Josie looked at me with a look that asked,Are you sure?
I nodded at her imperceptibly and winked.Very sure.
Josie placed a white canvas in front of me and a second in front of Isla. Adelaide helped her to set up the paint and a cup of water for rinsing our brushes.
I leaned toward Isla conspiratorially. “I have to admit something to you: I am awful at painting. Any type of art really.”
Adelaide snorted a laugh.
“Hey, I heard that,” I admonished.
It was Adelaide’s turn to lean in toward the little girl. “Isla, you know how King Oliver courted several of us women before we got engaged?” The girl nodded, her eyes wide. Adelaide continued, “Well, one of the first group activities we did was a visit to the artisan workshops here in Altborn. We each got the opportunity to paint an ornament for the palace’s Christmas tree. King Oliver’s wasawful; it looked like he had just closed his eyes and poked around with the paint.” Her eyes sparkled with amusement.
“Oh, it wasn’tthatbad, was it?” I asked. I already knew the answer.
Adelaide laughed. “It was that bad.” I was fairly certain I heard Caroline chuckle from her post by the door.
“I’m not that good either, Your Majesty.” Isla reached over to pat my hand. “Iamgood at painting nails! But Mum said she was too tired for that today, so we came here instead.”
Adelaide met my gaze and I knew we were thinking the same thing.
I turned to face Isla fully. “You know what?”
“What?”
“I could really use a manicure. Do you think you could paint them for me?”
Isla’s face lit up, some of her pallor shrinking as she smiled from ear to ear. “Yes, I can! Mum, can you get my nail kit for me?”
Adelaide was already walking with Josie to the door, assuring her in a low voice that I would not have made theoffer if I didn’t mean it. The pair disappeared, with Adelaide returning a few minutes later carrying a brightly colored Caboodle much like one Rosie used to have.
Adelaide set the kit on the table and opened it to unveil a rainbow of nail polishes, remover, and manicure tools. “Isla, I hope it’s okay, but I told your mum she could rest in your room while King Oliver and I hang out with you.”
“Yeah, that’s fine! She’s embarrassing anyway.”
I snorted a laugh. Kids were brutally honest.
Adelaide bit back a smile. “Yeah, she looked like she could use a nap.”
Isla nodded as she rooted around in the nail kit. “She stays up with the nurses at night while I sleep.”
I met Adelaide’s eyes, spotting the emotion behind them. “That’s really kind of her,” I said.
“Yeah, she worries about me a lot. She’s a really good mum.” She looked up at me. “What’s your favorite color?”
“Green,” I answered.
“Ooo! I have the perfect green. It’s called Wexstone Pine.” She dug around for a moment, looking for it. “Ms. Adelaide, can you ask the nurse for a bowl so King Oliver can soak his nails?”
“It would be a pleasure.” Adelaide stood and winked at me. She was loving this a littletoomuch, almost as much as coercing me onstage at the concert.
Adelaide returned shortly holding two bed pans. She was doing a piss-poor job at hiding the amusement in her eyes.
“The nurse’s station didn’t have any bowls available. They said we could use these though?”
Isla covered her mouth with her hand. “Are you kidding me, Ms. Adelaide? No! People pee in those!” The little girl fell into a fitof laughter.
Adelaide shrugged, winking at me. “Well, they clean them.”
