I took the opportunity to study my betrothed. There was nothing obviously wrong with him. He had a long, narrow face with a prominent nose. Thin lips framed by a neatly trimmed mustache and beard. Olive-toned skin and dark eyes. Not entirely to my tastes, but it was a face I might get used to in time. If I hadto.
“What happened?” he asked Jack.
“Nothing important. A minor skirmish.”
That was something of an understatement. “I’d hate to see a major one, then,” I said. “I could have died.”
The king finally deigned to look in my direction. To do him credit, his tone was apologetic as he crouched down to talk to me. “I’m sorry you had to go through that,” he said. “And that you have received further injuries here.”
“Injuries?” Sam asked. “What injuries?”
“She slipped on the peas,” the dark-haired woman explained.
Sam scowled at the lion belligerently, his hands clenching into fists at his sides.
“Did I hear right that you’ve come about the”—the kingpaused—“the wedding arrangements? With the princess of Skalla?”
His mouth curled down at the corners. He looked no happier than Jack had been at the prospect of Princess Melilot. Was anyone pleased by this marriage?
“What did Jack say your name was?” he asked.
I hesitated.
This would have been the perfect time to reveal my true identity. Whatever secret the huntsmen were hiding, they had kept their word and delivered me safely to the castle. All I had to do was declare myself, and I would surely be cosseted, fussed over, wined, dined, and made comfortable.
Something Jack had said when he entered the room, however, niggled at my mind.
Monsters attacked her in the woods.
Attackedher. Notus. Me. And he was right. The trap had been laid for a traveler on the road. The road a princess arriving from Skalla was almost certain to take. Even after Jack had told me the monster attacks were planned, I’d still assumed I’d merely been in the wrong place at the wrong time. But what if, instead, it had been an attempt on my life?
An assassination attempt, targeting me. The real me, Melilot, not Clover the handmaiden—because no one makes plans to eliminate handmaidens who don’t actually exist. Was there someone who did not want this wedding to take place? So much so that murdering a foreign princess was a reasonable alternative?
“Clover,” I said. “My name is Clover. And before the princess arrives, I think we need to have some words about your health and safety standards. Will there be any peas on the floor in the wedding venue?”
At that, the king’s face cracked into a rueful smile. “I assure you that won’t be an issue. And I hope your arm isn’t hurt too badly.” He straightened out of his crouch and turned to thewoman hovering over me. “Angelique, would you see that our guest’s needs are taken care of? Make sure that includes a visit to the chirurgeon.”
“Of course. Are you able to stand?” she asked me, offering a hand. Since I didn’t think lying on the floor for the rest of time would be the best of choices, I accepted her help and let her pull me up by my uninjured arm.
“We’ll discuss the wedding plans when you’ve had a chance to rest,” Gervase said. “In the meantime, please make yourself welcome in my kingdom. I wish you could have had a better introduction to it, but things have been”—he searched for the right words—“somewhat unusual, of late.”
“So I’ve heard,” I muttered as Angelique led me off. Sam took a step after us, but Jack put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.
“Finally, the sanctity of the Great Hall is restored,” the lion rumbled. “Or partially restored, at any rate…” He began complaining once again that his test had been interfered with, whatever that might mean, and the interrupted argument between him, the king, and the huntsmen resumed as the assembled nobles murmured and tittered behindus.
There was too much happening that I didn’t understand. Huntsmen in masks, a king unhappy to wed the bride he’d sent for. Peas all over the floor.
The only thing certain was that someone had enemies here. And it was entirely possible that the someone in question wasme.
Chapter Twelve
The Princesses and the Peas
Angelique unlocked a small door at the back of the Great Hall with one key among dozens on a ring.
A stinging pain jabbed at my foot every time I took a step. I couldn’t remember how I’d hurt it. I limped along after her into a windowless passage lit by smoky sconces.
“The sanctity of the Great Hall?” I asked. “What was that about?”
