Chapter 1
Princess Rose looked across the carriage at her odd traveling companion, discontent swelling inside her.
Natalie buzzed with an underlying excitement about their journey that Rose couldn’t muster.
And it wasn’t the only difference between them.
Everything about Natalie seemed opposite to Rose’s carefully controlled existence.
Not that Rose’s feelings were in any way Natalie’s fault. Natalie was only a new acquaintance, and Rose’s discontent had been brewing for a long time. She should keep quiet as she usually did and not burden Natalie with her chaotic emotions.
Words burst out of her. “When my brother turned eighteen, he went traveling alone and got into all sorts of trouble. We didn’t even know if he was alive! But I’ve always been a dutiful, obedient, perfect princess.”
Natalie’s eyes widened at the unexpected explosion of words. “Is that…a problem?”
“Even I have my limits!” Rose exclaimed, abandoning the last of her usual caution—a caution honed by nineteen years of royal life. “I’m not obediently trotting off to Lanover to marry Crown Prince Leo like everyone wants!”
She waited breathlessly for Natalie’s disapproval—or at least, surprise.
Everyone knew how valuable it would be for Arcadia to have closer ties with their wealthy ally, Lanover.
And everyone thought it was perfect that Princess Rose of Arcadia and Crown Prince Leo of Lanover had been born only two months apart.
She had heard the whispers all year. Like they were meant to be.
Even Rose’s parents had hinted at their hopes for an alliance—although of course they would never force her into the marriage against her wishes. They knew all too well that the High King blessed those kingdoms ruled by love.
But that didn’t stop them hoping—and their hope hurt worse than harsh commands would have done.
An order could have been rejected in a spirit of righteous indignation.
But Rose’s parents loved her, and she loved them.
She had spent her whole life following their example and doing her best to be the ideal princess that Arcadia deserved.
She had never once wanted to make them worry—and she still didn’t want to.
But even so…A suffocating sensation crept up her throat.
She couldn’t take dutiful obedience as far as marrying a stranger—especially one picked out for her because of his rank.
Where did the princess of Arcadia end and Rose begin?
If she married Prince Leo as everyone wished, she would never find out.
But her traveling companion didn’t come from Arcadia, and Natalie showed neither surprise nor disapproval at Rose’s declaration. Instead, her tone was matter-of-fact as she said, “That’s good, since I intend to marry him myself.”
Rose blinked at her, at a loss for words.
“You’re going to marry Prince Leo?” she managed eventually.
“Why not? Your mother was a commoner before she married your father, and so was Charlotte before she married your brother.”
“I didn’t mean…” Rose shook her head. She hadn’t been thinking of Natalie’s rank. “I just had no idea you’d been to Lanover before! Or has Leo visited the mountain kingdom? I had no idea he was already in love.”
The suffocating sensation melted away, her dilemma resolved without any need for rebellion on her part.
If Leo was already in love with someone else before he even met Rose, then her parents couldn’t expect Rose to catch his interest. There would be no reason for them to be disappointed in her.
It was the perfect solution. Thank goodness she had agreed to take Natalie to Lanover with her.
“Oh, Leo and I have never met.” Natalie’s unabashed words punctured the bubble of happiness inside Rose. “But I’m going to be a queen one day, like Charlotte.”
Rose stiffened as she grasped the full meaning of Natalie’s words.
“Are you serious? You asked to accompany me to Lanover because you want to trick Prince Leo into marrying you so that you can become a princess?”
“A queen,” Natalie corrected her, again without the slightest sign of shame.
Wrath filled Rose. She knew what it was like to have people feign interest in you because of your rank, and she wasn’t going to allow Natalie to trick Leo into marriage.
She promptly informed Natalie as much. But her withering criticism made no dent in Natalie’s confidence.
Had she entirely misread the girl? Up until now, Natalie had seemed enthusiastic and lively—the opposite of cold and mercenary.
If anything she had seemed heedless of rank—nothing like the more toadying members of the Arcadian court.
That type was usually obsessed with formality and hierarchy.
Natalie’s eyes flashed as she refuted the charge of trickery.
“It’s not as if I have an enchanted object on hand to force him to fall in love with me.
I’m just giving him the chance to get to know me.
If he falls in love with me on his own, then fair’s fair.
I don’t see what’s wrong with that. And I’m not mercenary at all.
I have no particular interest in gold. I didn’t pick Lanover because it’s the wealthiest kingdom.
It was the only one that had a crown prince the right age. ”
“The only one that…” Rose’s words died in the face of Natalie’s effrontery.
“What’s the matter now?” Natalie demanded, and her genuine confusion struck Rose as irresistibly humorous. Were they seriously having this conversation?
“You…You’re…” Her giggles were verging on the edge of hysteria, and she fought to rein them in.
When she finally succeeded—Natalie staring at her as if she’d lost her mind the whole time—she tried again.
“You might not be mercenary for money, but you’re certainly pursuing Prince Leo for his rank. You can’t deny that.”
Natalie took her time to respond, seeming to give the charge serious consideration. “That’s true. But it’s not as if I want the rank so I can live a rich, easy life, or have people bowing to me all the time.”
“Why do you want it, then?” Rose asked, not willing to let Natalie off so easily.
“I want to matter!” Natalie’s eyes sparked, her spine straightening.
“Or, at least, I want to do things that matter. Is that such a terrible thing? During the rebellion, my actions helped to change everything—not just for me but for my whole kingdom. It was incredible!” She deflated.
“But I’m just a commoner girl, so it was easy for them to exile me after their desperate need was over. ”
“Exile?” Rose hadn’t seen any hint of that. “Queen Gwendolyn brought you to Arcadia herself! She seemed genuinely fond of you.”
“It wasn’t Gwen who barred me from court,” Natalie said. “She even argued my case to my parents. But they were convinced that the best thing for me was to go back to an ordinary life and forget about everything that had happened.”
Natalie scowled out the window, but Rose couldn’t help feeling some sympathy for the girl’s distant parents. She could only imagine the effect of unleashing a fourteen-year-old Natalie on a royal court.
“Perhaps,” she couldn’t resist suggesting, “they were concerned about your obsession with becoming royal. Or is that a newer goal?”
She had been afraid the other girl might respond in anger, but Natalie grinned back at her.
“The idea may have occurred to me back then, yes. But it started as a momentary dream, fueled by beautiful dresses and the excitement of the moment. It was only later that I realized that becoming royal was the only way to ensure no one could shut me out again.”
Her expression had turned black, and Rose couldn’t bring herself to speak her thoughts aloud. In her experience, being royal gave you less agency in your own life, not more. But at least she could feel more sympathy for Natalie now that she better understood her motivations.
“There must have been a lot of work needed to rebuild the mountain kingdom after the old queen’s brutal rule,” she said. “I can understand why it was hard to be excluded from that after being central to the rebellion. But that’s hardly poor Prince Leo’s fault!”
“You say that as if I intend to mistreat him!” Natalie protested.
“I have every intention of being a delightful wife. You’re supposed to love someone for who they are, and Prince Leo’s rank is an integral part of who he is—as well as his future.
It would be more of a disaster for him to marry someone unsuited or unwilling to one day be queen than to marry someone who wants that role.
His place in the royal family is his whole future.
” She regarded Rose curiously. “Wouldn’t you consider your rank to be an integral part of you? ”
Rose swallowed and looked away, shaken. Natalie’s words were too close an echo of her own earlier thoughts. How could she refute Natalie’s conclusion when Rose herself had just been lamenting that she didn’t know where the princess ended and the girl began?
“Yes, I suppose so,” she murmured, reluctantly.
“Exactly.” Natalie sounded satisfied, as if she’d successfully proved her point. “How many girls throughout history have taken one look at a good-looking young man and decided on the spot to fall in love with him? I don’t see how this is any different.”
“I suppose it’s true that people do that,” Rose said cautiously, not having considered the matter in that light. “But how many of them delude themselves in the process, only to rue that decision later? What if you don’t actually like Prince Leo when you meet him?”
Natalie waved a dismissive hand. “The chances of that seem small. He’s sure to be good-looking for a start—the Lanoverian royal family is famed for their beauty. And aren’t princes trained to be both charming and responsible? I’m sure he’ll be delightful.”
“But what if he’s arrogant and entitled?” Rose couldn’t help pushing Natalie, fascinated by her strange way of looking at the world. Rose had lived her whole life among royalty and nobility, and yet she’d never met someone as sure of herself as Natalie. “He is a crown prince, after all.”
“So is your brother,” Natalie countered. “And he’s never seemed arrogant. From what I’ve seen, he’s kind, charming, and honorable. I’m sure Leo will be the same.”
Rose wrinkled her nose at Natalie’s description of her brother. “Don’t tell me you have a misguided affection for Harry!”
“For Prince Henry? No!” Natalie sounded genuinely startled. “He’s married! And too old besides. Leo, on the other hand, is only a year or so older than me. It’s perfect.”
“But what if you don’t like him?” Rose pressed. “What if he laughs at all the wrong things and you find everything he says boring?”
Natalie wilted. “Then it will all have been for nothing.” A few seconds later she straightened. “But I’m sure he’ll be perfectly charming!”
“Even if you do fall in love with him, what if he doesn’t fall in love with you?” Rose’s eyes narrowed. “You won’t be the first girl to show interest in him.”
“But none of those girls are me,” Natalie said, so matter-of-factly that there didn’t seem to be anything to say in reply.
Rose fought another hysterical giggle. She had started the journey under a gray fog, as if a filter were obscuring the beautiful landscape around her. But the fog had lifted completely during her conversation with Natalie—the world appearing before her in a whole new way.
“I suppose there isn’t anything wrong with you making the attempt,” she said. “As long as you won’t pursue a match unless there turn out to be real feelings on both sides.” She grimaced. “That’s what my parents are hoping will happen with me, after all. It’s almost exactly the same, in fact.”
“You see!” Natalie’s face flushed, her eyes alight with fervor.
“Far too many people fail at what they want in life because they don’t make the effort to go out and get it.
Like in my kingdom.” Her voice turned dark.
“Everyone suffered under that usurper for far too long because all the adults dithered instead of taking back the kingdom.”
“You say it like it’s that easy!” Rose cried, thinking of everything that held her back and the tasks that felt too heavy for her slim shoulders.
Natalie shrugged. “I never said it was easy. But if you truly want something, you have to be prepared to sacrifice for it. And dithering in the meantime won’t get you anywhere.” A scornful sound in her throat made it clear just how little patience Natalie had with dithering.
“So what’s your plan?” Rose’s earlier outrage had been completely consumed by curiosity. Did her audacious new friend have any chance of success? If Leo did fall in love with Natalie, it would solve Rose’s problem just as effectively as if he’d already been in love with her.
Natalie’s lips twisted to one side. “I’ll have to see the lay of the land first. I expect my biggest issue will be getting enough time with Prince Leo. He may be closely guarded.” Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully, her intense gaze focused on something far distant.
“Whereas I, on the other hand…” Rose sighed.
From her parents’ gentle hints, she suspected there were similar hopes of a marriage alliance shared on the Lanoverian side. She was likely to have far more time with Prince Leo than she wanted.
A glimmer of an idea came to her. It was so outrageous that she would normally have rejected it without a second thought.
But Natalie’s presence was infecting her.
Instead of rejecting the daring idea outright, she gave it enough space to plant itself in her mind, putting down roots before she had time to second-guess herself.
“What if we swapped?” The words tumbled out of her mouth, quivering in the air between the girls.