“Isn’t a man more likely to want peace with you if he also calls you father? Those unions between your daughters and the neighboring princes would tie the lands together. A man as wise as you can certainly understand that.”
The queen put her hand on the king’s arm. “Prince Donovan makes a fair point. And you know ’tis not going to be easy to make royal matches for the girls—not when you keep threatening to kill every suitor who comes to the castle.”
The king let out a grunt. “If a prince hasn’t the wits to figure out where my daughters go each night, he would make a poor husband anyway. I’m weeding out the incompetent men. Which reminds me . . .” He turned his attention back to Donovan. “You have two nights left to solve the mystery. Don’t disappoint me. I don’t reward that behavior either.”
* * *
Our bedtime routine went the same as it had the night before. After our lady’s maids combed out our hair, Madam Saxton and Donovan came into the room. They sat side by side on the couch and Rosamund and Philippa passed around drinks. I wanted to watch Donovan to see if I could spot the moment he poured his cider into the housekeeper’s cup. Instead I talked to the others, doing what I could to keep their attention off him. After a half an hour, he and Madam Saxton both seemed to be asleep. My sisters and I helped each other dress.
While Philippa laced the back of my dress, she clicked her tongue. “Today, you carried on with Prince Donovan in a manner most unbefitting a woman whose true love awaits her in the forest.”
I opened my mouth to say that any guy who left me in the middle of a lake wasn’t my true love, but I stopped myself. My sisters might not let me go to the ball if they thought I didn’t care about Jason anymore.
Penny fastened my stomacher to the front of my bodice. “Hey, don’t deny it. You were totally checking him out at supper.”
“Father will be less suspicious,” I said, careful not to let any lies slip into my explanation, “if he sees me flirting with Prince Donovan. After tonight, Father would never guess I’m meeting someone else.”
“True, perhaps.” Philippa pulled the laces tight. “However, it’s still unbecoming of one with our breeding.”
“Really?” I asked. “You all paid close enough attention to Prince Donovan while he sparred with the fencing master.”
“I didn’t,” Isolde said, breezing by to pick up extra pins from my dressing table.
From the table next to mine, Darby snorted. “If you’d batted your eyelashes any harder, you would have created a breeze.”
Isolde lifted her chin and stalked back to her own table. “You’re only vexed because Prince Donovan bid me a good day before he sparred, and he paid no heed to you whatsoever.”
“Leave her be,” Catherine said, coming over to help with my hair. “Prince Donovan has a body like our statue of Adonis. One can’t help but appreciate art.”
“His abs were quite a piece of art,” Darby agreed.
Kayla weaved a yellow ribbon into her hair. “Artistically speaking, I liked the way his muscles rippled while he fought.”
“Shh,” I said. “You’ll wake him.” He was close enough to hear this whole conversation.
Beatrix picked up a green ribbon off a nearby table and tucked it into her golden curls. “No matter his resemblance to the garden statues, I shan’t be tempted by his blue eyes, not when Frederick’s brown eyes beckon me to remain faithful.”
Mathilda let out a dreamy sigh. “Prince Donovan does have tempting blue eyes, does he not?”
“Wicked blue eyes,” Elizabeth said.
Catherine and Penny giggled at the description. No one seemed to care about being too loud, and my annoyance increased with each of my sisters’ comments. They were talking about Donovan like he was a high calorie dessert, not a person.
“He stuck up for you at supper,” I reminded them.
When all eyes turned on me, I realized I shouldn’t have spoken. My sisters didn’t know that Donovan had followed us last night—that he knew we were meeting with the princes from the conquered provinces.
“Stuck up for us at supper?” Philippa repeated. She finished with my laces and checked her hair in the mirror. “Really, Sadie. Where did you learn these odd turns of speech?”
“What I meant is Prince Donovan thinks you should be able to marry whoever you want. You should be nice to him. He’s . . .” I couldn’t think of the right word and my sentence drifted off into happy contemplation. My expression must have said what I didn’t.
Catherine momentarily stopped rolling my hair to study my face. “Heavens, you look positively smitten.”
Rosamund was taming the curls by her face to hang as ringlets. “Perhaps Prince Donovan cast a magic spell on her.”
Beside her, Mathilda giggled. “We had better take her to Prince Jason forthwith. True love’s kiss will break the spell.”
Not likely. And not going to happen. Even the mention of Jason’s name made me inwardly groan. I would have to spend all night talking and dancing with him.
After we finished dressing, Rosamund opened up the secret door, and Philippa and Clementia passed out the lanterns. I’d lost my black cloak in the lake, so I had to take one from the closet, a brown one with a coarser weave.
With only a glance in Donovan’s direction, I followed the others through the door and onto the landing. The white marble steps spread downward, as smooth as a keyboard, with each of our footsteps tapping out a rhythm. Above us, stars pricked the black night, glowing strong and bright. The air was still with a scent of leaves drifting upward. How did anyone ever get used to magic places?
Eleven lantern lights dipped down below me. I trailed them, listening for Donovan. I didn’t hear him. I hung back, walking slower so he could catch up with me.
After a few moments I heard his voice in my ear, teasing. “Have I cast a spell on you, Princess Sadie?”
“You do know magic. I’ve seen you make coins disappear.”
He let out a chuckle. I liked the sound of it, rich and secret. “Do girls always talk about guys that way?”
“Not always. Sometimes we talk about the fictional characters we wish guys were like.”
“Do you think my blue eyes are wicked?”
“No, although you do have a wicked grin.”
“We’ll have to find that sculpture of Adonis in the garden. I want to see if it really looks like me.”
I laughed and felt light and happy. I might have to spend the night dancing with Jason, but at least I could spend the day with Donovan.
When we came to the forest, Donovan left the path. The occasional eruption of owls, hooting and circling over the trees, let me know he was gathering twigs from the silver, gold, and diamond trees. He’d told me earlier he would get some for me too. It was one more perk of working with a guy who owned an invisibility cloak.
Finally the trees thinned revealing the lake. Twelve princes waited by their boats. Well, Jason was sort of waiting. He stood by a neighboring boat, talking to that prince.
My sisters hung their lanterns on the posts and happily made their way to their boyfriends. I hung my lantern last of all and grudgingly headed toward Jason. Just seeing him made a surge of hot anger flash through me. My footsteps became quicker, hard against the ground.
Jason saw me and headed back to his boat, reaching it the same time I did. Donovan arrived before either of us. I saw the boat tilt slightly, indicating he’d climbed inside.
The other princes took my sisters’ hands and helped them into the boats. Jason either didn’t see this custom or didn’t care about it. Instead of getting into the boat, I stood in front of him, pinning him with a glare. “You know, I nearly drowned last night.” I picked up a handful of my skirt and held it out to him as evidence. “This thing is like a lead suit with ribbons.”
Jason walked closer, glanced around, and whispered, “Do you have a cell phone?”
“No. And you wouldn’t get coverage here anyway.”
His gaze travelled to the other boats. “Do any of the other girls have phones?”