“Do you know how to tie a secure knot?” Luca asked.
She grinned. “Of course I do. I’m not really a princess, remember? I know how to do all sorts of practical things.”
She bound the man quickly, pulling the knots extra tight despite his protests. After his attempt to murder her, she had no sympathy for his discomfort.
Luca prodded the man to his feet, pointing him in the direction of the main palace. The man grunted, his eyes darting in every direction, but no one appeared out of the darkness to save him.
Natalie retrieved the bag he had been carrying which he had dropped in the scuffle. As she trailed behind the other two, sherummaged through it. There was no sign of any documents, but at the bottom she found a small leather pouch.
“Aha!” she cried, pulling it out with joy. “I think I’ve found—Yes! It’s the missing Arcadian seal. It matches the one used on my letters.”
“That’s not mine,” the man said quickly. “Someone must have put it there. I don’t even know why you were chasing me.”
Natalie rolled her eyes. “Don’t bother trying that. I recognize you from that time you tried to murder me. Remember that occasion?”
Luca gave him a threatening jab with his sword, the prince’s expression turning savage at her mention of the murder attempt, and the man subsided.
They made it most of the way to the main palace building before they met Natalie’s gardener assistant, who was hurrying back in their direction at the head of a squad of confused guards. A shout went up as the men caught sight of Luca and his prisoner, and the guards all broke into a run.
The captain of the squad stopped at Luca’s side, giving Natalie a chance to quietly pocket the pouch with the seal. Two other guards converged on the prisoner, seizing him roughly from either side. When yet another guard stopped respectfully in front of her, she handed him the blackmailer’s bag. She hadn’t noticed anything else of interest inside, but there might be something to establish the man’s identity.
The bulk of the squad marched the prisoner away, but the captain hesitated, looking between Luca and Natalie.
“Are you sure neither of you have been harmed, Your Highness?” he asked. “The princess must be very shaken. We can provide an escort to see her safely back to her maids.”
“I’ll take her back to her room myself,” Luca said. “Please ensure the prisoner is held securely.”
“Of course, Your Highness.” The man bowed once in Luca’s direction and a second time toward Natalie before hurrying away with the last of his men.
Natalie stepped closer to Luca. “I kept the seal,” she said quietly. “I’ll return it to Rose directly.”
He nodded his approval. “We should be able to keep the Arcadian aspect of the situation out of any official proceedings. His attempt to murder you will be a sufficient charge to bring against him.”
Natalie sighed with relief that the whole ordeal was over. Despite all her mistakes, she had helped bring down the blackmailer in the end. They’d even recovered the stolen seal.
A horrible thought occurred to her—one she should have considered from the beginning.
“But what use has he made of the seal in all this time?” she asked. “If he used the documents he stole as a guide, he could have created any number of falsified papers by now! What should we do?”
“Nothing,” said Luca firmly.
She stared at him, bewildered.
“That man tried to murder you in our palace grounds. There was no way I was letting him wander free. I’m very pleased that we’ve also recovered the missing seal in the process, but that—and any documents it created—are an Arcadian matter. And, as you just recently pointed out, you are not, in fact, an Arcadian princess.” He grinned at her. “But it so happens that we do have an Arcadian princess in our midst. So I suggest we leave the question of any missing documents to her to sort out.”
“But surely we should help her!”
Luca was unmoved. “If Princess Rose needs help, I think Crown Prince Leo would be a more appropriate person for her to apply to than either of us—wouldn’t you agree?”
Natalie considered the matter. “Yes,” she said decisively. “You’re quite right.”
She had overestimated her own capability quite enough lately. She was more than happy to leave the retrieving of any documents up to a prince and princess who had the resources of two kingdoms behind them—not to mention Aurora’s spy network.
“You don’t need to worry,” she told Luca. “I’ve finished overstepping in all areas. I won’t meddle with finding the documents, and your cousin is safe from me, too.” She shook her head. “I’ve always thought that if you want something, you should make it happen. I couldn’t understand why other people didn’t do the same. But I was so busy thinking about how I wanted to be a queen, that I never stopped to consider if I’d be a good queen.”
She gave a wry chuckle. “I think it’s fairly clear after the last few weeks that no one should be entrusting any kingdoms to my care.”
“To be fair,” Luca said, amusement in his voice, “you are only eighteen. There aren’t many eighteen-year-olds who would be good at ruling a kingdom. Even Leo—who was raised for the role—has told Uncle Frederic that he isn’t allowed to retire for at least thirty years.”
