When she remounted Humphrey some moments later, Robin groaned silently. Surely King Frederich would hardly let his ward out of the castle, much less ride through the forests upon a donkey.
“My lady,” Lind said as they continued down the worn dirt road, “I’ve been trying to cheer you up all day, and I know you are nervous that the palace life won’t suit you. I’m sure it will when you give it the chance, but, in the meanwhile, I just might have an idea.”
Robin turned toward her.
“What if...” Lind lowered her voice conspiratorially, pressing her mount even closer until the poor donkeys were nearly tripping over each other. “What if we led them to believe thatIam Lady Robin Lockwood?”
Robin froze, unsure what her maid was implying. “What are you saying?”
Lind exhaled quickly. “I’m saying...” Her voice had risen in exasperation.
“Hush!” Robin warned, glancing ahead at their escorts. “Keep your voice down.”
“If you pretend to be me,” the maid continued, bringing her voice back to a whisper, “you could enjoy some freedom in Iseldis before locking yourself into this new life.”
“That’s impossible.” Robin immediately shook her head. “How would that even work? I’ve never been a lady’s maid before, and we could not keep up such a deception indefinitely. How would we switch back? What would the king do?”
Despite her resistance, Robin felt a small flicker of hope in her lonely heart. What if she could be free for just a little while longer? Free to do whatever she liked, just as she had always done.
“I would cover for you, of course,” Lind responded to the first of her questions. “You’ve always been so kind to me. Once you feel comfortable with the royal family and have had a chance to explore the city freely, we could explain everything. Call it a safety measure that your mother requested on her deathbed to ensure you were treated properly, and not shunned or forgotten.”
Robin slowly nodded, her mind suddenly filled with all the ways in which this tantalizing dream could become a possibility. “But... but your hair?”
As was most common in Iseldis, Lind’s thick hair was a glistening raven black.
“I was presented to the king and queen when I was a child,” Robin continued. “My father said they continually marveled over my golden hair. If they remember anything about me, it would be that.”
Lind shrugged. “I’ll say I dyed it so as not to outshine Princess Meena.” She looked at Robin’s fair locks. “And we’d better coat yours with coal dust so you do not stand out.”
Robin pinched her lips. She had not yet consented to this wild plan, but she let her maid’s words lie uncontested.
Chapter 2
Walking down the hall to his castle room, Ian reenacted a dramatic lunge with his wooden sword. “You didn’t even see that one coming, did you?” he said, gleefully referring to a recent sparring session with his younger brother.
“No, no. I did see it,” Onric protested. “I was just trying to block with it a clever parry instead of head-on as the captain showed us. It almost worked, too.”
Ian heard the frustration in his little brother’s voice. “That would have been a smart defense,” Ian responded. As the crown prince of Iseldis, he had been taught to always be gracious—at least out loud. The confident swagger of his walk remained even as he praised Onric’s attempt at defense.
“She’s here!” Princess Meena crept out of her room, whispering in a loud hiss as the older boys walked by.
Ian stopped abruptly. “Already? Why are you hiding from her?”
Meena scrunched her small nose. “She said I was cute.”
“What’s wrong with that? It’s true,” Onric blurted out, not seeming to notice that their only sister was quite upset.
Ian chose not to point out that the six-year-old girl was wearing an airy purple dress with an enormous ribbon tied atop her loose dark curls.
“It was the way she said it,” Meena defended, still whispering as her eyes glanced toward the door at the end of the hall. “I don’t like her.”
“She can’t be all that bad,” Ian responded, hoping Meena was wrong. The Sirilian siblings were a close-knit family, but as children of the king, they rarely found friends who would treat them as equals. They were all excited to welcome a fresh new face into their inner circle—especially since it was a girl. Although, Ian knew better than to mention that last part in front of his younger brother. He would never hear the end of it if he did.
“She squeals,” Meena declared before twirling around and slipping back into her room, slamming the door behind her.
“Shall we go meet her?” Ian asked his brother.
Twelve-year-old Onric had his eyes warily glued to the far door. “I don’t like girls. And I especially don’t like girls who squeal.”
