“Something like that. It’s my fault this time. Can’t even blame it on my mother.”
“That old queen demanded you spin more straw into gold? Witch!”
“No! No! Well…not technically. She dangled an invitation to a royal ball in front of me. I thought I could use it to see Prince Everand. She mentioned nothing about spinning straw into gold, but I suspected she’d make that demand.” Hugo dropped his hands to his sides, letting them slap his legs. “I thought I would get the chance to explain to her that I couldn’t spin straw into gold, but I didn’t get to see the queen. The guards took me straight here and locked the door. No one will listen to me and let me see her.”
“Can’t spin straw, huh?” the stranger asked while rubbing the pointed chin of his mask.
Hugo huffed and flopped on the floor, leaning against the stone wall. “It’s time I came clean, or I’m just going to get into this mess repeatedly. But don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone about you.” His lips twisted into a crooked smile. “I doubt anyone would believe me, though, even if I did.”
The stranger shrugged as if being discovered wasn’t a concern. “If you were lucky to keep your head, she probably wouldn’t let you see the prince.”
Why did that feel like the worst that could happen? Even worse than losing his head.
The stranger made a noise of disgust and hopped from his perch. “Why do you want to see that ugly, stupid prince anyway? He’s a big, boring lout.”
“No!” Hugo almost shouted. He lunged up to his knees, glaring at the man who’d saved his hide once. “You’re wrong about him. He’s beautiful, funny, and brave. He saved my life when he could have left me behind. No one would have thought worse of him for it either. I really l—” The word got caught in his throat, and he swallowed before trying again. “I really like him, and I wanted to see him.” Hugo dropped to sit on his heels, his hands falling open and empty to his thighs. “But what’s the point? The queen is using me foryourability. Once I finally tell her I can’t, I won’t be able to see Everand. There’s no way she would have let me marry him anyway. I keep telling myself I need to be more practical so I can help my family, but…each time I think about him, I want…more.”
The stranger’s low chuckle drifted across the room. He did this weird hobbling step over to Hugo and squatted so that his face was right next to Hugo’s, but his mask made it impossible to see his eyes.
“Hope is a funny thing. It makes us want things we know we shouldn’t. Makes us fight and achieve impossible things.”
Hugo scoffed. “Like spinning straw into gold? Yeah, I seriously doubt I’m ever going to develop that magical skill. I create and weave glass. That’s all. Nothing important.”
“But you make beautiful things with it because your soul is beautiful,” the stranger whispered, bringing the hint of a smile to Hugo’s lips. “And you know glass can be as deadly as steel. Bet you could protect a person with that gift. It has more value than you think.”
“Maybe.”
“The important question is whether this useless prince?—”
“Not useless,” Hugo cut in sharply.
“Okay, okay, not useless. Does this beautiful specimen of human flesh return your feelings?”
Hugo snorted at the stranger’s description of Everand. He didn’t seem to care for the prince, but Hugo had felt the same about Ev at one time. It was likely that this person didn’t know him at all.
“Yes, Prince Everand likes me too. He wants to see me. But even he warned me that being together might be complicated.”
The stranger made a dismissive noise. “Complicated.Bah. All things worthwhile demand a fight. Are you willing to fight for him?”
Hugo didn’t even have to think about it. “Yes, I want to fight for him. I want to be worthy of him and have him fall in love with me.”
The stranger straightened, clapped his hands together, and rubbed them. “Then we need to get you out of here. But you know my requirements. I don’t work for free.”
Hugo climbed to his feet as well and lifted his hands, already pulling on his spark of magic within his chest. “Would you like me to make you another rose? Or maybe an iris? I know how to make a few other flowers. How about a branch with a bunch of pink plum blossoms?”
But the stranger was shaking his head. “Nope. Nope. You made me a glass flower. This needs to be something different. Something you didn’t make, but that has value.”
“Oh.” Hugo’s heart sank as he dug through his pockets. He’d brought nothing with him. Just worn the nicest suit he had, which was the suit he’d received during his last visit to the palace. “I’ve got some money. Not many coins, but you can have all of them.”
The stranger made a noise. “Coins are too common. Everyone has coins.”
Hugo was about to point out that most people would argue they don’t have nearly enough coins when the stranger grabbed his hand.
“What’s this?”
Hugo looked down to find him looking at the jade-and-silver ring he wore on his thumb. His father’s ring—the only thing he had left from his father. He jerked his hand free and covered his right hand with his left, rubbing his thumb across the wide band. “It’s my father’s ring.”
“So, it’s valuable.”
