They moved into the garden to mingle with the other guests who had already arrived. Aunt Charlotte went to speak with her friends on the other side of the lawn, leaving Elaina and Lydia to wander. Long rectangular tables, each nearly half the length of the Androit’s deck, had been already set with delicate plates and tea cups, robin’s egg blue with painted orange leaves that wound their way around the dishes’ rims.
Despite her momentary lapse of joy, Lydia proved to be a great help as she graciously moved Elaina from one group of people to another. Though Elaina was familiar with the key names of Ashland’s political figures, names her father had required she memorize for meetings, she was introduced to more nobility than she had previously known existed. Some were warm and friendly. Others were reserved and seemed almost suspicious. Nearly everyone, however, was curious. So it was a relief when Elaina spotted a familiar face, one for whom she did not need an introduction.
“Prince Henri!” She beamed and curtsied.
“Lady Elaina.” The young prince smiled back as he bowed, his golden hair falling in front of his eyes. “It is good to see you again. I hear you met my father recently.”
“I did.”
“And what did you think?”
“He certainly doesn’t disappoint.”
Henri let out a snort then began to laugh.
“Remind me again, how are you two acquainted?” Lydia asked dryly.
“Lady Elaina and I were privileged to meet when her father’s ship came in to port in Maricanta. I was there with my mother on official business at the same time.” Henri turned to Lydia. “It is good to see you as well, Lady Lydia.”
“How have you and your family been?” Elaina asked, but he didn’t get a chance to respond, for the bell for tea was rung.
As everyone moved toward the tables, Elaina didn’t feel quite as wary as she had before the tea began. Lydia, however, stayed silent. Far different from the bubbling, bouncing girl that she’d prepared with that morning. Elaina meant to ask her if she was feeling well, but a servant interrupted her before she could find her seat.
“Lady Elaina, Prince Nicholas has requested that you be his partner for tea.”
* * *
Elaina looked at Lydia in confusion, but Lydia’s eyes were just as large as Elaina’s felt.
“Very well,” she finally managed to whisper. “I would be honored.”
Her heart pounded as she was escorted away from Lydia to the center of the long table set for the young adults, as Aunt Charlotte had called them. Prince Nicholas was already at his seat, but he bounded over to Elaina when he saw her and relieved the servant by escorting her himself the rest of the way.
“You can’t imagine how excited I am,” he whispered as they reached the table. “I have read all I can of your father’s excursions. I even hired a tutor to teach me the ways of maritime warfare. But to have someone here who has lived through it is quite a treat.”
Elaina suppressed a ridiculous urge to giggle. He might look like a puppy—an adorable one at that—but she was determined to conduct herself with the poise and grace expected of a lady and admiral’s daughter.
She hoped. He was unusually handsome.
As soon as everyone was seated and the tea was being served, the prince turned to her again. “So what is life like on the flagship?”
“Well,” she paused and broke her scone in half. She would need to tread carefully. It wouldn’t do to give away her secret by accident, particularly with so many around to hear it. “We traveled constantly. I think the longest we were ever in one port was three weeks, and that was only because a storm had damaged the ship.”
“Did that ever get tiring? Always being on the move?”
“The ship was my home,” she said, still staring at her scone, her throat suddenly dry.
“You miss it, don’t you?”
She turned to see his eyes fixed on hers. His brow was creased, and the laughter had left his face.
She gave him a sad smile and nodded. “I do.” Her eyes immediately went to her bracelet.
“Then why did you come back?”
“My father decided it was time I learn to flirt properly and ensnare myself a husband.”
He stared at her, then let out a loud burst of laughter. “I see.” He took a sip of his tea, still chuckling. “So among all those diplomats and princes you met, none were interested in helping you practice your flirting?” He quirked an eyebrow. “I somehow doubt that.”
Elaina again suppressed the need to giggle. Instead, she nibbled a strawberry to hide her smile. “There were too many other interesting things to do.” She looked down the hill at the scene before them. At the foot of the palace’s hill sat the city. To its right lay the wharf, and past the city to its south and west sprawled countless manors, farmhouses, orchards, and fields.
“Every port had new food to try,” she said. “New streets to explore and new customs to learn about. We attended festivals, banquets, and markets.” She nodded at the orchards. “Where we have orchards here, others might have livestock or fields of flax or barley. Larger cities, like Solwhind, are too great to see the end of. But,” she turned back to him, “it always came back to the sea.”
He didn’t answer immediately, just studied her with those striking blue eyes. Elaina knew he couldn’t, but she felt as though he were able to see inside her soul. “I’m sorry,” he finally whispered.
“How is your sister, sire?”
They both turned to see Lydia looking at the prince from her place across the table, several seats down.
“Which one?” the prince asked.
“Princess Daphne.”
“Ah. She’s doing well from what I hear. Already complaining about not yet being with child.” He smiled mischievously and waggled his eyebrows at Elaina. “My eldest sister got married two full months ago.”
Elaina smiled and started to reply, but Lydia spoke again.
“And Princess Sophia?”
“Constantly fretting about the impending wedding. I suspect she will continue doing so for the next four months.” He faced Elaina once more. “So, did you ever visit the Albatross Shoals?”
“I have.”
“And were they as terrifying as the stories make them sound?”
Elaina answered, but out of the corner of her eye, Lydia looked crestfallen. Guilt began to fill the pit of Elaina’s belly, though she wasn’t exactly sure why.
Not long after, the tea was finished and the shrubbery maze was announced. Nicholas stood.
“I know you boys are dying for a chance to meet her, but I’m going to show the new girl around today.”
To Elaina’s embarrassment and surprise, some of the young men groaned. A number of the girls also shot her withering glances.
“That is,” he held out his arm, “if she’ll have me.”
Elaina paused, glancing once more at Lydia. But he looked so hopeful when she turned back to him that to deny him would have been utterly impossible. Elaina told herself to stop feeling so foolishly giddy as she held out her hand. He was just being kind to the new girl, that was all. And yet, as they left the table and began to stroll across the emerald green grass, she felt her heart thump unevenly when he pulled her a little closer and put his hand over hers where it rested on his arm.
Just before they entered the maze, Elaina looked back to search for her cousin. Other young men and women had begun to immediately couple off as well, but she finally spotted Lydia standing by herself, still behind her chair at the table.
“Do you think we might take my cousin as well?” She turned to the prince and gave him her shyest smile. “As you said, I’m still new here and am not familiar with where everything is.”
“I think that’s the point of a maze.”
She laughed. “Yes, but suppose you should be called away on some urgent business while we’re inside? Then I would be all alone and might die an old maid before I got out.”
He studied her, for a moment looking quite or
nery. But in the end, he merely bowed his head. “Very well. It would be my pleasure to escort Lady Lydia as well.”
They walked back to the table and the prince held out his other arm, which Lydia eagerly accepted. As they walked back to the maze, however, neither one of them looked quite as satisfied as Elaina had hoped.
Still, the maze itself was an enjoyable challenge. The walls rose several feet above even the prince’s head and were made of a grand assortment of flowers. Purple beauty berries, rust-red heleniums, yellow heliopsis, white iberis, and pink chrysanthemums surrounded them and lined the paths at their feet.
“You must have been a sight to see on that ship, Lady Elaina,” the prince said as they met another dead end. “A beautiful young woman running around amongst the dirty sailors?”
“I’m afraid if you had seen me you wouldn’t have found anyone as fashionably dressed as you see now.” Elaina self-consciously tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I had always thought myself to be well turned out, but everything you see today is the artwork of my dear cousin.”
“You have good taste.” The prince turned and smiled at Lydia, who smiled back uncertainly. “That color really accentuates her eyes. Don’t you think?”
“Yes, sire.”
They made another turn, and Elaina was thankful to see that it was not another dead end. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could stand to have her cousin and the prince in the same place. Whatever was going on between them was making the garden feel quite stuffy.
“My father can’t praise your father enough,” Prince Nicholas said as though nothing were amiss. “I’ve asked countless times to go aboard the Adroit for a few weeks so I may better understand the navy and its needs, but my father never allows it. He always says I’ll just be in everyone’s way.”
“You would be welcome anytime,” Elaina said. “I can safely say my father would have absolutely no objection to your presence, nor would you be a burden.” Unlike her, apparently.
“Something just occurred to me. What did your father do with you during skirmishes or battles?” He frowned. “I can’t imagine keeping a delicate thing like you on deck during such confrontations. Have you ever fallen overboard?”
Elaina smiled. “No. But when the fighting grew too severe, which was quite rare, I would go down and wait in my cabin.”
The prince laughed, but Lydia sniffed. “It’s not proper for a woman to be involved in such treachery as war.”
“We really saw very little fighting. Some, yes, but in Ashland’s navy, the flagship must issue commands. So we were often at the edge of the fighting, not in the middle of it. During dangerous battles, my father would have me stay in the cabin with a few casum balls of my own.”
Lydia looked astonished. “Casum balls?”
“Earthen sod covering a ball of clay that explodes when it touches air,” Prince Nicholas explained. “As soon as the ball is thrown, the sod falls off and everything around it is blown to bits.”
“As I said, highly improper,” Lydia muttered.
“Which is why I’m here now,” Elaina said soothingly.
She felt mixed relief and regret when they finally found the maze’s exit. Whatever was upsetting Lydia appeared to be getting worse by the moment. And yet, Elaina couldn’t help being enamored by the very prince she had scoffed at only a few days before. Not only was he really quite handsome, but his intense interest in her father’s work would have been enough to put anyone in her good opinion.
“I’m afraid the tea is ending soon,” he said. Young men and women were moving across the lawn and back toward the entrance where the married ladies stood and talked. He looked down at Elaina, his eyes large and hopeful like a little boy’s. “Do you think we might speak again of this? Perhaps tomorrow? I should very much like to hear more of your father’s exploits.”
“It would be my pleasure,” Elaina said, smiling stupidly up at him.
“Until tomorrow then.” The prince bowed low, kissing each of their hands in turn before going to join his mother. Lydia spotted her mother and both girls headed toward her. But this time, Lydia hurried on ahead.
Aunt Charlotte spent the ride home trying to coax details out of Lydia, but Lydia refused to speak more than a sentence or two. Elaina tried to make up for her cousin’s silence, but she felt nearly too lost in her own thoughts to give many clear answers herself.
For the rest of the day, Elaina’s head felt muddled. She tried to clear it by organizing her things in her room, but the maidservants continued to pester her about letting them help. As a result, her thoughts still hadn’t settled by the time she took supper with her aunt and Lydia. The whole time she was at the table, Elaina did her best to smile and respond appropriately when asked a question, but she doubted her performance was very convincing. She simply wanted nothing more than to be left alone to drift in and out of thoughts about the prince and her new life in Kaylem. It wasn’t until she was lying in bed that night that Elaina finally had time to think uninterrupted.
Perhaps her father had more wisdom in sending her away than she’d first thought. She certainly hadn’t expected to enjoy her time with the prince. Many of the princes she had met were flighty and about as deep as a birdbath. But Prince Nicholas’s sharp eyes and quick wit were signals of a deep intelligence, something she had learned to look for in many of her negotiations with her father. And not only was he intelligent, he was also handsome, attentive, and found life at sea enthralling. Really, if the Maker had ever created a man to her liking, Prince Nicholas would seem to be him.
“Is it possible?” she asked the portrait of her mother that now sat beside her bed. “Could the prince actually see something in me as well?” It sounded ridiculous when she said it aloud, but her mother’s portrait continued to smile at her anyway. Elaina would take that for what it was.
The only blot of unhappiness on the entire beautiful canvas of her day was the emotional state of her cousin. Somehow, Lydia had transformed from an enthusiastic, squealing girl to a silent, miserable mess by the end of supper. What could she have done differently that might have made Lydia happier? What could she have done that was wrong? And though Elaina couldn’t think of a single word that might have been out of place, she wondered if her cousin’s silence was her fault after all.
7
The Lot of You
Elaina smiled as soon as she opened her eyes. She was going to see Prince Nicholas again.
Even as she basked in these happy thoughts, however, she was struck by how high the sun had already risen, quite a contrast to Lydia’s exuberant start to the day before. The smells of breakfast were wafting up from below, and there was no sign that her cousin had even visited her room that morning. Not that Elaina minded sleeping in, as she certainly didn’t feel the need to go through certain preparations—such as scrubbing her stubborn freckles with lemons—but where was Lydia?
Lydia had already gone to dress, Elaina was informed when she finally made it down to the dining hall for breakfast. She had awakened and eaten an hour before. Elaina did her best to smile graciously at this news, but her appetite somehow was lessened by it, and all she could do was pick at her cup of fruit until her aunt excused her.
When she opened the door of her room, she saw that a gown had been draped over her chair. Its material was fine silk, but the solid hue of mud was nothing compared to the vivid blue from the day before or the vibrant green Lydia had promised.
Was Lydia truly angry with her? And why?
They arrived at the palace after a long, silent carriage ride, but when Elaina finally made her mind up to confront her cousin, Lydia used the buzz of the garden’s receiving line to step silently behind her mother. Elaina couldn’t even make eye contact with her.
By the time she reached the front of the line, Elaina was more than ready to ignore her cousin and simply see the prince again. His easy conversation would be a welcome relief from Lydia’s foul mood and her aunt’s awkward attempts at coaxing harmony from both of th
em.
When it was her turn, Elaina curtsied and gave Queen Ann and Prince Nicholas a relieved smile. “Your Majesty, Your Highness.”
“Lady Elaina, how pleasant to see you again. I hope you enjoyed yourself yesterday,” the queen said.
“I was entertained most enjoyably.” Then she looked at the prince, expecting his boyish grin again. To her surprise, however, Prince Nicholas was looking with bright eyes at something behind her.
“Nicholas.” The queen nudged her son.
“Oh, Lady Elaina. I apologize.” He smiled politely and bowed, though not as low as he had the day before. “I am glad to see you again. I hope you find today’s activities as intriguing as those of yesterday.” Then he promptly returned his attention to whatever was so interesting behind her.
She was being dismissed.
Forcing the gracious expression to stay on her face, she curtsied once more and moved onto the lawn, where she stood in the shade of a large tree to observe the line.
Something was different. The eagerness that had etched itself all over his face the day before had fled the prince’s expression when he’d looked at her. But no, she realized as she continued to study him. It wasn’t gone. It was just focused on someone else.
The girl behind her, the one whose family had separated Elaina from her aunt, was introduced as the daughter of an ambassador Elaina was somewhat familiar with. Full-figured in an adorable sort of way, much like a roly-poly puppy might be, the girl dimpled, blushing prettily as the prince gave her the same deep bow and smile Elaina had been given yesterday. His hand lingered on the girl’s after he kissed it, and he took a half-step forward to whisper something that made her giggle.
Elaina had the sudden urge to look at Lydia. Sure enough, Lydia was staring miserably at the prince from where she was mostly hidden behind her mother. That’s when it all made sense.
Lydia’s first-name familiarity with the prince.
Her angry silence.
The prince’s sudden interest in the girl who hadn’t been there the day before.
Cinders, Stars, and Glass Slippers: A Retelling of Cinderella Page 6
