The Princess Game: A Reimagining of Sleeping Beauty (The Four Kingdoms Book 4)

by Melanie Cellier

  Their conversation echoed through my mind, and I tried to remind myself that eventually the novelty of my beauty would fade, and William would flee my empty conversation. But when I slipped into bed that evening, a single frangipani rested on my pillow.

  I stared at it. I had told William that morning that the frangipani was my favourite flower.

  “Rosie,” I said to the maid banking the fire. “Where did this flower come from?”

  She looked up with a twinkle in her eye. “A certain young prince may have tasked me with placing it there, Your Highness. How could I say no to such a handsome face?”

  “How indeed?” I sunk back against the pillows. Rafe had spoken to William of love. Was it possible? Could William grow to love me truly? But he only saw a beautiful face. True love would value me regardless of my appearance. And how could anyone truly see me apart from my striking looks? Especially when the curse ensured nothing else was visible.

  I shook myself. A flower changed nothing. It merely served as a warning that William was more observant that most.

  It took more effort than usual to slip into Aurora that night.

  Then I found two reports from my agents. One reported that the latest shipment of weapons for the castle armoury had never arrived. The royal weapons maker in the capital swore that he had sent them, but both quartermasters denied receiving them.

  That got my attention. Missing food supplies and medicines were one thing. But missing weapons? I still hoped I was dealing with a thief within the palace hierarchy – someone who was selling the items for their own profit. Unfortunately, I feared that was wishful thinking.

  I had never worked out what the late-night visitor to the palace had been after, and I felt sure a missing puzzle piece eluded my grasp. I slipped a reassuring hand down to feel the hilt of the dagger I had taken to wearing in my boot. I didn’t want to be caught at a disadvantage again.

  The second note detailed yet another change in the guard roster. I decided the time had come to investigate the two quartermasters. Both men had held their positions for most of my life and neither had ever shown the slightest disloyalty to the royal family. But with missing supplies and odd changes to the guard, I couldn’t keep ignoring them. Especially since neither man had brought the missing items to my parents’ attention.

  Those guards who lived in the palace inhabited the furthest wing, separated from the main part of the building by several unused corridors and an internal, open courtyard. I didn’t often visit their wing since the night watch ensured there were always guards awake. I would need all of my concentration to enter and leave undetected.

  I decided to approach from the outside since the garden provided far more hiding places than the corridors. Working my way around the massive building, I drank in the beautiful scent that permeated the air. Marie had told me that in the north, most of the plants were dormant for half the year. The thought made me sad.

  Flowers and dresses were the only two of my real interests I had been able to keep after the curse. I couldn’t imagine life without either one of them.

  When I reached the distant wing, I counted the windows and then took a final moment to tuck my scarf more firmly around my face. Waiting for a cloud to pass in front of the moon, I moved out of hiding. Running swiftly but silently, I approached the fourth window from the end.

  Counting my breaths helped to calm me as I pulled out my set of lock picks and used them to prise open the window shutters. It was a handy concentration trick I had learned years ago. As soon as the shutters were open, I swung myself over the sill and into the room, pulling them quietly closed behind me. I stood there, still counting, until I heard the sentry walk past on his rounds.

  Once his footsteps had faded, I looked around the room. While I had been focussing on my ears, my eyes had adjusted to the lower light, and I could clearly see the space that served as both a sitting room and an office for our longest standing quartermaster, Ercole.

  Everything looked exactly as it should, and snores emanated from the adjoining bedchamber. A second inspection locked the position of everything in my mind. I would ensure that before I left, the scene looked exactly as it did now.

  I stepped away from the window and paused. Turning back to examine the windowsill and shutters, my eyes caught on a long, white hair illuminated by an errant ray of moonlight. I leaned down and picked it up from the floor, rolling it between my fingers. Ercole’s gleaming bald head appeared in my mind.

  I ran through the rest of the guards stationed at the palace and could think of none that had gone white. I carefully placed the hair back on the sill and then strode over to the other window. I found a second hair, this one resting across the clasp of the shutters. A quick glance at the door revealed a third hair. My gut sank.

  I could think of no good reason for Ercole to set up an intruder alert system in his office. Unless he also suspects something is wrong and is being cautious. I still wanted to believe the best. I didn’t quite convince myself, however.

  My heartbeat picked up as I crossed over to his desk. A quick examination of the papers on top revealed nothing of interest. I carefully replaced them and bent to search the drawers. The bottom one was locked.

  My lock picks re-emerged from where I kept them hidden in my hair, and I soon had the drawer open. A small leather book rested inside. I picked it up and examined the spine. A Quartermaster’s Guide to Supplies and Inventory. Nothing suspicious there.

  So why did he keep it in a locked drawer?

  I flipped through the pages and a thin piece of parchment drifted out of the book and towards the floor. I caught it before it landed. Crossing over to one of the windows, I read it in a shaft of light that had managed to squeeze through a gap in the shutters.

  A letter. My eyes skimmed the words and found a description of the most recent harvest and the health of several family members. The paper itself was dirty and worn, folded in multiple places.

  It looked completely innocuous except for several small notations made in odd places. Several individual letters had also been circled.

  I had spent the entire second year of my curse teaching myself how to make and decipher codes. I easily recognised the markings. They were the same sorts I had made myself in my early days of coding. Ercole had clearly needed some visual aids when he had deciphered this message.

  A loud snore from the next room made me hesitate. Should I leave the note or take it with me? I needed to decipher it, but I wasn’t ready for Ercole to discover someone had raided his rooms.

  One of the drawers had held a stack of blank parchment. I would simply have to hope he didn’t know exactly how many were in the pile. Whipping one out, I found a pen and began to carefully copy the letter. Every mark on the page was repeated on my copy, and I then carefully folded my own sheet to match the folds on the original.

  I looked at it and sighed. It wasn’t as good as taking the letter itself, but it was a necessary compromise. Tucking the copy into my shirt, I returned the original and relocked the drawer.

  A quick search of the rest of the room revealed nothing else of interest. I had intended to depart through the internal door, since Antonio, the other quartermaster, resided directly across the hall. But the hair balanced on the doorhandle made that impossible.

  I examined the way he had laid the hair across the untouched shutter handle. I couldn’t emulate the exact positioning on my window, but I picked up the hair I had dislodged anyway and wrapped it around one side of the internal clasp. Hopefully once I was through the window and the shutter was closed, the hair would look close enough to undisturbed.

  I hadn’t been meant to notice the hairs at all, so its presence on the shutter should be enough to allay suspicion. If Ercole was expecting anyone, he was clearly hoping for an amateur. Not surprising since he had been around long enough, and was senior enough, to know Lanover was sorely lacking in the spy arena. Clearly he hadn’t heard of Aurora’s arrival.

  And, thankfully, I hadn’t
even considered sending one of my agents to do the job. They hadn’t been trained for this sort of thing, since I only used such methods as a last resort. The situation had never called for it before, with the one exception of my own agents. Anyone who volunteered to join my network had their room searched by me. I couldn’t risk having my agents infiltrated by anyone disloyal to Lanover. I walked a particularly fine line since my spy network lacked official sanction.

  I waited by the window until the sentry had made a pass and then slipped out into the night. A long walk through the garden to the far side of the wing gave me plenty of time to wonder what I would find when I decoded the message. It was still possible Ercole was only a thief and not a traitor. I feared I was clutching at straws, though.

  I had to admit to a small thrill as I swung myself into Antonio’s office. Another smooth entry. It had been too long since I had practiced these skills, and I’d forgotten the rush that came with them. The hours I spent doing strength and knife exercises in my bedchamber kept me in physical condition, but they did nothing to alleviate my boredom. In the early days, before I had expanded my network of agents, I had done more of the work myself. I hadn’t realised how much I missed it.

  It didn’t take long to see the obvious differences in Antonio’s room. No hairs or sand marked the entrances, and none of his drawers were locked.

  The relief must have made me careless, because I forgot to wait for the sentry to pass before I let myself back out the window. I had secured the shutter and taken only two steps away when he rounded the corner.

  Chapter 7

  For a frozen moment we stared at each other. Then he gave a loud shout, and I took off into the gardens, as fast as I could run. My pulse hammered, and my breath thundered through my throat as I weaved through the plants. How long did I have before more guards heard his shout and joined him?

  I screamed at myself silently for getting lax and overconfident.

  I knew the gardens as well as I knew the palace, and I managed to put a little distance between us. My mind raced as I tried to think how I could use that to my advantage.

  I rounded a tree, my attention focussed on my pursuit, and failed to notice a shadowy figure in front of me. I collided with the man just as the moon sailed out from behind a cloud and illuminated the scene.

  I staggered back in shock, recognising the arms that reached out to steady me. William.

  He looked me over quizzically before focussing on my eyes. I tried to wrench myself free to keep running, but his fingers tightened on my arms. Another shout from the pursuing guard brought his head up. He looked down at me once more and then thrust me behind him, keeping one hand firmly wrapped around my wrist.

  I considered breaking his hold, but he didn’t seem to be restraining me for the guard. I made the risky split-second decision to trust him. He had slowed me down enough that I had lost my lead, anyway. My options had narrowed considerably.

  The guard, who had been joined by a comrade, barrelled around the tree and jerked to a halt. The moonlight still shone strongly enough to light William’s face. The second guard glanced at the first uneasily.

  “Y…your Highness,” he stammered. I could easily read his thoughts as he glared at his companion. Have you been chasing the prince this whole time? Didn’t you recognise him?

  The original guard had noticed me sheltering behind William, however.

  “Excuse me, Your Highness,” he said, more confidently. “We have a few questions for your… companion.”

  William raised both eyebrows. “Come, come gentlemen. You’ve already frightened the poor thing half out of her wits. I really can’t allow you to intimidate her any further.”

  “Her?” The guard clearly hadn’t recognised I was a girl. The news seemed to throw him off stride. “We wouldn’t wish to inconvenience Your Highness in any way, but we have our duty.”

  William treated them to his easy smile. “And a credit you are to Lanover, I’m sure.” He leaned forward and lowered his voice. “But this particular young flower is nervous for a reason. A strict father, you understand. One who would take exception to even a simple stroll through the moonlight.” He winked. “I can assure you, however, she’s no risk to Lanover.” He chuckled as if even the thought amused him.

  “I…I see.” The guard leaned around William to look at me. “Is that right, miss?” He moved his weight uncomfortably from foot to foot. He now seemed torn as to whether he was supposed to be protecting William from me, or me from William. The whole situation was so ridiculous, I nearly laughed.

  I raised the pitch of my voice as high as I could and added a nervous wobble when I assured him that all was well with me and I truly, truly hadn’t meant any harm. He’d just given me such a fright.

  The second guard gave a small start when he got a good look at me, and as the moonlight fell on his face, I easily recognised why. I glared at him, trying to send a message with my eyes.

  He tugged at the other guard’s arm. “Come on. We’re clearly not wanted here.” He gave William a knowing look and a wink of his own. I reminded myself to commend him on his acting skills later. As one of my newer agents, I hadn’t had the chance to see him in action before.

  Reluctantly the first guard allowed himself to be dragged away. I waited until the sound of their retreat had fully faded before I let out a deep breath. I looked up into William’s twinkling eyes.

  “As a prince, rescuing fair maidens in distress is quite my usual occupation. I can’t say I’ve ever rescued one dressed like you before, though.”

  I lowered the tone of my voice, as instinctive a part of my Aurora persona as giggling had become to my princess one. “Thank you.”

  “I generally like to know the names of the women I rescue.”

  “Aurora,” I said without thinking.

  “Ah.” He regarded me with a smile. “And are you as lovely as the dawn underneath that scarf, Aurora?”

  I quickly stepped backwards. “I’m afraid that will have to remain up to your imagination.”

  He examined me from top to toe, taking in my dyed outfit. Thank goodness the scarf hid the warmth flooding my cheeks. Aurora didn’t blush.

  “I sincerely trust you haven’t made a liar out of me, Aurora, when I told those guards you meant no harm to Lanover. You have to admit your appearance looks a little…shifty.”

  I hovered on the balls of my feet, ready to run if I needed to, but curiosity kept me in place. “I can assure you I have only the good of the kingdom at heart. But tell me, why did you help me?”

  His brow scrunched in thought. “That is an excellent question. I can’t say exactly. It was the decision of a moment.” His gaze focussed on my face. “I suppose it was your eyes. They were so obviously pleading for help, I couldn’t abandon you.”

  “A chivalrous princeling, then.”

  He didn’t seem to take offense at my condescending comment. “You grow more interesting by the minute, Aurora. You see me simply burning with curiosity. What sends a young woman, dressed in black from head to toe, fleeing from the palace guards in the middle of the night?”

  I shifted my weight, preparing to leave, but he caught the movement.

  His hand shot out to grip my wrist again. “Oh no you don’t. I’ve sullied my honour for you. Who knows what terrible rumours are circulating amongst the guards even as we speak.”

  His eyes didn’t lose their twinkle, so I decided not to waste any pity on him.

  “I’m afraid the cost of my assistance is an answer of some sort.” He looked at me meekly. “It need only be a small one. I assure you I’m not in the least greedy.”

  A reluctant laugh escaped me. “Will you accept the promise of a large answer tomorrow night, Princeling?”

  “You tempt me, Oh Mysterious One, but how do I know you’ll reappear?”

  I stiffened. “I’m offering you my word.”

  He let go of my arm and held up both hands in surrender. “No need to glare fire at me.” He regarded me silently f
or a moment. “Curiouser and curiouser. Very well, Aurora, I accept. Tell me where to find you tomorrow night, and your humble servant will await you there.”

  I thought for a moment. “Meet me in the gazebo on the other side of the garden. The spot will be more believable for a lover’s meet up, if anyone happens upon us. Come at three bells past midnight.”

  He made no protest at the late hour, so I turned to leave. I took several steps before turning back around. He was watching my retreating back.

  I knew I should stay silent and escape while I had the chance, but I couldn’t resist. “You’re very trusting, Princeling.”

  He spread his arms out wide, the moonlight glinting in his golden hair. “What can I say, Aurora? You inspire trust.” He gave a deep chuckle. “Or is this my warning that I should be more suspicious? I can call the guard back if you would prefer.”

  “I’ll be there tomorrow night. Don’t keep me waiting.” I slipped away, exercising all of my self-control not to look back over my shoulder.

  I didn’t see how sleep would be possible after the events of the night, but I knew I had to try. Tomorrow would be a long day, and the night even longer.

  Even so, I had several stops before I could return to my chambers. My discoveries in Ercole’s office would require the resources of my entire network, and some at least of them would need to receive their instructions in person. Coded notes were left in all of my hidden message caches, my last stop being the library. I scanned the shelves, fighting against my drooping eyelids. The earlier rush had faded, leaving me unusually exhausted.

  I finally located a copy of A Quartermaster’s Guide to Supplies and Inventory and made my way towards my bed. The book and the copied letter I tucked safely under my pillow. Part of me wanted to stay up and begin deciphering the message, but the saner part of me knew it was far too late. I would make quicker work of it in the morning.