“In that case, you must call me Rose,” she said. Sudden inspiration struck, and she added, “Or better yet, call me Lila, since I can already tell that we’re going to be friends.” She gave him her warmest smile, and he tucked her hand into his arm, turning them both toward the palace doors.
“Lila? Is that what your friends call you?”
“It’s been my pet name since childhood,” she said. “It meanslittle flower.”
It only meant that in the mountain kingdom, but she was trusting no one in Lanover would know that. She snuck a look at the real Rose—who was standing with a clump of people to one side of the carriage—and received a grin of encouragement.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I brought a friend with me.” Natalie gestured toward Rose. “Her name is Natalie, and she’s from the mountain kingdom. She’s on a tour of the Four Kingdoms, so I insisted she join me on my journey to Lanover. I hope you might have a room for her.”
She peeked up at Leo again, but he was looking toward Rose, his gaze lingering in a way that made Natalie nervous. Did he recognize the real princess? If he’d seen a portrait of the Arcadian royal family, their charade would be over before it began.
But a moment later he looked back down at her, a smile still locked on his face, and no words of denunciation on his lips.
“Of course. Any friend of yours is welcome here. And I confess to great curiosity about the mountain kingdom. I hope to have a chance to talk with Natalie about it at some point.”
Something warm blossomed inside Natalie. Perhaps she truly would be welcomed here, even under her own identity.
She almost confessed to the charade on the spot, but the other young man stepped forward at that moment, and the sight of his laughing eyes hardened her resolve. He had caught herbrief mistake earlier, and he was laughing at her. She intended to put a stop to that.
“I’m Prince Luca,” he said, “son of Prince Cassian and Princess Tillara.”
She had been right about his identity. Prince Cassian was the younger brother of the new King Frederic, and his children had been raised in the palace alongside his brother’s children. From everything she’d heard, Leo and Luca were more like brothers than cousins.
Prince Luca held out his hand, as if he intended to take hers and press it to his lips as Leo had done. Natalie, buoyed by the feeling of her hand tucked in Leo’s strong arm, merely looked at the outheld hand blankly and then back up into his face.
“Oh yes,” she said sweetly, giving him her best smile. “I did hear something about a second prince.” She held her smile in place, confident in the knowledge she looked better than she ever had before. She looked like a princess.
But Luca remained unabashed, merely putting his empty hand into a pocket and laughing. “Yes, indeed,” he said. “I’m not even the spare since that role falls to Leo’s sister, Princess Beatrice. So you needn’t pay me the least heed.”
“Luca,” Leo said in a warning tone before glancing in Rose’s direction. “Perhaps you could escort Lila’s friend inside and see she has everything she needs.”
“To hear is to obey,” Luca said promptly, but his eyes were now laughing at both of them.
Natalie’s furious eyes wanted to follow him as he strolled toward Rose, but she disciplined herself not to turn her head. She refused to give him the satisfaction.
Instead, she turned her attention back to Prince Leo. He was her future, and she wasn’t going to allow anything or anyone—however irritating—to distract her from it.
CHAPTER 4
Natalie flopped back on the enormous bed and gave a delighted sigh. The room that had been assigned to the visiting Arcadian princess was by far the nicest she had ever stayed in. It was almost too big—except for the fact she was sharing it with three other women.
She sat up again and smiled at Hilary, who was unpacking her bags into the ornate wardrobe provided.
“You don’t have to do that,” she said. “I’m not really Rose.”
Hilary didn’t pause. “That may be, and I’m not saying I approve of such shenanigans, mind! But if I’m here, I might as well busy my hands as not. Her Majesty insisted on sending four of us, but in truth, we’re likely to be sitting on our hands half the day, even with two girls to care for instead of one. It’s not as if we’ll be expected to perform any excess duties in this place.”
“Almost like a holiday, you could say,” Donna added, unpacking a small case onto the dressing table.
Cate chuckled. “And I, for one, plan to make the most of it.”
“Do you like working for the Arcadians?” Natalie asked, curious as to whether the women would speak freely in the absence of their princess.
“Oh yes, certainly,” Donna said without hesitation.
“They treat us fair and pay us well.” Hilary put the last piece of clothing away and turned to face the others.
“They’ve been more than kind to me,” Cate added. “Her Majesty was only going to send three maids with Her Highness, but she added me at the last minute because she knew I’d taken a liking to a Lanoverian young man when he traveled through Arcadia recently. He took a temporary job at our palace when we were needing some extra hands, but he left to return home a few months ago, and we’ve only been able to exchange letters since.”
