Chapter 24
Twenty-Four
AURELIA
“What the actual fuck, Aurelia?”
Margaret rounds on me as Princess Beatrix shuts the door to the parlor she led us to, far from the prying eyes and ears of the ballroom.
She had said something to one of the palace guards who was standing at the entrance to the hall, and I hope it was a warning to keep others away. This is about to get bad.
The princess strides to the middle of the room, standing between my best friend and me. Margaret looks angrier than I’ve ever seen her before. Any minute now, smoke will start billowing from her ears.
“Lady Margaret, I will not have you talking to my friend in that manner in this palace,” Princess Beatrix says firmly.
“Your friend?” Margaret screeches. “She’s my friend. Or I thought she was.”
Her words are icicles straight through my heart. “Of course we’re friends, Margaret,” I plead.
She scoffs. “Really? Because friends tell each other when one is shagging the goddamn prince.” I have never seen Margaret so angry, and the woman is not known for being particularly level-headed.
“Whoa,” Princess Beatrix still stands in the middle of us, arms outstretched as if to hold us back if one were to make a lunge for the other. “Everyone, just grab a seat.”
She glares between us, staring us into submission, and we sink onto velvet upholstered loveseats opposite each other.
Nodding with satisfaction, the princess opens a carved wooden cabinet against the wall, rummaging for a moment, then coming up with a black flask with rose-shaped pearl inlays.
She unscrews the lid and takes a long drink, then holds the flask out to Margaret.
“Both of you take a drink and chill the fuck out for a minute.”
Her tone doesn’t leave any room for argument or noncompliance, and Margaret takes the offered beverage, downing several hefty gulps before passing it off to me, her glare still fit to kill.
I don’t even ask what’s in it before taking a huge sip for myself.
It burns pleasantly all the way down, and I have another couple cleansing drinks.
“There,” Princess Beatrix announces, taking the flask back and securing the top again.
“Brandy fixes everything.” She settles herself gracefully into a rather uncomfortable-looking chair at the end of the loveseats, folding her hands sedately in her lap.
“Now, I would like Miss Aurelia to begin, as she seems the least likely to erupt at the moment.”
I take a big breath, steeling myself for the talk with my best friend that has been a long time coming. “Margaret.” My voice shakes a little, and I clear my throat and start again. “You know I’ve been casually seeing someone for a little while now.”
“You don’t do casual, Aurelia,” she interrupts, and the princess fixes her with a look that has her clamming up again.
“You’re right, I’m not a casual kind of girl typically, but I’m turning over a new leaf.
” I stare at my hands, unable to meet the gaze of the woman who should have been my sounding board through all this.
“I met Prince Friedrich at Minister Bertram’s victory ball a month ago.
It was him that you texted back at the pub that time.
” I click my thumb nails back and forth as I speak, but my voice is getting stronger.
“We got to know each other a little better during the tour the next week, and I kind of asked him to…”
I’m not sure how to phrase it. I look to the princess who has been in on this whole thing from the beginning. She gives me a reassuring nod but doesn’t help to elaborate.
I clear my throat again and press on. “You know that I’ve never really been, uh, intimate,” I say with a cringe.
“Never really allowed myself to think about those kinds of things either. But… I don’t know.
I don’t even know why I thought now was the time to start.
I think your books are partly to blame.” I make an abortive sort of chuckle that my friend does not reciprocate.
“There’s just… Something about the prince. ”
I trail off again, remembering the ease of our conversations early in our meeting.
The way his touch lights all my nerve endings on fire.
The way his eyes scream desire and makes that spot between my legs quiver.
The way he makes me feel safe and wanted and cherished and secure, even knowing this is a temporary fling.
And criminy, it makes my heart swell and my head dizzy.
“We have an end date, I know. Heck, how can I not?” I huff out a self-deprecating little sound. “We are literally at a ball so he can pick his future wife. The future queen, for goodness’ sake!”
“Your innocent little mouth really is quite endearing,” Princess Beatrix puts in. “Sorry, please continue.”
I nod. “But, Margaret, this thing with Friedrich, it’s been the most fun I’ve had in a long time,” I say, finally looking up at my friend.
She’s wearing her perfectly blank boardroom mask, and my chest feels tight.
Margaret doesn’t hide anything from me, but she’s keeping her emotions on a tight leash right now.
This night is so beautiful, and my nerves are still a little fuzzy from the mind-blowing orgasm Friedrich gave me earlier. But the high is starting to wear off.
“May I speak now?” she asks, her eyes still fixed on me.
“Are you finished, Aurelia?” the princess asks.
I extend a hand to Margaret to give her the go-ahead.
“I’m worried about you, Aurelia.” Though there’s concern in her tone, her body language remains impassive. “Your childhood gave you some pretty fucked up views on sex and purity and shit, and now all of the sudden you’re just casually fucking a guy who is about to get engaged.”
“We’re not having sex,” I interject.
“You’re doing something, Aurelia, and it’s happening fast, and I don’t want you to look back with regret or anger.”
“I went into this with eyes wide open.” Agitation is starting to creep into my tone.
Margaret is treating me like some na?ve little child, and while I know it’s because she wants to protect me from heartache, I want my friend to be excited for me.
I was hoping for support when I told her about Friedrich, not this. .. condemnation.
“Perhaps as wide as your eyes will go,” Margaret shoots back. “But this has heartbreak written all over it, and I’m going to be the one to pick up all the pieces when this little fling meets its inevitable conclusion. And you didn’t even tell me about it in the first place.”
I go back to watching my hands as I fidget with them.
“I thought you’d either try to talk me out of it or get way too excited about it and make it into something it’s not.
I want this. I’m tired of being the sweet, innocent little southern girl who blushes every time a man gives me a second look.
Also, I thought if you got too excited about this thing with Friedrich, it might give me hope that he and I could be something more. But we can’t, and I’m okay with that.”
“Are you?” my friend presses. “Because I saw you two dancing tonight. I saw the way you glowed in his arms, how easy you two were with each other. That didn’t look like a casual fling.”
“Oh, there’s chemistry there for sure,” Princess Beatrix puts in.
“Not actually helping my point,” I say to my new… friend? That’s what she had said about me when Margaret started in on me at first.
“I’m sorry, Aurelia,” Margaret says as she stands. “But I can’t stand by and watch you be taken advantage of.”
“Margaret, please.”
I reach for her hand, and she holds tight for a moment. Her eyes soften at last; her face relaxes, and I see the concern behind the hurt. My shoulders drop as my friend takes my other hand as well, clasping them between us.
“I’m worried for you, love,” she whispers.
“Don’t be,” I flash her a huge smile. “I’m finally taking a moment to enjoy my life. Even if it is just a moment.”
Margaret heaves a great sigh. “And the smut habit I’ve been trying to start you on just wasn’t enough, hm?”
“Ooh,” the princess cuts in. “Actually, I have some amazing recs that I think Fritz would appreciate me passing along.”
“Really? Is there something specific I’m missing because he’s been so focused on me, and I really want to—”
Margaret clears her throat.
“Sorry,” I say to my friend, heat rising to my cheeks as I realize I was about to ask sex advice from the cousin of the man I’m doing the not-sex stuff with.
“Look, Margaret.” I squeeze her hands tighter.
“I’m trying to work through some stuff, and this arrangement with the prince is just… Margaret, he makes me feel alive.”
She blows out a breath and turns her head over her shoulder to look at Beatrix.
“You’ll vouch for the prince that he’ll treat my girl well as long as this affair continues.”
The princess shrugs. “He’s a royal pain in the ass, but he’s one of the most genuinely kind and considerate people I know. And I’ve known that boy since he was in diapers, and I’ve never seen him so at ease in my life.”
Margaret lets go of one of my hands and gestures for her to join us in the middle of the room. Beatrix rolls her eyes but stands and takes our offered hands.
“Don’t leave me in the dark again, Aurelia Sumner,” Margaret chastises me. “I don’t want to miss another moment of your sexual awakening.”
I groan, but she pulls me and Beatrix into her arms and squeezes tight. I hug both women back, and the princess eventually relents and relaxes into our group embrace.
She extracts herself quickly, smoothing down her skirts. “Alright, if we’re done with this little reconciliation straight from a shitty teen melodrama, can we please get back to the ball? I had my eyes on that princess from Bahrain.”
Margaret and I share a look.
“What?” Trixie shrugs. “Just helping my cousin narrow the field a bit.”