“Prince Ormond? I realized earlier today that I don’t know much about your life. How did you grow up? Did you have a lot of friends?”
A blush spread across his face and his gaze shyly dropped to his plate. His hair seemed more red than sandy in the candlelight, and his face more pale. She found it odd that he’d act like this again. This was how he had behaved when they had first met. Where was the confident, handsome man she had seen since that first day?
Clearing his throat, he sat back and picked at the sleeve of his green and silver royal coat. As he began to talk, unease spread through her. Something wasn’t right. Why did his voice sound whinier than it had been before? She concluded that he must be catching a head cold.
While Ormond spoke, Clarissa’s mind wandered. She tried to pay attention to him, but her mind wouldn’t hold on to the conversation for very long. The only thoughts pulsing through her head were the things Ryder had said to her. The more she thought about their earlier conversations, the more her head throbbed. Yet, an odd feeling deep inside of her heart told her he was correct. She shouldn’t rush into marrying Ormond. She must see if she truly loved him—and if he truly loved her and would treat her kindly.
She tried to follow the conversation, but the strain on her faux smile was beginning to grow thin. The muscles around her mouth just didn’t want to function properly.
She laughed from time to time at what Ormond said, but waited for him to laugh first, just so she didn’t choose the wrong time to do so. As she studied his face, she wondered why his eyes weren’t as green or lively as she remembered. Even his smile wasn’t as bright as she had thought it to be when they had first met.
At times, she had to shake her head and clear her thoughts because he seemed like a completely different man. Groaning inwardly, she rubbed her forehead. What was going on? Why did she feel as if she were losing her mind?
When Ormond grew silent, she snapped out of her thoughts, hoping she hadn’t missed him asking her a question. But the way his focus was on his food as he ate, she realized she hadn’t. She quickly took another bite of her rice and looked up at him. “Do you have any relatives here in Woodmist Kingdom?”
“No.”
His gaze met with hers briefly before moving back to his plate. She tapped her fingernail on the table. Why was he acting so strangely?
“So how did you know my father?”
“My mother knows him.”
Clarissa searched the recesses of her mind, trying to recall when her father had ever mentioned Queen Ruth—or the Kingdom of Edan, for that matter. Clarissa came up empty. “I find it odd that we were never introduced before, if our parents have met.”
“Indeed, that is odd,” he answered without looking up at all this time.
Sighing, she frowned. This conversation wasn’t getting her anywhere. She glanced at the clock on the mantel. Was it time for him to leave yet? Inwardly, she groaned. He hadn’t been here for very long, and she was already tired of his company.
“So tell me, Prince Ormond—”
“Please, just call me Ormond.”
She nodded. “So tell me, Ormond, do you have many friends in your kingdom?”
His forehead creased and his gaze narrowed, so she added, “You know, friends you see every day or do things with?”
“Actually, some of my best friends are my mother’s guards.”
“That’s nice.” She smiled. “Do you and these men go a lot of places together?”
He chuckled and leaned back in his chair, linking his fingers across his middle. “If you’re wondering if I go out drinking with my friends, the answer is, no.” His face reddened. “I used to, but that was when I was younger.”
Clarissa laughed and rubbed her finger along her fork. “I’m sure we both did a lot of things we weren’t supposed to do when we were younger.”
“Tell me about your childhood.”
She explained to him how she had begged her father to let her attend a public school, and how her parents gave her freedom to do most anything. She related a few experiences she and Ryder had enjoyed that had gotten them in trouble with the teacher, and Ormond laughed. She finished by telling him about her trip to visit her cousin for a year.
“You haven’t been back for very long, have you?” he asked.
“No, not long at all.”
“What have you been doing to keep busy?”
Memories resurfaced of the time she and Ryder had spent together, and a smile stretched across her face. The more she talked, the more animated she became by swishing her hands around her, and clapping, and even giggling like a schoolgirl.
So caught up in her storytelling was she, that she didn’t realize Ormond’s expression had changed, until he fidgeted in his chair. He wiped the linen napkin across his mouth and then pushed away from the table. Gone was the smile he’d worn not too long ago, and in its place was a scowl.
