“Lisa! That’s not… I mean…” she sputtered to a stop, aware that her thoughts had indeed turned to Rafe. After all, he was the only one here who knew that she was a princess. The only one who had seen her in her usual dresses.
Don’t be so vain, she told herself.
Her thoughts spun back to before she had discovered William was gone and her whole life had fallen apart. This wasn’t the first time the thought of Rafe had brought up her old insecurities. She determined it would be the last.
She felt beautiful because she was dressed in the love of her friends. And if that was enough for her, it was enough for everyone else too. It didn’t matter what they all thought, as long as she felt happy with the way she looked.
She squared her shoulders and stepped forward.
“That’s the way!” said Lisa with a cheeky grin.
Marie swatted her shoulder and led them into the dance.
Chapter 23
Hours later, she looked around with a contented sigh. Most of the food had been consumed, and they were onto their third shift of musicians, but the dancing continued unabated. The smiles she saw all around her told her that romance was much higher on everyone’s minds than rebellion. Just as she had hoped.
If R stayed away long enough, and enough of the foresters were distracted by romance, she might even be able to convince them to return home before he reappeared. She looked around for Rafe, wanting to share the thought with him.
He was dancing with great enthusiasm, so she positioned herself on the edge of the dance floor, ready to catch his attention at the end of the song. He had asked her to dance as soon as she and Lisa had appeared, and the invitation had given her a secret glow that had lasted all evening.
She had refused it, however, telling him, with a significant look, to ask her again later. He had appeared to understand her meaning. If they danced together towards the end of the evening, they could dance their way out of the party altogether and finally have a chance to talk. Their absence would be too obvious at the beginning of the dance.
Watching him dance with another girl, Marie had to squash an uncharitable feeling she was rather afraid might be jealousy. He asked me to dance first, she reminded herself and basked again in the glow the knowledge gave her.
Without meaning to, she began to follow the conversation of three girls who were standing not far from her. She vaguely recognised them as being newcomers from the last batch of recruits.
“He’s definitely the best-looking here,” said one of them.
Marie followed their eyes and saw that they, too, were watching Rafe.
“And the most fun,” agreed another.
“I wonder where he’s from?” asked the third. “Have you all heard the story about when he fought that other boy? The one who disappeared? Probably too embarrassed to show his face!”
They all giggled.
“I’m determined to have another dance with him,” said the first one.
“Hey!” said the third. “You’ve already danced with him once, let the rest of us have a turn.”
“He’s danced with that Lisa twice,” said the first. “We can’t let someone from Greenwood get the better of us.”
Marie frowned. She knew that Greenwood was one of the smaller villages, as well as being located closest to the capital, but she didn’t like hearing it referred to in such scathing tones. There was obviously a lot she didn’t know about the inner dynamics of the foresters.
“Psst, careful,” said the second in a quieter voice. “Isn’t that Marie over there? She seems to be great friends with the Greenwood group.”
There was a moment of silence during which they presumably all examined her. Marie kept her eyes carefully trained on the dancers.
“So what if it is,” said the first one, although she also spoke more quietly than before.
Marie gave a small sigh. Her eyes were still following Rafe around the dance floor and she couldn’t help a swell of a different type of jealousy. Rafe was just like her brother – everything came more easily to them. It was effortless, the way they won people over; there was just something about them that people liked. Her mother was the same.
Marie, however, was more like her father. They had to work hard to earn respect and gain liking. These girls had been here for mere days and they already loved Rafe. Marie, however, they were willing to dismiss, despite her position in camp. She clenched her hands within the folds of her skirt.
Slowly, however, she relaxed them again. She looked down at the blue material. The feel of it had reminded her that she had friends here in camp. The foresters who had been around long enough to get to know her had come to like her. She was literally clothed in their acceptance and affirmation. She smiled, her eyes still fixed on the dance.
“Look at her.” It was the first girl again. “I bet she’s planning to claim the next dance with him. Just because she’s in charge.” Their voices were coming closer.
The three girls crossed between the dancers and Marie, and one of them jostled her on their way past.
“Oh, excuse me!” she said, her voice sweet. “I didn’t see you there.”
All three paused and slowly looked Marie over. She met their eyes calmly.
“You know, that’s a hideous dress,” said the jostler.
Marie had to use all her training to suppress her gasp. She didn’t like to admit it, but the words hurt; she had been so proud of the dress just moments before. Their expressions seemed to mirror the hundreds she had experienced in the past. The ones that showed surprise when they first saw her – the princess who didn’t look like a princess was supposed to look.
“I’m only telling you as a friend, so you don’t make the mistake of wearing it again,” the girl continued, her friendly tone obviously false.
Marie held her ground. She was familiar enough with this sort of unprovoked antagonism. There were always a small number of people who responded to a princess with jealousy, or who tried to assert their own power by bringing her down. It was simply a part of the job.
That didn’t mean it didn’t hurt, though.
She took a deep breath and prepared to respond. She would have liked to simply walk away, but her position in camp prevented that. She had to maintain her authority, especially with the newcomers.
She opened her mouth, but another voice interrupted before she got out more than a single word.
“Marie! There you are!” Rafe appeared and placed one arm possessively around her shoulders. He smiled at the other girls. “Marla, Serena, Katherine, I hope you’re enjoying the dance.”
Marie wanted to roll her eyes. Of course he knew their names.
Katherine smiled back at him, but the other two were too busy looking between him and Marie in surprise.
“I’m glad to see you’ve met my dear friend, here,” he said, giving Marie a small squeeze. “And I hope you’ll excuse me if I steal her away.”
He turned and gave Marie his most enchanting smile. “I won’t be put off any more, you’ve kept me waiting for my dance long enough.”
“I didn’t realise you two were friends.” Marla sounded uneasy.
“Oh, really?” Rafe winked. “But you should know by now that I’m always friends with the most gorgeous girl in the room.”
Katherine giggled, and Rafe grinned at her.
“But, jokes aside, yes. Marie and I are old friends. From before this whole rebellion business.”
“Oh, I see, well… that’s nice.” Marla clearly didn’t know what to say.
“Isn’t it? It’s nice to be surrounded by friends.” Rafe smiled again, as if he had no idea what had been going on before his interruption, and then pulled Marie into the dance.
She waited until they had moved far enough away from the others, and then smiled up at him. She had been prepared to defend herself, but it turned out it was much nicer to be defended by someone else.
“Thank you,” she said.
“For what?” Rafe’s eyes laughed down at her.
/> “You know perfectly well for what!” She wanted to ask him if he really thought she was gorgeous but didn’t quite dare.
“I spoke nothing but the truth,” said Rafe.
“Really?” Marie raised both her eyebrows. “Old friends from before the rebellion, hey?”
Rafe laughed. “Well, all right, that one might have been stretching the truth, just a little. But I seem to remember it was you who first claimed old friend status!”
Marie shook her head. “And I suppose you’ve really been waiting impatiently all evening to dance with me, too.”
Rafe’s arm around her waist tightened, and the playfulness dropped out of his eyes. “Of course I have.” His voice dropped so low she could barely hear it. “I shouldn’t have been, but I was.”
Marie’s heartbeat quickened.
“In my defence,” he said. “You look like the perfect forester in that dress.”
Marie’s heart sank. What was that supposed to mean?
“So it’s easy to forget who you really are, and that your brother would probably gut me if he saw me holding you this close.” His arm around her didn’t loosen.
Marie laughed, light-hearted with relief. “My brother has never decided who I dance with. I make my own choices there.”
“I’m doubly flattered then.” Rafe looked down at her, his expression so intense that his eyes seemed to glow. “And as for before, I’ve already told you, Marie. I’ll always do my best to protect you.”
Marie looked away, unable to meet the intensity of his gaze.
“Not that you’ve needed much protecting yet,” said Rafe, his voice returning to its usual light tones. “And you’ve seemed different the last few days – more sure of yourself or something. This dance was a great idea, by the way.”
“Yes.” Marie nodded. “I haven’t seen a sword in two days.”
“Plus, it gives me an excuse to do this.” If possible, Rafe’s arm around her waist tightened.
Marie looked up and saw that his usual charming grin hadn’t erased the new intensity in his eyes. She blushed.
“You’ve tormented me all evening, making me admire you from afar,” he said. “And I’m assuming it was with this purpose in mind?”
Marie looked around and realised he had manoeuvred them to the entrance of the cave. She nodded, and together they slipped out into the rest of the cave system.
Rafe led them quickly down several stone passageways until they found themselves in a small, dim cave lit only by faint moonlight.
Marie drew a deep breath. Her pulse was racing, and her emotions were in turmoil. She needed to use this opportunity to tell Rafe the whole truth, but she suddenly didn’t know where to start.
Before she could begin, Rafe’s arms swept around her, and she found her back pressed against one wall of the cave, her whole vision filled with Rafe.
“I don’t think I can do this anymore, Marie,” he said.
“Do what?” His unexpected nearness completely disrupted Marie’s thought processes. She tried to tear her mind away from the feeling of being held in his arms so she could focus on his words.
He gave a small groan. “Keep my distance from you. Play at rebellion with you. I don’t know. All of it?”
“I don’t…” Marie cleared her throat and tried to make her voice stronger. “I don’t understand. I thought things were going well. R’s grip on the foresters seems to be weakening. And I have some things I need to tell you – about his plans.”
Rafe’s grip on her tightened in response to her words.
“Yes, R,” he said, his voice suddenly grim. “He’s the worst of it. Every time you disappear with him, it’s all I can do not to go storming after you. I’m terrified of what he might do – that one day you won’t come back.”
Marie bit her lip, wondering how best to tell him that she, of all people, was in no immediate danger from R. Rafe’s eyes staring down at her, pinning her against the wall more firmly than his arms, made it hard to form the right sentence.
He leaned in so close that she could feel his warm breath against her face. “I’ve tried to keep my distance. I’m the only one who knows who you really are and the last thing I want to do is take advantage of the situation. Living this sort of double life – I know it can create a false closeness.”
Marie shook her head. “Nothing about this,” she placed her hand on his chest, marvelling at her own boldness, “is false.”
He groaned again, lower this time and stepped back. “I wish that were true,” he said. “I wish there weren’t secrets between us.”
Marie bit her lip. So she had been right, he did know she was keeping things from him.
“Back at home I’m known for being a light-hearted sort of fellow,” he said and Marie had to bite back a slightly hysterical giggle. “I try not to take things too seriously. But I don’t think I can cope with having you here anymore. Every day it gets harder, knowing that you’re in danger. R seems unbalanced to me. I keep waiting for him to flip. And when it finally happens, everything here will change. I just need to know you’re far away from that.”
He stepped close to her again but kept his arms at his side.
“Please, Marie, let me take you back to Northgate. Let me keep you safe.”
Marie shook her head, her eyes remaining locked on his. “We’re so close,” she whispered. “We can’t leave now. There’s,” she stopped to take a breath. “There are some things I need to tell you…”
Her voice trailed off as Rafe’s head slowly lowered towards hers. He stopped with his lips a breath away from hers.
“But don’t you see,” he whispered back to her. “None of that matters to me anymore, not compared to you.”
And then his arms were around her again, and his lips were pressed against hers, and she couldn’t think about anything but this one perfect moment.
Chapter 24
Marie had never imagined that anything could feel as perfect as Rafe’s kiss. Held tightly against him, her face tilted up to meet his, she realised that being beautiful to everyone didn’t matter. She just wanted to be beautiful to the right person.
And it made no difference that she was a princess. In this moment, she felt just like any other girl in the arms of the man she loved – amazed that this charming, handsome man had chosen her. It felt like a dream.
He began to pull back, and she pushed up onto her tiptoes, not wanting the moment to end. He responded, pressing his lips down on hers again, before abruptly breaking away. He let her go and stepped back, running his hand through his hair.
“Oh, Marie,” he said. “What am I going to do with you?”
“Kiss me again?” she asked, hoping he could see the cheeky sparkle in her eyes despite the low light.
He chuckled. “Don’t tempt me.”
She grinned at him, and he grinned back at her. Neither seemed to want to break the moment. At last, however, he shook his head and spoke.
“You had something you wanted to tell me?”
His words brought reality crashing back in. Marie gave a half sob and covered her face with both hands. What was she thinking? She was about to tell Rafe that she had been lying to him the entire time – that she had even considered double crossing him and allying herself with the man he clearly considered evil. A man whose blood she shared.
And it didn’t matter that she had eventually seen the truth. Even if her deceit didn’t drive him away, her decision to return to her family made any future between them impossible. It would be William who would rule one day in Northgate, so it would be William who was permitted to make a marriage of love. Marie’s own duty was clear. She must marry to benefit her kingdom.
Not that her parents would attempt to force her into a distasteful alliance. They loved her too much for that. But they would expect more than a wandering adventure-seeker. If she wished to remain with her family and continue to be a princess, she couldn’t pick and choose which parts of that life she accepted. She sank down to sit, back pres
sed against the wall.
“Marie? What is it?” Rafe’s concerned voice felt almost as painful as his kiss had felt wonderful.
He crouched down beside her and attempted to pry her hands away from her face.
“Come on, talk to me.”
“Sit down,” said Marie, her voice quiet. She couldn’t bring herself to meet his eyes. “This might take a while.”
***
It did take a while. Rafe’s confused questions quickly subsided as he sunk down onto the stone floor beside her and listened to her story without interruption. When she finished, the silence in the small cave seemed to deafen her with its echoes.
“I…” Rafe paused before trying again. “I’m going to need some time to think about all of that.”
Marie nodded, her face miserable.
“But I’m going to want to talk to you again and soon.” He looked at her with a ghost of his usual smile. “And I’m not waiting until you organise another dance. Tomorrow morning, I’ll go hunting, early, while everyone is sleeping off their dancing-induced exhaustion. As soon as you can reasonably get away, come after me. I’ll be waiting for you in the clearing where Peter attacked me. Do you remember how to get there?”
He waited until she nodded. “Don’t forget! Tomorrow morning.”
And with that, he was gone.
***
Marie returned to the dance, but answered everyone who addressed her with absent-minded distraction. The last hour had been filled with too many emotions to properly process, and all she wanted was her bed.
Except, when she managed to escape to it, she found she couldn’t sleep and had to stop herself from getting up and pacing. She didn’t want to wake Lisa who had fallen straight into an exhausted slumber.
Marie envied her friend her light-hearted happiness. The other girl had confided to her before falling asleep that she had danced half the night with a particularly good looking young man from one of the other villages.
The next morning breakfast was delayed and most of the foresters slept late. Once they were up, Marie oversaw the beginnings of the clean-up before slipping away.
The Princess Pact: A Twist on Rumpelstiltskin (The Four Kingdoms Book 3) Page 16
