“. . . absolute rubbish. I can see why that particular cookbook was located on the top shelf of the library. I will not make the mistake of summoning any other food based on those recipes.”
For several minutes, Felix spoke of inconsequential nothings, and I let the words wash over me. Hearing his voice helped me banishsome of the tension from escorting the princess around all day, but it couldn’t make me forget that tomorrow would be worse.
“I suppose you must be listening by now, so I ought to tell you the important bits before you move on to enjoying the rest of your evening. I think tomorrow I will do as you suggested and find the section of the archives where Cecily’s curse must be filed. After my success today, I want to see the original wording. You won’t believe what I managed today, Isa. My form can still be altered. Well, I don’t know if that is even the correct word. I’m still in the same form, technically, I suppose. But I did manage to—”
The door to the town house burst open, and I missed the next words. My twin burst in, Leo trailing meekly behind her. “Isa! I heard you were seen all over town today with Princess Charmina. What is going on?”
I tried to focus on the words coming from the mirror, but I had missed the important bit. Felix had altered his form in some way, and it made him suspect that other alterations would be possible, so long as he didn’t try to reverse the curse directly. His words slipped back into random comments and jokes, his news shared. Then he wished me a goodnight and fell silent.
I ended the enchantment and looked up at my sister. She stood bouncing on the balls of her feet. “The princess?” Sofia prompted.
“She’s staying in Leort for a few days before going to Rose Castle to have the duke witness the contract about how she’ll marry a commoner.”
Leo went over to the chair opposite the sofa, pulling Sofia into his lap as he sat. “I think Sof wanted to know why you were escorting her more than her purpose in town.”
“The one isn’t wholly disconnected from the other. Since word is out that I was in Truthhold while Felix hasn’t been allowing visitors, the princess was naturally curious.” I didn’t bother to use a title for Felix around Leo. Sofia would have already told him more or less what was going on. I sighed. “Princess Charmina hoped I would let something slip if I was around her all day. Instead, she noticed justenough of the whispers following me to become truly wary. I tried to take her to relatively unpopulated parts of the town, but she’s requested that I guide her through the market district tomorrow.”
She’d had an inkling of the rumors before we even met, but after observing people’s reactions to me as we made our way through town, she had become far more suspicious. My attempts to ignore the whispers and shocked looks hadn’t helped.
I looked at my sister. “It is almost enough to make me regret cutting my hair. If people still mistook me for you, I wouldn’t have attracted as much notice.”
My sister kept her hair long, so that it reached the middle of her back when left loose. Chopping mine off just above the shoulders had been a deliberate decision to differentiate us. I hated dealing with people who thought they were approaching my sister all the time.
“Maybe if you pull it back?” Sofia suggested.
I shook my head. If I pinned my hair back, then people might think I was Sofia with her hair up, but I knew such a ploy wouldn’t solve my dilemma. “No. I need to quash the rumors. The problem is that I don’t think Princess Charmina is going to be satisfied with only my word that they are lies. She will want to talk to Felix. My goal is to delay her as long as possible.”
“Why?” Leo asked.
“I can’t say,” I told him with a shrug. “But a few days might make all the difference.”
Technically, Felix didn’t expect me to delay the princess. He had accepted that he’d have to tell her about the curse if she arrived before he could break the spell. But If I could help him in this way, I wanted to.
Sofia frowned. “What will you do? If Her Highness wants to visit the market district, you know people will come up and talk to you.”
I smiled, though I didn’t feel nearly as confident as I pretended. “I’ll do what I always do: make everyone else uncomfortable abouthow much they are lying. Perhaps it will be enough to convince Princess Charmina.”
???
My plan wasworking. Every time the topic of my absence came up—and almost every shopkeeper and many customers mentioned it—I was able to get the gossiper to admit that they had heard the rumors third- or fourth-hand and that they made no sense. That was when I’d mention that the woman at my side was the crown princess and really make them uncomfortable.
It helped that the princess dressed in clothes similar to mine today. The dress she had worn yesterday hadn’t exactly stood out, but it had still clearly been expensive. Today she wore a simple blouse, plain bodice, and wool skirt. If I hadn’t known any better—and if they weren’t too long and slender—I’d have thought they had come from my own closet.
“You are enjoying shocking people with my identity,” she accused with a slight smile that afternoon. She had stopped eyeing me with suspicion by midday. When every person who came to get sordid details out of me admitted that I would have raised hell if anyone, even a duke, had tried to coerce me, it was hard to maintain any doubts.
“I thought you were the one who liked the moment of shock, Your Highness. Why else are you dressed so simply?”
She looked out at the relatively sparse streets. We had left the market district behind, and the hour wasn’t quite late enough for the rush of people heading home from work or out to the dining houses and taverns. Finally, she turned back to me. “The opposite, actually. I want to blend in. I’ve spent my summers among all different segments of the population, and I’ve found that when I don’t dress like a princess, people are a little more willing to treat me like a normal human being. The point of my visits has always beenso that when the time comes, I’ll be comfortable around my husband. That I’ll have some understanding of what his life was like.”
“But your experiences are still always flavored with the knowledge that you are royalty.”
“Exactly.”
“I apologize, Your Highness. I would gladly have hidden your identity if that was what you preferred.”
She waved my words away. “I am in Leort on official business. It isn’t the time to hide my identity, though I still prefer not to flaunt it.”
“Will you travel somewhere in secret, then? I think you could pull the deception off, if you really wanted to see what life in Nemya is like without a royal title.”
