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An embarrassed cough came from the door. “Excuse me, Your Highness?”

Curtis and I broke apart. A stable boy entered slowly, shuffling his feet, face bright red. “Um, someone was looking for you, uh, Your Highness,” he bowed awkwardly toward Curtis. Embarrassed, I looked down at my feet and tried to turn inconspicuously so that the stable boy wouldn’t see my face.

“I’ll be there in a moment,” Curtis stated with all the princely dignity he could muster. The stable boy nodded and exited quickly, clearly eager to leave, his face still scarlet.

Once we were alone again, Curtis turned to me. “Well, that didn’t quite turn out the way I planned.”

“Oh, did you plan this out?” I teased.

“With military precision,” Curtis exclaimed. He entwined our fingers together. “Though I had to change the location a little.”

“Hold on, of all the places you could have picked, you chose a stable?” I teased, “Not the beach, or a forest picnic, or somewhere a little more romantic?”

“Hmmm, I think you need a lesson on what is romantic,” Curtis said, mocking Hubert’s voice. “You own a horse, and horses live in stables. Therefore, you like stables. Thus, stables are romantic to you.”

I laughed. “So what had you planned exactly?”

Curtis looked thoughtfully at me. “Ah, milady, if I told you, I would then have to devise a new plan for next time!”

“Next time?”

“Next of many,” Curtis smiled. Not his usually boyish, mischievous smile, but a more mature smile. He bent and kissed me again, longer this time. I couldn’t stop myself; I grabbed his tunic and pulled him closer, and he responded enthusiastically, picking me up and twirling me around, our lips still pressed together.

CHAPTER 12

Comfort had been right—after being kissed, I couldn’t stop smiling. All the way back from Avivia, Curtis and I would try to find stolen moments to spend together. But with the massive throng of people we were traveling with, it was difficult to find any time when someone wasn’t hovering close. At night, flocks of villagers would come to question Curtis, to talk with him, to bring their children to meet the prince. I assured myself that once we were back home, there would be plenty of time for being alone with Curtis.

I thought back to his comment about never being allowed to relax. The closer I watched Curtis, the more I saw that what he said was true. He never had time off from being a prince. Demands were heaped on him constantly. I envied Comfort’s ability to sneak off whenever she wanted to with carefree spontaneity. It seemed like Curtis had every minute of every day spoken for.

A ball was prepared for us when we arrived back home. But instead of dancing together as usual, Curtis led me to a dark corridor and asked, “Do you want people to know? About us?”

I thought. It was still a few months until I turned sixteen, and my parents didn’t want me being courted before then. “Would you mind if we don’t?” I said. “Just not yet. Father doesn’t want me—"

“I figured as much.” Then he frowned slightly, as though deep in thought. “I wouldn’t want to do anything that would make your Father distrust me.”

I was surprised. This was a more mature, responsible side of Curtis I wasn’t familiar with. He continued to think. His eyebrows furrowed, and I examined his face with interest. I hadn’t really looked in depth at his features from so close a distance. His nose was almost unnaturally straight. His hazel eyes focused on the problem at hand. I could have counted the freckles that were splashed across his face.

“If your Father agreed, would you want to tell people?” he asked finally.

I considered. Comfort had always snuck out to see boys and had never introduced them to the family. I knew Father would be beside himself if he knew she was sneaking around; he had vowed to distrust any boy that ever showed any interest in his daughters. But also…he would want to know, and it would feel wrong to be deceptive. “Yes, I think so. Do you want to tell?”

Curtis looked at me like I was crazy. “Of course I want to tell. I plan on announcing it to the world, if I can. I can’t have some lowly squire making a move on my girl now, could I?”

I blushed. Finally, Curtis nodded solemnly. “I need to have a man-to-man talk with your Father.” I started to panic. Curtis talk to Father? Man-to-man?

“About what?” I squeaked.

“About you of course,” he replied, completely unabashed. “About us!”

“But… but…” I spluttered. What would Curtis say? What would Father say?

“When?”

“Now is probably a good time.” Curtis said, and started walking back to the ballroom.

“Wait!” I said, pulling him back.

“For what?” Curtis asked. “There aren’t many opportunities that both the Chancellor of the Exchequer and prince have a few minutes to spare at the same time.”