I stared at him. Had that been a trace of threat in his voice? Several of the others gave him odd looks as well, so I hurried on.
“One of the guards wounded Damon, just as he was escaping. He gave him a deep gash in his leg. I was standing close enough to see, and the wound just closed back up. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Slowly everyone turned from me to Sierra. She looked reluctant, her loyalty to Damon so deeply ingrained she still had trouble throwing it off. As I stared at her, a sudden connection sparked through my brain.
“Was it the object?” I asked her. “You told me in the carriage that you used an object designed for protection—one that had only a little power left. Had the rest of its power been used to make Damon impervious to injury?”
She sighed and nodded. “It was a gift from his mother. She never told us where it came from.”
“That’s not going to make it easier to catch him,” Max muttered, looking concerned.
“Don’t worry, son.” The king clasped him on the shoulder. “We’ll talk to Ava, and between us, we’ll find him. His enchantment won’t stop us locking him away forever.”
An awkward silence fell as we all digested the information.
“There is still one thing left to be explained,” Thomas said suddenly, speaking the words burning in my mind. “What exactly is your role in all this, Philip? And why are you wandering around dressed like a servant, for goodness sake?”
I turned at last to look directly at Philip, eager for the answers to the questions that had long plagued me. But how did Thomas know Philip? And why was he surprised to see him dressed as a servant?
“You look familiar.” Alyssa narrowed her eyes at him. “I’ve been thinking it all evening, but I can’t place you. You certainly don’t fight or ride like a servant.”
Thomas barked a laugh at that. “I should say not. Have none of the rest of you met him before? Philip is from Lanover. I spent a number of years there with relatives when I was young, and he and I became close friends. He’s the youngest grandson of the Duchess of Sessily. The fifth child of her only son.”
I gaped at Philip. Thomas had been the friend from his childhood stories of mischief? And his grandmother was the Duchess of Sessily? Matriarch of the oldest and most respected duchy in Lanover, and their king’s most trusted advisor. And she had been here in Arcadia—I had seen her myself.
“Grandson of the Duchess of Sessily?” King Henry frowned at Philip. “But what are you doing wandering around my kingdom dressed as a servant?”
“I’ve been here for some time, I’m afraid,” Philip said apologetically.
“Celeste!” Alyssa suddenly exclaimed, triumphantly proclaiming the name of Celine’s sister, the crown princess of Northhelm. “Celeste sent you, didn’t she? But why didn’t she tell us?”
I could see that every adult in the room except for Thomas and Sierra understood Alyssa’s meaning. But I couldn’t see why Celeste—who now lived in Northhelm—would have sent a Lanoverian noble to Arcadia.
Philip cleared his throat, hesitating a moment before giving in to the inevitable. “I was here to investigate among the servants. She wanted me entirely incognito.” He grimaced. “I believe she thought someone would accidentally give me away if they knew of my presence. I’ve been ducking into buildings and behind trees like a jack-in-the-box whenever Thomas appeared, since I knew he would recognize me.”
“I still think she could have told us,” Alyssa muttered.
“I do hope you’ll forgive me,” he said to her with a charming smile. “You know Aurora runs her spy network for the good of all the kingdoms now.” He used the name of the princess’s alter ego as spymaster.
Suddenly Celeste’s involvement made sense. I should have guessed from all of Celine’s stories about her brilliant older sister that she would have used her marriage to enlarge her spy network, rather than leaving it behind.
Many other things I hadn’t previously understood made sense as well. Why Philip had been suddenly ‘too busy’ to eat lunch with me on the day his grandmother arrived in Arcadia. If he had been afraid of Thomas recognizing him, he must have been doubly afraid of his own grandmother doing so. Why he had been so familiar with Thomas’s story, and so full of empathy for his childhood. Why he had known his way around a noble’s mansion and known to look for a hidden drawer in the viscount’s desk. Even why he had been so interested in my oddities when I first arrived.
“You saved Max and me, and helped save our children, so I suppose I shall have to forgive you,” Alyssa said with a return smile. “But it seems to me there’s someone else whose forgiveness is more important.” She gave a significant look in my direction. “You weren’t under an enchantment that prevented you from revealing your true identity.”
Philip immediately turned and took both my hands. “I’m so sorry. I hated lying to you. But I’d made a promise to Aurora. She wasn’t too eager to take me on, considering my rank, so I suppose you weren’t the only one wanting to prove yourself. But then, the more I grew to love you, the more nervous I became. I could tell there was something strange about your history, and that you were no ordinary maid, but I still thought you a commoner, a true servant. I was afraid if I told you who I really was, it would scare you away.”
I gulped, trying not to cry. “But why are you a spy? You’re a son of the most important non-royal family in Lanover. You always seemed so disinterested in the life of a noble. Was that just a cover?”
He grimaced and rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s true I don’t have much patience for protocol and dancing attendance on important people—I much prefer a bit of adventure and new places to explore. I’m only the youngest which is why I was allowed to leave at all, and I was eking every last bit of enjoyment out of my freedom because it was only ever a temporary leave of absence. My family expects me to return to my responsibilities soon.”
He let go of my hands and slipped both arms around my waist, looking at me with a hopeful expression. “Unless you might be prevailed upon to steal me away to an entirely new set of kingdoms? A princess of Eldon is a marriage alliance not even my grandmother could turn down.”
The tears finally spilled over, making twin tracks down my cheeks.
His brow creased. “Don’t cry. You’re under no obligation to me. I would never want you to feel burdened by my love for you.”
“They’re happy tears,” I whispered. “The handkerchief told me you weren’t being truthful, and I thought it was when you said you loved me—but it was actually when you said you were a servant.”
“How could you doubt my love?” he asked, horrified.
I mopped at my face. “I thought maybe it was only an infatuation, and you were mistaken in your feelings.”
He removed one hand from my waist to gently wipe away my tears, lifting my face so my eyes met his. “My feelings for you are not infatuation, I assure you.”
“I’m so happy!” I threw my arms around his neck. “You may not be Prince Percy, but surely my family can’t say no to the Duchess of Sessily’s grandson.” I gave a watery chuckle. “Celine would never let them. And I don’t want to go back to be shut up in a palace either. I’ve had a taste here of getting to know the people, and now I want to get to know my own people. I’m going to ask my parents if we can go exploring through the whole kingdom, meeting the regular people.”