5. Chapter 5
5
BEATRICE
“Gamekeeper, I can’t do this!” Each word escaped my mouth as an individual wheeze. I bent over, hands on my knees while I gasped for each breath, having run uphill from the stable to the gardens without stopping. The stitch in my side couldn’t compare to the pain of my shredded pride. At least the rose garden was blessedly deserted this morning. “Princess Eddi hates me,” I said, nearly choking on a sob, “and I think I hate her too! If you’re not here, I don’t—”
Before another word left my lips, his presence wrapped around me like a comforting hug. “I am here. Tell me, Beatrice.”
I blew out a sigh, and when I closed my eyes, tears overflowed. But my throat tightened, and my face scrunched, burning with shame. “It’s nothing really. Just . . . stupid!”
“If it hurts you, it’s important. I suspect you might burst if you don’t let out the pain.”
How did he know? His empathy was soothing. As soon as I could speak, I blurted, “Yesterday—” Suddenly feeling foolish, I let out a sob-laugh. “I’m supposed to be a nanny, and here I’m acting like a baby.”
“How did you come to be a nanny? You’re very young for such a position.”
That was a question I could answer without shame, and relating the facts calmed me until I returned to my story. “Eddi and I are only six years apart. I think everyone thought I could be a friend to her, like a big sister. But she hates me.” My voice cracked, and fresh tears burned my cheeks. “I make good money, but I don’t know if it’s worth it.”
“What has she done to you?”
His tone invited me to unload. I knew I probably shouldn’t, but I did anyway. “I don’t know how she did it—she’s always with me—but . . . I still can’t find any of my . . . um, necessities.” I paused, remembering . . .
“You sure do lose things a lot,” the princess cooed from the doorway while I dug through the chest of drawers in what was purported to be my private room in our suite. “Good girls aren’t supposed to lose their lingerie.”
“I will send a discreet brownie to locate and return your possessions,” the Gamekeeper said. “Sira will tell no one, and this won’t happen again.”
Detecting the sharp edge to his quiet words, I trusted the Gamekeeper. Not that I had options. One thing for sure: I wasn’t about to mention that I currently wore my swimsuit under my clothes. “I’m sorry for complaining.”
“Sometimes pain must be expressed before forgiveness and a solution can follow. Now, what has she done to you this morning?”
My chin and lips quivering, I nearly burst into tears again.
“Where did it happen?” he asked, and his voice soothed my spirit until I found myself relating the whole story, almost as if I were living it over again . . .
At breakfast in the dining hall, I sat at a table packed with Eddi’s friends, doing my best to be invisible. The girls, most of them a few years older than Eddi but younger than me, giggled and squealed even more than usual because several older boys sat at the next table.
Then Crown Prince Maximilian of Petrovce, who was easily the handsomest young man I’d ever seen, turned in his chair to address me, “So, Miss de Callen, I’ve heard that Sir Iker, the vaunted diplomat from Biscarosse, is your father.”
Taken by surprise that he even knew my name, I could only nod.
His lips curled as he looked me over. “Rumor says you’re really the natural daughter of a count in Kablar. After he dumped your mother, Sir Iker married her, either from pity or for political connections. Then she died of a broken heart.”
I simply stared at him, unable to process his words. From all around I heard gasps, scandalized whispers, and splutters of embarrassed laughter. Then a sharp-faced girl seated at the far end of my table added, “My grandmother says ‘Nanny’ Beatrice’s mother was related to the crazy hermit enchantress who lives somewhere in these mountains. The one who cursed Adelboden’s last king before he was torn to pieces by a wild beast.”
I sat like a stone, struggling to process these unprovoked attacks. Then my gaze fastened on Eddi, seated across from me, who continued eating without the slightest hint of concern. “Have you been spreading rumors?” I asked directly.
“I?” My princess pressed one hand to her chest, widening her big brown eyes.
“Yes, you. Did you tell lies about my parents? About my mother ?”
Something like guilt flickered in her eyes, but the unnatural child blinked it away and spoke with theatrical exaggeration. “Why would you suspect me of spreading sordid rumors? I’m only nine years old! Raquel’s grandmother is the gossip, not me.”
I narrowed my gaze and spoke quietly. “Did you tell anyone that my parents had an unhappy marriage?”
For an endless moment, she didn’t move.
“You know nothing about my family, Your Highness. Torment me if you will, but you, of all people, should know to leave my mother out of your horrid stories.”
Her gaze dropped, and her face flushed a deep red.
Only those seated nearest heard us and went quiet. Everyone else joked and laughed, making plans for the day. I had never felt more alone in all my life.
As my tale ended, a few tears escaped again. “It’s not true,” I added. “None of it is true. My parents were happily married.” The words sounded lame even though they were factual.
“I believe you.” The kindness and sincerity in the Gamekeeper’s voice prompted more tears. While I dug a tissue from my pocket and tried to mop my face in a ladylike manner, he added, “I don’t know why you haven’t been informed, but the resort staff is responsible for escorting minor guests to and from their scheduled activities.”
“But Eddi takes private riding lessons.” My words escaped as more of a wail, but he somehow discerned the words.
“Kai will gladly escort the princess to her next activity. Once the staff members collect young guests after breakfast, you legally have no further responsibility for Princess Eddi until early dinner is served unless you choose to spend your lunch hour with her. If King Koldo objects, I shall address the matter with him.”
Somehow, this welcome news made me cry harder. “Thank you!” I managed between hiccups. “I’m sorry for crying.”
“You’ve bottled up the tears for so long that a flood was inevitable.” His playful tone and cadence made me smile even before he added, “If ever you were to eavesdrop on the full-time staff members, you would hear tales of their run-ins with the Tiny Terror of Bilbao. They’re rooting for you to succeed. You’ve outlasted all her other nannies already.”
Never in my life had I felt more relieved, and yet, “I feel wicked though, talking behind her back. I mean, she’s a frighteningly intelligent and complex child, packed full of anger and fear.”
“And guile,” he inserted.
“Yes, but there’s more to her. I mean . . .” The right words wouldn’t come, so I blurted, “I kind of think she could be lovable if she’d give herself a chance. Or give me a chance.”
“Perhaps she’s testing you.”
“Testing? You mean, to see if I’ll stick it out?”
After a pause, he said only, “Feel free to come to me anytime you need to let off steam. But I believe today’s royal riding lesson will end soon. I would advise you to have a private chat with Kai as soon as possible. He can handle Princess Eddi.”
A load seemed to drop from my spirit. “Thank you. I will.” I glanced at my wind-up watch. “I’ve got to run! Thank you.”
“Helping you is my pleasure.”
Before I could reply, he was gone. But I didn’t mind. I felt so much better after our chat that I smiled all the way back to the stables. Funny, how I found conversation with an immensely powerful invisible being far more relaxing than interacting with humans my age.
Honestly, it required hanging out with someone mysterious and ineffable for me to feel normal? I jogged from the garden gate to the stables with a grin on my face.
Arabella
Two more years passed in a blink, as they all do nowadays. On the spring morning before early guests would begin to pour through the gates of Faraway Castle, I lolled on a warm flat rock at the tip of Palau Kalah, congratulating myself.
“Ellie Calmer, as I call her—you know, my little rescued waif? Well, she completed her training, applied for a junior-staff position at the resort, and passed easily. I’ll miss having her around the cottage, I suppose, but at least I can drop that hideous hedge-witch disguise.”
Pukai, lying belly-down in her mermaid form, arms folded to support her head, merely grunted.
I rambled on. “I figure someone, someday, must recognize the girl, since she’ll be working amid royals and nobles from around the world. Thanks to me, she knows how to use her magic. Teaching her more would risk outing my alter ego—Ellie thinks I’m a burva, after all.”
Another groan.
“Aaaand I must boast a little about my niece,” I murmured, just loud enough to keep the merqueen awake.
“Must you?” Her eyes remained closed behind her designer sunglasses.
“Absolutely. Remember how horrid Princess Eddi used to be to Beatrice?”
“Vaguely.”
“And how he advised Beatrice to assert her authority as the Royal Nanny?”
“By ‘he,’ I can only assume you mean the Gamekeeper.”
“Correct. She heeded his advice. Once she figured out that the entire royal household of Bilbao desperately hoped she would succeed where all other nannies had failed, and that the King himself would back her up, the tables turned. Princess Eddi respects Beatrice now.”
“Must be nice. My youngest is the same age as your Beatrice, and she won’t listen to a word I say.”
Curious, I propped up on my elbow. “Which one is she?”
“Kamoana.”
“So, what’s her issue?”
“Oh, last summer she became infatuated with a human .” Pukai pronounced the word like an invective. “I don’t wish to discuss it.”
“Ah.”
Naturally, she then poured out her wrath concerning her daughter’s illicit friendship. “I cut that foolishness short by blocking his memories of her. I’m sure she’ll soon recover from such a ridiculous crush and be ready to marry Prince Pike in another year or two. Any mermaid would be proud of such a match. Pike is the handsomest merman I’ve ever seen, and that’s saying something.”
I had no dogfish in the fight, yet my opinion slipped out. “Hmm.”
Pukai’s head popped up, and her elbows planted in the sand. Giving me an icy glare, she snapped, “Exactly what was that grunt intended to communicate? Kamoana will not marry a human. You know it to be impossible.”
I arched a brow. “Stranger things have happened.”
In the blink of an eye, she flipped into the lake and vanished.
“Touchy,” I muttered.
Would my stubborn best friend ever change her mind about interracial marriage?
My stubborn heart still held out hope for True Love to prevail.
Sometime. Somewhere.