What could Natalie say to that? It was almost exactly what she had just been reproaching herself for. But she was too bitterly disappointed to entirely let go of her anger.
“If you’re sorry,” she snapped, the words coming out harshly, “you’ll stop hounding me everywhere I go!”
She swung down from her horse, handing the reins to the closest groom. Not waiting for Luca’s reply, she hurried into the palace.
She knew she’d been unreasonably harsh, but she kept fleeing anyway—knowing deep down that she was actually fleeing from the unsettling look she had seen in his eyes twice that day.
When she reached her room, she collapsed onto her bed and cried herself out, cursing yet another useless restriction on the life of a princess. The goal she had been chasing for years was looking less and less shiny every day.
She still longed to be involved in important matters like unmasking the villain blackmailing and threatening Rose. But how much pain, exhaustion, and daily boredom was she willing to endure in order to secure that future? Natalie had thought she knew the answer, but she was no longer so sure.
CHAPTER 8
Natalie lay awake half the night wondering what the next day would bring. After her mistake on the beach, there was every chance Rose would demand they swap back immediately. After all, they had never intended their ruse to last longer than a week. But the appointed meeting time was only the next night, and Natalie couldn’t afford to shock the entire court until after she’d unmasked the blackmailer.
If word reached him about the girls’ ruse, there was every chance he wouldn’t show up. Prince Leo might even kick Natalie out of Lanare, making it impossible for her to appear at the designated gazebo where the meeting was supposed to occur. She certainly hadn’t succeeded in forging a strong enough emotional bond with the crown prince that he would forgive her the deception.
But she made it through breakfast without hearing the dreaded knock on her door, and she began to hope again. Unable to bear the idea of incessant, meaningless small talk, Natalie excused herself from the day’s activities and shut herself in her room. She would have opened it for Rose, of course, but when Luca came to the door and tried to cajole her out, she refused to speak to him. Eventually, Cate sent him away.
Eventually even the three maids fled the room, sick of Natalie’s constant pacing and refusal to answer any questions. They had probably gone to Rose to complain, but Natalie was past caring. Surely she had made it far enough through the day that Rose wouldn’t insist on exposing their ruse that evening.
Darkness finally arrived, and Natalie ate the evening meal from a tray in her room. The maids still hadn’t returned, so she didn’t have to pretend to go to bed as the interminable minutes ticked slowly by, counting down the hours until the meeting time.
Eventually she decided the hour had advanced enough that she could justify leaving the palace. She wanted to be in place—hiding somewhere near the gazebo where she could observe without being seen—well before the allotted time. But she had a realistic understanding of how long she would be able to maintain a position of silent watchfulness. It wouldn’t do to be there too early.
Finding a place to hide proved more difficult than she had anticipated, however. There were plenty of positions that allowed her to remain completely out of sight, but they left her own view of the gazebo entirely obscured. By the opposite token, she could find plenty of vantage points that gave her a good view, but anyone in the gazebo would be able to see her just as easily.
She had chosen her darkest, simplest dress to wear, but even so, she wasn’t exactly inconspicuous. She tried one spot and then another, always conscious of the time. It had passed painfully slowly all day only to now accelerate to terrifying speeds.
Eventually she accepted that a perfect spot couldn’t be found and settled herself behind a bush that was large enough to obscure her while still allowing at least a limited viewpoint through the spring growth of leaves.
And then she waited. Time slowed back down to a crawl. Her crouching position wasn’t as stable as she would have liked, andwhen a bug flew past her ear, her instinctive attempt to swat it away nearly unbalanced her completely. But if she sat, it would be too hard to move quickly, and if she stood, she would be visible behind the foliage.
She resettled with a fresh edge of tension. She couldn’t afford to do anything like that once her target arrived. Her position wasn’t hidden enough that she would go unnoticed if she started thrashing around.
Finally she heard footsteps approaching, soft and hurried on a gravel path. She froze, peering through the leaves with desperate intensity. She had been waiting a week for this moment, and she couldn’t fail in her task of identifying the man threatening Rose.
A masculine figure came into view, glancing back over his shoulder as he walked. She waited, not even breathing, until he turned back to face her. But the sight of his face gave her no clue to his identity. He had swathed himself in black from head to toe, and there was nothing distinctive about his silhouette.
The man twitched, jumping as the breeze rustled the leaves around him. He hurried the last few steps into the gazebo, only to halt abruptly when he realized it was empty. A softly spoken curse reached her ears.
Natalie considered her options. He had come alone as she had hoped, which allowed the possibility of jumping out and accosting him. But he was taller than she was and moved with an ease that suggested he was still young. If he ran, she might not catch him, and if she did catch him, it might not go well for her.
Either way, he wasn’t likely to answer any demands for information.
She could approach more sedately in her guise as Rose and claim to have been running late. But she still didn’t know if her adversary intended physical harm to Rose, nor did she know if he was aware of the true appearance of the princess.
She could claim to be one of Rose’s maids, sent in her place, but she should have worn a different dress if she wanted to pull off that lie. And he looked jumpy enough that he might run even if he believed her claim.
There was only one real option. She had to wait and follow him when he left. She wasn’t able to see his face, but she still had a chance to find out his identity.
The minutes drew out as the waiting man became visibly impatient. When he began cursing more loudly and looking toward the rising moon, Natalie let out a long, silent breath. He was surely close to leaving.
She adjusted her position, moving her weight quietly, poised to leap up when required. Any moment now, the man was going to give up on Rose and leave.
“Lila? What are you doing there?” The piercing whisper startled Natalie so badly she lost her balance entirely, barely stifling a scream.
Her target froze for less than a second before taking off down the nearest path at a sprint. Natalie struggled to her feet and took a step after him. But he had already disappeared out of sight in the dark garden. Forewarned and with a head start, he would be impossible to follow.
