“Oh, how sad.” Sophie looked like she might cry. I reached over and squeezed her hand. “She’s so beautiful, too!”
I wasn’t sure what bearing that had on her sorrow, and Celine seemed similarly unimpressed. “Beautiful, yes. But too pale, if you ask me. I can see why you call her Snow. You should see my sister, Celeste. No one in any kingdom is more beautiful than her.”
I smiled apologetically at Millie and Lilac. “It’s true, I’m afraid. A Christening thing.”
The Marinese and the Trionian exchanged a glance I couldn’t interpret. “You all got gifts at your Christening, did you?” Lilac sounded half curious, half envious.
“Not me, unfortunately.” Celine sighed. “Most of my older siblings did, and Celeste even got three. But her Christening went rather spectacularly wrong, so everyone felt it was best to avoid gifts after that.”
“Well, Snow’s beauty is natural, as far as we know. And everyone says she grows lovelier every day.” Lilac sounded a little wistful. “She even cries beautifully. Unlike me. I get red and blotchy.”
“Just be glad you don’t have anything to cry about like she does,” said Millie.
“Nothing to cry about?” Celine raised an eyebrow. “It sounds like we all have something to cry about. Unless any of you like being forced into secret competitions with potentially deadly outcomes.”
Both girls looked at her, and then Lilac’s lower lip wobbled.
I glared at the Lanoverian. Lilac might be older than half the girls here, but she was still younger than us.
Celine looked a little guilty and quickly pointed at the two cold-looking girls standing aloof. “Who are those ice queens?”
Millie patted Lilac on the shoulder before turning to look. “That’s Emmeline and Giselle of Eldon. Their older brother, Prince Oliver, is just as bad. You might have noticed him at the ceremony—he was the haughty looking one.”
I didn’t want to admit to anyone, even Sophie, that I had been too busy looking at the brown-haired prince with the horrified expression to notice much about the others.
“Oh, yes, I saw him,” said Celine. “The fair one. They do all have the same look, now that you mention it. Like you’re not worth the effort even to look at.”
“Eldon is the northern kingdom across the strait,” said Millie. “They say it’s winter there for ten months of the year. The climate must rub off on them.” She managed a small laugh. “I wouldn’t hold out any hope of friendliness from that direction.”
“Maybe one of them will win,” said Celine, hopefully. “Emmeline looks old enough.”
“Yes, she’s sixteen, like me,” said Lilac, at the same time as Sophie exclaimed, “Celine!”
Celine grinned wickedly at my soft-hearted twin. “Hoping doesn’t change anything. I’m free to hope whatever I like.”
I shook my head but couldn’t resist a small smile. Until my eyes fell on the other twins in the room. “Just as long as neither of those two win.” I could still hardly believe they were thirteen—they looked so young.
Millie followed my gaze. “Not much likelihood of that, thank goodness. Poor Pearl and Opal. They’re only just thirteen and were scared of their own shadows before any of this even started. Their whole kingdom is like that, to be honest, so I don’t think we can blame them.”
“Maybe we should go talk to them.” Hesitation sounded in Sophie’s voice, and it was certainly hard to imagine what sort of comfort we could offer. As long as the competition itself remained a mystery, we had no actual way of knowing who would win.
Thankfully, just at that moment, the door swung open, and a herald announced the start of the ball. Millie directed us all to line up and file out of the room, the three local princesses in the lead, and down a long corridor to the entry of the ballroom.
Once again we were announced individually with a trumpet fanfare. Apparently our arrival at the opening ceremony had locked in some sort of official order, so I stood at the back of the line. It took a long time to announce eleven princesses.
By the time Sophie disappeared into the ballroom, I was starting to think maybe I was hungry, after all. The herald announced me, and I stepped forward onto a landing. An elegant stairway descended before me into an enormous ballroom lined with tall windows and filled with brightly dressed nobles.
The other princesses had already disappeared into the large crowd, but Sophie had waited for me. She linked her arm through mine, and I heard a murmur run through the crowd.
I thought we’d better make a proper first impression, since we were in a bit of a rush last time.
I couldn’t help grinning. Individually we were beautiful enough, as princesses always seem to be, but together we did tend to stop crowds.
I straightened my shoulders. After the day we’d had, we could do with the confidence boost. And, regardless of what else was going on, we were still here to represent our kingdom. We needed to impress people as much as we could. When this Tourney was over, there would be other alliances to be made. I just hoped both of us were still free to make them.
As soon as we stepped down onto the dance floor, a young man approached us. He bowed low and introduced himself as a local Marinese nobleman. He asked for a dance but looked a little lost, as if he wasn’t sure which of us he was asking. I suppressed a sigh. It was always like this when we first arrived in a new place. No one knew quite how to differentiate between us.
I’ll go, offered Sophie, I don’t mind.
She disappeared onto the dance floor, and I looked around for the promised food table. I had barely taken two steps toward it, however, when a tall figure blocked my path. I looked up into a face I recognized. Any traces of hunger fled.
“I’m Prince Jonathan of Marin,” he said. “Welcome to my home.”
So, he was the heir to the duchy. No wonder he had been placed beside the duke and duchess at the opening ceremony. No trace of his earlier horror remained. Instead he watched me intently, with an expression I could best describe as hopeful.
“Will you dance with me, Princess Liliana?”
The name sounded foreign on his tongue. At home my full name was only used on the most formal occasions. The entire kingdom knew me as Princess Lily.
“It’s Princess Lily,” I told him. “No one has ever called me Liliana. And my sister is Sophie.”
“My apologies. Princess Lily, will you dance with me?”
For a moment I wanted to say no. It had been a long and tiring afternoon, and it promised to be an equally long evening. I still didn’t understand his reaction at the ceremony, and I wasn’t sure I had the emotional energy to deal with someone who seemed so volatile.
He saw my hesitation and took a small step closer, holding out his hand. “Please?”
This close, I could see the gold flecks in his brown eyes, and their pleading expression looked too genuine to deny. I put my hand in his and pretended I didn’t feel the spark of connection at the contact as he led me onto the dance floor.
Plenty of eyes followed us, and many of them didn’t look pleased. With royalty gathered from all the different kingdoms, I could imagine how many had flocked to the duchy with alliances on their mind. I had grown up in a court. I knew how they worked, and how unwelcome a foreign princess could be.
I reached out to Sophie in my mind and felt her reassuring presence. I didn’t need friends at this court. I had brought my best friend with me.
Prince Jonathan’s arm drew me close, our hands tightly clasped. I said nothing, reminding myself that he looked handsome and welcoming now, but he hadn’t looked that way the last time I had seen him.
After several silent revolutions, he spoke. “My sister, Lilac, told me you know everything about the Tourney. It’s no wonder that you look at me so warily.”
I continued to say nothing. The madness of the Tourney was simply another reason to tread carefully around this foreign prince.
He swung me around in the dance, and his hands tightened momentarily. “For you to arrive o
n the day of a Princess Tourney. And the Beast’s Tourney, too! It’s the most wretched luck.”
He sounded so genuinely upset that I caved and gave him a smile. “The ladies who prepared us for the ceremony seemed to think if we had arrived any later and missed the opening ceremony, our presence in Marin might have cursed you all as Palinar has been cursed. So perhaps it was the best of good fortune, after all.”
He looked down into my eyes, and for a moment I forgot to breathe at the depth of emotion there. “Perhaps,” he said. “But not for you.”
“No.” I drew a careful breath. “Not for me.”
I barely felt my body swirling over the dance floor, so lost did I feel in his gaze. The moment stretched out, and then his expression turned dark. I stumbled, remembering my first sight of him, and he steadied me.
He straightened, drawing back a little. The horror had disappeared and been replaced with a sort of determined formality.
“I have a confession to make Princess.”
“A confession? But we’ve only just met.”
He drew a deep breath. “I’m the one you should blame for being forced into this tournament. Whatever happens to you now is my fault.”
“Your fault?” I regarded him through narrowed eyes. “Did you call it yourself? Perhaps you’re secretly Prince Dominic?”
A laugh escaped him. “Definitely not.” His expression sobered. “I didn’t call the Princess Tourney. I just called you here.”
“Me?”
“All of you. I wanted to show initiative and help our duchy. I pushed for a ship to be sent when we received word the storms had disappeared. I chose the Emissary myself, and I spoke to him without my father’s knowledge. I told him that if he found any other kingdoms, he should press for a delegation to return with him. And that he should bring back any unattached princesses that he could.” He looked away and muttered his final words, as if to himself rather than me. “I wanted to speed things up…”
I frowned. For all his frank confession, there was something he wasn’t telling me. Was it the same thing that had caused the Emissary’s unease? Something to do with the difference between the stories he had told to lure us here and the faded reality before us now. Why did Marin need the Four Kingdoms so badly?
He shook his head and looked back at me. “I didn’t even hear about your ship’s arrival until I was waiting for the ceremony to start. I had been occupied with greeting our many guests and preparing for the Tourney. My mother only had time to whisper to me that the Emissary had returned, and he had brought foreign princesses with him. By the time you walked in the door—the third princess brought here only to be trapped into the Tourney—I had realized the consequences of my instructions to the Emissary. I never thought he would succeed so well.”
“How did the news of our presence on the ship reach the duke at all?” I asked.
“You must have seen how busy the harbor is at the moment with all the visitors for the Tourney. We used to regularly host events on behalf of all the kingdoms, so it was once a common sight. It can take hours for the rowboats to ferry all the bigger ships in and out. Your captain called down word of your arrival to one of the smaller vessels, and it was passed along to the city long before you were secured to your berth. Only no-one thought to tell me.”
He grimaced, and now that I understood his look of horror was for me, rather than about me, I found it oddly endearing.
“And worst of all was seeing your ages.” His voice lowered and became truly pained. “I’m so sorry, Lily, but I think there’s a good chance one of you might win.”
Since I had already come to that conclusion, his words hardly came as a shock. Instead I couldn’t help focusing on the fact that he’d dropped my title in the heat of his concern. Despite everything that had happened to us, this foreign prince seemed to truly care. And he had three young sisters in the Tourney. He should have been celebrating their likely reprieve.
In fact, I couldn’t help questioning him on it. “That must be a relief to your family, given your sisters’ involvement.” I kept my tone level.
He flinched back from me. “No, of course not!” Then he frowned. “Not that I want them to win either, of course.” He paused before growling in frustration. “I don’t know what to think. I don’t want anyone to win! But I know Marin invited you here, and our representative gave you assurances about your safety. And he did it under my instruction. As your hosts we owe you that safety. And we want good relations with your kingdom. If we could have done anything, anything at all, to have you excluded from the competition, I assure you…”
He pulled me to a stop in the middle of the dance floor, gripping both of my upper arms. “You do believe that, don’t you?” He sounded almost frantic. “We never intended any of this.”
Even more eyes were on us now. Lily? Is everything all right?
Yes, it’s fine. I reassured my sister first. Prince Jonathan is Lilac’s brother. I think they’re still nervous our families are going to lead a flotilla of attack ships across the ocean because of this whole Tourney situation.
Oh. Well, hurry up and put him out of his misery, then. He’s just as cute as that other one.
I hoped the smile in her voice meant she was enjoying the dancing in spite of everything. How would you know? Have you been spying on me? I loaded my question with outrage, playing up our usual joke.
Lily! Seriously! Stop talking to me. He’s going to think you’re a half-wit.
I focused back on Prince Jonathan who did seem to be growing marginally more panicked. “Relax, Your Highness,” I said. “There’s not going to be any armada heading in your direction. Our families are more reasonable than that. As long as you do your best, within your laws, that is enough.”
He smiled and swept me back into the dance. “You are as gracious as you are beautiful.”
“Thank you, Your Highness,” I said demurely. But he looked so relieved that I couldn’t resist grinning up at him. “You should know that particular compliment means a lot less when there are two of us. You could be dancing with Sophie right now and telling her how beautiful she is, and it would make no difference whatsoever to you.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t think you’re that similar.”
I gaped at him until he chuckled, and I realized he was joking. I shook my head, grumbling to myself.
“But, in all honesty, I’m not making my apology to you out of chance, you know.”
“Really?” I looked at him skeptically. “Sophie is generally considered the softer-hearted of the two of us. Look at her smiling at that poor young man right now.” I pointed across the room to one side of the refreshment table. She was seated on a chair against the wall, examining the hem of her gown, which had been torn. A young man, dressed formally but surely not more than fifteen, appeared to be stammering and stuttering his way through an apology.
Prince Jonathan winced in sympathy before returning his gaze to me. “But exactly,” he said.
I gazed at him blankly.
“If you’re truly sorry, you don’t go for the easy apology.” He leaned in close and whispered in my ear. “I wanted the twin with fire in her eyes.”
Chapter 5
Lily! Rescue me—now! Sophie’s order jerked me out of the shock of the prince’s words.
I dropped a quick curtsey, ignoring his outrageous comments, and excused myself to aid Sophie. He cheerfully volunteered to accompany me, his demeanor giving no hints that he had said anything out of the ordinary mere seconds before.
I allowed him to lead me off the dance floor and directed him in a quiet undertone to get rid of the poor adolescent responsible for the clothing disaster. I knelt at Sophie’s feet and examined the damage as Prince Jonathan deftly steered the young man away.
Oh, thank goodness, he looked so embarrassed and wouldn’t stop apologizing. The whole thing was hideously awkward, I thought he would never get the hint and leave. Do you think it’s fixable? I don’t know if any of our
other gowns have made it off the ship yet. She leaned forward to try to see what I was doing.
“Sit back,” I scolded her out loud, remembering that we needed to keep up appearances. When we were children others had found our silences when we played together unnerving.
“Here’s a pin.” She held it out, and it only took me a moment to use it to fix the hole.
“That should do for now,” I said, levering myself up into the chair beside her. “And I’m sure Helena can have it mended properly later.”
Sophie looked at me closely for the first time. You look flushed! she accused.
Well, I was just bending over, fixing your dress, remember. Thank goodness she could only hear the thoughts I projected to her and couldn’t actually read my mind. I hadn’t decided if the prince’s words were a compliment yet, but I feared Sophie would be offended either way—on my behalf, or her own.
Prince Jonathan returned before she could question me further. He had succeeded in losing Sophie’s previous dance partner but appeared to be dragging another young man over in his stead. His new companion also wore a circlet, and I didn’t need an introduction to guess his identity.
The newcomer strolled along behind Prince Jonathan, his languid air proclaiming that the whole thing was beneath his notice, but not actually worth the effort of protesting over. He had to be Oliver, prince of the northern ice kingdom the other princesses had told us about. What had been his sister’s names?
That must be the Eldonian prince—Oliver, right? Sophie projected before I could even ask. Emmeline and Giselle’s brother?
Absolutely! Eldonian prince. Emmeline and Giselle.
She looked over at me with amusement in her eyes. Do you have any idea what we’re talking about?
Of course I do! I tried to look offended and failed. Great piles of snow and all that.
She shook her head at me before rising and smiling at the two princes. I followed more slowly, less inclined to show politeness where it was so obviously unappreciated.
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