Chapter 3
Rose examined the members of the Lanoverian court who had gathered to welcome the new arrivals to the palace. She rarely had the opportunity to study anyone so openly, but all eyes were on Prince Leo as he greeted the apparent princess.
Rose had often thought it must be freeing to disappear into the background, and so far the experience hadn’t disappointed. Her earlier qualms—which had grown as they approached the city—melted back into nothingness.
Freed from the usual inane exchange of civilities, she examined the gathered courtiers without restraint.
An older man stood to the back, watching the young people greet each other.
From his expensive outfit, she guessed him to be the Duke of Sessily rather than a steward.
But he seemed content to remain in the background—confirmation of the current state of the Lanoverian court.
The young people were to be allowed a light rein.
She relaxed even further, not even flinching when Prince Luca glanced in her direction, his eyes brimming with amusement. She wasn’t sure what Natalie was saying, but apparently at least one of the princes found the two of them humorous.
Did he already suspect something? If so, he certainly didn’t look offended.
Natalie also glanced her way, and Rose gave the other girl a smile of encouragement. Natalie’s voice rose in volume as she introduced Rose, giving her assumed name, of course.
Rose’s smile was still lingering on her face when Prince Leo obediently followed Natalie’s gesture and locked eyes with her. Rose froze, hit by the intensity of his gaze despite the space between them.
She had been prepared for the prince to be good-looking, but not that one glance would leave her breathless and off balance. His gaze held hers, lingering for far too long as warmth rushed into her cheeks.
He finally turned back to Natalie, and Rose could breathe again.
Thank goodness she wasn’t the one forced to walk at his side and receive all his smiles.
Rose had already firmly decided not to fall in love with Prince Leo, and she mistrusted her instinctive reaction to him.
She wasn’t the sort of girl Natalie had talked about—the kind who decided to fall in love with a man because of his looks.
And she wasn’t going to fall in love with one because of his rank either. But apparently after nineteen years of dutiful life, even her emotions were meekly responding as they had been bidden. Rose couldn’t permit that—otherwise there really would be nothing of Rose the girl left.
Despite her defiant thoughts, her earlier calm unconcern had evaporated in the intense gaze of Prince Leo.
She had to hear what Natalie was saying and make sure their ruse wasn’t blown too soon.
The noise of the servants around her had grown, obscuring the words of the royals, so Rose shifted closer, trying to look inconspicuous.
She edged close enough to make out their words again and caught Leo referring to Natalie as Lila.
A moment’s confusion gave way to admiration as she realized Natalie had somehow produced a nickname obscure enough not to give their game away.
It was a pity Rose didn’t have anything similar to utilize.
She didn’t relish answering to someone else’s name any more than Natalie did.
Should she make up a nickname on the spot? It wasn’t as if anyone would know the difference. She had set out to discover her true self beneath her royal role, so why shouldn’t she choose a name for herself?
She considered the possibilities. If she could be called anything, what would she choose?
Her mind remained stubbornly blank of anything except Rose. She had always liked her name.
No, she told herself firmly. I can do better than that.
But with every name in the kingdoms open to her, her mind remained empty. She didn’t want to pick something at random and end up with a name that felt foreign and wrong.
A distant memory tickled the edge of her mind, and she seized it.
When she had been very little, her grandparents had called her by a pet name—one she had nearly forgotten.
But now the image of her grandmother came back to her, looking younger than she did now as she laughed with her small granddaughter.
Her head had been bare on those occasions and her clothing simple enough for her to play with a young child.
Posey. She could hear the commanding voice of her grandfather softened as he called for his Rosey Posey.
How had she forgotten those long ago days?
She had been so young then—unaware of her duty and willing to demand that her whole family take the day off from their official duties to spend it with her.
Those moments together had been more treasured than any of the elaborate court entertainments, and whenever she had heard that nickname, she had felt like an ordinary girl—a secret person separate from Princess Rose. Rosey Posey didn’t have to sit still or watch her manners for formal occasions.
Rose’s family had continued to make time for her in the years since—but it was a few hours here and there, sometimes half a day, and usually only with one adult at a time. Never a whole day all together—not since she had grown too old to beg for something so indulgent.
Lost in her reminiscences, she started in surprise when Prince Luca appeared beside her. But royal habit kicked in, and her mouth curved in a smile, hiding her true feelings.
The crown prince’s cousin grinned back. “With a welcoming smile like that to greet me, I don’t feel banished in the least.” His eyes flickered to where Prince Leo and Natalie were moving toward the palace doors.
What had Natalie said? Had she forgotten herself already and been rude to the Lanoverians? Why had she sent the younger prince away?
Or had Leo been the one to banish his cousin, wanting Princess Rose all to himself? Apparently he was more open to the possibility of a match than she was.
She forced herself to breathe. By all accounts Leo and Luca were incredibly close, and they were supposed to be alike in temperament too. Neither of them was known for taking things seriously. She shouldn’t read too much into Luca’s lighthearted words.
“I’m Posey,” she said boldly, holding out her hand.
He took it in a firm clasp, bending his head over it, although the brush of his lips was so light she wasn’t sure she’d actually felt them.
“Did I hear wrong, then?” he asked as he straightened. “I thought it was Natalie.”
Rose wrinkled her nose and laughed, affecting an unconcern she didn’t feel. “Only on formal occasions. My friends call me Posey.”
“I will endeavor to prove worthy of the honor, then.” Even as he spoke the gallant words, his eyes strayed back to where Leo and Natalie were walking through the palace doors.
Rose turned up the intensity of her smile. Was it suspicious that both she and Natalie had immediately requested the use of nicknames? Had Rose already misstepped?
But it was too late to take back her words. It would look even more strange if she retracted them now.
Instead she stayed silent, accepting Luca’s offered arm and letting him lead her toward the palace.
As they walked, she snuck sideways glances at him, trying to keep her curiosity concealed.
His face no longer held the hint of hidden laughter.
A crease of concern marred his brow as he watched the disappearing backs of the other two.
But when he caught her watching him, the expression melted away, replaced with his earlier lurking amusement. “This visit might turn out to be more entertaining than I anticipated,” he murmured.
Rose raised a brow. “Were you expecting Princess Rose to be boring?”
Luca looked back at the palace doors. “Boring is one thing she definitely isn’t.”
Rose barely suppressed a wince. What in the kingdoms had Natalie been saying to the princes?
Inside the palace, the air was cooler, and Rose looked around her with pleasure at the elegant, tasteful interior. Luca flagged a passing maid and gave instructions for the princess’s friend to be assigned a guest room.
The maid assured him that there were always guest rooms ready and offered to take Rose to one herself. He relinquished her to the maid with alacrity, despite a fresh wave of empty gallantries. For all his engaging manner, she could tell his heart wasn’t in it.
She watched him stride off down the corridor, unsure what to make of Prince Leo’s closest friend. Did he suspect something or not? She genuinely couldn’t tell.
“Miss?” the maid prompted, clearly impatient, and Rose shook herself.
“Sorry,” she said with a conciliatory smile.
The maid nodded, somewhat curtly, and gestured for Rose to follow her down the corridor.
Unsettled by the girl’s brusque manner, Rose followed silently, reminding herself that she was no longer Princess Rose. She had arrived as an uninvited—and possibly unwanted—guest.
She had thought she was sick of the empty formalities and trite civilities accorded a princess, but clearly she was more used to them than she’d realized. She hurried to catch up to the maid, determined to prove that she didn’t need special treatment.
The determination stood her in good stead when she stepped into her new room, words of gratitude steady on her lips. The maid accepted them cursorily, disappearing back to whatever duties had been interrupted by Rose’s arrival. Left alone, Rose acknowledged her sense of disappointment.
There was nothing actually wrong with the room once Rose recovered from the surprise of its small size. She didn’t even care about the size. The most important part of the camber was the bed, and it looked perfectly comfortable with a warm coverlet and thick mattress.
But the room was dark despite the bright sunshine outside, kept in gloom due to the single small window.
Rose was used to large rooms with picture windows and plenty of natural light.
But this room—clearly afforded to less important guests—sat in a corner of the sprawling building, a nearby sandstone wall filling the limited view and blocking access to the bright sun beyond.
“It doesn’t matter,” Rose said aloud to bolster her spirits. “I won’t be spending much time in here anyway. I wanted to be an ordinary girl, and that means having an ordinary room. I should be grateful they’ve given me a room in the palace at all.”
She was grateful. Her ungracious thoughts had merely been a momentary aberration, unworthy of her new adventurous self. She wasn’t Princess Rose now, she was Posey. And Posey was delighted to have her own room in a royal palace.
For the first time it occurred to her to wonder what sort of room Natalie had been assigned in the Arcadian palace.
The bedroom door opened without warning, and she spun around, relieved to recognize one of her own maids as the woman slipped inside and closed the door behind her.
“There you are, Your Highness.” The words dripped with reproach. “I thought I’d lost you.”
“Here I am, Joanne.” Rose gave her a coaxing smile. “But you must call me Posey for the moment. That’s what I’ve decided to be called here, and you need to get in the habit of it so you don’t slip up in front of someone else.”
Joanne gave a doubtful agreement, her face clearly signaling her disapproval. But even so, Rose couldn’t help the wash of reassurance at the sight of Joanne’s familiar face. Princess Rose wasn’t completely gone, after all.