Elaina smiled grimly to herself as she shook her head. Don’t fall too hard, the stars had said. She’d been too distracted to really understand them then, but now the pieces fit neatly together.
The prince enjoyed his women.
How stupid she was, allowing herself to be swept away like a common ninny. How many years had her father spent training her to read the body for signals of untruth, nerves, and disingenuousness?
Admittedly, he was good. Even as she watched him from her place beneath the tree, she could honestly say she had never seen such a perfect performance before. His abilities were far above even the best diplomats. But she still should have known better.
Well, now she would. He would not be sneaking past her defenses again.
As soon as Lydia and her mother left the line, Elaina marched over to her cousin and grabbed her arm, placing it firmly in the crook of her own. Lydia looked rather perplexed, but Elaina was not about to allow the dabbling prince to separate her from her cousin again.
Her resolution didn’t prove as easy as she had first thought, though, particularly when tea was announced soon after, and Elaina and Lydia were seated just across the table from the prince. Of course, the ambassador’s daughter was given the seat that had been Elaina’s the day before, the seat that Elaina guessed Lydia had previously occupied as well.
But that was all very well. Elaina could ignore him from across the table just as well as from down at its end. In fact, she could do better than ignore him. She could drive him mad.
Her best diplomatic skills on display, Elaina smiled and spoke with everyone within speaking distance. And though she knew many of the girls had harbored unfriendly feelings toward her the day before, turning their feelings around really wasn’t that hard. Just as her father had taught her, she asked all the right questions, laughed at all the right places, and made sure to compliment others where and when she could. Everyone but the prince.
She had turned around to introduce herself to a new acquaintance halfway through the tea, when she heard Prince Nicholas tell one of his friends that the Battle of the Reefs had been planned carefully by the admiral of his flagship as well as several other naval officers. She stole a glance at the prince, only to see that he was looking rather pleased with himself. It was impossible to miss such an opportunity.
“The Battle of the Reefs wasn’t planned at all, actually,” she said loudly as she stirred her tea. “In fact, the run-in with the pirates took the fleet completely by surprise.”
The prince paused and looked at her, so she suppressed a smile and continued on.
“The flagship and several other naval vessels were merely out conducting scientific observations when the pirates turned around a bend and nearly collided with the flagship itself.”
“In truth?” One of the young men crossed his arms and tilted his head.
She took a slow sip of her tea. “The pirates were fleeing from Maricanta’s navy as well as a horde of angry merpeople. The Royal Navy simply happened to be in the proper place at the proper time to stop them.”
The young man, whom Elaina thought to be an earl’s son, sneered at her. “And where would your ladyship have obtained such enlightening information?”
Elaina set her teacup down with a clink that was a little louder than necessary and fixed her gaze squarely on him. “Because I was there.”
The chatter around them subsided, and at once, Elaina felt the weight of all their stares. But she merely continued gazing coolly at the young earl.
Unfortunately, her attempt at embarrassing the prince seemed to have failed, for he was chuckling quietly to himself.
“So you are telling me,” said another young nobleman, “that you were on a warship during the most dangerous engagement with pirates our navy has seen in over fifty years?”
“Please don’t,” Lydia whispered. “I’m grateful for what you’re trying to do, but please just leave it be.”
Elaina squeezed her cousin’s hand beneath the table but continued on. “Of course. My father was the one leading the charge.”
The young men looked at one another in turns of confusion and indignation. Only two in the throng didn’t seem completely appalled or condescending. Prince Henri tried unsuccessfully to hide a smile behind the pastry he was holding, and Prince Nicholas’s attention was hers once more. He seemed to have all but forgotten the ambassador’s daughter who still sat chatting away beside him. The intensity of the prince’s gaze was no longer amiable, however, nor was it simply intrigued. Rather, he reminded Elaina of a hawk circling its prey.
“I think you’re telling a falsehood,” the earl’s son announced above the gossip. He leaned forward. “I heard you tell someone you lived on the seas for twelve years. If you’re such an expert on all things nautical, prove it.”
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Prince Henri muttered.
“Answer me this,” Elaina said. “When leaving port in poor weather in a three-mast ship, which mast would you remove to capture the winds more favorably until the storm abates?”
The young earl scowled and opened his mouth, but paused. Elaina nearly allowed herself a smirk as the other young men around her began to confer with one another.
The prince did not confer. When his sharp eyes didn’t leave her face, she finally allowed herself to meet their gaze. Then she allowed him one very small smile. She could play games, too.
Finally, the young earl stopped whispering with his neighbors.
“Are you ready to answer?” Elaina asked.
“The foremast,” he said. “You would temporarily remove the foremast.”
“And that answer goes for the rest of you as well?” Elaina looked around.
Prince Henri only scowled and stuffed his mouth with another pastry. Prince Nicholas rolled his eyes. The others didn’t seem to have noticed their responses, however, for the rest of them simply nodded.
“Well.” Elaina leaned back and folded her arms across her chest. “That answers that. One couldn’t pay me enough gold in all the world to leave port with any of you.”
“And why is that?” The earl had an unbecoming sneer on his face.
“Because the lot of you would sink the ship.”
“Hold on now—” he began to protest, but Prince Nicholas interrupted him with a grimace.
“She’s right, Appleby. You don’t remove a mast, you idiot. If any of your masts are gone, your ship is in peril.”
He studied Elaina once more with his hawkish stare, but she turned to her cousin and began a conversation about one of her new dresses, refusing to meet his gaze. She had said all she needed to say for the day.
Tea was soon called to a close. There were no activities to follow the refreshments, so Elaina was more than ready to go when her aunt began to approach them from the women’s table across the lawn. Unfortunately, Prince Nicholas reached her first.
“I was telling the truth when I said I wanted to speak with you more about your father’s ship,” he said in a serious tone. He didn’t even seem to notice the glare the ambassador’s daughter was sending Elaina over his arm.
“But, sire, you have such knowledgeable friends.”
And with that, Elaina walked away, dragging a wide-eyed Lydia along and refusing to cast even a single glance back at the prince she’d left behind.
8
She Hates You
“Are you still up for practice, or did the tea tire you out?” Henri elbowed Nicholas once all the guests had been properly seen off.
“You know that these teas are not actually my idea.” Nicholas shoved him back.
“But you can’t pretend you don’t enjoy all that incessant flirting. Speaking of which, what do you think of that new girl, the ambassador’s daughter. What was her name? Lilac? Peony?”
“Clover,” Nicholas said, nodding to the weapons room guard as he opened the door for them. “Throwing knives today?”
“Why not?”
“Miss Clover Belgrad is fair en
ough.”
“But?”
Nicholas shrugged. “Not quite bright enough for my taste.” The most in-depth conversation he could recall with the clingy young woman was something about the propriety of serving oysters at a dinner party. At least, that’s what he thought she’d been talking about. He’d spent most of the morning . . . well, not listening. Not to her, at least. He smiled a little. “Lady Elaina, though . . .”
Henri shook his head as they headed out to the courtyard with their knives in hand. “I hope you’re aware that she hates you.”
“That can be remedied easily enough.”
Henri snorted. “I doubt that.”
The young men waited as a servant set up the large wooden target at the end of the courtyard.
“How well do you know her?” Nicholas asked.
Henri took aim and heaved his knife. It landed with a thud just inches below the target’s center. “Not close enough to be on familiar terms, but we met briefly last year when our travels crossed in Maricanta. She recently met my father as well.”
Nicholas threw his own knife. It landed an inch above Henri’s. “And what was his impression of her?”
“I think he was ready to adopt her as his own, despite her already having a living father.”
“And what do you think of her?”
Henri paused and studied him. “Why the sudden curiosity? You seemed to have tired of her fast enough this morning. Is this renewed interest because she made Appleby look foolish?”
“Anyone could make Willard Appleby look foolish, though I am in her debt for that. But really, what did you think?”
Henri watched him with cautious gray eyes for a moment before shrugging and aiming his second knife. “From what I know of her, she has a good heart, but she’s also intelligent and as shrewd as a cat.” He chuckled. “I wouldn’t want to cross her.” His knife landed just outside the center circle of the target.
Nicholas nodded. Then he yanked up his knife and threw it without pausing to aim. Chips flew out of the wood as it hit dead center. “Well, that answers that then.”
“About what?”
“She’s going to be my new tutor.”
Henri looked at him as though he’d lost his mind.
“Look, my father refuses to let me even get close to the military.”
“One of the reasons my father can’t stand him,” Henri muttered.
“He says men like Admiral Starke exist so royals don’t have to be involved. But if I’m going to have any sense of what to do with our military, I need training. Good training.” Nicholas ran his hand through his hair. “If my current tutor was wrong about a battle as important as the one at the Reefs, what else has he got wrong? And really, who better to teach me than the daughter of my father’s best admiral?”
“I suppose I see your point.”
Nicholas slapped his friend on the back. “Good. It’s settled then.” He went to pull his knives out of the target, but Henri blocked his way.
“You forget one very important detail.”
“Which would be?”
“As I said before, she hates you. Apparently you’ve never had to suffer a woman’s wrath before.” Henri shuddered. “I can tell you. It’s not pretty. I live with two of them, and that doesn’t even count the servants.”
“You forget I have more sisters than you.”
“But they’re older, and they ignore you.”
“Inconsequential. Besides, I know how to remove every reason a woman might think of to hate me.” Nicholas bowed low with a flourish. “I am, after all, quite charming.”
Henri rolled his eyes and pulled his own knives free. “I just hope you know what you’re doing.”
“Always the gentleman,” Nicholas called over his shoulder as he turned to head inside. He had lessons to schedule.
9
Unwilling Tutor
“Elaina, may I have a word with you?”
Elaina looked up from the book she’d been inspecting. Rosington had a much larger library than she remembered, which pleased Elaina more than she could say. From the sound of her aunt’s voice now, however, Elaina sensed tarrying would be a poor choice. She put the book away and met her aunt in the front parlor, where a servant was helping Charlotte remove her outer wrappings from her social visit to their neighbors.
“Yes, Aunt?”
“Sit, please.”
Elaina did as she was bid, a ball of unease growing in her stomach as the servant seemed intent on taking the entire morning to remove her aunt’s shawl and gloves. When they were finally alone, her aunt spoke again.
“Elaina, you know I wish to make you comfortable here in every way. But while I was out calling on my friend Lady Appleby, I heard a rather disconcerting report of a conversation that transpired yesterday during the tea.”
Elaina had been fidgeting, but now she went completely still as Lydia came bounding down the stairs and into the parlor.
“Oh, Mother. You’re home early.” She blinked at Elaina in the large chair then looked back at her mother. “What is going on?”
“Lydia, is it true that Elaina engaged in an argument with some of the young men yesterday?”
“I . . . wouldn’t call it an argument,” Elaina said before Lydia could respond. “More like a lively debate.”
“Call it what you may, but is it true that you insulted the boy about his navigational skills?”
Nautical, Elaina corrected her aunt in her head but didn’t dare speak it aloud. Instead, she took a deep breath. “He insulted me first. They all did.”
“Elaina!” Her aunt looked exasperated. “Men of title do not like to be contradicted—”
“But they—”
“No matter how insipid they’re being,” Charlotte finished firmly. “Your mother left you in my care to prepare you for the life of a marchioness. Just because your father does not hold a title does not mean you can pretend that your mother held any small place in the court. In addition to management and stewardship skills, you also need to understand the proper etiquette that belongs to such a prestigious position!” She placed her fingers on her temples and rubbed them. “I have a headache and will be going to the kitchen for some of Gladys’s lavender. When I return, I expect you to still be here, and we will continue this discussion.”
“See what you’ve done?” Lydia hissed as soon as her mother was out of the room. “Look, I appreciate what you were trying to do. I . . . I know you were trying to make amends for the way Nicholas behaved but . . . Elaina, you just ruined your chances of marriage!” Her eyes hardened a bit. “And possibly mine! Men don’t forget these things, you know! Willard already went home and told his mother. What do you think the others are doing with their friends?”
“Well, it’s not as though I plan on marrying any of them anyway. Why should I worry about their offense?”
“I’m serious!”
Elaina sighed. “First of all, I doubt most of them will wish to admit to their friends that they were bested in naval warfare knowledge by a woman.” She snatched up a fire iron and leaned forward to jab the coals in the fireplace with a vengeance. “That Willard would report it to his mother shows what a coward he is. Second, you forget something.” She replaced the poker and leaned back in the oversized chair, sending Lydia a small, sly smile.
“What?” Lydia folded her arms and huffed.
“I am the legal heir to this home and will assume responsibility for it in four years. That means that when I pass in ten or thirty or seventy years, however long it takes the world to knock me off my feet, it shall go to my next of kin. Which would be you, dear. Now, while I might be sworn off by every eligible man in Ashland, you are not. You are lovely and sweet, and one day some man, many most likely, will recognize that and sweep you off your feet. And we shall all live here together, you with your man and eight children, and me as a crotchety old maid. And when I die, the estate shall be given to you and your family.” She clasped her hands. “See? Problem solved.”
>
Lydia rolled her eyes, but a small smile escaped her lips, which made Elaina smile even more broadly. Before she could tease her cousin any more about babies and men, however, someone knocked at the door.
The butler opened it and a young man dressed in blue and white stepped inside. The colors of the crown.
“Prince Nicholas Whealdmar requests the presence of Lady Elaina Starke,” the man said.
“I am she.” Elaina stepped forward, ignoring the scathing look Lydia sent her that said I told you so. “What does His Highness want of me?”
“His Highness offers you the services of one of his coaches should you need assistance in attending his presence.” He paused, his hand halfway to the bag he wore slung over his shoulder. “Will you be needing such a service?”
“Now?”
The courier looked at the floor. “Yes, my lady.”
Lydia seemed frozen in place, her eyes the size of plums and her mouth open in a little o.
Fury, however, rippled through Elaina. He’d had the audacity to use her to betray her own cousin, and then had betrayed Elaina herself. And now he was summoning her like a child? A sharp response for His Royal Highness was on the tip of her tongue when Aunt Charlotte entered the room.
“An escort will not be necessary,” Elaina said, clearing her throat. “I thank you, but I will take my own carriage and guard. You can tell Prince Nicholas that I shall be on my way within a quarter hour.”
The courier bowed and left, leaving Elaina alone with her confused aunt and sobbing cousin. Over Lydia’s cries about their destitution and the end of all hope for respectable marriages, Elaina informed Aunt Charlotte that she hoped to be back in time for the midday meal.
* * *
Elaina might have enjoyed her first glimpse of the palace’s interior if she hadn’t been so preoccupied with the reason for her visit. She might have found herself in awe of the gold-veined marble floors or paused to study the life-size paintings of men and women that stared down at her from their silver frames taller than her bedchamber. But there was no time to gawk, as the servant leading her walked so fast they were both nearly running by the time they reached a set of large wooden doors on the third floor.
Cinders, Stars, and Glass Slippers: A Retelling of Cinderella Page 7
