“There isn’t time to do anything about that,” he argued.
She was not persuaded by his rough tone, but simply pointed to the other side of the room. Following the direction of her gaze, he spotted one of his silver-lined, navy jackets hanging on the wall.
“You can afford to delay your entrance long enough to at least change your jacket, Your Highness. I took the liberty of bringing it down here in case you needed it, and looking at you now, I can tell you that you should be grateful that I did,” she decreed, placing her fists on her hips.
Sighing in frustration, he obediently slipped out of his current jacket that was admittedly filthy and tossed it aside. Hilda then stepped forward, and with her assistance, he shrugged into his formal coat.
“There,” the old woman approved. “I should make you tidy up a bit more, but at least Liesel won’t faint dead away from your stench when you dance with her.” She straightened his collar and then nodded, “Off with you, now. It’s time for you to go and win that young woman’s heart.”
He smiled his gratitude and then hurried from the room.
Winding his way through the multitude of nobles crowding around the dining tables, he eventually reached the high arched entryway that led into the ballroom. He froze at the edge of the room as his eyes hastily scoured the area. There were hundreds of faces, but it only took seconds for his eyes to find Liesel. Her face was too dear to him to ever blend into the crowd.
The air caught in his throat as his eyes settled upon her.
She was stunning.
He had never seen her looking so beautiful. He had always found her attractive, but he had not been prepared to see her looking so perfect. She was absolutely flawless.
Impatience swept through him as he started forward, pushing his way through the people along the perimeter of the ballroom.
He also felt an immeasurable amount of relief to see her standing so close once more. He was still puzzled as to why she would have disappeared without telling him where she was going, but at least she was back now! His fears had been unfounded, and he regretted the uncharitable thoughts he had harbored against his sister and father.
Still, he wanted to scold Liesel for ever giving him such a scare. But if she promised to never leave him ever again, he was sure he could easily forgive her for it.
“Liesel!” he called out as he rounded the last cluster of guests that separated them.
She turned at the sound of his voice, but the color instantly drained from her face. His eyes narrowed at how quickly she had paled. Was she unwell?
Adelaide stepped closer to stand at her side and greeted him first. “Ah, you look familiar. You must be Prince Roderick.”
“Yes, and I remember from my brief stay at your castle that you are Princess Adelaide,” he quickly answered. But as soon as his duty was paid, his attention swiftly shifted back to Liesel. Wishing to be as alone as possible with her in a room brimming with so many people, he bowed and asked, “Liesel, would you do me the honor of this dance?”
She blinked a few times in surprise, and then finally shook her head. “No. Please excuse me, but I’d rather not.”
A laugh escaped him. Surely she must be joking.
But there was no hint of a smile on Liesel’s face.
His brows furrowed. “Liesel, what has happened? Are you ill?”
She looked away, and he was at a loss for words. What had happened? He wanted to take her by the shoulders and force her to tell him what was the matter, but he couldn’t do that in front of so many people. And certainly not when her father was just feet away talking with another king.
“Liesel?” he questioned, desperate for her to at least look at him again so he could search her eyes for an answer. What had come between them?
“Excuse my interruption,” Prince Cornelius petitioned as he suddenly appeared at Roderick’s side, “But Princess Liesel, may I have this dance?”
“I’d be honored,” she replied without even glancing at Roderick.
Now he was not only confused, but anger boiled within him as well. At least he knew her well enough to recognize that the smile she gave Prince Cornelius was certainly forced.
A smug look filled Prince Cornelius’s face and Roderick clenched his fists. If he hadn’t been taken so off guard by his cold reunion with Liesel, he was sure he would have knocked the prince down, right there on the dance floor.
And it was still a possibility.
But first, he would focus all of his attention on Liesel until he discovered what had caused her to change toward him.
Roderick watched with narrowed eyes as Liesel took the prince’s arm to accompany him to the dance floor. Prince Cornelius patted her hand on his arm, but before he walked away, he turned back to Roderick with a triumphant look and quietly jeered, “Obviously shaving your beard was not enough to make her change her mind about you.”
Roderick instinctively reached for his sword, but Adelaide quickly stepped between them to prevent anything unfortunate from happening. He ignored the look of sympathy on her face and kept his gaze fixed on the pair as he watched them join the other couples on the dancefloor.
He couldn’t believe his eyes. This was not the reunion with Liesel he had spent so much time imagining since he had been forced to leave her to help with the dam. He couldn’t fathom what could have caused such a drastic change in so little time. Finally, not wishing to watch the dancing pair any longer, he looked back at Adelaide who had remained by his side and asked, “What has happened, Princess Adelaide? You must tell me.”
Adelaide hesitated, but then answered, nodding across the room, “I believe that question would be better addressed to your sister.”
Liesel glanced over Prince Cornelius’s shoulder to see Roderick still standing exactly where she had left him. His hands were fisted at his sides and his mouth was set in a hard line in an expression she could only describe as lethal. His eyes watched them closely, making her wonder again what Prince Cornelius had whispered to Roderick as they had walked away from him.
She threw a scowl Adelaide’s way. She should have known it was a mistake to listen to her sister and stay. Now she was stuck dancing with Prince Cornelius and Roderick looked like he didn’t plan on leaving her alone anytime soon. She tried to force her eyes to ignore his presence on the edge of the dancefloor, and focus her attention instead on the prince before her, but her disobedient eyes continued to stray Roderick’s way.
During one such glance, she saw Roderick turn to talk to Adelaide, and her head snapped back to watch the rest of the exchange. For the first time since seeing him again, Liesel wished that she wasn’t so far away so she could hear what was being said. She watched Adelaide give him an answer before both of them turned to stare across the room. Liesel followed the direction of their gaze to see what they suddenly found so interesting and saw them staring at none other than Maria.
But Maria didn’t notice Roderick and Adelaide watching her, because she was too occupied staring at Liesel. When Liesel turned to look at the woman, their eyes locked, and in that instant Liesel could see that the young woman was clearly seething to discover Liesel had come to her ball. Liesel had to fight back a smile. She was suddenly feeling a little less sorry that she had stayed.
When the song ended, all of the couples politely applauded the musicians in the gallery above, and Liesel turned to Prince Cornelius to thank him for the dance. However, instead of escorting her away, Prince Cornelius surprised her by clasping her hand again and requesting with a broad smile, “May I have the next dance as well?”
Liesel’s eyes swung back to her sister to see if she was alone yet, but Roderick, in his typically stubborn way, was still standing at her side. Liesel groaned. Couldn’t Adelaide find anywhere else in the large room to stand?
Since she refused to return until Roderick left, she dragged her eyes back to Prince Cornelius and replied, “Of course.”
Prince Cornelius settled her again in his arms, but they had only compl
eted two full rotations when Roderick started striding determinedly their way. She tightened her hold on the prince’s hand, and Prince Cornelius smiled down at her in return, oblivious of the impending encounter.
Liesel opened her mouth to give him a warning, but she didn’t have a chance to say anything before Roderick was already at his side. Prince Cornelius scowled and tried to maneuver Liesel the other way, but Roderick reached out a hand and grasped the prince’s shoulder, bringing the dancing pair to a sudden halt.
Without lifting his eyes from Prince Cornelius, Roderick then withdrew Liesel’s hand from the prince’s shoulder and pulled her toward him. Wrapping his other arm possessively around her waist, he informed the prince, “This dance is mine.”
“I beg your pardon!” Prince Cornelius exclaimed, his face flushing with a mixture of anger and surprise at the unexpected interruption.
Liesel looked back and forth between the two men and wanted to protest, but she was too overwhelmed by Roderick’s close proximity and the feeling of his arm around her to produce any coherent sounds.
Prince Roderick forced half a smile and replied to his rival, “My apologies, Prince Cornelius, but I had to cut in.” His eyes then burned down at Liesel and he added, “I’m here to claim my betrothed.”
“Your … your what?” Prince Cornelius stuttered after them, standing frozen and confused alone on the floor, as Roderick adeptly swept Liesel back into the circle of dancing couples.
“What are you doing?” Liesel demanded, finally finding her voice when Roderick began to lead her through the steps of the dance. He pulled her toward him, but she leaned back to try to increase the distance between them.
Roderick was holding her much too close.
She looked up at him with a scowl. “I am well aware that we are not actually betrothed, Roderick. It was wrong of you to say that to Prince Cornelius.”
“I don’t remember ever breaking it,” Roderick argued, narrowing his eyes as he looked down at her.
Liesel clenched her teeth together and glanced away. Her eyes happened to find Maria, and she reflexively stiffened.
Her sudden change didn’t go unnoticed by Roderick and he glanced over to see the cause. He muttered something under his breath, but then quickly turned back to look down at Liesel. “I don’t know what Maria told you, but I can assure you that it is probably not true.”
Liesel looked up at him with an arched eyebrow and questioned, “Did you not arrange the betrothal with my father to teach me a lesson?”
Roderick cringed. “That is true …”
Liesel let out a growl of frustration, and Roderick quickly entreated, “Please let me explain, Liesel.”
But her patience had long ago expired. “I don’t want any more explanations, Roderick. The farce is over. The month is complete. I am free, and I am under no obligation to discuss this any further with you.”
“You must let me explain.”
Liesel looked around and saw that their exchange was attracting the attention of more than a few people along the perimeter of the room. She lowered her voice, and briefly looked back up at him again and warned, “People are starting to stare, Roderick.”
“I don’t care.”
The feeling in his voice caused her to miss a step in the dance, but she quickly recovered from her error. She then looked again at Roderick and shook her head. “Please, Roderick. Let’s stop all of this pretending. I’m not a peasant anymore and you are clearly not a humble minstrel. It’s time to return to reality.”
The muscles along his jaw tightened, and although he let go of her hand, he kept his other arm securely wrapped around her waist and then proceeded to usher her away from the dance floor.
“What are you doing?” she hissed as he led her around the various clusters of people to enter into the dining hall.
But he didn’t give her an answer.
Liesel flushed under the interested stares of the bystanders they passed. Her ears burned with embarrassment and she wondered if her father had witnessed Roderick spiriting her away. She glanced back over her shoulder, expecting to see him following at their heels, but she only saw a swarm of unfamiliar faces staring after them.
Roderick pulled her past the long banquet tables toward the doorway to the kitchen.
“Where are you taking me?” she demanded to know, but he still didn’t answer or even spare her a look.
Hilda froze when they burst into the room, the spoon in her hand hovering stiff in the air above a cauldron of soup, but Roderick didn’t pause to offer the startled cook any explanation.
Crossing the room, he pulled Liesel into the small room that had been her work area for the last two weeks, and then bolted the door shut.
When he turned around to face her, Liesel took a step back.
She had never seen such a fire in his eyes before.
“We might have been living without our titles for the past month,” Roderick finally explained, shaking his head slowly. “But beyond that, I was never pretending.”
Her heart began to pound, and her brows furrowed in confusion. She shook her head. It just couldn’t be so. “There was much more pretending than you are admitting, Roderick. What about the jar?” she contended, remembering Maria’s haunting words. “You obviously have no need to save to afford a wife.”
“I admit that I arranged the betrothal with your father. And there were some things I had to do to make it believable. But I didn’t do it to punish or trick you. I wanted to help you, Liesel. I saw the way you behaved at the banquet, and then I overheard your father when he told you that you would have to marry the next man who asked. But when I later walked through the halls of your castle and happened to see you tenderly caring for your young brother, I knew that you had a good heart. And I didn’t want you to be forced to marry just any person who happened to ask you next. So I devised the plan with your father to pose as the minstrel so I could take you away for a month instead.”
He paused to let her process his words. She was so surprised by it all. He had seen her with little Frederick? He had planned the betrothal to save her from her father’s decree? Was he speaking the truth? She desperately wanted to believe him, but her heart’s wounds were still too tender, and she was not ready to expose her fragile heart again until she was sure it was safe.
Stepping forward, Roderick continued, “I was relieved when your father agreed to my plan and after I managed to arrange all of my affairs here, I returned to put the plan into action. That was the day I arrived as the minstrel.”
“But the betrothal was fake, Roderick,” Liesel argued. “You have admitted that you only planned for it to last a month. How can you ask me to believe that everything that happened during that time was not just part of the deception?”
He reached down to take her hands in his, and he looked earnestly into her eyes as he replied, “I came up with that ridiculous plan to help soften your heart, Liesel. But after only a few days with you, I started to lose mine, and everything I’ve ever done to win your heart I’ve done because I love you, Liesel. I’ve loved you for weeks now,” he declared, sending flutters through her core. He then cupped her cheek in his hand and whispered, “Please don’t let my heart be lost forever.”
Liesel gulped and then searched his eyes, hoping with her whole soul that he was speaking the truth. After a tense moment of silence, she hesitantly questioned, “You love me?”
Roderick released the breath he had been holding and smiled. Pulling her closer, he answered, “Why do you think I conspired with my old friend Albert to find a way to keep you here so you couldn’t run off with that blasted Prince Cornelius?”
She laughed. There was no reason for Roderick to ever be jealous of Cornelius.
But her laugh tapered into silence as Roderick’s gaze fell to her lips. Finally, daring to trust him once more, she melted into his arms and allowed him to lean down and kiss her.
When he eventually pulled away, her eyes fluttered open, and she summoned the rest
of her courage to whisper, “I love you too, Roderick.”
“I know,” he answered with a grin, caressing her cheek. “Albert told me you sold the buckles from your shoes.”
Liesel’s eyes grew wide. “He told me he would keep my secret!” she protested.
“No more secrets,” Roderick whispered, bending down to kiss her again.
They were soon interrupted by a knock on the door, and Liesel jumped back.
“Prince Roderick?” Hilda’s voice called out.
Roderick smiled at Liesel and took her hand, entwining her fingers through his and opened the door.
“Yes, Hilda?”
“Your father has soldiers searching for you. I think it probably has something to do with your announcement.”
“Announcement?” Liesel repeated, looking up at Roderick with a question in her eyes.
He looked down at her, his mouth forming half a smile, and he explained, “In exchange for letting me help you, I promised my father I would select one of the princesses here to be my wife.” His smile spread and he asked, “Will you marry me, Liesel?”
The sudden question almost made her lose her balance, and she looked back and forth between Hilda and Roderick for any signs that this was a joke. She had no desire to answer until she was sure that he was in earnest. She was done looking like a gullible fool.
Avoiding a direct answer, she reminded him, “Your family doesn’t like me at all, Roderick.”
He squeezed her hand. “That’s not exactly true. My father may need some persuading, but my mother and brothers aren’t completely decided against you. And as for Maria?” he asked, staring pointedly into her eyes. “What she thinks doesn’t matter to me at all. Especially after the way she has treated you.”
“Will your father even let you choose me?” Liesel asked quietly, suddenly very afraid of the answer.
“He never reserved the right to approve my choice, but I’m confident you’ll win him over anyway,” Roderick assured, renewing her hope. “He just needs a little time to see your good heart like I did. Will you please say you’ll marry me, Liesel?”
Princess without a Palace: A King Thrushbeard Fairy Tale Page 21