I lay down too and rolled away from her. I had said we needed to win, but that was only to forestall an argument. I had no more intention of letting Sophie face this Beast than I had of letting the younger girls do it.
It felt strange to wake up after an event and find it was only morning of the next day. It gave me a light, buoyant feeling, despite the heavy realization of the night before. The next ball seemed such a long time away.
The bright sunshine lured us out into the garden again, and we passed many of the other princesses as we wandered up and down the paths. We hadn’t seen Hazel or the other Marinese girls, though.
I was just about to comment on this to Sophie, when a loud voice from behind hailed us. Turning we saw Gabe, Teddy and Jon, with Millie trailing behind. She looked a little irritated, but brightened when she saw us, and rushed forward to catch up.
“Good morning.” Gabe seemed particularly cheerful. “Not a scratch on any of your slippers this morning, I’m told. And you came out with a bag of gold. Things seem to be looking up in this Tourney.”
Jon didn’t seem to share his excitement. “Except that Hazel is now in the lead. My sister. Don’t forget that.” He shook his head.
“Oh.” Gabe looked crestfallen. “I hadn’t heard that actually. And she’s only just fifteen, isn’t she?” He looked mutinous. “Much too young to be having anything to do with Dominic.”
Sophie and I exchanged glances.
Jon ran his hand through his hair and looked at me sideways. “All the girls are too young.”
“Hey! We’ll be eighteen just after the Tourney finishes,” said Sophie.
“It sounds to me like age has nothing to do with it.” I jumped in before anyone could start fighting over the acceptable age for involvement in the Tourney. “No one of any age should have to deal with this Prince Dominic, or Beast, or whatever you want to call him. But someone has to.” I took a deep breath. “But there are still twelve events to go. I hardly think it’s time to be despairing for Hazel.”
“Maybe we should make sure of that,” said Gabe, with a significant look at the other two princes.
“Whoa, slow down there, genius.” Millie’s grumpy face had returned. “We’ve discussed this before. None of you are going to be throwing your lives away by interfering in the Tourney.”
I stepped up beside her to show my support. “Absolutely not. And, as I already said, it’s far too early to be worrying anyway. We’re all fine, as you saw last night. Not so much as a scratch on any of us. We have weeks still to go. There will be time enough for worrying about who’s going to win later.”
Gabe looked mutinous, but Jon clapped him on the shoulder. “They’re right, you know.”
Since Jon was Hazel’s brother, Gabe could hardly protest further, and the conversation turned to lighter topics as the two groups merged and wandered down the path together. But I couldn’t help but notice a certain defiant look in Gabe’s eyes, and I decided I’d better start paying more attention to him at the Tourney balls. If he intended to do anything foolish, I intended to stop him. I owed him my life after his quick intervention with the bear, and I had every intention of paying back my debt, whether he liked it or not.
Chapter 19
As we walked, we fell into pairs, and somehow Jon ended up beside me. So much had happened since we had last spoken during our picnic outing, I couldn’t immediately think of what to say. And the longer the silence continued, the more blank my mind became.
Finally he spoke, glancing sideways at me. “I was sorry not to have the opportunity to dance with you at the ball last night.”
More silence.
He glanced my way again. “You seemed very popular.” As soon as he said it, he shook his head quickly, as if annoyed with himself. “Of course you were. Ignore me.”
An actual flush appeared to be creeping up his neck, but I tried to ignore it. Tried to pretend I had no interest in the potential success of Sophie’s romantic plans on my behalf at the ball. Not anymore. Not now that I had truly accepted how this Tourney was going to end. It would be best if Jon stopped thinking about me altogether.
“You seemed well occupied yourself,” I said. “I hope you had an enjoyable time.”
“Oh, yes. Well, that is, I mean…” He rubbed the back of his neck, and I hid a smile. He was usually much more confident.
He glanced at me ruefully. “I don’t seem to be able to say the right thing this morning. Of course, I enjoyed all my dances. My duty as a host is clear, and I am more than happy to fulfill it.” He gazed away across the bushes that bordered our path, and then quickly back at me, before moving his eyes forward again. His next sentence was delivered so quietly I almost missed it. “But I’ve never felt so torn in my duties before.”
Now I was the one flushing, but I ruthlessly suppressed it. Silence settled over us again. Jon’s eyes had locked on Teddy who walked ahead of us arguing with his sister in low tones. “At least Teddy was free to oblige you.”
The fire in his tone made my eyes fly to his face. He looked ahead, not meeting my gaze, his face carefully controlled. But his hands had once again formed into fists.
Part of me wanted to snap at him that he didn’t have a monopoly on my dances. The other part felt guilty for joining in on Sophie’s scheme to break through his restraint. It was hardly fair given I was actively trying to win the Tourney which would force me into a betrothal with someone else.
Either way, I didn’t know how to respond to his statement. There were too many words that could not be said between us. I needed to change the subject.
“At least you all didn’t have to wait up most of the night for us this time,” I said. “You must have appreciated the good night’s sleep almost as much as we did.”
He smiled, but the gesture didn’t reach his eyes. “A pleasant surprise, certainly. But I’m afraid everyone in my family had a hard time settling once we saw the latest scores.”
I wanted to kick myself. Where had all my usual poise gone? Of course it hadn’t been a good night for Hazel and her family. I needed to do better.
“I greatly enjoyed the tour and picnic the other day,” I tried. “Thank you for organizing it.”
He smiled a little incredulously. “In spite of the bear?”
“Well, that bit certainly wasn’t the high point of the occasion, I’ll admit. But I loved seeing Marin.”
“I’m glad. I’ve always thought it a beautiful city. I enjoyed sharing it with you…all.”
I ducked my head and pretended I hadn’t noticed his hasty addition. “Have you seen Daisy? Is she fully recovered from her scare? I had some concern that she might find herself covered in bruises yesterday from where I pushed her to the ground.”
Jon chuckled. “Daisy is as irrepressible as ever. She does have a couple of bruises, but she’s wearing them as badges of honor and telling anyone she suspects of noticing them about her fight with a bear.”
I grinned at the thought of all the poor people subjected to the tale. “She reminds me of the mischief Sophie and I got up to as children. But she seems so much more secure than we were at that age.”
He glanced at me with curiosity, and I remembered his earlier interest in my childhood.
I shrugged. “For reasons I didn’t find out until I was much older, we were left to grow up a little wild. All we wanted was love and attention from our parents, of course. And we received it in the end, but…” I shook my head, not wanting to go into the whole tale. I forced my tone to become more cheerful. “But we always had each other, of course.”
“You’ve always been this close then?” His eyes followed Sophie who had abandoned Gabe and joined Millie and Teddy in an effort to break up their dispute.
“Yes, always.” I watched him surreptitiously but could see nothing but curiosity and a mild friendly interest on his face as he watched my twin. I still couldn’t quite believe that I might have met someone who could distinguish between us and saw us as two separate individuals.
/> “My family has always been very close,” he said. “But nothing like the two of you. It’s almost uncanny how attuned you are to each other.”
I bit my lip. He had no idea. And yet, here was another thing he had noticed about us. Perhaps we needed to be more careful.
Jon gave a sudden, soft exclamation of annoyance. When I looked over at him questioningly, he indicated a path ahead of us that joined with ours a short distance ahead. “Talking about duties that need to be performed regardless of desire, there are two subjects I’d rather not meet right now.”
A young man and woman strolled along the other path, on an intercept course with our group. The woman looked vaguely familiar, and for once I managed to dredge a name from my memory. Corinna. The unpleasant daughter of the unpleasant Sir Oswald. I could understand Jon’s irritation.
As they drew closer, I examined her companion. The tall young man, dressed like a nobleman, appeared to be a couple of years her senior. For some reason it surprised me to see them together. Perhaps because she hadn’t looked like someone with a sweetheart when she looked at Jon.
“I’ve met Corinna,” I said. “But who is her companion?”
Jon grimaced. “That’s Cole, her older brother. And he’s even worse I’m afraid, although in a different sort of way.”
Ah, a brother. That explained it.
Their pace slowed, ensuring that when the others ahead of us passed the intersection between our paths, Corinna and Cole were only close enough for polite nods. When Jon and I reached the spot, however, they fell into step beside us.
“Your Highness, what a pleasant surprise.” Corinna ignored me, directing her comment at Jon. “I hope you don’t mind if our walks converge for a few minutes.”
Jon muttered polite assurances and, after a small nudge from Corinna, Cole nodded his own greeting, adding a cool, “Prince.”
“Cole.” Jon sounded equally distant.
Corinna clearly noticed their unease, since she inserted herself between them in such a way as to force Jon to offer her his arm. I relinquished my place beside him, and fell back slightly, ending up next to Cole.
The merchant’s son made polite conversation easily enough but showed no real interest in me as a person. I felt sure that he wouldn’t even have noticed if Sophie and I had traded places halfway down the path.
After the usual polite chit-chat, Cole steered the conversation toward trade. His subtlety far outstripped his father’s, but he still displayed a focus on wealth that reminded me too much of my previous interaction with his sister.
And, as he questioned me further, I became even more uncomfortable. Although he never came out and said it, he seemed to be hinting at his family’s interest in a direct trade alliance. But I had attended the first day of meetings and knew that Arcadia had made its position clear. All alliances would be officially sanctioned through the duke and occur with Marin as a whole, rather than on the level of individual merchants. My parents didn’t want to risk establishing the wrong connections when we still knew so little about these new lands.
Nothing about Corinna or Cole had dissuaded me from my original stance. I didn’t want their family included in any sort of alliance with my kingdom at all, sanctioned or otherwise. With that aim in mind, I took the same approach with Cole as I had with his sister, downplaying Arcadia’s wealth and position within the Four Kingdoms. It was easy enough to do since we were neither the richest kingdom nor the strongest military power.
I simply omitted any mention of our significant size or the fact that, ever since my older brother had married for love six years ago, our kingdom had been thriving with bumper crops every year and increasing peace and security.
Cole’s interest in me seemed to wane as the conversation progressed, and I congratulated myself on a task well done. Hopefully I wouldn’t be bothered by either sibling again.
Sophie, who had been following the conversation with interest via my silent commentary, eventually rescued me and got us both back up to the palace. Once there, she went in search of Helena with a question about one of her dresses that still hadn’t made it back from the seamstresses, and I decided to visit Celine. Our poor friend was still under enforced rest between Tourney events.
But, as I neared Celine’s room, I picked up the soft sounds of suppressed crying. The noise emanated from a partly opened door, and I decided to peek inside, afraid it was one of the younger princesses from the Tourney.
I found the sitting room of a guest suite that looked identical to Celine’s. Blanche sat on the low green sofa, a piece of parchment clasped in her hand and tears rolling down her cheeks. It looked like a letter, and I instantly felt guilty for intruding on her privacy.
Before I could move, however, she looked up and saw me. I froze, unsure whether to move forward and attempt to comfort her or to retreat. Enough seconds passed that I decided retreat was no longer an option, so I walked over and sat beside her.
“Are you all right?”
“It’s just a letter from home.” She sniffed, putting the paper down into her lap.
“Not…not bad news, I hope.” My thoughts flew instantly to her father’s poor health.
“Oh!” She seemed to follow my meaning. “Oh, no. Nothing like that. It’s just my stepmother. She must be having the servants report to her, because she seems to know all about the current scores in the Tourney. She wrote to lecture me for not trying hard enough. Apparently I’m giving our kingdom a bad name or some such thing. Disappointing my father.”
I stared at her. “But…” I paused, lost for words. “Surely she can’t want you to win.”
Blanche gave another big sniff, although she managed to make it sound scornful. “Of course she does. You should have seen the way her eyes lit up when we received the summons for the Tourney. Nothing would delight her more, I expect.” She dashed the tears from her eyes as her expression turned angry. “But she can’t fool me. I know my father doesn’t want me to win. He wants me to come home.” She scrunched up the letter and threw it across the room.
“I’m sorry, Blanche,” I said, not sure what else I could offer in the way of sympathy.
She shook her head and straightened, drawing a deep breath. “Please, call me Snow. Everyone else does. And don’t worry about me. I’m used to it by now. I just needed to let it out for a moment.” She drew another deep breath.
“I just wish she hadn’t sent the letter with Randolph,” she added in a more normal tone. “He’s one of her favourite guards, and I don’t like having him here. He always looks at me with such black eyes. I feel like he’s waiting for me to put a step wrong, and then he’ll be judge, jury and executioner all rolled into one.” She shivered.
“I’m sure he wouldn’t actually do anything to harm you! No one here would allow that.”
“No, I suppose not. I’m just being foolish, I realise that. Still. I wish he wasn’t here.”
“Why don’t you write a reply to your stepmother? Assure her you’ll try harder from now on. Then ask him to take it back for you.”
Her face brightened. “That’s an excellent idea. I’ll write it immediately.” She jumped up and took several steps toward a small desk, before pausing and looking back. “Oh, I’m sorry.” She stepped back toward me, but I shook my head.
“No, you go. The sooner, the better, right?”
“Right!” She smiled at me and hurried over to the desk.
I excused myself and returned to the corridor. I just hoped my suggestion worked. From everything I’d heard, Snow had enough burdens already.
Distracted, I almost collided with a tall, hulking guard loitering near Snow’s suite. He wore the colours of Eliam, Snow’s kingdom, and one glance at his face was enough to confirm his identity.
I could easily see why he made her uneasy. His eyes held a look that made even me nervous, and he had no connection to me whatsoever. How long he had been out there, and had he overheard any of our conversation? Our plan would be ruined already if he had.
Chapter 20
We all lined up for the fifth event with much more confidence than we had ever done before. Hazel looked a little nervous, but no one seemed to fear serious injury now that we had entered the individual phase.
I entered the room last, as I always did, the duke immediately closing the door behind me. Instantly I knew something was wrong. The others hadn’t moved toward the trapdoor as they usually did, but still stood crowded around the door.
No one spoke, though, and the silence resounded loudly.
“What’s going on?” I asked, just as Sophie’s projection reached me.
Lily! Opal!
Opal? How could the girl possibly have gotten into trouble before the trapdoor had even opened? I pushed some of the other princesses aside, moving to the front of the group. Shock washed over me.
For the first time ever, we were not alone in the room.
A large man stood on the far side, Opal gripped to his chest and a knife held to her throat. She trembled slightly, her giant eyes meeting mine across the empty space between us. Apparently all the action had happened in the few seconds it had taken for the entire line to file into the room.
“Silence. Now! And don’t go making any sudden moves,” the man said, pressing his blade threateningly against Opal’s delicate neck. His eyes seemed to be focused on me, so I froze just like the others.
I rejected a momentary thought that this might be part of the next task. The challenges never involved other people; such a thing violated the requirement for secrecy. And the trapdoor still hadn’t opened.
Pearl, standing next to me, whimpered, and a rustle moved through the girls in response to the sound. Our standoff couldn’t last forever.
But the man had made no demands, and I couldn’t think of a likely reason for his presence or his threat. Was he an angry Talinosian, simply taking advantage of the opportunity to find one of his kingdom’s princesses alone and vulnerable?
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