She nodded, the fire in her eyes returning. She’d regaled us with tales of Luxuria the whole time we’d been chatting, and I marveled at her knowledge of the castle and the country itself.
“I have a little confession,” she admitted, smiling slyly. “I have an ulterior motive to coming here.”
“Safiya!” Zara exclaimed with shock. “You can’t be serious. Isn’t the Prince reason enough to be here?”
“Of course he is,” Safiya responded, giving me a conspiratorial smile. “But there’s so much more to discover in Luxuria than just finding out the color of the Prince’s sheets.”
The three of us giggled as we kept walking in the exquisite gardens. They were truly the pride of the castle, with rich, lush winter greens accompanying us on the walk through the maze. It had tall hedges, rose bushes with brilliant blooms guiding our way through the castle. Safiya had told us one secret already – that we had to follow the white roses to find out way to the center of the maze. The red roses marked every wrong turn leading into the center.
It was quite cold outside, and we’d all bundled up in our warmest clothes. I wore a scarlet red Stella McCartney dress over sheer black stockings and black leather boots by Chloe, and a black cape trimmed with faux fur I’d gotten from Rose, a custom-tailored piece. The other girls wore real furs, but I couldn’t bring myself to do that, I loved animals too much.
Zara bundled up in her brown rabbit while Safiya pulled her white wool coat adorned with silver fox tighter around her chest. It was a cool morning, and our breath came out in white circles as we walked over the property.
“Tell us more,” Zara encouraged our friend. “I want to know everything!”
“You didn’t do any research yourself?” Safiya raised her eyebrows, a playful smile on her lips. “Don’t worry, girls, I’m more than happy to impart my wisdom.”
“Go on then,” I urged her. “Tell us more.”
“I’ve told you most of the history, right?” Safiya asked, and the two of us nodded eagerly. “Prince Olivier’s father, King Sebastian, ruled with a firm first. He wasn’t a kind ruler, but he was fair. The country flourished under his rule. He amassed riches to conquer every other kingdom in Europe. He was wealthy, he made all the right decisions, and he took care of his family. There was only one mystery that was never solved before he died…”
“Which one?” Zara rushed to ask, her eyes burning bright with curiosity. “You can’t stop now, Safiya!”
Our friend’s eyes sparkled. She knew she’d hooked us, and even I was eager to find out more, cursing myself for not doing more research on the royal family before we arrived at the castle.
“The King had a bastard son,” Safiya went on, eliciting a gasp from Zara.
“Bruno, right?” I asked before I could stop myself. Secrets, secrets, secrets will be the end of me, I thought to myself as both the girls turned to face me with matching curious expressions.
“You know about him?” Safiya asked. “I thought it was a secret… for a while, I even thought it was an urban legend!”
“He picked me up from the a-airport,” I stuttered. “He didn’t pick you girls up?”
“No,” Safiya shook her head, and Zara mirrored her reaction. “I really didn’t think he was real. I thought it was all tales, that he was made-up. I haven’t seen him in the castle. Have you, Amber?”
I thought back to my time in Luxuria and realized I hadn’t seen Bruno either, not since that first day at the airport. I shook my head.
“What does he look like?” Zara rushed to ask. “I wonder if he’s as handsome as Prince Olivier.”
“He is,” I admitted reluctantly. “Though they look very different… I guess Olivier must look more like his father, I don’t see the family resemblance with the Queen.”
The girls showered me with questions and I laughed, doing my best to answer them all. Now, I was questioning Bruno’s presence at the airport. Why had he only picked me up, but not the other girls? Was I special in some sort of way? Or was he just scoping things out for his brother?
I realized with a start Olivier had never mentioned his brother to me. Perhaps there was animosity between them? I vowed to get to the bottom of it soon.
I remembered Bruno clearly now, the dark hair, the piercing grey eyes. Where had I seen those eyes before? They felt so familiar when I thought of them. He was handsome, there was no doubt about it. But there was an air about him I didn’t trust completely, something to suggest he was perhaps more sinister than he let on.
“Safiya, tell us more about what you know,” I finally said when they’d exhausted my knowledge of the royal bastard. “Who is Bruno’s mother?”
“Well, that seems to be the biggest mystery,” she confided in us. “Nobody really knows, but some say she was a maid at the castle.”
“Sounds so mysterious,” Zara muttered. “We need to find out more, girls.”
“What does it matter?” I shrugged. “We’re here for Olivier, right?”
“Right,” Zara nodded, her eyes glittering with mischief. “Though I have a feeling Bruno might be the perfect consolation prize.”
We all laughed out loud.
“Have you girls dated before?” I asked, my heart thumping in my chest as I got the question out. They turned to face me and I rushed to add, “Obviously, nothing serious… But surely you’ve had other men courting you?”
“I suppose,” Safiya said with a devilish smile. “Though I can’t say I was interested. I had other things on my mind…”
“Like what?” Zara asked, but she shrugged, giving us a mysterious smile. I made a mental note of it for later before turning to face my other new friend.
“What about you, Zara?” I asked.
“Well…” she gave me a glance filled with worry. “There was someone… Someone my parents really wanted me to marry. But when the invitation came, I was grateful for it.”
“You didn’t want to marry the other boy?” Safiya asked.
“Boy?” Zara let out a bitter laugh. “He wasn’t a boy. He was twenty years my senior… And no, I didn’t want to marry him. It would’ve been an arranged marriage though, as is our custom, and I couldn’t have done much to fight it. And if I don’t win… I’ll have to go back home, and probably marry him, anyway.”
“That’s awful,” I muttered, squeezing her trembling hand. “I had no idea, Zara. I’m so sorry.”
She shrugged, the happy-go-lucky smile that was her signature returning to her face as she brightly retorted, “I’ll figure it out. I always do.”
I gave her an encouraging smile, my heart thumping in my chest. What else was I supposed to do? In the end, we would still be each other’s competition. We all wanted Olivier, but only one of us would stay in Luxuria and become his bride.
“What about you, Safiya?” I asked next. “Ever been in a relationship?”
“I have,” she replied, giving me a mysterious smile. I could tell there was more to the story, and she was staying tight-lipped on purpose, whether to make us more curious or because she didn’t want us to know, I wasn’t sure.