Page 11 of The Mage and His Stolen Prince
I instinctually froze, like a rabbit trying not to be noticed in the weeds.
She still had Trey pinned to the ground, which put her in a perfect position to pounce. “You,” she said, drawing out the word as long as three letters allowed.
She can’t possibly remember anything.No oneremembers anything.
I tightened my clasped hands behind my back and stared straight ahead, refusing to distinguish myself from the crowd. “Can I help you load your luggage, Your Highness?” I asked, keeping my voice light even as my heart threw itself against the cage of my ribs, trying to escape before the claws came down.
Delilah tilted her head to the side. Fluffy brown curls covered her shoulders and fell into her eyes, curtaining her face. The longer she drew this out, the more the others would notice her suspicion.
Trey looked between the two of us and elbowed Delilah in the ribs. “Stop ogling, it’s impolite.”
“I amnotogling!” she declared. “I wouldneverobjectify the staff, especially not right before we meet our future spouses!”
The termfuture spousespierced me like a dagger in the chest, a sharp reminder that if I didn’t play my part correctly, Trey would marry one of the other royal champions. Last time, it’d been his mission to convince them to embark on a quest. This time, all knowledge of his evil father had been erased, so he was free to do as he wished.
Even marry someone else.
Trey rolled his eyes and pushed his cousin off him, rolled to his feet, then held out a hand to help her stand. “Get in the carriage.”
She sniffed in offense but accepted his help. To prove she hadn’t been ogling me, she purposefully had one of the other attendants assist her into the carriage.
I sighed in relief. Once we were on the road, we would have some distance between us, and whatever suspicions she had of me could fade into oblivion.
“Wait,” Rick said.
My relief instantly tightened into tension. Now that Delilah had drawn attention to me, did Rick recognize me from the shopping district? It’d been a brief encounter, so I hadn’t disguised myself before taking this position. If two people recognized me, I would have to abandon my post and find some other way to get closer to Trey.
“Where are your parents? Shouldn’t they be seeing you off?” Rick asked.
“Oh, that. Mama is busy running a kingdom and Kit is—” Delilah finished her sentence by waving airily. “Neither of them have time for something as silly as a goodbye. I’ll see them again soon.”
“Delilah.”
She hummed and gave him an innocent look.
“Youdidtell your parents we were taking you to Misfortune, correct?”
Delilah gasped in deep affront and placed her hand over her heart. “Uncle Rick, do you think I wouldsneak out?”
“No, not at all,” he replied with an insincere smile.
“So, you won’t mind if we have a little chat with Kit before we leave, right?” Brendon added blandly. They walked off without waiting for her response.
“Wait!” She hopped down from the carriage and ran after them into the castle.
While they worked out their farewells, I focused on helping the other attendants load the luggage. With the addition of Delilah’s trunk, Connor wanted to rearrange everything to make it fit better. The soft sound of a cleared throat interrupted our work. I glanced up, then froze with one hand stuck in a trunk’s handle.
Trey shifted uneasily from foot to foot, glancing between me and the other attendants. It looked like he wanted to ask for a private word. Anticipation buzzed in my veins at the idea of being alone with him again after so long. In the end, he opted for a public apology. “I’m sorry if she made you uncomfortable.”
“No harm done,” I replied. My arm was suddenly yanked to the side as John, the senior attendant, tried to subtly take the trunk from me. He hadn’t realized how tightly I’d been clutching the handle. I released it and mouthed an apology, then turned back to my work.
“Right, well, I’m glad. She’s kind of …” Trey trailed off, his attention drawn to the front doors of the castle.
Curious, I looked in the same direction.
A knight in shining helmet strode toward the carriage. The rest of the armor seemed to be missing in action. Two attendants followed behind them, balancing a trunk between them.
“Do you have to bring the helmet, Kit?” Brendon asked as he followed the knight.
