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“Are you saying the inn is dirty?”

Peace winced. “It could be cleaner.”

“It’s run down and hasn’t been cared for in over a century. It would take more than the weeks I’ve been here to get it into decent shape. Besides, the inn is my prison. It’s not a beach house I’m renovating. I’m only fixing things because I’m bored. This inn doesn’t belong to me. I’m not a true innkeeper.”

Peace’s eyes widened. “Wow—and I thought I was in denial.”

“You are in denial,” I said, taking my now empty plate to the sink. I rinsed it off and loaded it into the dishwasher.

Peace followed behind me. She rinsed her plate and tentatively loaded it into the dishwasher next to mine. “Is that correct?”

I shrugged. “Looks fine to me. I just stick them in there any way I can get them to fit.”

“Why would you do things so haphazardly without thought?” When I laughed, Peace made a face. “Your chaotic methods explain much.”

I rolled my eyes. The last thing I needed was to have Peace following me around all day.

She swallowed hard and lifted her chin. “Please, Selene. Please teach me all the menial skills you do daily to survive. Perhaps if you see yourself as my teacher, my mother might accept my efforts as enough to restore the emotional imbalance I created between us. She is sending someone to check on me and ensure I am doing this. I cannot disappoint her again. Mother is threatening to leave her throne to my younger sister instead of me. Princess Allegheny thinks servants are toys. She would be a terrible leader for our people. She would treat the lesser fairies as her slaves.”

“I don’t know, Peace. I prefer doing things by myself. I like exercising full control.”

“I would follow your orders without complaint or asking too many questions. I will limit myself to asking for clarity.”

Caring for a centaur guest had created a lot more work than I had imagined. I needed to muck the stall twice a day to keep it clean enough for someone like Prince Robin.

“Have you ever owned a horse?”

Peace eyes lit as she nodded.

“Did you ever groom the horse? Or did someone else brush it down and clean out the stall?”

Peace softly sighed. “I am the firstborn princess of the fairy queen. I’ve had servants all my life. I have watched them do it, but they would never have allowed me to help.”

I fought hard not to roll my eyes. My parents made my siblings and me work as hard as they did. The fairy queen had not done her daughter any favors with all those servants. She was lucky that Peace was not completely spoiled.

“Perhaps you could lure Prince Robin into taking a walk so I can discreetly clean his stall. Farley doesn’t want me hanging around him, and I’m not keen on keeping him company. He ran away when Farley growled. I lost respect for him after that.”

“Farley is a bear. Bears are scary.” Peace bit her lip but still nodded. “Well, I can do what you ask, but there is something you should know.”

“Like what?” I asked.

The fairy ducked her head and mumbled something.

I stared at her. “How about holding my gaze and speaking loud enough for me to actually hear it?”

Peace let loose a groan. “I don’t want to tell you. You’ll lose all respect for me. This is even worse than me sleeping with your boyfriend.”

I fisted both my hands on my hips. “You asked me to let your friends stay. I thought Prince Robin was your friend.”

“He is more than just my friend. Prince Robin is my intended.”

I tilted my head and studied her. “Intended for what?”

Her sigh was loud. “When I am ready to settle down, I’m supposed to settle down with Prince Robin. I protested this choice to my mother for very good reasons. Instead of understanding, she cursed him with so much allure that females could not resist him.”

I blinked in surprise, but then it hit me. “I get it. She turned him into the male version of you so he could catch up to you in experience. Only he hasn’t. Lord Alfred said Prince Robin was... uh... abstaining. I think that was the term.”

“Robin does not want me, Selene. He wants to marry someone like himself. I can’t be someone so inexperienced. His idea of a date is ordering in food and playing video games in the basement of his castle. I feel like I belong to a different generation. I’m only three hundred years old, but I am next in line to rule all fairies. I cannot shirk my duties to my people.”