I smiled. He looked a little rumpled, but I knew from experience that it was his usual state. Freshening up wouldn’t make his clothes fit better, and his black hair needed a trim rather than a comb. Jacob didn’t need silks and jewels, he was comfortable in his own skin, and it showed. He was a handsome man who’d catch the eye of many women over the next few days. Especially because he towered over most everyone else.
“I’m so glad you made it. I was afraid my letter might never find you.” Though he no longer traveled with the merchants, Jacob hadn’t given up his wandering ways. He drifted from village to village and town to town, selling magic-reading charms and doing odd jobs to pay for food and shelter as he went. I hadn’t been sure where to direct his invitation.
“Well, if I lived in a place like this, I might not move around so much, Princess Mina. Or should I be calling you Your Highness, seeing as we’re in the palace?”
“Technically, we are in the gardens behind the palace. And as I told you years ago, you are welcome to call me Mina.”
“And like I told you then, that would give everyone the wrong impression.”
When I was with the traveling merchants, people had watched me extra closely to see if I might develop an attachment for anyone. Nothing in the law said I had to wait until the last moment to marry, and with me being almost twenty and able to marry, the topic wasn’tfar from anyone’s mind. While the older generation called me Your Highness or Princess Charmina, and the small children called me Mina, Jacob had insisted on calling me Princess Mina.
I smiled. “Does that mean you aren’t actually willing to settle down, even if you could make the palace your home?”
He stilled. “Your letter said—”
“Calm down. I’m teasing. I know you have no interest in marrying me.”
“It isn’t you. Or even the marrying.”
“I know. You value your freedom too much. Like I said in the letter, I didn’t invite you to the palace in hopes of changing your mind. I thought you’d enjoy the experience. And I have to admit, it is nice to see a friendly face.”
Jacob scowled. “Are you trying to tell me any of your guests are being less than friendly? Do I need to have a word with some of them?”
I laughed and slipped my hand into the crook of his arm and began walking down the garden paths. “Thank you for the offer, but if anything, the problem is the opposite. It is the guests who are trying to be a little too friendly I need a break from.”
His expression didn’t change. “I can deal with that, too.”
I rolled my eyes. “Everyone knows the entire point of this ball is for me to find my consort. You can’t get mad at people for flirting with me under the circumstances.”
“I can if you don’t welcome the flirting.”
“It’s fine, really.” And it was. Of the other men in the palace, only four had actively tried to engage my interest. Another three were taken with the idea of marrying a princess, but weren’t quite bold enough to truly flirt. Between Jacob and the other friends I had invited, I had enough of a buffer to get through.
“Your Highness.” A maid hurried through the garden to reach me. “Another guest with a personal invitation has arrived.”
My heart thumped wildly in my chest. Jacob looked at me in concern, and I realized I had tightened my grip on his arm.
“Would you like Master Wrison to be shown to the garden when he’s refreshed himself?”
I pushed down my disappointment. “No, please direct him to the green parlor. I’ll meet him there.”
The maid curtsied. “Of course, Your Highness.”
Jacob waited until she was out of earshot. “Based on the bruises I’ll have on my arm, I’m thinking one of your invitations was actually to a man you do hope will settle down with you, and Master Wrison isn’t it.”
I slid my hand free. “You will not have bruises, though I am sorry.”
Jacob gave me a look that said he wasn’t going to be deterred. “Why isn’t this man here already?”
I sighed. “It’s a long story. He’s now the only one of my personal invitees who hasn’t arrived. Hopefully Sam—that’s the man who just arrived—will have news of whether he’ll be coming at all. Sorry to abandon you so soon after your arrival, but I need to talk with Sam. I’ll catch up with you later?”
Never one to feel out of place anywhere, Jacob waved away my concern. “I’ll be fine on my own. But don’t think I won’t ask you for that story the next time I see you.”
???
The green parlorwas a comfortable room located between the royal wing and the portion of the palace where my guests were staying. Furnished with multiple divans, a card table, and a well-stocked liquor cabinet, it was the perfect room for the rare times Noel or I wanted to socialize without all the formality such events usually required.
Not that it was rare for us to wish to forgo formality, but we rarely had guests who’d like the same.
