“Come off it, Hugo,” Augustine scoffed. “There’s no sin in finding someone attractive.”
Hugo hesitated for a second, his brain scrambling to find some way out of this predicament without admitting the truth, but there wasn’t any. A groan erupted from his throat, and he flopped back into his chair. “Ugh. It’s so clichéd to fall for the handsome prince.”
“But heishandsome,” Dorian pointed out.
“Very,” Hugo agreed, without hesitation this time.
“But is he dashing? Charming? Witty?” Augustine prodded.
“Very. But he can also be an ass, which I told him to his face. And he laughed.” Gods, it felt so good to tell the truth. A heavy, invisible weight lifted from his chest, and he could finally breathe. He didn’t like keeping secrets, especially from his brothers. Over the years, he’d always been able to confide in them. Particularly Dorian. And they’d always confided in him. The idea that he might be losing that had torn him up inside.
“But what about the day at the luncheon?” Dorian inquired, crossing his arms. “You were so against him and disappointed.”
Hugo tipped his head to the side and scratched his nose. “I think he might have been a tad sleep-deprived. He also thought it was a matchmaking attempt by his mother. He was likely acting like a lout to scare me away.”
“Then you truly like him? And he likes you?” Dorian’s voice bubbled with excitement. Hugo couldn’t decide if his brother was excited about his brother falling for a prince or just happy that Hugo was interested in someone.
“As friends. That’s all it is. We’re friends.”
His brothers didn’t appear convinced. That was probably because Hugo knew he didn’t sound all that convincing. He could hear the giddy joy skipping through his words when he talked about Everand.
“Okay, so maybe I wish we weren’t just friends, but we’re both realistic about it. He’s a prince, and I’m not. He will have to marry to form an important alliance to help the entire kingdom. That’s not something I can do.”
And yet…
“Before we parted this morning, he said that he wanted to see me again,” Hugo admitted.
“That’s wonderful!” Dorian exclaimed.
Hugo reached inside his jacket and pulled out the white envelope, showing it to his brothers. He hadn’t even had the chance to open it yet. “That’s what makes this even more tempting. The queen has sent me an invitation to a royal ball that’s being held in a few days. It would give me a chance to see Prince Everand, but…”
“What’s wrong? Seeing the prince at the ball sounds like a wonderful opportunity,” Augustine pressed.
“It’s only that the invitation came from the queen. I’m afraid that she’s going to demand that I spin more straw into gold toattend the ball or even see Prince Everand. But I can’t. I never could.”
His youngest brother shrugged. “Do whatever you did the last time.”
Hugo nearly growled at him. “I didn’t do anything. There was a strange man in the palace. He’s the one who did it. I think he was an elf or a member of the fae who sneaked in. What are the chances of running into him a second time?”
The appearance of the stranger in the mask made even more sense now that he knew about the prince’s history with the High Court’s royal family. That might have even been the elf prince himself playing a trick. Not that he could explain any of that to his brothers.
“Besides,” Hugo continued, rubbing his hand across his brow, “I don’t want to lie to the prince or the queen. No more lies. Mother got me into enough trouble with them. Another one will only get my head cut off.”
“I still think you should go,” Augustine said stubbornly. “How else are you going to see the prince? Do you really think he’s going to pop by for tea?”
Hugo snorted. That was highly unlikely.
“I agree with Augustine,” Dorian added, shocking Hugo. Those two never agreed on anything. “If the queen demands that you spin straw into gold, you tell her you’ve lost the ability and beg her forgiveness. She’ll have no choice but to drop it. The worst that can happen is that she will take back her invitation to the ball, but you’ll be able to keep your head.”
That was true. And if he could see Everand, he could tell him the truth about the straw and gold. It was the one lie that was still hanging between them. Everand had stated that he trusted him, and Hugo was determined to be truly worthy of it.
“I’ll think about it,” Hugo murmured.
“There is one other thing, though,” Dorian began. His expression turned frightfully serious, and even Augustine looked worried. “What’s this about Wulian scouts? Is King Victor planning to attack Branem? Are we about to go to war?”
Hugo opened his mouth to soothe his brother’s worries, but the words got stuck in his throat. He closed his mouth and swallowed hard before trying a second time. “Honestly, I don’t know. I don’t even know why there is so much animosity between our two kingdoms. However, Prince Everand made it sound as if King Hubert would do everything he could to avoid another war.” Hugo turned his attention to Augustine. “That being said, please be extra cautious when you go into the woods and with whom you speak. It’s likely the king’s men have driven out the scouts that captured us, but there’s always a chance they could return.”
Augustine winked and directed a jaunty salute at him. “Don’t worry. I’ll be careful.”
