Chapter 12
Comfort had been right—after being kissed, I couldn’t stop smiling.
It wasn’t the dainty kind of smile either; it was the ridiculous, helpless sort that kept tugging at my mouth no matter how hard I tried to hide it.
All the way back to Islandria, Curtis and I kept exchanging glances, brushing hands, and trying to find a few stolen moments alone together whenever we thought no one was watching.
But traveling with such a large company meant we were never truly alone.
Each time we stopped, the kingdom’s subjects would still find Curtis.
They’d bring petitions, questions, and complaints, or else bring their children to meet the prince.
I watched him, admired how he listened, nodded, and remembered names, and I thought again about what he’d told me.
The demands of being a prince never stopped.
The more I watched, the truer it became.
His life was an endless rotation of duties and obligations.
I envied Comfort’s ability to slip away unnoticed with carefree spontaneity with the men who caught her eye. Curtis didn’t even own the luxury of a stolen hour, and even if he did, Father would notice me sneaking away all the time.
Yet another ball awaited us when we got back home. I expected our usual dance, but instead Curtis caught my arm and drew me into a dark corridor, away from the swirl of music and swishing gowns.
“Do you want people to know?” he asked. His voice was quiet, but there was a charged weight beneath it. “About us?”
I hesitated. My sixteenth birthday was still a few months away, and my parents had made their stance clear about courting before then. “I’m not sure. Not because I’m embarrassed of us being together, but Father told me—”
“I figured as much,” he said, though a small crease appeared between his brows. “But I also don’t want to conceal anything from your parents. I wouldn’t want to do anything that would make your father distrust me.”
I was surprised. This was a more mature, responsible side of Curtis I wasn’t familiar with.
He continued to think, his hazel eyes fixed on some point far beyond me.
His eyebrows furrowed, and I examined his face with interest. I hadn’t really ever studied his features so long so close up before.
His nose was almost unnaturally straight and I could have counted the freckles that were splashed across his face.
“If your father agreed,” he asked finally, “would you want to tell people then?”
I considered. Comfort always snuck out to see boys and had never introduced them to the family.
Father would be beside himself if he knew she was sneaking around and he had vowed to distrust any boy who ever showed any interest in his daughters.
But also…he would want to know, and it would feel wrong to be deceptive. “Yes, I think so. Do you want to tell?”
He stared at me like I was crazy. “Of course I want to tell. I plan on announcing it to the world, if I can. I can’t have some lowly squire making a move on my girl now, can I?”
I blushed. I loved how he called me his girl.
Curtis’s expression shifted into something solemn. “Maybe if I have a talk with your father. Man to man, you know?”
The words sent a shiver of panic through me. “About what?” I squeaked.
“About you, of course,” he replied, completely unabashed. “About us!”
“But…but…” I sputtered. “When?”
“Now’s a good time,” he said, heading back toward the ballroom.
“Wait!” I hissed, catching his sleeve.
“Wait for what? There aren’t many opportunities that both a prince and a member of court have a few minutes to spare at the same time.”
“What are you going to say?”
Curtis only squeezed my hand. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
We found Father and Mother in the middle of the floor, mid-waltz. Curtis approached Father and tapped him firmly on the shoulder, and I was struck with the realization that there was barely an inch between their heights. When had Curtis grown so tall?
When Father turned, Curtis asked formally, “May I have a word with you, please?”
Father escorted Mother to a couch before following Curtis out. I sank beside Mother, and Comfort joined us with a foxlike glint in her eye.
“Did you and Curtis…?” she whispered, leaving the sentence hanging.
I nodded. Comfort’s squeal was high-pitched enough to make nearby guests turn their heads.
Mother’s gaze sharpened. “What’s all this about?”
“Curtis and me,” I murmured.
Mother was too ladylike to gasp, but as she looked between my embarrassed face and Comfort’s delighted grin, her eyebrows rose. “Really? When?”
“Recently.”
She gave Comfort a sharp look for drawing attention, but I caught the small smile tugging at her lips. “Your father and I will still need to discuss this,” she said, “but I’m sure we can bend the sixteen rule a little for someone like Curtis.”
Hope swelled in me.
The wait that followed was torture. Every passing waltz made me wonder what Curtis and Father were saying to each other. What needed said that would take this long?
When they returned, Curtis looked a little pale but managed a reassuring smile. Father crooked his finger at me, beckoning me to join him. Around the corner, out of view of the waltzing crowd, Father folded his arms and got straight to the point. “Curtis says he’s interested in you.”
I nodded, my pulse quickening.
Father sighed. “Normally, this would be the point in the conversation when I would ask if you like this boy, but I already know the answer.”
“I really do like him,” I assured Father.
“I still say that you’re both very young.”
I stayed silent, heart threatening to beat out of my chest.
“Curtis is a fine young man, and he assured me his intentions are honorable. So my answer is yes you can see each other, but there will be rules.” His eyes narrowed.
“You’ll have a curfew. You’ll keep us informed where you’re going.
You will never be alone in a bedroom together.
Ever. If he treats you with anything less than absolute respect, you come to me, and I will break his scrawny little neck like a twig.
I don’t care if he’s a prince. Nobody tampers with my girls’ affections. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Daddy,” I said softly, and the childhood name softened him. He pulled me into a hug.
“Don’t grow up too fast,” he murmured. “You’re still my little girl.” Then he straightened and said, “I won’t tell you to have fun. That is what your older sister is for.”
Back in the ballroom, I found Curtis. “How did it go?”
“Your father is terrifying,” Curtis said cheerfully, looping an arm around my waist. “He gave me a detailed list of the ways he’d destroy me if I stepped out of line with you.
If it was Hubert in my place, he probably would have your father arrested for threatening a member of the royal family, but that wouldn’t exactly put me into your father’s good graces.
So instead, I was very polite and agreed to all of his terms and conditions. ”
I laughed. “I thought I would be the one getting lectured and threatened from your parents. Be told to keep my grubby hands off their son and stay away from the kingdom.”
“You can put your grubby hands on me anytime,” he said, then hastily amended, “just not where your father can see. He might use my face to shovel manure.”
“Well, we can’t have that.”
He reached over with his free hand and caught mine. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
Word of Curtis and my relationship spread quickly throughout the castle, helped along by Comfort.
She and I sat up all night, analyzing and re-analyzing every word, every moment, that I told her about.
Just as I knew she would, she was eager to abuse Aria for making a play for Curtis.
“Just because she is going to be a queen doesn’t mean she is queen of the world! ”
She gushed over Curtis standing up for our relationship, to Aria and then again to Father. And finally, she made me tell the story of our first kiss at least a dozen times. I didn’t mind. I loved remembering it.
Curtis and I were the sole topic of gossip for weeks.
Everyone said that they knew it was only a matter of time, that they had already thought we were a couple, that it didn’t surprise them in the least. Curtis, no matter how busy he was, always carved out time in the evenings for me so we could go on long walks by the moat or ride our horses together.
Life felt perfect and every day was like a dream.
My family was happy, respected, and close-knit.
My parents adored me and Comfort, and Comfort was the best sister I could have ever wished for.
We wanted for nothing. I was on a trajectory for a successful career, following in Father’s footsteps.
I was quickly falling in love with my best friend—a prince who made me feel like the most important person in the world.
When we weren’t studying or traveling together, we were playing pranks on Hubert or sneaking in kisses when no one was looking.
It seemed like nothing would ever go wrong.