He flinched, eyes wounded. “But you told me you were developing feelings for me.”
“That was before you betrayed me by making the court believe I’m a princess. Besides, you’re still engaged.”
“But Eileen, you don’t understand.” He reached out as if he meant to embrace me, but I stepped away until my back pressed against the bedpost. He gaped at me. “Have your feelings changed?”
They hadn’t, but caring for him didn’t mean our relationship was right. “You’re engaged to another. It’s wrong for you to betray her in order to be involved with me.” Men were far too fickle. Thank goodness I’d learned Aiden’s true character before I’d involved myself further.
Aiden’s expression crumpled. “Please, Eileen.”
“Perhaps I didn’t make my meaning clear,” I said slowly, forcing myself to say the words that burned on my tongue. “I never want to see you again.” I pointed to the door, my entire body shaking. “Get out. Now.”
“But Eileen—”
“Go away!” My tears finally escaped. He reached a thumb out as if to wipe them away but froze at my glare. He slowly backed away.
“Very well, I’ll leave. But please don’t try to escape, Eileen; guards are posted everywhere, and it’ll look more suspicious should you inevitably get caught. The best course of action is to stay.”
I gritted my teeth. He was right and I hated it. His words were bars, trapping me in this prison. There was no escape. Defeated, I crumpled to the ground and pressed my tear-streaked face against the side of the mattress.
“Please leave,” I whispered.
To my surprise, he obediently heeded my wishes.
Despite the anger raging war against my breaking heart, a sense of loss washed over me the moment he left the room. The earlier joy I’d felt at seeing him again was now swallowed up by his betrayal. Despite everything we’d experienced together, Aiden was like all men, always hurting you in the end. I made myself a determined promise never to trust my heart to him again.
Chapter 14
Despite Aiden’s warning, I wasn’t inclined to entirely give up trying to escape. Rather than spending the following day cooped up in my room, I explored the palace corridors, searching for potential escape routes, trying every door I passed—most of which were unfortunately locked—and exploring every unlocked room that didn’t appear off-limits.
After several unproductive hours of this, I ventured outside to the towering gilded gates, which were flanked by two rigid guards. I pressed my face against the bars and stared longingly at the Forest and the freedom it represented, so near yet still beyond my reach. My neck prickled. I glanced over to see both guards watching me with suspicious frowns.
I straightened. “Open the gates so I might go exploring.” I tried to sound authoritative, but the command sounded weak even to my ears.
The guards exchanged long looks. “Forgive us, noble lady, but the Forest is off-limits. It’s an enchanted Forest prone to getting wanderers hopelessly lost.”
I jutted my chin out. “Be that as it may, I’m ordering you to let me wander it anyway.”
“Forgive us, but His Highness has given strict orders that no one is to leave the palace grounds.”
What good was it being forced to pose as a royal if my orders weren’t obeyed? I wanted to argue but knew doing so would only draw more unwanted attention. Once again I’d failed.
As I turned away from my now-forbidden Forest to trudge gloomily back into my palace prison, a figure hastily ducked behind a hedge, a man who looked suspiciously like that Guard Alastar. I frowned. Was he following me?
I kept a sharp lookout for him as I ascended the palace steps, but I didn’t see him, just as I hadn’t seen him during my earlier explorations, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being not only watched but followed.
When I went down to lunch, I took my usual place at the Dracerian Royalty’s end of the dining table.
“I’ve been looking for you all morning,” Princess Elodie said the moment I sat down. “Where have you been?”
Princess Aveline sniffed disapprovingly. “Princesses shouldn’t go looking for anything; that’s what servants are for.”
“Where’s the fun in sending them to do something I’m perfectly capable of doing myself?” Princess Elodie said. “Do tell me where you’ve been, Gemma.”
My cheeks burned. I didn’t want to admit having spent the entire morning traipsing around the palace and its grounds. Prince Liam grinned cheekily as he leaned back in his seat.
“I know where you’ve been, Princess. I’ll keep it a secret in exchange for your crumpet.”
I lowered my eyes to the crumpet on my plate before tossing it at him. He caught it easily, eyebrows raised in surprise, before an easy grin lit his face.
“You tossed a crumpet at the table?” Princess Aveline gaped at me. My stomach sank at my mistake and I wanted to groan at my stupidity. Rosie always tossed baked goods at her brother whenever I dined with her family, and Prince Liam seemed the epitome of an annoying older brother, making the impulse to throw my crumpet impossible to resist.
“I often throw crumpets at my brothers, so I don’t see why I shouldn’t bestow the same courtesy to Prince Liam.” The princess I was imitating was said to have two brothers, right?
Prince Liam threw his head back and laughed. “I like you, Gemma.” He took a huge bite from the crumpet I’d given him, completely ignoring his own waiting patiently on his plate. “Very well, I’ll keep your secret.”
“No fair,” Princess Elodie said. “I want to know what Gemma has been up to. It must have been something exciting considering it’s a secret.”
“She’s been exploring the palace, quite thoroughly, too.”
I glared at him and he held up his hands defensively.
“Don’t look at me as if I just betrayed your trust. I never said how long I’d keep your secret for.” He winked, a gesture which effectively disarmed me. Why were princes so charming?
“That was a cruel trick, Liam,” Princess Rheanna said.
“But an effective one; it got me an extra crumpet, didn’t it?” He shoved the rest of it into his mouth, dripping crumbs onto his velvet tunic, which he brushed off onto the floor.
Princess Aveline rolled her eyes before eating her own crumpet with exaggerated formality. “You must work on improving your manners for when you’re king and attend state dinners with important diplomats.”
“But we’re not at a state dinner with a bunch of stuffy diplomats, are we, sister dear? Thank heavens for that.” He tugged her earlobe playfully before jabbing at his rosemary chicken. “Did you find anything interesting in your explorations, Gemma? I expect you were searching for the many secret passageways to be found within the Sortileyan palace’s walls.”
My heart gave an excited leap. “Passageways?” A secret passageway could either get me hopelessly lost or lead me to much-desired freedom. Either scenario presented a better fate than the predicament I currently found myself in.
Prince Liam twirled his knife between his fingers. “Come now, don’t tell me you haven’t heard the rumors. The Sortileyan palace is famous for its labyrinth of secret passageways, ones I’m keen to discover each visit.”
“Have you found any?” For while I hadn’t exactly doubted Rosie’s imaginative claims that such things existed, I hadn’t made searching for them a priority compared with other possible exits.
He sighed. “Unfortunately not, but that doesn’t keep me from looking. I’ve pleaded with the prince to show them to me, but his only hint is that all of them share a feature that’s the trick to finding and opening them.”
“Do you know whether any of the passageways lead outside the palace?”
“I’m told there’s one that leads directly to the Forest.”
At last, there was hope of escaping after all. My mood brightened considerably and I beamed at Prince Liam; he flashed me an excited grin that lit up his bright blue eyes.
; “Ah, I recognize that determined gleam. I wish you much luck on your quest. Perhaps I’ll do some searching of my own this afternoon. If we split up, we’ll cover much more ground.”
The passageways became that afternoon’s quest. I combed every wall I passed for potential knobs and switches but found nothing in the smooth, ordinary marble, not even when I tentatively peeked around lavish tapestries, suits of armor, or other decorations lining the hallways.
I huffed a frustrated sigh. This was getting me nowhere, but I couldn’t give up, not when the alternative would be the impossible task of continuing to pretend I was a princess. Getting caught was inevitable. I gritted my teeth. This was all Aiden’s fault.
No, I wouldn’t think of him, not when his betrayal was still so fresh. But despite the anger attacking my heart, I unconsciously looked for him during my palace explorations—especially amongst the attending nobles during meals—for despite how much I pretended otherwise, I wanted to see him again.
But I never encountered him; it was as if he’d disappeared…or perhaps he was avoiding me. I tried to tell myself it was for the best, for with his engagement he was very much unavailable to me. Still, his absence hurt all the same.
As I continued to search, I couldn’t shake the feeling I was being watched. It began as merely a suspicion—sensing someone behind me only to turn around and see no one there, or catching the occasional movement from the shadows—but after spotting Guard Alastar in the gardens, I became certain he was the one following me. I tried to ignore him, but soon his trailing presence became too unnerving to do so any longer.
I waited until we’d reached an abandoned corridor before spinning around to stare at the apparently empty hallway. “I know you’re following me.”
He stepped into view and bowed. “Good afternoon, Princess Gemma.” He emphasized my name, as if he doubted it. My heart flared in paranoia. Was he following me because he found me suspicious?
“I saw you in the gardens.” I glared at him, challenging him to deny it. His stoic expression didn’t even falter.
“I was careless. I wasn’t sure whether you would attempt to force yourself past the guards flanking the gate, so I stepped into the open in preparations to come after you.”
I tightened my jaw. “So you are following me. Why?”
“I have my orders, Your Highness.”
Undoubtedly, Aiden had put him up to this. The question that remained was whether he’d done it in order to protect me or to prevent me from escaping. I pressed my hands to my hips. “I see I’m not the only one Aiden is ordering about.”
“He doesn’t order me,” Guard Alastar said. “He merely makes requests, but considering our friendship, I take them as seriously as if they were direct orders from the crown prince himself.”
I frowned. He hadn’t denied it was Aiden’s bidding he was doing, the man I was still quite annoyed with, although my anger lessened the longer my true identity remained undiscovered. Admittedly, I longed to see him again more than I wanted to remain upset with him.
“I knew it was Aiden’s doing.”
“You make it sound like an accusation.”
“Because it is.”
Alastar’s lips twitched but not into a full smile, as if he considered smiling below his position as guard. “I can see why he’s taken a liking to you. He needs someone to put him in his place.”
“I’ll do more than that,” I grumbled. “Next I see him I’m going to murder him.”
Alastar frowned. “What’s the reason for your ire?”
I tightened my jaw but remained silent, no excuse adequate enough that wouldn’t give me away. I couldn’t very well admit the façade I was being forced to participate in, but by the knowing look in this guard’s eyes, I had the sinking feeling he already knew the full extent of my situation.
“Why is Aiden having you creepily follow me?”
Alastar cocked an eyebrow. “Creepily? I was going for discreetly and protectively.”
“So you claim Aiden wants to protect me?”
“Can you doubt that?”
That flared my temper. “If he’s so concerned, he shouldn’t have been the one to lie about me being a—” I snapped my mouth shut before any more condemning words escaped. Guard Alastar made no indication he found my outburst incriminating.
“Whatever his choices that you may or may not approve of, he’s still clearly concerned for your welfare, Your Highness. Shouldn’t that be taken into consideration?”
For once his use of my false title caused me to relax. Surely he wouldn’t address me so formally if he suspected I wasn’t who I claimed. “Why would he be concerned with my welfare?”
“He thinks very highly of you—something quite impressive considering he rarely thinks highly of anyone.”
Despite my annoyance with Aiden, I couldn’t quite mask my pleasure at Alastar’s words. “And my grumpy mood and snappy retorts don’t make you believe he’s delusional, I take it?”
“Not at all.” Alastar’s stoic expression didn’t even waver as he met my gaze. “Please don’t be angry with him.”
Against my better judgment, his request softened me. It wasn’t that difficult, considering I didn’t want to be angry with Aiden. The longer I was the more wrong it felt, as if any negative emotion wasn’t meant to exist between us. “It would be easier to forgive him if I knew why he did it.”
“I’m not at liberty to say, Your Highness, but what’s important is that his motive is significant to him. He carefully considers all his decisions before he makes them.” He frowned thoughtfully. “Although admittedly, this one was more impulsive. Regardless, he didn’t mean to hurt you; of that I can be certain.”
“Despite that, he still hasn’t fully repented for his offense. Until he does, I have the right to remain upset with him.”
“Hopefully with time, your anger will fade.”
I tilted my head and studied him with a thoughtful frown. “You truly think highly of him, don’t you?”
“As I’ve said before, Your Highness, he’s a good friend.”
“Then you must know a lot about him.” My anger momentarily faded, replaced by the unsatisfied curiosity that constantly filled me concerning Aiden’s many mysteries. “What’s Aiden’s title?”
“One far above my own,” Alastar said. I frowned at his ridiculously vague answer.
“What of Aiden’s background? His relations?”
Hesitation pierced Alastar’s stoic expression. “Forgive me, but I’m not at liberty to divulge such information without his permission.”
Of course he wasn’t. This was getting me nowhere, and I was growing tired of this game. I turned and stomped towards my room. It came as no surprise when Alastar followed me. I sighed. “This is going to get quite annoying.”
“I apologize if I’m inconveniencing you. If it bothers you so much, take it up with Aiden.”
“Next time I see him, I have other more pressing words to spout to him.”
Alastar’s lips twitched in response.
We walked back to my room in silence, the only sound our footsteps echoing through the marble corridors and the occasional direction from Alastar when I was about to take a wrong turn. Curiosity compelled me to pause outside one of the locked doors I’d encountered during my earlier explorations.
“What’s beyond that door?” I asked.
“A portrait gallery, Your Highness, filled with several generations of Sortileya’s royalty.”
I made another tug on the handle but it didn’t open. “Why is it locked?”
“I couldn’t say, Princess Eil—Gemma.”
My heart flared to life as I slowly turned to face him. His stoic expression hadn’t faltered, but regret filled his eyes. He knew my real name. Aiden must have told him, which meant Alastar was in on the secret that I wasn’t who I claimed to be.
“Is something the matter, Princess Gemma?”
I ached to confront him, but his clear determination to address me by the
part I played deterred me. I shook my head and we resumed walking.
When I reached my bedroom, I eyed Alastar warily. “You’re not ordered to follow me into my room, are you?”
“No worries, Your Highness. I’ll wait for you out here.”
I frowned. “All evening?”
“I’ll have the opportunity to stretch my legs when I escort you to dinner.”
Another awkward formal dinner, and with it, the revelation of the first test—a test I’d been distracted from dwelling on in my search for a way to avoid it. I groaned. “If only I could find a way to wriggle out of it.”
He tilted his head. “Why Princess, you’re beginning to look a bit ill, if you’ll forgive the observation.”
I sighed. “Unfortunately, I already used that excuse yesterday.”
“Quite unfortunate indeed. I shall entertain myself with coming up with other possible excuses for you. It’ll help pass the time.”
I managed a smile. I liked this stoic guard.
Guard Alastar turned away from the doorway but paused to glance over his shoulder. “If you’ll forgive my asking, Your Highness, how is your quest to uncover the palace’s secret passageways going?”
My face heated. “How did you know?”
He raised his eyebrow. “I’ve followed you most of the day and witnessed your poking around.”
That was true. “Do you happen to know where they are?”
“I do, but unfortunately I can’t divulge their whereabouts; they’re secret for a reason.”
I sighed. How disappointing. That meant I had no choice but to face the first challenge, one I wanted both to pass and to fail. I didn’t want to do well, considering I had no interest in marrying the prince, but I couldn’t do so poorly that I’d be found out as a commoner posing as a royal. My head throbbed at the fine line I had to balance. So overwhelming.
As if sensing my discomfort, Alastar offered a sympathetic smile. “Don’t worry, Your Highness. All will be well.”
I studied him with a frown. He definitely knew my secret. Was it his relationship with Aiden that prevented him from turning me in?
“Do you trust Aiden?” Despite the pain of his betrayal, I still cared for him. I needed a reason to forgive him in order to begin rebuilding the fragile trust he’d broken.
Pathways (The Kingdom Chronicles Book 1) Page 15