"You destroyed it," I said."When you decided that lying to me was easier than trusting me with the truth."
I opened the door and stepped into the corridor, where Captain Steiner was waiting to escort me back to the reception.
If she noticed that my eyes were bright with unshed tears, she had the grace not to mention it.
* * *
THE FORMAL INTRODUCTIONwas everything I'd dreaded and worse.
"Ladies and gentlemen, His Royal Highness Prince Archibald Peter Constantine Falcieri of Solmarina, and Her Royal Highness Princess Bettina Elena Margot Reina of Valdoria."
We descended the grand staircase together, his hand on my elbow in a gesture that was supposed to look supportive and romantic.I smiled so hard my face hurt.He smiled too, but his eyes kept cutting to me with an expression that looked like worry.
Good.Let him worry.
We made the rounds together, accepting congratulations and well-wishes from people whose names I immediately forgot.Archie handled most of the conversation, which was good because I didn't trust my voice not to shake.
A Spanish countess gave me a look that could have frozen the Mediterranean, but I was too numb to care.
"You're doing beautifully," Archie murmured as we moved between groups.
"Don't talk to me."
"Betty," he sighed.
"Smile and wave, Your Highness.That's what we're here for."
He fell silent, though his hand tightened on my elbow.
The evening stretched on forever.By the time we'd spoken with every diplomat, posed for every photograph, and accepted every toast to our happiness, I was running on pure adrenaline and spite.
When we finally had a moment alone, standing by the windows overlooking the palace gardens, Archie spoke quietly.
"You were amazing tonight.No one would ever guess—"
"That my heart is breaking?"I kept my eyes on the garden."No, I suppose they wouldn't.I'm getting very good at pretending."
"Betty, please."
I finally looked at him.In the uniform, with the medals and the formal posture, he looked every inch the prince.But underneath all that, I could still see Peter.The man who'd made me laugh.The man who'd made me feel capable and seen and valued.
The man who'd lied to me.
"I need time," I said."I need to process this without you standing there looking at me like a kicked puppy."
"Of course.Whatever you need."
"What I need is for none of this to have happened.What I need is for the man I was starting to fall for to have been honest with me from the beginning."My voice cracked."What I need is to go back to yesterday, when I was just a girl with a crush on her riding instructor and a prince who existed only as an abstract concept."
"You were falling for me?"
"Don't."I held up a hand."Don't make this about that.You don't get to feel good about this."
"I don't feel good.I feel terrible.I made a mistake, and I hurt someone I care about."
"Then we agree on something."
I turned and walked away, because if I stayed any longer, I was going to cry, and I refused to give the Spanish countess the satisfaction of seeing the American princess break down in public.
