your troubles.”

Cedric bowed. “Thank you, Ma’am. If I may, I’d suggest going three stalls down from here to buy your food. Their meat pies are the finest you’ll find in the region.”

The woman sniffed again and nodded to acknowledge his words. Cedric waved at her boys and left the room, pausing outside long enough to tuck the coins into a pouch he kept hidden in his pant leg. Merek tended to search them for any tips,
so Cedric had to get creative.

There were two more guests waiting for him when he got downstairs. He helped a merchant to his room and received a gold coin with promise of more if Cedric would keep his location a secret. The man obviously didn’t know who Cedric was
if he thought anyone would talk to him, but he wasn’t going to pass up the coin.

Hattie stood in the corner with a paper in her hand to take the order of a group of loud, rude men. She smiled over at Cedric, but continued to listen to the men in front of her. Cedric watched for a moment to make sure no one would treat
her disrespectfully before ducking out of the inn again. If anyone knew she was the princess . . .

As soon as she was done with the order, she made her way over to him. “Where have you been hiding?”

“Oh, you know, here and there.” He pulled an apple from his pocket. “I saved you one.”

Her eyes lit up. “An apple is always much sweeter when it’s been nabbed by you. Thank you, Cedric.”

“Hey, I bought that fair and square.”

“Sure you did.” She grinned, and the dimple he loved so much appeared just below her mouth. “I need to get back.”

“Not before I give you this.” Cedric handed her the rose he’d collected.

Her face lit up. “Where’d you find it?”

“You know I’ll never—”

“Cedric! Where are you boy?” Merek’s voice boomed through the common room.

A few of the patrons glanced up, but most were used to Cedric getting into some form of trouble.

“You’d better go.” Hattie smiled and tucked the rose in her apron, then took the order she’d written out into the kitchen.

“There you are. Have you finished your chores?” Merek placed his hands on his hips.

Cedric grinned. “Of course I have. But I’ll go double check—just in case I missed something.”

Merek grumbled while a few of the people at surrounding tables hid their laughter.
Cedric went to the kitchen, winking at Hattie as he walked past. The fires were getting low in the kitchen and he should have had the piles of wood inside. He went out the back door and quickly chopped the logs into firewood. If anyone knew he
was using an axe, the innkeeper could be shut down for allowing Cedric to do such dangerous work. It was the reason Cedric stayed at the inn, really. No one else gave him a job. No one else believed he was worth having around.

The cook glanced over at Cedric when he came in. “Merek’s looking for you. Something about one of the guests.”

“Thanks.” As he piled up the wood near the stove, Cedric ran through a list of the guests he’d helped that day, trying to think of what could have possibly angered any
of them. Unless trying to make that woman’s son smile was a crime, he was pretty sure he’d done nothing wrong.

Merek stood near the entrance of the inn, speaking to a man and two small girls. Cedric hung back, waiting to see what would happen. This man was from the village, which meant he knew who Cedric was. Knew the rumors surrounding him. Finding him in this inn would reflect poorly on Merek, and that was the last
thing Cedric wanted.