“And just as obvious he loves her.”
Autumn sighed and put her chin on her hands, gazing at the now-empty doorway through which Wynter and Khamsin had disappeared. “What are the odds the rest of us will be so lucky?”
Spring reached for her teacup. “Slim to none, so don’t waste your time pining for it.”
Autumn grimaced and turned to scowl at her oldest sister. “Must you always be such a pessimist, Spring?”
“Being realistic isn’t the same as being pessimistic.”
“How strange, because it always sounds that way when coming from you.” Autumn stuck out her tongue and tossed her head. “On a moreoptimisticnote, the Calbernans are famous for showering devotion on their wives. That’s close enough to love for me. Besides, I can think of many worse sights to wake up to than Dilys Merimydion.” She plucked a small bunch of grapes from the fruit basket and popped one in her mouth.
Heat spiked in the Rose on Gabriella’s wrist at the thought of Autumn waking up next to Dilys. To distract herself, she snatched up her silverware and began attacking her breakfast.
“While it’s true he’s certainly as handsome as any woman could want,” Spring admitted grudgingly, “I don’t like the way he was so dismissive of Gabriella this morning.”
Autumn frowned and leaned closer towards Gabriella in an instinctive shielding gesture Summer doubted she was even aware of. “He was unpleasant to Summer?”
As Spring caught Autumn up with this morning’s encounter with Dilys Merimydion, Gabriella polished off her plate of food and plucked a blueberry scone from the basket in the center of the table. She spread a dollop of clotted cream on the scone, added a smear of jam, and took a bite. Treating herself to something sinfully delicious was another one of the tricks she’d learned to keep her emotion-fed power from building up to lethal levels. She savored the meltingly delicious flavors of the scone, cream, and jam, focusing her attention on the pleasure of the delightful tastes rather than the tense, jealous anger bubbling inside.
“So, let me get this straight,” Autumn said as Spring finished bringing her up to speed. “You pranked the Royal Prince of Calberna, swapping out his water with a straight shot of fire brandy that leaves him choking and sputtering in front of his men and an entire room of servants, and his only response is to laugh and applaud your temerity... and you think this is a character flaw? Do you even remember that dreadful Prince Berong’s reaction when I snuck the teensiest dose of itching powder into his laundry? He turned purple and ran around the palace threatening to behead people!”
Spring scowled. “Did you miss the part about the cavalier way Sealord Merimydion dismissed Summer as a potential wife? He’d made his mind up about her before he even met her!”
“He came with a plan,” Autumn corrected. “I thought that would appeal to you.”
Spring opened her mouth, closed it, took a thoughtful sip of tea, then admitted. “All right, yes. I do appreciate that he did his homework and came with a plan. That shows a degree of preparation and thoroughness that I find appealing. It’s a quality every leader should have.”
“And he’s got a good sense of humor, and a willingness to laugh at himself, which makes him even more appealing to me. And you—” She turned an admiring gaze on Summer. “Apart from my disappointment over you pranking a visiting prince without me”—Of all three Seasons, none loved a good practical joke more than Autumn—“all I have to say is, Well done, sister! I had no idea Gabi the Good had that sort of mischief in her!”
Summer blushed and took another bite of her scone, mumbling, “He made me mad” as she chewed.
Autumn gave Summer’s back a couple of congratulatory thumps and grinned. “I feel like a proud mama watching her fledgling take flight for the first time. All my pranking lessons over the years haven’t gone to waste.”
Spring cleared her throat and leveled a repressive look on the youngest Season. “Back to Sealord Merimydion. You might be ready to throw caution to the wind, but I’m not.”
Autumn’s grin became a scowl at her sister’s criticism. “There’s a difference between throwing caution to the wind and admitting that I found the man personable, witty, and charming—which I did. I’m just saying, we’ve had far more objectionable suitors paraded before us over the years. Honestly, Spring, why do you always have to look for the worst in people?”
“Because the worst is what most people try the hardest to hide, and I don’t like unpleasant surprises. I’d rather know the total truth—all the bad as well as the good—before I decide to bind the rest of my life to someone else’s.”
The irritation faded from Autumn’s expression. She reached for her tea glass, took a sip, and nodded. “Fair enough. You’ve always been the one who makes decisions with her brain. Gabi makes decisions with her heart.” She cast a fond smile in Summer’s direction. “But I’ve always trusted my instincts, and my instincts say we could all do a lot worse than ending up with a man like Dilys Merimydion. So, if neither of you are interested, I’m more than happy to keep our suitor entertained for the duration of his visit.” She reached for a fresh cluster of grapes from the fruit bowl in the center of the table, popped another glistening grape in her mouth, and smiled as she chewed.
Summer’s fingers curled tight. Autumn was a dazzling creature. If she set her sights on Dilys, he was as good as hers.
And that was all for the best,the rational part of her mind insisted.
But the mad, voracious, dangerously primitive part of her wasn’t listening. The tea in her glass was starting to steam again.
“I need to go,” Gabriella announced. She clung to her calm, congenial mask as she stood up. “I have loads of work to do before school starts up again on Modinsday. Lily had the wonderful idea of doing a dress up to get the children more interested in their history, but there’s an enormous amount of planning and preparation before we can get started.” She was intending to have the children use their math and problem-solving skills to plan the design, purchase, and construction of their costumes, but she needed to do all the calculations herself before assigning the project. A teacher should always know the answer before asking the question.
“I can lend you a hand, if you like,” Spring offered. “Seeing as how Autumn has volunteered to keep the Calbernan busy.”
“Very busy.” Autumn grinned and waggled her eyebrows.
Heat surged inside Summer’s skin. She turned from Autumn quickly, before the urge to turn her into a redheaded pile of cinders grew too strong to resist. “No, it’s all right, Vivi. I’m sure you have other plans for the day.”
“I don’t actually. At least, not at the moment. I’m hoping to get a package from Uncle Clarence soon, but it hasn’t arrived yet.” Uncle Clarence was their late mother’s brother and the current Crown Prince of Seahaven. Though their elderly maternal grandfather, King Eustace, was still technically the reigning monarch, Uncle Clarence had taken over most of the daily governance of the kingdom.
“Package?” Autumn, who was slathering clotted cream and jam on a pair of scones, stopped what she was doing to look up. “What sort of package?”
