Chapter 2
“Swapped?” Natalie stared at her. “What do you mean?”
“Just for the first few days. As a…a laugh—a prank. That’s what we’ll tell the others when we switch back anyway.
But even if we only keep it up for a few days, it will give you the chance to spend some initial time with Leo.
If you truly do like each other, everything else aside, then he won’t mind when you turn out not to be a princess after all.
And if he does mind, then the feelings weren’t real.
You can treat it as a test. And if he has no real feelings for you, you have to promise you’ll let the whole idea of marrying him go. ”
“You mean we should switch places? That I would arrive in Lanover as Princess Rose and you as Natalie?” Natalie’s eyes lit with impish excitement at the idea, even as her words protested. “But how could that ever work? We don’t look anything alike!”
“That doesn’t matter.” Rose warmed to the idea with each passing moment.
“My maids are loyal to me and will stay quiet if I ask it. And I’ve never met Prince Leo, only his sister, Princess Beatrice.
King Frederic and Queen Evangeline have visited the Arcadian court with Beatrice, but none of them are going to be at the Lanoverian court when we arrive.
Now that King Leonardo and Queen Viktoria have stepped down, and Leo’s parents have been crowned king and queen, all four of them are going on a tour of the kingdom to ease the transition.
Almost all the senior court are going too, as well as Princess Beatrice and her cousins, Princess Violet and Princess Iris.
Only the prince is being left behind. From what my parents said, I think it’s a test of sorts—to see how Prince Leo performs in their absence now that he’s officially crown prince.
It’s why my parents agreed to send me alone.
It will only be a few younger members of court at the Lanoverian palace for the next few weeks. ”
Rose had been desperate to go alone, hoping it would ease the new feeling of suffocation that had come over her in the last few weeks.
“Only young people? Are you sure?” Natalie looked hopeful.
“I heard the Duke of Sessily will be staying—to keep a discreet eye on the young prince.” Rose repeated the words she’d heard from one of her father’s senior advisors. “But I’ve never met him either, only his mother the Dowager Duchess—and despite her age, she’ll be going with the tour.”
“I thought you weren’t willing to trick Prince Leo,” Natalie’s tone teased, her eyes dancing with excitement.
“This is different.” Rose spoke with as much dignity as she could muster.
“While I’m sure he doesn’t want to be courted only for his rank, neither do I.
Fooling him into calling us the wrong names for a few days is hardly a trick of any consequence.
” She arched a brow. “It’s not at all the same as fooling him into committing his life to someone whose only interest in him is acquiring his rank. ”
Natalie laughed. “From everything I’ve heard, it’s exactly the sort of prank that would appeal to Prince Leo. According to the rumors, he and his cousin, Prince Luca, spent their entire childhood getting into mischief. So he can hardly get angry at us for doing something similar ourselves.”
Rose had heard the same rumors—probably more of them than Natalie had, given the mountain kingdom’s isolation. And if Leo was the sort of person who liked to cause mischief but couldn’t accept being on the receiving end…
“If he’s the sort of person who can’t take what he himself dishes out, then neither of us should marry him, prince or not,” she said, warming even more to her idea.
“So it really is a test of sorts.” She gave Natalie another warning look.
“And you do need a test, given the danger of deciding who you’re going to fall in love with before you know anything about them as a person. ”
“That seems fair.” The criticism bounced off Natalie, unheeded. “But I’m sure he’ll pass the test. I don’t expect to have any problem caring for Leo the person.”
She seemed to genuinely believe her words. Were hearts really so biddable? If so, perhaps Rose’s parents were right, and she should do her duty and pursue Prince Leo herself. She sighed.
Natalie frowned at her. “Why are you so set against him, anyway? Given everything we’ve heard about Prince Leo and the whole Lanoverian family, he’s likely to be an easy person to fall in love with.
” Her eyes widened. “Not that I’m not grateful,” she added in a rush.
“I wouldn’t want us to be in competition. ”
“I just want to make my own choice.” Rose looked down. “But I’m afraid of…” She let the words trail off, struggling to put her complicated feelings into words.
Rose loved her parents too much to relish disappointing them. And she loved Arcadia, too. She just wasn’t sure how much of herself she was willing to sacrifice for her kingdom.
Did that make her a terrible person?
A sudden change in the air of the carriage brought her head up. Natalie was leaning toward her, her eyes pinning Rose to the seat.
“You’re afraid? Has someone been threatening you?” Natalie’s voice vibrated with passion. “Have they hurt you?”
Her sudden vehemence both touched and startled Rose. Natalie looked ready to run someone through at the mere thought that her new friend might be the victim of abuse.
“Is that why you’ve been so on edge?” Natalie demanded when Rose didn’t immediately answer.
“Is that why you want to switch places?” She made no attempt to wait for an answer before plowing on.
“Because if so, forget a short-term ruse. We can turn the carriage around right now, and I’ll sort the villain out before we go a mile further. ”
“Would you really?” Rose couldn’t help the question, although she knew she should reassure her friend. “And what if it’s my parents, the king and queen?”
Natalie blinked, her face going blank for a moment before she seized Rose’s hand in a reassuring grip and gave her a bolstering look.
“Don’t worry. We’ll find a way. You can count me as a friend, no matter what.” She drew a deep breath. “I’ve helped bring down a ruler before.”
“I can see how.” Amusement tinged Rose’s voice.
“You really don’t let anything overwhelm you, do you?
” She squeezed her new friend’s hand before pulling out of her grip, grateful for Natalie’s eager defense of her.
Natalie had a strange way of looking at the world, but she clearly had a strong sense of justice.
Rose stumbled through an explanation of what she’d actually meant, and Natalie sat back against her own seat.
She clearly would have liked more detail, but Rose wasn’t in the mood to expand on her basic words.
She had never talked to anyone about her struggle to differentiate between her personhood and her role.
But as the two girls shook hands on their plan, discussing the more practical details, Rose felt an unfamiliar stirring of hope.
For the first time she was going to have the chance to exist separate from her title.
For the first time she might actually discover the answer to the question that plagued her.
And perhaps she could use the extra free time to find answers for her parents as well. They had sent her off with the unspoken task of falling in love with Crown Prince Leo, but there had been a spoken assignment as well—even if it was talked about in hushed voices.
It was momentous that her parents had trusted the sensitive matter to Rose alone, and she was determined not to let them down.
With her official task in mind, she reminded Natalie of the necessity of passing on any messages she might receive that were intended for Princess Rose. If Rose was going to disappoint her parents in her choice of husband, she wanted to prove herself capable in other matters at least.