This was a problem for several reasons, the most obvious being that I was engaged to someone else.Someone royal.Someone I was supposed to be marrying in four days.Someone who was definitely not Peter with his easy smile and his gentle hands and his way of making me feel like I was actually good at something.
I stared at my bedroom ceiling, replaying our riding lesson for approximately the four hundredth time since dinner.The way he'd caught me when I'd stumbled during the dismount.The way his hands had lingered on my waist.The way we'd almost kissed before Celeste had intervened with her impeccable timing.
Stupid horse.Stupid feelings.Stupid Betty for developing them in the first place.
I was supposed to be focusing on learning which fork went with which course and how to curtsy without looking like I was having a medical episode.Instead, I was lying in bed wondering what it would have been like if Peter had actually kissed me.
Would he taste like coffee?He'd seemed to really enjoy the latte I'd made him.The way his eyes had lit up at the first sip, the way he'd said it was good enough to make a prince propose twice...that had to mean something, right?
No.Stop it.Bad Betty.
I grabbed a pillow and pressed it over my face, groaning into the expensive Egyptian cotton.This was what happened when you spent your formative years watching too many romantic comedies.You started seeing meet-cutes everywhere, even when the "cute" part was learning not to fall off a horse and the "meet" part was arranged by international diplomats.
A knock at my door saved me from further spiral into romantic delusion.
"Come in," I called, sitting up and trying to look like I hadn't just been having inappropriate thoughts about palace staff.
Petra entered carrying a tablet and wearing an expression that suggested more bad news was incoming."Your Highness, I have your schedule for tomorrow.It's...extensive."
"How extensive are we talking?Normal extensive or 'Betty's going to need therapy' extensive?"
"There are seventeen separate events."
"Seventeen?"I grabbed the tablet and started scrolling."How is that even physically possible?There are only so many hours in a day."
"Lord Chancellor Renaud has optimized your schedule for maximum exposure.He believes immersion is the best approach."
"Lord Chancellor Renaud believes in torture."I scrolled through the list: breakfast etiquette, morning meetings.formal correspondence review, diplomatic history lecture, luncheon table settings, afternoon tea service, language lessons, dance instruction, evening wear training...
"What's evening wear training?Do I need to be trained on how to wear clothes now?"
"There's a specific way to sit, stand, and move in formal gowns to avoid wrinkling or tripping.Madame Delacroix considers it essential."
"Of course she does."I kept scrolling."And what happened to my riding lesson?I don't see it anywhere on here."
"Lord Chancellor Renaud felt that time would be better spent on diplomatic history.He mentioned that Princess Bettina doesn't need recreational activities at this stage of her preparation."
Something hot flared in my chest."Recreational activities?I'm learning a skill that's essential for royal life.How is that recreational?"
Petra hesitated."I believe his exact words were that equestrian pursuits could wait until after the wedding, when...more pressing matters have been addressed."
"More pressing matters like making sure I know which spoon to use for soup?"
"He seems very concerned about your public readiness, Your Highness."
I thought about the way Renaud had been watching me during our meeting, making notes in his portfolio, cataloguing my every mistake.The way he'd mentioned "clarifications" to the marriage contract with that too-smooth smile.
"Petra, what do you know about Lord Chancellor Renaud?"
She glanced toward the door, as if checking that we were alone."He's been with the Valdorian court for almost twenty years.Very respected.Very...thorough."
"That's the official version.What's the unofficial version?"
"The unofficial version is that he opposed your grandmother's decision to search for you.He thought the throne should pass to a more...traditional candidate."
"More traditional meaning not raised by American commoners?"
"More traditional meaning someone who already knows which fork to use for fish."Petra's lips twitched."His words, not mine."
