Last night he had been certain it was Elaina. She had even fallen for his question about the sailor’s knot. And several times, her thumb had moved up to worry her lip. But in all honesty, more than two years had passed since he had seen her in decent light without a fire roaring between them. Was she really so different as the woman in the garden claimed she would be?
“Your Highness, are you looking for someone?”
Nicholas jumped when Alastair spoke. Why did the infernal little man have to get so close to speak with him? Nicholas bowed politely to his partner and let her go, ignoring the pout she gave him as he thanked her for the dance. Turning to Alastair, he tried to make his voice cheerful. “I am looking for my future wife, am I not?”
Alastair chuckled. “But more specifically, sire, are you not looking for a certain girl from last night? Everyone was rather sure you had favored that little sparkling beauty above all the others.”
How Nicholas had ever found Alastair anything but annoying was beyond him. I would favor you not breathing down my neck, he wanted to snap. Instead, he said, “I would appreciate some wine, if you would be so kind. All of this dancing has made me thirsty.”
He didn’t miss Alastair’s hint of a frown before he bowed and left. Relieved to have a moment to himself, Nicholas had turned back to the crowd when a flash of green caught his eye.
“Your Highness,” a chubby man bowed and shoved a young woman forward, “my name is Bret Tanner of the southern border. Allow me to introduce my daughter—”
“I do sincerely apologize,” Nicholas said, trying to see into the corner of the room where he had glimpsed the flash of green. “But I fear I have something pressing I must attend to.”
The man gaped like a fish as Nicholas walked past them, but Nicholas didn’t have time to make amends. He only knew he needed to find her.
Sure enough, a girl in a dazzling blue-green gown was standing just behind a pastry tower. She looked like Elaina, petite with honey-colored hair, and she kept touching her thumb to her lip. He stopped before approaching her, however, and studied her from a distance. She was squinting as she peered out from behind the treats, a half-eaten scone in her hand. What was she looking for?
Nicholas gathered his courage and prepared himself for ultimate rejection as he strode over to stand behind her.
“If you told me what you were looking for, I might be able to help,” he said, wishing she would hear the true meaning behind his words.
She started a little at the sound of his voice. Turning, she stared at him for a long moment before swallowing the bite she had just taken. The quick sideways glance she gave the crowd gave Nicholas the feeling that she wanted to dart. He would just have to pounce first.
“Would you do me the honor of giving me this dance? Of course, unless you are already otherwise engaged.”
Still, she hesitated.
He hated himself for the sentence he uttered next. “I know you were raised mostly in Solwhind, but is it customary there to deny a prince his request?”
A brief fire flashed in her eyes, and Nicholas almost smiled at her indignation. Yes, that question surely would have angered Elaina.
Before he could inquire further, however, she finally gave him a stiff smile and curtsied. “Very well, Your Highness. This dance is all yours.”
Despite his triumph, Nicholas felt a bit deflated as he led her out onto the dance floor, the crowd parting for them as they moved. Whatever she was looking for, it certainly wasn’t him.
The next dance began, a little reel that was just slow enough for light conversation.
“I apologize, but I don’t believe I got your name last night.”
“Cinderlaina.”
“And my name is Jack.”
She smiled, a real smile this time, though he could tell she was trying not to. “Well played.” She nodded. “But I fear I shan’t be able to give you my name just now.”
“And why would that be?”
She hesitated. “I am not supposed to be here.”
Thanks to his royal dictate. Still, Nicholas played dumb.
“And who doesn’t find a royal decree an acceptable reason for a young woman to attend a ball?”
“The woman I call Stepmother, I’m afraid. If she finds out I am here, I shall face dire consequences.”
Nicholas frowned, confused. “If you would only tell me your situation, I would try my best to help you. Are you looking for something?”
She was staring over his shoulder again, but this time, she looked back up at him with a mischievous grin. Suspicion warred with adoration as he watched her eyes spark. “Yes, actually. I wish to introduce you to someone.”
Surprised, Nicholas could only nod and allow her to lead him from the dance floor as soon as the reel was done. She pulled him over to a gaggle of girls who all became fluttery as he approached.
“Sire,” she said, taking her arm from his, much to his dislike. “I would like to introduce you to Dinah Winters.”
Dinah Winters, a tall, stocky girl with coal-black hair and far too much rouge, looked just as confused as Nicholas felt, but the moment Elaina pulled their arms together, her snake-green eyes locked onto his, and she fairly clung to him like a barnacle to the side of a ship. The girl was unusually strong.
“Dinah loves to dance, Your Highness.” Elaina told him, a victorious gleam in her eyes and an unrepentant smile on her face. “As does her sister, Alison.” She looked back up at Dinah and gave a small curtsy. “I hope you enjoy yourselves.”
So that was her game.
Nicholas shook his head as he watched her dart off into the crowd again. It had to be Elaina, for there could only be one girl in the entire world so infuriating and so devious. Society would collapse were there any more in existence.
Dinah dragged him back out to the dance floor, and Nicholas resigned himself to the slow serenade that had begun to play, possibly the longest dance in all of the musicians’ repertoire.
“Do you know that woman? The one who introduced us?” he asked as the dance began.
She shook her head without breaking eye contact. “No, but I feel as though I’ve known you my entire life.”
Nicholas must have looked surprised, for the young woman brought her face closer to his, her impossibly wide smile growing even wider.
“Perhaps your sister knows her then?” he asked, trying to widen the gap between them.
She only stepped closer again. “Maybe. But sire, don’t you think you might like to know me?”
He spotted the shimmering gown of blue-green again out of the corner of his eye. There she was on the other side of the crowd. Her shoulders were shaking and she held one of her small hands over her mouth. Not only did she have the audacity to watch him suffer, but she was laughing at him as well.
Nicholas counted it as the most agonizing dance he had ever endured with the world’s dullest ninny. Hours passed, it seemed, before the dance was over, and when Nicholas finally tried to make his escape, Elaina was nowhere to be seen.
But Dinah’s sister was, and the thin, fierce girl pounced as soon as Nicholas thought he was free. He nearly put her off until he glanced at his father, who was watching him intently. Inwardly groaning, Nicholas allowed himself to be pulled back to the dance floor. Elaina owed him for this. Not only was he enduring another dance against his will in order to keep her hidden from his father’s notice, but this partner was somehow even more insufferable than the last.
Nicholas finally caught sight of Elaina again as the dance was ending. Only this time, she was accepting the outstretched hand of none other but Alastair himself. What was wrong with her? Did the girl have a death wish? Nicholas’s muscles tensed as he watched her delicate form whirl around in the arms of the man who was hunting her. He ached to stride over and whisk her out of the villain’s arms. Did she have any idea how much danger she was putting herself in?
A wry voice inside told Nicholas that she did indeed. As the two couples brushed by one another, he
caught the same look in her eyes that she wore whenever she was discussing strategy, her pretty pink lips set in a thin line and her eyes ferocious and bright.
As soon as the dance finished, the annoying girl . . . Alison was her name . . . clung to him and begged for another dance. As he tried to extract his arm from her, however, panic boiled like acid in his stomach. Elaina and Alastair were no longer on the dance floor. Instead, arm in arm, they were heading up a set of stairs toward an upper balcony that looked out over the kingdom.
Abandoning all attempts at politeness, Nicholas peeled Alison off his arm and strode after them, taking the steps two at a time. He caught them just as they reached the top of the stairs.
“I hope you don’t mind too much, Bladsmuth, but I’ll be stealing this one back now.”
Elaina looked incensed, but her ire was nothing compared to the pure loathing in Alastair’s face. For a long moment, Nicholas and the spy stared one another down. As they did, an eerie feeling moved through Nicholas like an ill wind, and he had to resist the urge to shudder.
That his opponent had the ability to hurt him, Nicholas had no doubt, but from his two years at war, Nicholas had learned that while the Shadow had declared war, Alastair Bladsmuth was not the kind of man to make his war openly. He preferred back alleys and dark shadows. Here, there were guards and witnesses everywhere, and unless he had a way to silence them all, his secret would be revealed.
At least, that’s what Nicholas was gambling on.
After an eternal moment, Alastair did indeed bow in concession, but there was no accommodating smile this time, nor did he offer a gracious reply. Instead, he simply shoved Elaina’s arm toward Nicholas before stomping out to the balcony.
“Why did you do that?” she asked testily as they made their way back down the stairs. “Can’t a lady spend the evening with whom she chooses?”
“She can,” Nicholas snapped, “as long as she knows what she is doing.”
That she was scheming against the Shadow, not trying to marry him, was obvious. Still, jealousy colored the edges of Nicholas’s mind. “It would be a travesty,” he tried to make his voice smooth again, “for you to waste such a beautiful evening up on the dark balcony when you could be down dancing in the light.”
The annoyance fled her face, and she looked startled. “What hour is it?”
“Do you have somewhere better to be?”
She opened her mouth and closed it again. Then, glancing about the room, she finally said, “I need to get home to my mother before it’s too late. She worries if I’m not home before midnight.”
“The balls are designed to last until dawn.”
“That may be so, but my mother is very adamant I be home early.”
He brought them to a halt at the fringe of the crowd. Letting go of her arm, he smirked and folded his arms across his chest. “I thought your stepmother had forbidden you to come at all.”
Her eyes widened.
Nicholas nearly laughed as he realized he had struck the great Elaina Starke speechless. As she stood there, touching her thumb to her lips and struggling for words, he also realized that his attraction to her had only increased in her absence.
She was a bit too thin, perhaps, but her gentle curves of girlhood had settled into the steadier lines of a woman. Her chin was held as defiantly as ever, even in her temporary confusion, and her stormy blue-green eyes still flashed like lightning over the ocean. It took every ounce of self-control in him not to reach out and pull her tightly against his chest, where he could wrap his arms around her and protect her from any evil that might even think of looking her way. He hadn’t been able to protect her from the evil that Alastair had brought upon them all before, but she was here now where he could see and touch and breathe in the painfully familiar fragrance of her skin and hair.
Why is she pushing me away? He pleaded silently with the Maker. What am I supposed to do?
“It is a quarter after the eleventh hour,” he finally said in a quiet voice. “If you will not stay, would you at least allow me to escort you to your carriage?
He was sure she would say no, but to his surprise, after a moment, she merely nodded and sighed, hanging her head as she placed her arm on his.
Nicholas fairly sprinted out the main entrance, determined to get her alone before she could change her mind. Pausing at the doors, he whispered to one of the guards,
“I wish to have a private word with this young woman. We are not to be disturbed.”
The guard saluted, and Nicholas continued down the steps, relishing the way each step felt with her arm on his. He stopped, however, when they were nearly at the bottom. Before them was a carriage, but it was the oddest and most . . . dramatic coach he had ever seen in his life.
Sea green, just like her dress, the coach looked as though it had been made from one gigantic seashell. Pearls the size of his fist dotted its edges, and the four horses at its head were harnessed by what looked like reins of kelp.
“A bit ostentatious, isn’t it?”
He looked down to see her wearing a small indulgent smile, as though she was no longer even trying to pretend. That was a step in the right direction. “But she just couldn’t help herself.” Then she sighed.
A prickle on the back of his neck warned Nicholas that there were eyes watching them from above. Of course, Alastair would be watching them if he couldn’t be with her. So Nicholas handed her up into the coach, turning his back so that it faced the palace.
“Go,” Elaina called out through the window, but Nicholas put one boot in the coach and shook his head at the somewhat odd-looking driver.
“You’re playing a dangerous game,” he said in a low voice.
She looked at the floor. “You think I don’t know that?”
He took a deep breath. “Meet me tomorrow night on the outer lower balcony, the one on the west side of the ballroom.”
This time, she looked him in the eyes, and the sadness in her face pierced him to the heart. “What about tomorrow will be any different from this evening? Or the last? Or,” she added in a whisper, “the last few years?”
“Everything,” he whispered back, daring to cup her chin in his hand.
“How can you promise that?”
“Because this time,” he said, forcing himself to let go of her, “I have a plan.”
54
Unnerved
Nicholas had to keep his feet from charging after her carriage as it sped away. He considered calling for his horse and making chase, but he knew that would only give Alastair an excuse to follow under the guise of accompanying the prince. No, it was best to stay here where he could keep an eye on Alastair, the way he had the night before.
Still, Nicholas felt cautiously ecstatic as he retraced his way up the steps. She hadn’t refused him outright. And if she did meet him as he had requested, his plan might actually work.
Nicholas stopped to address the guard again before going back in. “Notify Captain Oliver that Alastair Bladsmuth is not to leave the palace, and if he tries I am to be informed immediately.” The guard saluted and sprinted off. Nicholas took a deep breath before returning to the gala inside.
The thousands of candles that lit the ballroom made his head hurt when he returned from the dark of the outside. By now his parents would be wondering where he was and what he was doing, but Nicholas was too tired to care. He motioned for his steward to join him.
“Let the guests continue uninterrupted, but if my parents ask about my whereabouts, I’ve been called away by something important.”
Nicholas didn’t get more than two hallways away from the ballroom, however, before there were footsteps behind him. Closing his eyes, he turned. “I know I have a duty to the kingdom, but I have no wish to—”
“And I don’t wish you to,” came his mother’s calm reply.
Nicholas opened his eyes. “I’m sorry. I thought you were Father.”
“I suspected. Come, I’ll walk you to your chambers.” She took his arm. “
Now tell me, what’s troubling you?”
He gave her a wry grin. “Is it that obvious?”
“I told you, I’m your mother. I know everything.”
Nicholas chuckled. “Well if you know everything, then you shouldn’t have to ask now, should you?”
“You didn’t get much sleep last night.”
He shook his head. “It’s more than that. I’m tired of war. I’m tired of being spied on in my own home. I’m tired of . . .” But he didn’t finish that thought. He couldn’t. Letting his doubts get the better of him now would only make him more unfocused.
They walked in silence, the echoes of their footsteps the only sounds in the polished stone halls. When they reached his chambers, she surprised him by following him inside rather than returning to the ball. As soon as the door was closed, she folded her arms and looked at him expectantly.
“I don’t know who that girl is, but I have my suspicions.”
Nicholas began the aggravating battle of unbuttoning his uniform at the collar.
“I do know, however,” she continued, “that your father is determined to see you betrothed sometime tomorrow night. So if you cannot convince your mystery girl to say yes by the end of tomorrow’s ball, he is more than ready to have the heralds declare your betrothal to Amelia Seamus.”
Nicholas scowled. “Thank you for the encouragement.”
“Don’t get impertinent with me. I’m trying to help.”
“I don’t know what to do!” Finally free, Nicholas flung his jacket on the bed. “Father thinks the war is over, but I’m caught up in its most vicious battle yet.”
She stepped closer and took his right hand. Turning it over, she gently touched the scars that crisscrossed from his elbow to his fingers. “Are you sure about that?” she asked softly.
“Mother, Alastair is the Shadow.”
Cinders, Stars, and Glass Slippers: A Retelling of Cinderella (The Classical Kingdoms Collection Book 6) Page 38
