Astoria glances in my direction, and I take a steady breath, suddenly very fixated on my remaining sausage.
“Blackwell! Good to see you this morning!” Leland greets in that same cheerful tone that makes my mother’s eye twitch. “Please, join us.”
I look up as Kieran takes a seat directly across from me, his eyes piercing mine as I offer a courteous nod. Leland turns to me and asks, “You had the privilege of dancing with Mr. Blackwell last night, did you not?”
His smile remains, but I wonder if he’s heard rumors of our dance and is testing me. My mind drifts back to the way Kieran held me close—the brazen desire in his eyes, the way I got lost in his embrace, forgetting the dangerous gazes of the court analyzing my every move, every reaction.
“We did. Mr. Blackwell is a skilled dancer,” I answer, meeting his eyes while lifting my teacup to give my hands something to hold.
“It was apleasureto dance with you, Princess,” he drawls, not breaking eye contact. I feel my cheeks heat, thinking about the closeness of his body to mine. The way I had to fight myself from leaning further into his touch. Even before I knew it was Kieran, my body had responded to his familiarity in a damning manner.
“It’s a shame we couldn’t see the two of you dance for the engagement announcement.”
The nerve of this man—to feign ignorance of what prevented us from announcing our engagement. I open my mouth, close it again, and Astoria steps in.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, Mr. Blackwell, but you were unable to stay at the ball very long, were you not?”
I could hug her. My brilliant, wonderful sister who stands up for me when I need her most, even if speaking out is something she’s been trained not to do. The attention turns to her, and I see her cheeks flush.
Mother clears her throat. I hadn’t realized she’d been paying such close attention to our conversation. “I was expecting a dance of my own with you, Mr. Blackwell. I believe it was the first time I’ve had a partner choosenotto dance with me.”
My eyes widen. He didn’t fulfill his dance with the queen? That kind of insult is unheard of, though conversely, he did it to wait for me in the glasshouse.
“I apologize, Your Majesty. I had a personal obligation that needed to be seen to.”
“Personal obligation?” Mother’s words are laced with venom as she holds Kieran’s glare.Does she recognize him?
Mother was always too busy to notice the budding friendship between me, Kieran, and Gabe. Father always allowed the gardener’s son to join in family games and even instructed the tutors to teach him alongside us. It wasn’t until I was a teenager that Mother took an interest in the young redblood—a negative interest, of course—forbidding me from continuing a friendship that had begun to blossom into something more. That’s when I stopped listening to her and made our rendezvous secret.
I didn’t listen to her, and it turns out she was right all along. I should have avoided Kieran Greenbluff.
“Yes, Your Majesty. I look forward to the next opportunity we have to dance,” he says. His tone is cool, and it’s clear he won’t be discussing it further—even with the Queen of Naseria.
Mother seems to accept this response as she continues, “About the engagement. It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t announce it last night, especially with the expedited timeline. I discussed the changes with Queen Kalise and Prince Leland. We have a new plan in place, and the announcement will be made in five days.”
Five days?I wanted it announced immediately, just so we could move forward quickly. “Why wait?” I ask, looking from Leland to Mother.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Leland replies. “Since we couldn’t do it last night, I wanted everything to be perfect next time—and there were some items I’d like to arrive first.”
Mother’s eye twitches. This wasn’t what she wanted; that’s evident enough from her frown.
Kieran chimes in, “How wonderful. It will give the two of you more time to get to know each other. You must have so much to learn about one another.”
“We’ve been corresponding for over six months,” I retort, not deigning to look at him.
“You’d be surprised how much you can learn about a person through correspondence,” Leland adds, and I feel his gloved hand press against my arm. A subtle touch, reassuring and possessive all at once.
“I wouldn’t know. I hate correspondence,” Kieran mutters with a disgruntled look on his cocky face.
“That’s not a surprise, coming from a busy man like yourself,” I counter, meeting his eyes with an intensity to match his own. “There are all sorts of things one can learn through correspondence—little joys and interests, and of course news, like whether there’s been a death. Or perhaps changes in occupation.”
He scowls at me, and the scar on his forehead seems to darken. “Not all of us have such luxuries, Princess.”
Mother clears her throat, and I catch her harsh stare out of the corner of my eye.Back down. Don’t over-speak.
“Yes,” Leland adds hesitantly, trying to smooth the tension. “Had it not been for our letters, I would never have learned so much aboutPrincess Genevieve’s love for tropical plants. Or how she enjoys picnics with her sisters and walks through town.”
Kieran snorts, an indignant expression on his face. “Prince Leland, you could learn all that in an afternoon. Even I can tell she’s devoted to her sisters. Or that she finds dancing invigorating and enjoys her own company more than being with others.”
