I stood, startled to find myself face to face with the crown prince. My smile faded. Water droplets clung to his lashes in a rather arresting way, as if he had just splashed his face.
“Your Highness.” I curtsied as best I could with Pippin.
“Lady Narcissa.” Crown Prince Bennett wiped his face with the back of his hand.
I cursed my luck. I was hoping I’d be able to avoid him. Our interaction the other night was fuzzy. I didn’t remember what I said—only that I was too drunk for it to be appropriate.
The frost on the ground glimmered in the weak sunlight. A beat of silence passed.
“Do you like him?” the crown prince finally asked, gesturing to Pippin.
I paused, shifting the tabby in my arms. “Oh...yes. He’s a very sweet cat.”
The crown prince nodded.
I cleared my throat. “How was the—?”
“May I hold him?” Crown Prince Bennett reached out to take Pippin. I frowned at his interruption. Mayhaps he was unwilling to engage in conversation as I was. WhathadI said to him last night?
Someone’s eager to see you, I thought to Pippin as I handed him over.
Of course, he said, purring.I’m his cat.
Crown Prince Bennett slung Pippin over his shoulder and wiped his palms on his thighs, looking everywhere but at me.
Blazing fires. I had told him to stretch his thighs.
Odd that he didn’t look forbidding and disapproving, as I thought he would.
Luckily, we were spared from continuing our discourse. Maddox trudged over to me with a hunk of toasted bread and cheese wrapped in parchment.
“Lunch,” he grumbled. There were bags under his eyes, presumably from taking watch all night. He straightened and bowed when he saw Crown Prince Bennett. “Your Highness.”
Thoroughly embarrassed and having no wish to speak another word, I whirled around and hurried behind Maddox as he returned up the slope to a ring of guards around the fire. I knew it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to join them, so I circled aimlessly about the clearing before picking a dry spot a few paces away from the group.
I took my seat, leaning against the trunk of a wide tree and wrapping the cloak around myself. My arms felt empty without Pippin or Misty.
Chittering sounded from above. A young squirrel scurried down from a branch, tilting her head at the warm bread in my hands.
“Would you like a piece?” I whispered.
She nodded. I tore off a bit of crust and offered it to her. The squirrel grabbed it with tiny paws, chittered her thanks, and went off. I watched her go with some disappointment.
As I turned back to my meal, I caught Crown Prince Bennett’s eye. He still had Pippin, but he didn’t seem to be paying him half as much attention as he was me.
I ducked my head and bit into my bread, mortified to be seen without company. Had he seen my aimless wandering too? I tuned into the guards’ conversation, hoping to distract myself from his presence.
“...you all see that? I didn’t believe it at first, but now it’s undeniable,” a guard with a gravelly voice said. “He couldn’t wait to get his hands on that cat!”
“Someone ought to keep an eye on His Highness. I’m afraid the lad is severely disturbed. Poor Lady Narcissa.”
“Did you see her leave? She was practically running!”
“She couldn’t have known being the crown prince’s fiancée would entail such indignity.”
The gravelly guard chuckled. “If Lady Narcissa were my fiancée, I’d—”
A dull thud sounded and he groaned. “No need for violence, boy. At least let me joke a bit.”
