Thirty-Eight - Isabel
???
I didn’t evenmake upstairs to my bedroom before collapsing, my nerves taut as a violin string. I fell onto the sofa downstairs, thankful that my father must have already gone out to a tavern for the evening. The last thing I needed was to run into him today. So far, the only sign of him since I had returned had been the dishes in the kitchen sink.
I pressed my hand against my thigh, the shape of the enchanted mirror hidden by my skirt and petticoat. I hadn’t dared leave the mirror in the townhouse while I was gone. It had been risky enough leaving the emeralds in a variety of hiding spots, so that even if my father found one, he wouldn’t have them all. Now I was grateful for my paranoia, because it meant I didn’t have to make my way upstairs in order to listen to Felix’s report for the day.
I triggered the enchantment without bothering to unstrap the mirror from my leg.
“. . . absolute rubbish. I can see why that particular cookbook was located on the top shelf of the library. I will not make the mistake of summoning any other food based on those recipes.”
For several minutes, Felix spoke of inconsequential nothings, and I let the words wash over me. Hearing his voice helped me banish some of the tension from escorting the princess around all day, but it couldn’t make me forget that tomorrow would be worse.
“I suppose you must be listening by now, so I ought to tell you the important bits before you move on to enjoying the rest of your evening. I think tomorrow I will do as you suggested and find the section of the archives where Cecily’s curse must be filed. After my success today, I want to see the original wording. You won’t believe what I managed today, Isa. My form can still be altered. Well, I don’t know if that is even the correct word. I’m still in the same form, technically, I suppose. But I did manage to—”
The door to the town house burst open, and I missed the next words. My twin burst in, Leo trailing meekly behind her. “Isa! I heard you were seen all over town today with Princess Charmina. What is going on?”
I tried to focus on the words coming from the mirror, but I had missed the important bit. Felix had altered his form in some way, and it made him suspect that other alterations would be possible, so long as he didn’t try to reverse the curse directly. His words slipped back into random comments and jokes, his news shared. Then he wished me a goodnight and fell silent.
I ended the enchantment and looked up at my sister. She stood bouncing on the balls of her feet. “The princess?” Sofia prompted.
“She’s staying in Leort for a few days before going to Rose Castle to have the duke witness the contract about how she’ll marry a commoner.”
Leo went over to the chair opposite the sofa, pulling Sofia into his lap as he sat. “I think Sof wanted to know why you were escorting her more than her purpose in town.”
“The one isn’t wholly disconnected from the other. Since word is out that I was in Truthhold while Felix hasn’t been allowing visitors, the princess was naturally curious.” I didn’t bother to use a title for Felix around Leo. Sofia would have already told him more or less what was going on. I sighed. “Princess Charmina hoped I would let something slip if I was around her all day. Instead, she noticed just enough of the whispers following me to become truly wary. I tried to take her to relatively unpopulated parts of the town, but she’s requested that I guide her through the market district tomorrow.”
She’d had an inkling of the rumors before we even met, but after observing people’s reactions to me as we made our way through town, she had become far more suspicious. My attempts to ignore the whispers and shocked looks hadn’t helped.
I looked at my sister. “It is almost enough to make me regret cutting my hair. If people still mistook me for you, I wouldn’t have attracted as much notice.”
My sister kept her hair long, so that it reached the middle of her back when left loose. Chopping mine off just above the shoulders had been a deliberate decision to differentiate us. I hated dealing with people who thought they were approaching my sister all the time.
“Maybe if you pull it back?” Sofia suggested.
I shook my head. If I pinned my hair back, then people might think I was Sofia with her hair up, but I knew such a ploy wouldn’t solve my dilemma. “No. I need to quash the rumors. The problem is that I don’t think Princess Charmina is going to be satisfied with only my word that they are lies. She will want to talk to Felix. My goal is to delay her as long as possible.”
“Why?” Leo asked.
“I can’t say,” I told him with a shrug. “But a few days might make all the difference.”
Technically, Felix didn’t expect me to delay the princess. He had accepted that he’d have to tell her about the curse if she arrived before he could break the spell. But If I could help him in this way, I wanted to.
Sofia frowned. “What will you do? If Her Highness wants to visit the market district, you know people will come up and talk to you.”
I smiled, though I didn’t feel nearly as confident as I pretended. “I’ll do what I always do: make everyone else uncomfortable about how much they are lying. Perhaps it will be enough to convince Princess Charmina.”
???
My plan wasworking. Every time the topic of my absence came up—and almost every shopkeeper and many customers mentioned it—I was able to get the gossiper to admit that they had heard the rumors third- or fourth-hand and that they made no sense. That was when I’d mention that the woman at my side was the crown princess and really make them uncomfortable.
It helped that the princess dressed in clothes similar to mine today. The dress she had worn yesterday hadn’t exactly stood out, but it had still clearly been expensive. Today she wore a simple blouse, plain bodice, and wool skirt. If I hadn’t known any better—and if they weren’t too long and slender—I’d have thought they had come from my own closet.
“You are enjoying shocking people with my identity,” she accused with a slight smile that afternoon. She had stopped eyeing me with suspicion by midday. When every person who came to get sordid details out of me admitted that I would have raised hell if anyone, even a duke, had tried to coerce me, it was hard to maintain any doubts.
“I thought you were the one who liked the moment of shock, Your Highness. Why else are you dressed so simply?”
She looked out at the relatively sparse streets. We had left the market district behind, and the hour wasn’t quite late enough for the rush of people heading home from work or out to the dining houses and taverns. Finally, she turned back to me. “The opposite, actually. I want to blend in. I’ve spent my summers among all different segments of the population, and I’ve found that when I don’t dress like a princess, people are a little more willing to treat me like a normal human being. The point of my visits has always been so that when the time comes, I’ll be comfortable around my husband. That I’ll have some understanding of what his life was like.”
“But your experiences are still always flavored with the knowledge that you are royalty.”
“Exactly.”
“I apologize, Your Highness. I would gladly have hidden your identity if that was what you preferred.”
She waved my words away. “I am in Leort on official business. It isn’t the time to hide my identity, though I still prefer not to flaunt it.”
“Will you travel somewhere in secret, then? I think you could pull the deception off, if you really wanted to see what life in Nemya is like without a royal title.”
“I might. I’d like to, before I must marry.” She sighed. “For today, I think it will be enough to pretend I am not myself just enough to dine somewhere other than the inn where I am staying.”
I raised a brow. “I doubt you’ll find better food at any other establishments.”
The princess gave me a look. “Most expensive does not mean best, as I’m sure you are aware. I bet you know a street vendor or two who sells the most delicious food for coppers.”
“I might.”
“Lead the way then.” She stared straight ahead. “And if you forgot to call me Your Highness for the next hour or so, I wouldn’t object.”
I smiled. “I can be forgetful.”
I led the princess through the streets of Leort, the traffic increasing as we went. “If you are truly looking for a surprisingly delicious meal, I have something better than a street vendor in mind, but if you don’t want to go into a tavern, there are plenty of other tasty alternatives.”
“A tavern is fine. So long as there are no ladies who recognize me, I will consider the meal a success. Supper last night was an interminable affair.”
I wondered if the princess was staying at the same inn as Lady Cecily. I should have spied on her instead of Marc; I knew that the princess was critical to their plot. Though if the princess was complaining about Cecily, at least it sounded like the lady hadn’t won her over.
“Here we are,” I announced, gesturing at the tavern.
Princess Charmina took in the window boxes full of twigs rather than flowers and the flaking paint on the door. “You are testing my resolve, aren’t you?”
I grinned. “A little. But the food is worth it, I promise.”
“It had better be, or I’ll make you dine at the inn with me tomorrow.”
Inside, the tavern looked nothing like the exterior had implied. It was clean, bright, and smelled of fresh bread and warm spices. Alec, the tavern keeper, took pride in his establishment; he simply never remembered the front door.
I led the princess to a table in the back where we’d both be able to watch the comings and goings with ease. A server came to the table in less than a minute.
“Isa,” Anna greeted me with wide eyes. “You’re back.”
I almost groaned. I had forgotten that I would have to defend my absence yet again at the tavern. There was something in the way Anna looked at me that made me pause before answering. After all the times I had repeated this conversation today, I’d have expected my response to come without thought. But then I realized the difference between Anna’s greeting and everyone else’s.
She was looking at me with genuine concern. She wasn’t looking for juicy gossip.
“I am,” I said simply. I gestured at the princess. “My companion and I were hoping you could bring us two servings of whatever smells so delicious tonight.”
Anna hesitated, her gaze flickering over Princess Charmina. She leaned forward and lowered her voice. “You’re all right, then? Your father said some worrying things.”
I shrugged. “You know how he is.”
She studied us both for another long moment. “I suppose.”
When she left, I braced myself. Sure enough, the princess didn’t miss the difference between this conversation and the countless ones that had come before it. “Your father?”
Everyone else had heard the rumors through a long line of whispers. But my father frequented this tavern—how had I forgotten that? Anna would have heard whatever story he was spreading directly. I couldn’t question her and make her doubt the source, though she ought to know better than to trust everything Edwin said.
I considered what answer to give, but apparently my luck had completely run out.
“Isabel! You’re home safe and sound!” Edwin’s voice rang through the entire tavern.
I must have missed his entrance while I spoke with Anna. I glared at my father. “I’ve been home for a few days, which you’d have realized if you weren’t out drinking every night.”
“I’ve been worried sick about you, my girl.”
The harsh clang of his lies made me grimace. So few people lied with such bold unconcern around me. “Don’t bother pretending. Your lies don’t fool anyone.”
His expression fell.
Damn the man. The trouble was, he was actually an excellent liar. I could practically hear the thoughts going through the princess’s mind, wondering why I’d accuse my father of not caring about my welfare.
“I have been worried, Isabel. What with that contract forcing you out to Rose Castle, and no telling what the duke wanted with you. These past few weeks have been a torture of uncertainty. Especially as I know it was my fault. Can you forgive me, my girl?”
I stood up. “Forgive you? When you didn’t care a whit about me, only your own hide? Everything you’ve done has been against my interests. Why should I ever forgive you?”
“Now Isabel, I know you are upset, but—”
“Upset? I am beyond upset. Don’t pretend you made a slight error in judgment. You knew exactly what you were doing every step of the way. No one forced you to sign that contract in my name!”
It was the quiet gasp coming from the princess, still sitting at the table only a few feet from me, that reminded me of my location. The audience to this unfolding drama. The error I had made by confirming that a contract had been involved in my disappearance.
“I know I made a mistake, Isabel,” Edwin said with a quaver in his voice. “I can only hope that the duke didn’t do anything so terrible that you’ll never see your way toward forgiving me.”
“Get out,” I snapped. “You’ve accomplished your goal. So leave.”
To anyone else, I was certain my father looked contrite and forlorn as he trudged back out the door, but I had seen the flash of satisfaction in his eyes. He hadn’t come into this tavern by chance tonight.
I sank back into my seat and hid my face in my hands. “It isn’t what it sounds like.”
“Indeed?” the princess said archly. “So the Duke of Truthhold, with control over the most powerful node in the kingdom, did not abuse his power and force you out to his estate against your will? How is it that your father could sign such a contract? You are several years beyond your majority.”
I lifted my head. “Not all the laws in Nemya have caught up with women’s rights. Which is a fact I’m certain Duke Felix will bring to your attention once his current troubles are solved. There are extenuating circumstances.”
“Miss Cardh, I cannot accept such non-answers at this point. Explain.”
“I can’t. I’m bound by a non-disclosure clause.”
“Then I suppose the holiday portion of my visit is over. We will ride to Rose Castle first thing tomorrow, and I will expect a full accounting from Duke Felix, magical indisposition or no.”