Demelza hesitated. If she took her place amongst them, would they recoil? Laugh at her?
She wanted to be the sort of person who was confident that such things didn’t matter. And in terms of her agreement with Prince Arris, the reaction of the contestants meant nothing. But it still hurt. Demelza forced herself to look at the girls and saw Talvi smiling encouragingly. Ursula raised her hand in acknowledgment. But it was Zorayawho startled Demelza. Her chair—a gold winged-back construction—was right beside the empty one. Zoraya patted the empty seat.
“Don’t mind Edmea,” she said. “I think she feels like you outdid her in the trial.”
Demelza felt a spark of warmth as she took the offered seat. There were so few of them remaining. Only Zoraya, Talvi, Ursula, Edmea, Cordelia—and her.
“So we’re…” started Demelza.
“The finalists,” said Talvi. “I almost can’t believe it.”
Cordelia smiled and her sharp teeth glinted. “Now it’s only a matter of removing the remaining competition.”
Ursula’s stomach grumbled. “Do you think they’ve actually canceled the luncheon?”
“Did you see the prince?” Zoraya asked, leaning forward rather conspiratorially. “Dressed in his nightclothes! How odd! Do you think he spent his evening in someone else’s bed?”
The thought immediately unnerved Demelza. She could guess why that was, but she had no desire to examine the feeling.
“I doubt it,” said Ursula. “I was up all night foraging in the woods and I saw no sign of anyone lurking about the grounds.”
“What do you think, Demelza?” asked Zoraya. She sounded a touch annoyed as she added: “You seem to be able to keep secrets with the prince.”
“Yes, in fact it appeared you were quite taken with one another the other day,” said Cordelia. “It was…”
Demelza could tell she was searching for a word both polite and cruel, and did not see the point in entertaining it:
“Surprising? I know,” she said. “The prince has unique taste, one might say.”
“Agreed,” said Ursula. “We were going to do a recipe exchange but he wanted me to try mixing cheese and fruit, which I think is disgusting.”
“That’s exactly what Demelza meant,” said Talvi.
“He’s a rather good kisser, isn’t he?” said Cordelia, twirling a green strand in her hair. “I took a tiny nibble of him and was rather delighted when he bit back.”
“I found it a little underwhelming, to be honest,” said Zoraya. “I thought he’d be more, oh, I don’t know, sad? Where is the urgent kiss of someone who thinks they will die any moment?”
“Perhaps he has had plenty of practice with that and is no longer quite so bothered by mortality,” said Demelza, annoyed that her voice came out a touch higher than intended.
“Shame,” said Zoraya. “You know, Edmea said he has a talent for knowing exactly what to whisper into a lady’s ear. He can charm anyone. And he smells divine.”
“That’s true,” said Ursula.
Demelza looked at her sharply. “Have you kissed the prince?”
“Just once,” said Ursula, shrugging. “Hasn’t everyone?”
“I haven’t,” said Talvi.
“You’re the only one, then,” said Zoraya, laughing.
Demelza forced herself to sit still and listen. She spoke of kisses she’d never had and laughed at all the right jokes.And all the while, she recognized that she was being ridiculous. What she felt was entirely normal, down to her jealousy and irritation. The kiss had affected her. It had been her first, after all. She had no claim to his lips. She was not even in this competition. Even when she had succeeded on her own merits, Arris hadn’t noticed. He hadn’t even believed it was possible. Was it because of the mud spatter in her hair? Did she reek of something uncouth and unpolished? She wasn’t a feral girl… her mother was Araminta of the veritas swans. Elegance ran through Demelza’s veins.
Or, at least, it should have.
Arris would never have any reason to doubt that Talvi or Edmea were capable of both cleverness and elegance…
“Pardon,” she said, standing. “I suppose I should change.”
