“Why are you telling me this?” But I knew why.
Prince Frederik clenched his jaw. “I have no idea.” He knew why, too.
“I think I understand how you feel, though,” I lied. “My family is from the Northern regions of Edristan, as you know, and they sent me here with my brother as escort to find me a husband— a rich husband.”
I eyed the Prince with a sideways glance, reading his reaction. He just seemed thoughtful.
“We are very broke,” I finished. My body trembled slightly from the exhilarating lie. The theatrics were enjoyable to me.
“And you don’t want to marry just for money.” He sighed. “We’re both in a tough spot, aren’t we?” He studied me quizzically. “Why didn’t you tell me any of this before?”
I froze, scrambling for a good excuse. “I didn’t want you to worry about me.” I breathed out in relief as he nodded at my answer.
He led me to another bench under the shade of a tree, far away from onlookers. I sat down close to him and leaned forward, tipping my head to the side ever so slightly. I knew I needed to prod him a little bit more. If he was as interested in me as I suspected, just a little further manipulation might do the trick.
“Why did you ask me here today?” I whispered. I could see the hairs on his neck stand up as my breath made contact.
He seemed to relax and smiled. I pushed away the inner voice that told me how charming his smile was. The time for enjoyment of mine and the Prince’s meetings was over. I had a new purpose.
“I have really been enjoying our time together,” he replied, just as I decided to ignore my own enjoyment.
I thought back to our dancing when we met and our conversations days afterward. It had been pleasurable… Those moments when the thoughts of future beguilements and deceit were not the forefront of my mind— moments where I only thought of how funny and sweet the Prince was.
I blinked, snapping myself out of my reverie, and turned my attention back to the task at hand.
“I did, too.” Not a lie, but still a good thing to say for what I needed to happen.
His smile grew bigger. “I apologize if this is forward, but I feel very drawn to you, Lady Isabella.”
I felt my face grow hot and cleared my throat. “Thank you, Your Highness.”
He inched forward, and I found myself leaning towards him even more than earlier.
“I’ve never seen someone with your beauty.”
I tried to hide my red cheeks with my hands. His words and closeness made it impossible for me to think straight. The gray specks in his blue eyes swirled prettily as he stared into mine, and his dark brows relaxed as he placed a hand on my knee. My breath caught in my throat, and I mentally pinched myself to remember why I was there. And he was vulnerable.
I rested my own hand on his and forced a tear to spill out the corner of my eye and roll down my cheek.
“Oh, Sire—”
“Frederik,” he interrupted.
I smiled. “Frederik, if only things were different! We are both doomed to marry for duty. If only there were some way to change that.”
Frederik sat back, thoughtful. “There might be something I can do… At least for you.” He pulled the small, leather bag tied at his waist and handed it to me. “Will this help your family for now? Until I can think of something else to help you?”
I eyed the bag, forcing myself not to look smug. “Sire, I can’t.”
“Frederik. And please, I want to help.” He forced my hand open and placed the bag in my palm. I could feel the coins inside shift in my grip.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
Frederik looked over his shoulder, searching for any eavesdroppers before continuing. “Will you meet me again? Somewhere more private next time?”
I searched his nervous face, feeling pleased with my abilities to draw him in deeper than he already had been. “Where?”
“Outside the capital. At those ruins.”
I pursed my lips into a thin line. “That’s a half day’s travel by horse.”
He nodded. “I know. Tonight I am dining with Queen Dalia, but tomorrow I have no other engagements. I’ll just tell people I’m in need of a ride and some alone time.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Will people buy that?”
“You’d be surprised how much you can get away with as Prince. As long as I’m back the next day, it should be fine.”
I began racking my brain as to how I’d get a hold of a horse. But it wasn’t like the boys, and I didn’t have money. I thought about my spoils from the ball, and the money the Prince just gave me.
“What time?” I asked him.
“An hour before sunset. I’ll be waiting.” The tall man stood quickly and bowed to me. “Until tomorrow.”
I watched as he briskly stepped away and told my heart to stop fluttering. This was just business, nothing else.
Chapter 16
A panicked knock sounded on Dalia’s door.
“Will you go see who that is?” she asked the maid who was brushing her hair.
“Yes, Your Majesty.” The chubby girl curtsied and hobbled over to the door, pulling it open just a crack.
Aeryn burst through the door, pushing the poor maid aside and huffed over to the Queen.
“I have to tell you what I saw!” she exclaimed.
Dalia eyed her lady-in-waiting questioningly.
“You can leave us,” Aeryn directed to the maid. “I’ll finish preparing Her Majesty for bed.”
The maid looked at Dalia, but the Queen nodded. “It’s okay, Maisy.”
Maisy curtsied once again and shuffled out of the bedchamber, closing the door behind her with a soft click.
“Well?” Dalia pressed.
Aeryn began pacing the room, fuming. “That good for nothing, piece of—”
“Aeryn! What is it?”
The young woman skidded to a stop and pressed her fingers against her temples. “I saw him— your Prince.”
“So?”
Aeryn shook her head. “You don’t understand. I saw him strolling in a garden with another woman.”
Dalia knit her brows together. “When?”
“This afternoon.”
The Queen cleared her throat, trying to ignore her first assumptions. “Maybe he was trying to be social and kind to my people.”
Aeryn shook her head vehemently. “It was the same woman he danced with at the ball!”
Dalia felt as if a rock dropped into her stomach as she started to fear the worst. “He danced with a few… What did she look like?”
“That gorgeous one with the black hair and impossibly fair skin!”
A groan escaped out of the Queen’s lips, and she placed her face into her hands. “Why didn’t you say anything at dinner?” she said through her fingers.
“I wasn’t about to out his infidelity in front of so many people! I wanted to see what you thought first.”
Aeryn, with little to no grace, plopped onto Dalia’s mattress with a heavy sigh— the Queen and her lady-in-waiting had more of a comfortable friendship than a master-servant relationship. Dalia watched her friend, debating with herself about whether or not she could trust Aeryn with the knowledge of her magical mirror.
Dalia sighed. “Come here. I need to show you something.”
Aeryn bolted upright from her position and moved over to where the Queen sat.
“Hey, why do you have two mirrors? And one on top of the other, might I add.”
Aeryn moved to inspect the intricacies of the frame surrounding the magical glass and whistled. “It’s beautiful, though.”
“It’s magic.”
Aeryn cocked an eyebrow, pausing for an uncomfortable second or two, then burst into laughter. “Where did you get a magic mirror?”
“It was a gift,” Dalia huffed, refusing to explain more.
“Fine.” Aeryn shrugged. “What does it do?”
“It will show me anything, anywhere, and anyone I ask it to. As long as it’s in the
present.”
Dalia’s lady-in-waiting narrowed her stormy eyes and studied the Queen’s face.
“You don’t believe me.”
Aeryn smirked. “If it’s true, why don’t you show me?”
“Fine!” the Queen snapped back as she brushed her hair out of her face. “Mirror, mirror on the wall—”
“It’s not on the wall.”
Dalia shot Aeryn an annoyed glance, and the lady-in-waiting raised her hands up in surrender.
“Mirror, mirror on the wall, show me the fairest one of all.”
Aeryn gasped and took a step back as the lights from the mirror flashed before her eyes until the glass presented the image of The Fairest.
“That’s her!” Aeryn exclaimed. “What— How—”
“I don’t know. It just does it.”
“And she’s the fairest one of all? What does that mean— she’s the prettiest in all the land?”
Dalia nodded, trying to subside that all too familiar feeling of jealousy.
“What’s she doing?” Aeryn whispered as she leaned closer to the glass.
Dalia squinted her eyes to study the scene. The Fairest was surrounded by seven little boys and a young man as she counted a small pile of money on a dingy-looking table. Their surroundings were dirty, old, and falling apart— not a place a noblewoman would be spending a lot of time in.
“That’s an odd place for a lady to be,” Aeryn said, voicing the Queen’s thoughts. “And what’s with all the boys and the money?”
Dalia’s eyes grew wide. “Are they her accomplices?”
“What?”
Dalia shook her head. “She’s a thief! I watched her steal from someone at the ball! These must be the people she works with.”
“Little boys and a random young man?”
“She must not really be noble,” Dalia continued, ignoring Aeryn’s comment.
A spark of realization ignited in Aeryn’s eyes, as well. “Do you think she’s using the Prince for money?”
Dalia tapped her fingers on the wood of her vanity. “Maybe…”
“Well, we have to stop her, right?”
The same helplessness that Dalia felt the other night when she watched The Fairest steal through the mirror overwhelmed her.
“We have no proof.”
Aeryn snorted. “Proof? You’re the Queen!”
Dalia grimaced. “I don’t want to use my power to arrest someone I can’t prove guilty.”
“Show the mirror to the guards!”
It was Dalia’s turn to laugh. “And let people know I’m spying with a magic mirror? We have to find another way.”
Aeryn began pacing the room again, sure to wear a hole in the floor. “We could have the Prince followed next time he leaves the castle.”
“By whom?”
A grin stretched across the girl’s face. “By me.”
Chapter 17
I squirmed, trying to find a comfortable position in the saddle atop the horse the boys and I bought. We came to the conclusion that buying a horse to travel to the Ruins of Keross and get more out of the Prince was a good investment. Her name was Clover. She was old and a little worse for wear, but she would do the job just fine.
“Here’s your satchel,” Jacob said as he handed the leather strap to me.
“Thanks.” I tied its strap where a saddlebag would typically go.
Jacob shrugged. “I packed it with some food and water for the journey.”
I looked over to Arnold, who had also accompanied Jacob, Nick, and me just outside of Bothar to see me off. He gave a curt nod. That gesture meant he trusted me to follow through with the plan. And I would. I was enjoying the adventure and the lies that came with deceiving a prince. At least, that’s all I told myself it was. I was not about to admit the butterflies and heart skips I felt when thinking about seeing Frederik again.
“Something bad is going to happen to you, Snow.” Nick stood under the tall horse I straddled. He squinted his eyes up at me, a grimace on his face. “This is dangerous.”
I clenched my fists around the reins in my gloved hands. “Why don’t you just leave, Nick? If you disagree with everything so much, just leave.”
He clenched his jaw and held my gaze for a second more before dropping his eyes to his feet.
“I care about you, Snow,” he whispered.
My stomach clenched as I stared at him. Arnold had been right. Nick had feelings for me— feelings I had no intention of reciprocating.
“That doesn’t mean you can make decisions for me!” I snapped. Clover whinnied nervously underneath me as I raised my voice.
“Why do you think so many men stare at you? Or even fall for you? Not just strangers, not just me, but a prince! It’s not right for you to toy with people like that!”
I threw my head back and laughed. “That’s what makes it so perfect!”
Nick rubbed his eyes with his hand. “Then you’re not as kind as I thought you were.”
My laughing did not stop. “Kind? You thought me kind? You have no idea what I have done, or what I am capable of.”
“But you’re helping the boys—”
“You think it’s for them? I enjoy this! I was born to lie and manipulate.”
“Uh…” Arnold interjected. “I hope that doesn’t mean you’ll deceive us, Snow.”
I shot the short boy a glance and smirked. “You and your brothers would be nothing without me, Arnold. Let me do this job, I’ll help you get out of Edristan, and then we’ll go our separate ways.”
All three stared at me with their jaws open. I shook my head, ignoring the guilt I felt at their surprised faces. Something inside me had snapped. I was tired of all their coddling.
“I must be off,” I said, then clicked my heels deep into the horse’s flank and rode away.
Hot tears bit at my cheeks as the wind forced them out of my eyes. Why was it that people always felt the need to control me? First my father, then Nick, and even the seven boys? I focused my eyes on the dirt path before me. I would show them. I would show them the power I had over people, and my abilities to do a job well. And who cared what Nick thought about using my beauty to take advantage of a prince? If anything, this is what I was born to do— this is why I had my looks. To ridicule and belittle arrogant men— like a prince, who I’m sure deserved whatever was coming to him.
I blinked twice, shocked by an inner voice telling me I was wrong about Frederik— that he wasn’t like my father, or anyone else… that he cared about me. My hands began to shake, and my breathing became quick.
“Whoa, Clover,” I said while pulling on the reins. “I think I might be sick.”
I leapt from the saddle and ran to some bushes on the side of the road. Though I felt terribly nauseous, nothing came up, but my body wouldn’t stop shaking. I could feel drops of sweat trickle down my face, and I bit my lip to keep from screaming. What was wrong with me? I thought of Frederik and his kindness towards me, and Nick’s words ran through my head over and over again: “It’s not right to toy with people…”
I took deep breaths to try and calm my anxiety. Why was I starting to feel so guilty? Where was the thrill I usually got from the lies and stealing?
“I was wondering when I might see you again.”
I whirled around to find an old woman on the path I left Clover on. Something about her seemed so familiar, but it took me a moment to remember. And then it hit me: she was the witch from all those nights ago. The woman I stole the apple from, but this time she was pulling a handcart with what seemed to be a large pumpkin. A very large pumpkin that definitely warranted the need for the handcart. What was her name again? Bav…?
“Bavmorda,” the witch said, seemingly reading my thoughts. “And you’re Snow, of course.”
I darted my eyes around us, making sure no one was around us to hear the use of my real name, especially someone like the Prince.
“You look terrible.”
I swallowed and exhaled slowly, trying to bring
the color back to my face. “I’m fine.”
Bavmorda snorted loudly. “Of course. Why wouldn’t you be?”
I narrowed my eyes at the sarcasm. “What are you doing here? And with a pumpkin? You always seem to have produce with you.”
A shrill cackle erupted from the woman’s cracked lips. “This is for someone who needs it,” she said, reaching behind herself to pat the orange skin of the pumpkin. “Doesn’t concern you. And don’t try to steal it like you did my apple!”
I folded my arms, no longer surprised by her comments. “You dropped it.”
“And you killed your father. I wonder which one of us is in the wrong?”
My lips twitched slightly into a smile, and a shadow passed across the witch’s dark eyes as she noticed.
“You’re definitely an interesting one.” Bavmorda shifted her grip on the handles of her cart and began pulling again. “You should know that certain prices are demanded to be paid when such magic is used… Especially in the way you used that apple. Well, I’d better get going. This pumpkin won’t get itself there.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know what that even means, but I have to go, too.”
“Just don’t fall in love!” she yelled to me as she passed.
I felt my heart stop, the thought of Frederik presenting itself for a moment. “What?”
Without turning back, the witch replied, “It probably won’t work out for you. See ya soon!
Bavmorda took a sharp left turn on the road. I watched as her disfigured form hobbled away, feeling confused and frustrated. I shook my head. She didn’t know what she was talking about. I wasn’t meeting the Prince because I loved him, but because I needed his money. Right?
“Ugh!” I shouted to no one. Clover started at my shout. “It’s okay,” I whispered to the horse as I mounted her once again.
Frederik said he’d meet me there, so he was maybe an hour or two ahead of me, and I, myself, still had a few hours to go. I inhaled deeply and turned Clover to the right, the opposite way the witch was headed, and I was determined not to let anyone else tell me what I could or could not do.
Apples and Princesses (The Tales and Princesses Series Book 2) Page 9
