Page 5

Bartholomew, the king’s seventeen-year-old nephew, grasps hold of the door, relieving Lady Clover of the task. She pulls her eyes from mine to face him.

“Forgive me, my lady, for being tardy in my duties,” he says, beaming at her like she hung not only the stars, but the moons as well. “Please, let me assist you with the door.”

The puppy is a squire, serving under Lawrence. He’s too eager, too clumsy, too rash. His father, Duke Corgin Gevaldry, King Algernon’s younger brother and head of the royal military, passed away many years ago, leaving Bartholomew a responsibility he’s not yet ready to claim. That’s why King Algernon placed him in our ranks—so that he will learn what it takes to grow from a boy to a man.

It shouldn’t amuse me that Lawrence got saddled with his nuisance of a cousin. But it does.

With one last defiant glance at me, Lady Clover slips through the door.

“That reminds me,” King Algernon says with a sigh, drawing my attention back to the front of the room. “I have a job for you, Henrik. Come to my study at five, and we will discuss it.”

I bow my head once more. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

Dread snakes in my gut as I put Lady Clover out of my mind. What demeaning task is the king going to send me on now?

4

Clover

“You’re in for it,”Calla says when she catches up to me in the hall. She straightens her bodice as if it twisted out of place while she was hurrying after me, though with the way we’re cinched into these things, it would take more than a quickened pace to move them.

I smile at my friend. “What did I do this time?”

Calla shakes her head. “You truly have no idea, do you?”

Laughing, I parrot, “I truly have no idea.”

“That odd thing that happened between you and Henrik—don’t bother playing stupid. The entire court saw it.”

“Whatthing?” I pause in the hall, giving her my full attention. “What are you talking about?”

“You held the door for that boy, and then you and Henrik stared at each other for the longest time. Camellia islivid. Her face turned red—she looked like she swallowed a toad.”

“Oh, that,” I say, losing interest. It really doesn’t take much to get the princess in a tizzy. “He was giving me an awful look. Believe me, it was nothing even marginally interesting.”

“Did you want it to be?” she asks, lowering her voice.

I frown. “What do you mean?”

Calla rolls her eyes and then whispers, “I mean,do you like Henrik?”

I wrinkle my nose and bark out an incredulous laugh. “No, I don’t. Camellia is welcome to him.”

We continue walking, and Calla idly runs her fingers through her long, blonde curls. “Then you’re the only woman at court who doesn’t.” Dreamily, she adds, “What I would do to get that man to look at me.”

“Try locking yourself in a tower and screaming for help. Henrik will do anything to get his seal.”

She flashes me a stern look. “You’re cold, you know that?”

I bump her shoulder with mine. “I’m only teasing. But you must admit Henrik is solemn all the time. I have no idea how Camellia kisses him. It would be like locking lips with a fish.”

“Ladies,” a man says from directly behind us.

Calla gasps, and I whirl around.

My eyes lock with Henrik’s, and shame washes over me. I hadn’t meant to be unkind, not really. At least not to the soldier’s face…which probably doesn’t make it any better now that I think about it.

Henrik looks thoroughly unimpressed, and I’m worried Calla is going to faint right here. I grasp hold of her arm, hoping to keep her upright.