“Yes, Beatriz. Come in.”
Issy’s lady’s maid entered with a maroon day dress draped over one arm, took one look at the Princesses’ clothes and hair and sent for two baths to be drawn.
While Issy soaked in the neroli and orange blossom scented water, Beatriz combed the knots from her long, damp hair, humming softly as she worked. Issy recognised the song, it was a lullaby her mother had sung to her and Livia when they were little girls. Closing her eyes, she let the steam and the song and the gentle ministrations of Beatriz lull her into a meditative state.
Her mind wandered back to her memories from the midnight balls. One image from the previous night kept taunting her, shimmering at the corner of her eye and vanishing as soon as she turned her mind towards it. She could see a figure—a man, she thought—dressed all in black, with a mask over his eyes. Was he the one who had cursed them? She couldn’t be sure. There’d been something familiar about him…
If Anders didn’t figure out what was going on today, he’d become another victim of the curse and vanish before daybreak. And then Issy would be back at square one; at least until Prince Philip of Innsmere arrived. But was another missing young nobleman going to help the situation?
Unless Issy tried to solve the mystery herself, and no more princes disappeared. Perhaps she could even find the ones whohad and return them to their own kingdoms before any foreign rulers could launch an attack on Orovia. Her father had enough to deal with without the added strain of her and Livia’s affliction.
Beatriz wrapped a large, soft sheet around Issy as she stepped out of the now cool water. Once she was dressed in the maroon gown, she took a seat at her dressing table and Beatriz began her work with the comb once more, separating Issy’s thick, dark brown tresses into sections and braiding them tightly, wrapping each braid around her head and securing them with pearl-encrusted pins.
“How are you feeling today, Miss?”
Issy looked at her lady’s maid in the mirror, watching her nimble fingers twisting and plaiting her hair. “I’m well, thank you, Beatriz. A little tired, but no more than usual.”
Beatriz nodded, but Issy could see the maid was holding something back.
“What is it?”
Beatriz glanced at the mirror, meeting Issy’s eye. “It’s not my place, Miss.”
“Please. Speak your mind.” The woman had become an almost motherly figure in Issy’s life since her mother had passed away, and she trusted the maid’s judgement and her plain talking, no nonsense manner.
Beatriz took a length of maroon velvet ribbon and tied it around Issy’s neck. “I worry about you, Miss. First, the—” She hesitated, lowering her voice a fraction. “Curse. And now, this Silver prisoner in the palace, given free rein to roam wherever he pleases, watching over you at night. It ain’t right, Miss.”
Issy sighed. “It is what my father has decided, we all must accept it.”
Beatriz nodded dutifully. “Aye, Miss. Forgive me.”
Issy shook her head. “There’s nothing to forgive, Beatriz. I appreciate your concern, and you know I value your opinion.I’m not exactly happy about it myself but having spoken to him briefly—the Silver—he does seem a fairly intelligent sort. For a northerner, at least. Perhaps he will truly be the one to break the curse?”
Issy gnawed at the inside of her cheek as Beatriz hooked gold earrings through her lobes and nestled a gold circlet into her hair, securing it with pins. She wasn’t sure she believed it, but what did she have to lose? He was investigating the curse whether she liked it or not. She may as well let him. Anything he did discover would only help her own investigation.
Because she’d decided, the only way to put an end to all of this was to uncover the truth herself.
Chapter 15
Anders
Anders rolled over and groaned, clutching the pillow to his pounding head. Where was that banging coming from? And why did his mouth taste like the bottom of a birdcage?
He opened his eyes and was assaulted by the blinding light filling his bedroom. What had happened last night? He felt as though he’d been trampled by a horse.
He sat up and went to sink his feet into the plush carpet, but withdrew with a frown. He looked down to find a tree branch on the floor beside his bed—oak or chestnut, maybe—and next to it a dull, pewter goblet rolled away from where he’d kicked it. What in the world was going on here? Had someone snuck into his room in the night and planted these items as clues?
His plate of food from the previous evening sat untouched on the table, beside it a full cup of wine. Odd, he didn’t feel especially hungry.
Anders dressed in the embellished shirt and trousers he’d been provided, sniffing the collar as his nostrils were hit with the scent of sea salt and some kind of incense. This morning was growing stranger and stranger by the minute. He slid his feetinto his boots, only to find them damp, as though he’d been out walking in the rain the previous day.
Scratching his stubbly chin, he looked around the guest bedroom and took in the strange details one at a time. They added up to a very confusing picture, one that Anders could not piece together. He only had two nights left to discover the secret of the Princesses’ curse, he needed to focus, but everything felt fuzzy. How had he gotten to bed last night? He couldn’t remember.
A knock came at the door and it opened to reveal Marco looking somewhat dishevelled. “Morning. Sleep well?”
Anders raised an eyebrow. “I think so. You?”
Marco shrugged. “Same as always.” He jutted his chin towards Anders. “The King wants to see you.”
