The road sloped down until it was separated from the sand by only a thin stretch of grass. Earlier, the beach had been rocky, but a long, sandy stretch now beckoned, the white sand contrasting with the brilliant blue of the ocean.
Luca took advantage of the strip of grass to appear on Leo’s other side, his eyes glinting in the bright sunshine and his dark hair lightened to burnished chestnut.
“Race along the beach, Leo?” he challenged.
His cousin gave him a repressive look, his eyes flicking subtly toward Natalie.
Luca just laughed. “Don’t let Lila hold you back. I’m sure she thinks she can beat us both.” He leaned forward to give Natalie the same challenging look he’d just given Leo.
“Of course I could,” she replied, nettled. Her parents had tried to make up for barring her from court by buying her a horse, and Natalie had rarely lost a race on her prized mare.
“Then prove it! Race you to that spot where the rock juts out of the water!” Luca urged his horse down toward the sand with a carefree whoop.
“Cheater!” Natalie cried, outraged. Typical that he would try to steal an early start.
Forgetting all about her earlier resolution, she galloped her mare onto the sand after Luca. From the moment she had met the infuriating prince, he had been playing a game with her—a game with rules she didn’t understand. Hampered by her false identity, Natalie’s hands had been tied, and she’d suffered loss after loss. But for once, she was going to triumph over the smugly confident Prince Luca.
Her whole focus narrowed to the rider in front of her and the pounding of her horse’s hooves against the sand. The mare was smaller than Luca’s mount, but Natalie had sensed the fire in her belly as soon as she’d swung onto the horse’s back. They had chosen one of their best mounts for the visiting princess.
She urged the horse faster, whispering encouragements as they slowly gained ground on the larger, heavier rider ahead of them. When she finally pulled even, and her mare, scenting the victory, surged forward, Natalie looked back and gave a whoop of her own.
The patch of rock flashed past them, and Luca pulled up, slowing his horse gradually as he shook his head in defeat. Natalie slowed also, allowing him to catch up and ride beside her. For once his eyes held a look that she interpreted as begrudging respect, and she intended to savor every moment.
Her hair had come loose in the wind of the ride, and she ran her hands through it, shaking it free. Tipping her head back, she closed her eyes to enjoy the feel of the sun on her face. The salt air and the sound of the waves made her feel freer than she had done since arriving in Lanover.
“This is the way to live, isn’t it?” Luca asked, and for once, Natalie couldn’t disagree with his sentiment.
She nodded her agreement, opening her eyes to find him watching her with an unfamiliar look in his eyes that made herclear her throat and look around for the others. The double line of riders had followed them down onto the sand, but their sedate pace meant they were still some way behind.
Leo and Rose had pulled ahead of the others, however, and were approaching more quickly.
Luca and Natalie turned back to join them, and Natalie greeted them with a smile, her mood still high after the exhilarating ride. But Rose pulled away from Leo, directing her own mare close to Natalie’s and hissing at her under her breath.
“Quick, put your hair back up before the others reach us and get a proper look at you! What were you thinking?! Princesses are supposed to behave with more decorum!” Her eyes conveyed the rest of her message. Natalie wasn’t out for a ride with a friend but as part of an official event with the Lanoverian court. And the courtiers weren’t seeing Natalie behaving like a hoyden but the Arcadian princess behaving that way.
Her joy instantly drained away.
“I’ve lost most of my pins!” she whispered back, frantic. “I’ll never be able to get my hair respectable again.”
Rose hesitated, clearly unsure what to suggest.
Leo cleared his throat, urging his horse closer to them. “If you’d like to return to the palace, Lila, I can escort you there myself.”
Natalie looked at him gratefully, but Luca spoke before she could reply.
“Don’t forget you’re the host today, Leo. You can’t leave. But I can escort Lila back if she wishes to go.”
Natalie’s heart sank, but she could hardly demand that the crown prince leave his own event to accompany her, especially when she had been the one to cause a problem in the first place. She shouldn’t have shaken free her pins. If she still had them, she and Rose might have been able to achieve something vaguely respectable.
Cowed by her own thoughtlessness, she accepted Luca’s unwelcome escort in silence. And despite his cajoling attempts to coax her into speech, she remained silent the whole way back to the palace.
The day had turned out nothing like she’d planned. She’d barely exchanged a few stilted sentences with Leo before she’d so far forgotten herself as to embarrass Rose and humiliate herself in the process.
It had all been Luca’s fault! If only he hadn’t challenged her to race. Natalie had never been good at refusing such challenges—she had too much fondness for winning.
When they reached the palace gardens, Luca finally dropped his teasing tone and spoke in a serious voice that caught her attention, his words earnest.
“I’m sorry, Lila. I didn’t mean to ruin your afternoon. I got caught up in my love of racing and didn’t think it through.”
