He hunched down and went through the doorway. “Is Captain Annoying expected to make an appearance?”
Captain, not prince. She liked that. “I assumed the dungeon was his favorite place, and he’d be here.”
Ducking, she followed him into a small room. The same old-looking sconces hung on the stone walls. The floor was stone, too.
“Careful,” Gill teased. “Or you’re going to need to invoke the right of parley.”
He knew his pirate lore. “But is there honor among pirates when protection is requested?”
“In the original pirate code, there was no such thing as parley, so no. But if you happen to be in a Hollywood blockbuster, you may be in luck.”
The fact he knew trivia was a real turn-on. She loved stuff like that.
This place reminded her of a museum exhibit or theme park ride. Too clean to seem real. “You should bring the film crew down here tomorrow. Bet they’d have fun.”
Gill’s smiled disappeared. “I can’t believe Sophie invited them to the wedding and is letting them come to the castle to film ahead of time.”
“Too many commoners?”
“Reality TV. It’s beneath her.”
“Prince Annoying is making an appearance.”
“It’s the truth,” he said. “I know she says that’s why she met Bertrand, but I wish you’d never convinced her to go on the show.”
“I didn’t convince her of anything. I merely presented the pros and the cons of going on the show. Sophie made the choice, not me.”
Lines formed on Gill’s forehead. “But she said…”
Kat shook her head.
Sophie was getting married in a couple of days. The time had come for Gill to learn what his family had driven their youngest member to do all these years. “A long time ago, after I found out your sister was a princess, I told Sophie she could use me as the excuse to do something if that would make life easier for her.”
Gill opened his mouth and then closed it. He rubbed his chin. “All these years, you’ve been taking the blame? Been her scapegoat?”
He sounded like he didn’t believe her. Kat understood.
She nodded. “Sophie’s one of my best friends. It’s the least I could do.”
“But that made you look…”
“Bad?”
It was Gill’s turn to nod.
Kat had zero regrets. “I live thousands of miles away, so what your family thinks doesn’t affect me. But your family’s opinion matters a great deal to Sophie.”
He stared at Kat with an odd expression on his face. “We…I thought you had too much influence over her.”
“That’s what your sister wanted you to think. In case you hadn’t noticed, after she met Bertrand, she stopped using me as an excuse. Again, her choice.”
“I hadn’t noticed.” Gill continued to look at her. “Why are you telling me this now?”
“Sophie. She thought if your mother knew that it might change the queen’s opinion of me. You were next to be told.”
“Did it help with my mother?”
“No.” But Kat hoped it might help with him. “This little room isn’t the dungeon, is it?”
