“Get as close to Alyssa as you can. I need to ask her something.”
Arvin’s only response was to flick his ears back, but he did as I requested. As soon as we crossed through to the relative quiet of the Nobles’ Circle, I asked her the question burning in my mind.
“You said those guards came with Damon from the island? What island? Where has the prince been all these years?”
“I don’t know if it has an official name,” she replied. “It’s not on any of our maps, and he merely called it our island, but it’s apparently a long way from shore—straight out to sea. I suppose it’s roughly halfway between our lands and yours. Just on this side of the impassable storms that used to constantly rage. Friedrich and Mina’s ship encountered one of the storms, and they ended up washed ashore on the island. No one lived there, but Damon tells us it’s large enough to accommodate a small community. They had the whole crew of the ship with them which included a number of women who had stayed faithful to Mina in her exile.”
“So they stayed?” I asked, my voice coming out strangely. “They made a home on the island?”
“Yes. At first they thought of restocking and sailing back, apparently, but they had nowhere they could safely return. And life on the island was good. So they made their own community there. Damon was born there, and he said the first of the second-generation islanders have been born. But with his parents gone, Damon wanted to meet the family they’d told him so much about. So he risked repairing their old ship and sailing here. It should have occurred to me he would have others with him. He couldn’t have sailed that ship alone.”
Perhaps, I told myself, there were two uncharted islands in the middle of the ocean with populations cast adrift from the Four Kingdoms. Even in my head, I didn’t sound convincing.
So Damon knows Sierra, Arvin said, not bothering with the mental escape I was attempting. This morning he said he hadn’t seen her yet. I wonder if they met at breakfast.
Apparently the horse had been paying more attention in the stables than appearances suggested. He flicked his ears back toward me again, letting himself drift away from Alyssa.
“When he exposes her true identity, they’ll assume I’m working with her,” I whispered to him. “I still won’t be able to tell them I’m Princess Giselle. They’ll think she’s some impostor and kick us both out of Arcadia. Or lock us up!”
They won’t lock me up, Arvin said with far too much calm.
“That’s not overly reassuring to me,” I snapped before forcing myself to take a deep breath. None of this was Arvin’s fault. “I need to find Damon.”
Chapter 16
The guards at the gate signaled for us to stop, but as soon as their lieutenant got a proper look at Alyssa’s face, he gestured us hurriedly through. Arvin trotted in beside her, neatly avoiding any explanation of what we’d been doing out in the city.
“We’re lucky the princess decided she wanted to ride back with us,” I muttered to Arvin.
Never attribute to luck what is actually skill, he said, making me snort despite my anxiety.
Harry appeared, taking Alyssa’s mount without looking in the least surprised to see her in such unusual garb. She quickly pulled the scarf from her hair, resuming something of her normal appearance.
“Thank you, Harry,” she said.
“And how is my namesake up in the nursery?” he asked with a wink.
Alyssa laughed. “Utterly delighted to now be old enough to leave the nursery.”
I remembered that Prince Henry—clearly named for his grandfather, the king—was called Harry by his mother and sister. Apparently it was a widespread custom, if even the grooms knew of it.
Alyssa said something else and started toward the stairs into the palace. Harry, shaking his head and smiling, led off her mare. The woodcutter-turned-princess certainly had the skill of making people like her. I’d rarely seen such an approachable royal. No wonder Celine had assured me the older woman would make me welcome.
Could I hope to one day be like her?
The royal breakfast must have been finished, because a tall, handsome man a dozen years my senior appeared at the top of the steps and swept Alyssa into an embrace. He rested his face for a moment in her hair, no doubt murmuring something I couldn’t hear. It was the first time I had seen him this close, but he had to be her husband, Crown Prince Max. Had he been worrying about her the whole time she was gone? My heart melted a little.
“Mama! Mama!”
“There you are!”
The two eager voices broke the moment, and the pair pulled apart, smiling a greeting to their offspring. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone else standing as stationary as I was, watching the familial scene unfolding before us.
I slid down from Arvin’s back. “You’ll have to find your way back to your stall on your own. Find Harry, and I’m sure he’ll wipe you down.”
Charming, he snorted, but I ignored him, rushing up to Damon.
“Damon!” I gripped his arm. “I only just heard where you’ve been living all these years. Have you met Princess Giselle yet?”
He started, broken from his strange concentration, and gave me a confused look. “Elle! I wasn’t expecting to see you here at this time of day. Are you looking for the princess? Apparently she has the morning meal on a tray in her rooms.”
Fresh voices joined the scene, and we both swung around to see King Henry, Queen Eleanor, and Sierra emerge to join the welcoming party. I looked from Sierra to Damon in time to see him stiffen and hiss.
It was his turn to grip my arm. “Who is that?”
“Princess Giselle.” I watched a number of emotions flicker across his face.
“That is not Princess Giselle.” He turned and gave me an intense stare. “What were you saying earlier? What exactly is going on here?”
I looked around, people bustling on every side of us. “We need to talk. But not here.”
I began to drag him around the side of the palace, and to my surprise he didn’t protest, although he did throw another look back at Sierra. When I looked back myself, I saw we had caught her attention across the span of the yard. She watched us with wide, shocked eyes.
Yes, I thought. Be afraid, Sierra. Be afraid.
Part of me wanted to let Damon go—to tell him to run and tell the truth to the Arcadian royals immediately. But if I did that, I would never have the chance to make things right here. I couldn’t fail when I was still only at the beginning of unraveling the situation.
As soon as we reached the first copse of trees, I drew us under the leaves and stopped, turning to face Damon. He frowned at me.
“I know that girl. I grew up with her, years ago. She’s most definitely not a princess. Her name is Sierra.”
I put my hands on my hips and watched him, not speaking.
“I don’t understand.” He drew back a step. “She came here and claimed to be a princess, and you’re her servant. What is she doing?”
I tried to shake my head, but my neck wouldn’t twist. The sensation of paralysis sent a surge of terror through my body, and I stopped trying.
“Why aren’t you saying anything?” he asked suspiciously.