by A. J. Cove
* * * *
Doshi thought her father's happy smile couldn't get any wider as he commanded a wedding coordinator brought to the castle to handle the upcoming nuptials. The ink on the note to Prince Tarin had barely dried and the postman was just turning down the lane before her father ordered extra maids to prepare Gabriella for her big day.
Her head spun with the flurried activity, while her sister soaked up the constant attention with ease.
"What if he decides he doesn't want to marry you?” She perched on the edge of her sister's bed while the maids bathed Gabriella in her daily ritual of mineral oils and sweet scents.
"Doshi, you are so stupid, I wonder how you can be in this family,” Gabriella sneered. “We are promised to one another. That's as good as married."
"But does he know you're the Wild Rose?"
"Father said he does, didn't he?"
"Yes, but does he really know...?"
"Shut up, Doshi!” Gabriella sloshed water over the side of her tub. “I let you come in here, Mouse, but don't think I won't throw you out if you get on my nerves."
Doshi quieted her rampant tongue. She'd always known her penchant for asking endless questions bugged her sister, but she couldn't help it. Her father had told her it was good that she questioned the world around her. It would lead her further than Gabriella would ever imagine going. So far, Father had been wrong, she grumped silently.
Soon Gabriella stood and stepped out of her bath. Two maids rushed forward to dry the pampered princess. Doshi peeked up at her sister's naked form just a few feet away. Lin had said she and Gabriella had the exact same measurements. Seeing Gabriella's full bosom, tapered waist, flat belly and long shapely legs made Doshi doubt that statement. Not that she ever examined her own figure. She expected it to be as plain as her face and couldn't bring herself to find out for sure.
It was hard not to notice that her own blessings, as Lin had put it, were as full as her sister's, but that didn't mean she felt confident enough to flaunt them as Gabriella did. Were she to wear those thin, figure-hugging dresses in Gabriella's wardrobe, she'd collapse with embarrassment the first time a man's gaze dropped to her naked flesh. More times than she allowed herself to remember, she'd stumbled upon Gabriella and one of her men in a private alcove. He'd have his hand or mouth—whichever he was in the mood for—covering her sister's exposed nipples.
Her heated thoughts made Doshi's face flame and she fanned it quickly before anyone noticed. She stood up and hurried to the window seat to hide her state of excitement. Hoisting herself on the seat, she leaned out of the open window. A breeze cooled her flaming face, returning her to some normalcy.
If she could just have someone of her own, someone to please her as Gabriella was pleased by her various men. It wouldn't take more than one, she figured. Just one, a single man to satisfy the burning ache she experienced each night she lay down in her bed alone and an old maid.
Tears burned her eyes. What if she never met someone? She couldn't maintain a sense of decorum long enough to capture a man's attention for more than five minutes, let alone snare him into marriage. And of course her choices were already limited. King Lagrin could not countenance his daughters marrying anything less than royalty, even if it was thrice removed from the throne. Bah!
She was going to live her life as pathetic aunty to Gabriella's children. Life was certainly unfair. She'd visited town just last week with an entire entourage of protectors. She rolled her eyes remembering. She'd noticed even the common women had beaus.
"I'd give up this castle for that,” she whispered into the wind. “Just once. One experience."
She peered out onto the mist-covered landscape and saw a woman strolling along the edges of the maze. At first, she thought it might be someone she knew, but she changed her mind when the woman turned back toward the castle. Her plain brown dress transformed to a brilliant sky blue, with glints of light flashing over it like fireflies dancing in silk.
She stopped beneath the window, but Doshi still couldn't place her. The mist followed her, shielding her identity from Doshi's curious gaze.
The mysterious woman tilted her head and looked up. Her pink bow lips did not move, but Doshi's mind filled with her gentle voice. “I will give you a gift, Doshi. One that will help you to find true love. Your gift will grow with you and become a part of you. If you are brave, you will learn to control it, and eventually it will be an inheritance to your children."
Having no idea what to make of this statement, Doshi did not reply. She watched transfixed as the woman returned to the garden and slowly faded from view.
"Doshi! Close that blasted window! I'm freezing!” Gabriella was very un-princess-like right now. “Where did that stupid girl go?"
Doshi turned back into the room, thinking her sister was referring to one of the younger servants. She hadn't seen any of the little ones attending. They weren't allowed above stairs until they were fully trained.
Gabriella, now encased in a lounging robe, swept her gaze over her large boudoir. Doshi's eyes followed her sister's. There had been any number of times she'd hidden out in her sister's room as a child to spy on her. They had never been very close. Outgoing Gabriella had never had patience for Doshi's social ineptness.
"Maybe she went out, Princess Gabriella,” one of the maids offered.
"Well, that is odd. I never even heard my sister leave.” Gabriella spun around on her vanity chair and faced her mirror. “Oh well, Doshi was being her annoying self anyway."
Doshi gawked at Gabriella. She was standing right here. Why coudn't Gabriella see her? Puzzled, she glanced into the mirror, only to slap a hand over her mouth.
She was transparent!
Her heart slammed against her chest and her breathing quickened. Impossibly, she could see straight through herself to the bed curtains behind her. One of the maids moved away from the bathtub in the corner and came up behind her gathering towels.
Before she could move, the maid crashed into her, shoving her into another maid, who hit the floor with Doshi on top of her. She rolled away, half-expecting a profuse apology, followed by hands lifting her from the floor. It wouldn't come, of course. She was invisible. Instead, the one maid berated the other for being a clumsy oaf while the first claimed to have banged into something.
Doshi stared up at them from the floor. She glanced down at her hands, turning them over and over. She patted them against her lap and felt the curve of her legs. Then she inched her hand beneath one of the maid's long dress and wrapped her fingers around the woman's ankle.
The maid jumped, screaming and tossed the bowl of powder she was holding straight into Gabriella's face. Gabriella screeched, flailing back in her chair and then catapulting backward to land in a heap on the floor. Both maids dove to retrieve the princess, but Gabriella slapped their hands away angrily.
"You'd better have a good explanation for why you did that, Mary!"
"Oh, I'm so sorry, your highness.” Mary wept, still trying to help her charge to her feet. “Something grabbed my ankle."
"We do not have mice, Mary. Come up with a better excuse."
The maid continued to weep as Doshi looked on in shock. Wet streaks of tears made trails where the powder had covered her face. “It wasn't a mouse, Princess. It was a hand. It grabbed me."
Doshi moved to stand directly in front of Gabriella, staring closely into Gabriella's face. Gabriella didn't see her at all, though Doshi could still see her own outline. It was amazing.
Doshi would have moved when Mary tried to help Gabriella clean off the powder, but Gabriella waved her away.
"No, I don't want your help. Go and get me warm water. I have to rewash."
Mary hurried to do Gabriella's bidding while Doshi stood watching her sister. The other maids stood in a corner whispering together.
"Shut up!” Gabriella yelled. The maids scattered, gathering spilled towels, discarded clothing and bolting from the room.
Gabriella returned to her vanity ch
air and Doshi crouched beside her. She considered speaking, but didn't want to scare her sister. Besides, her own fear of what was happening choked her throat. She thought if she tried speaking, she might burst out crying and Gabriella would leave her here alone.
So, instead she sat close to her sister on the stool the maid had abandoned. She leaned a translucent elbow on the edge of the vanity and watched Gabriella clean her face. Tiny dots stood out on her pale skin.
Doshi leaned in closer to have a look. The dots clustered at her nose and spread out across her cheeks.
"Freckles!” she yelled suddenly.
Gabriella surged up from her chair with a scream. She frantically searched the room. “I don't know what game you're trying to pull, Doshi, but it won't work. You're too old for this. Come out, Mouse."
Doshi slapped a hand across her lips. She'd never meant to frighten her sister. But she hated being called Mouse. Gabriella knew it and did it any way.
While her sister continued to search, as if she thought Doshi was darting from place to place, Doshi snatched the pepper from Gabriella's breakfast tray and added a healthy sprinkling to the powder still left inside her sister's supply. It was a childish thing to do, but she deserved it.
As Mary slipped back into the room with fresh water, Doshi squeezed out. She wouldn't be there to see her sister sneeze over and over again, but the red puffy eyes at dinner later would be reward enough.
Doshi returned to her own room across the hall from Gabriella's. She glanced up and down the hall before entering so that none of the maids would think a ghost was on the loose in Glamdire Castle. There was enough madness without that ingredient added to the mix.
* * * *
Doshi shifted from one foot to the other as she stared down at the floor. What had made her think she could ever pull this off? The moment she stepped foot inside the ballroom the glitter, the finery, and the snobbish confidence of the other women had her cowering in a far corner. Of course, this party was specifically to introduce Prince Tarin and Gabriella, so she could be comfortable in the knowledge that no one would notice should she make a nervous faux pas. All eyes would be on the prince and her sister. Doshi might even be brave enough to risk a dance or two tonight.
She glanced at Gabriella's fair complexion. No freckles in sight. Somehow, her sister had discovered a way to cover them and hadn't shared the knowledge. Feeling it was too late now, she hadn't asked Lin to find out the secret. Everyone knew she was imperfect.
"Your highness.” Doshi glanced up to find Draylin offering his arm. She accepted reluctantly. “Would you prefer another partner, one more prestigious? There seemed to be criticism in his voice.
"It's not that,” she whispered. “I'm not good at dancing in crowds, people waiting for me to make a mistake."
He pulled her close. “Don't worry about that, princess. Your sister is in looks, as usual. All eyes will be on her."
Her startled gaze rose to her partner. Surely he hadn't meant to be so rude. But his eyes followed her sister, who was holding court rather than dancing. At least ten men surrounded her, each elbowing the other aside.
Doshi frowned. “Then perhaps you should join her, too.” She pulled from his arms and hurried from the room, ignoring him when he called after her.
When she gained the hall, she heard Draylin's voice coming closer. He'd no doubt remembered his position in her father's household and wanted to make up. She faded from view just as he turned into the hall. She had to dart sideways in order to miss colliding with the large man.
When Draylin disappeared down the hall, she returned to the ballroom. Already she felt confidence surge through her and was determined to have fun. She'd have to be careful, of course. The room was already getting crowded and more guests were arriving.
Doshi sidled up to two men assembled not far from Gabriella's crowd. She listened shamelessly to their conversation.
"Well, what man hasn't had her?” one fellow in a bright orange ensemble asked. “She is good in bed."
"I'll tell you who hasn't. You, that's who,” said another.
"What makes you think I haven't?” the man in orange queried angrily.
"What kind of tattoo does she have on her right arse cheek?” The second man would not be deterred from his investigation.
"Tattoo?"
"I rest my case."
Doshi giggled. Her sister didn't have a tattoo. Neither of these idiots had been with her sister.
The men continued to argue over the merits of the Wild Rose and she moved on to other, more informed, conversations. Before she could find one that interested her, a hush came over the entire room. She turned her attention toward the ballroom doors.
It was him, the man she'd met in the woods when she'd fallen off her horse and looked such a fright. He was still the most beautiful man she'd ever seen and now he was standing in the entrance of her father's ballroom. His silky blond hair, defying convention, hung past his shoulders, framing a strong jaw line, a narrow nose and those enigmatic hazel eyes that she suspected could see into the bends of light where she hid. She was drawn to his side, taking in his height of over six feet, his broad shoulders and chest and his richly appointed attire.
She paused in front of him, lips parted and head held back to stare to her heart's content. His scent was heady, making her mind dance with dreams of lying naked with him in the garden. She stepped closer, risking exposure and lifted a hand to brush a speck of dust from his jacket, His hand followed hers as if he'd felt her touch.
Suddenly, recognition came into his eyes as he glanced out over her head. She thought he'd seen the Wild Rose. Instead he bowed toward Doshi's father, which put his lips very close to her upturned face. “Your majesty."
With sudden boldness, she rose up onto her toes and pressed her lips lightly to his. He pulled back, shock and confusion darkening his features. Her first kiss and he didn't even know what had happened to him. She smiled in spite of the knowledge. The warmth spreading from her lips to the rest of her body made the experience worth it.
"Are you all right, Prince Tarin?” her father asked.
Prince Tarin? This was her sister's intended? She'd been so absorbed by his features she'd missed the announcement of his name.
"Yes, I just thought ... I ... never mind. Is there somewhere we can talk?"
Doshi couldn't move. Devastation washed over her. She'd begun to use her powers, hoping to find someone for herself. Yet, the most beautiful man in the world, one who'd make an excellent husband, was already promised to her sister. It couldn't be happening. This had to be a terrible nightmare.
Chapter Three
Doshi lay at Prince Tarin's feet on the carpeted floor. She couldn't risk lying on the couch for fear of making an imprint that her father or the prince would investigate. Her eyes were closed as she sleepily listened to the deep timber of his voice.
"Your majesty, I cannot stay long tonight.” He lowered his voice. “I have an urgent family matter to attend to. I believe it would be easier to resolve if I were in a quieter setting for the time being. I must also be concerned for the safety of your family, especially Princess Gabriella."
The king leaned forward, concern on his face. “I will not demand to know what your business is. I know your father and trust you are an honorable man, Prince Tarin. But wouldn't you feel safer inside the castle? The stone walls are fortified. Guards patrol the area regularly. I assure you, Glamdire is safe."
Doshi opened her eyes, noting the pink suffusing Prince Tarin's cheeks beneath his deep tan. “I mean you no disrespect, your majesty. However, the situation is delicate. I would not wish to give you the wrong impression, should the details be exposed."
Doshi's father harrumphed, but accepted Prince Tarin's words and the prince breathed a sigh of relief.
Kindness. She heard it in his voice. Doshi climbed up beside him. She leaned close, watching the way his lips formed the words he spoke, and the sweep of his lashes when he blinked.
She placed
her nose half an inch from his neck and breathed deeply of his manly scent. This was what it would be like if he were hers, she thought. She'd spend evenings sitting on his lap, listening to him telling her about his day.
"Do you smell something?” he asked her father.
"Smell?"
"Yes. Something like ... roses?"
Doshi smiled and leaned back. She wore rose perfume. If she didn't leave her prince might think he was losing his mind. She could never live with that. She stood slowly and returned to the floor.
He rose all too soon and she followed her father and the prince to the library door.
"Your majesty, I will be staying at the Majestic Arms in town if you need to reach me. Please give my regards to your daughters and assure them I will be honored to meet them soon."
"I will, Prince Tarin. And should you need my assistance, I am just a messenger away."
Doshi shivered in the cool night air which blew in when a servant opened the front door. The prince's crest covered the waiting carriage and guards stood at attention. She gazed longingly as he boarded and they moved off.
It was then that she decided to venture beyond walls of her home.
* * * *
The prince was bathing!
Face flaming, Doshi faced the corner, hoping he'd finish soon. He'd dismissed his servants and guards stood outside the door, so she didn't dare leave the room. If she exited now, they'd become suspicious. Riding in, clinging to the back of Lady Lydie's carriage and sneaking by the clerk had not prepared her for this.
Periodically, she peeked over her shoulder at the god-like man calmly sloshing soap and water over his taut muscles. She caught her bottom lip between her teeth and moved closer.
Boldly, she rested her chin on the side of his tub and stared at his bare chest. Bubbles formed and slid seductively down the tanned skin. She reached out to pop a few and finally allowed one tiny fingertip to touch his warm flesh. When he didn't react with much more than a sigh, she glanced toward his face. He appeared to be sleeping.
She dipped all of her fingers in the suds and began a pattern that swept from one shoulder to the other and then dipped downward until it reached his navel. Frankly, she was afraid to venture deeper.