Black Keys (The Colorblind Trilogy #1) - Rose B. Mashal Page 0,91

wanted to do or was okay with. I didn’t know the princess in question. I didn’t know if she was nice or if she would be like the queen or whatever. But then again, it sounded like she was nice enough to ask to see me so that she could give me my wedding gift.

Or just wants you there to humiliate you, a voice in my head suggested. I shrugged it off at Janna’s pleading look and replied, “Yeah, sure, why not?” and something told me that the prince wasn’t really that happy about me going away.

“Yay!” Janna squealed half-heartedly and said that Princess Rosanna would be very happy to see me.

I just smiled, and didn’t say anything.

“Mona,” Janna called, bringing Mona to the living room where we were seated within two seconds from the moment she’d said her name.

“Yes, Princess Janna?” Mona replied.

“Please, prepare Princess Marie the brown blouse with roses on the bottom, and blue jeans,” she said, and Mona frowned.

“Um, brown?” she asked.

“Yes, Mona, brown. Don’t you know where it is?” Janna asked with a frown of her own.

“Uh, I’m sure I can find it, Princess. I’ll be right back,” Mona said and disappeared through one of the secret doors.

“I hope you don’t mind me picking something for you to wear, Marie.”

“Um, no. It’s alright. You picked out all of my clothes anyway, right?” I smiled, and she returned it with a small one.

“Janna,” the prince got her attention with a call of her name, “How are you feeling today?”

“I’m okay,” was her instant reply, but she didn’t sound or look like it.

The prince nodded slowly, he was not very convinced by her reply either. I could tell.

“I still need to see you before you have to leave,” he told her.

The prince and his sister held each other’s gaze for a moment too long, before Janna nodded with yet another fake smile and a, “Yes, of course.”

Before I could wonder what that was all about, Mona chose that moment to come back, looking frustrated and not very happy, more likely annoyed, even.

“I apologize, Princess Janna, but I can’t find any brown blouse with roses on the bottom,” she said.

Janna sighed dramatically–which made me frown–and got up. “I’ll have to get it myself, then. C’mon Marie,” she said and walked to the secret door Mona had just come from before I could reply.

When I looked at the prince, he just smiled a small smile and shrugged as if telling me silently ‘That’s Janna for you,’ and the look in his eyes made me smile with my own. I then got up and followed them into the closet.

Inside, Janna went for a line of shirts and blouses, picking up one with short sleeves and roses at the bottom, just like she’d described. But it was actually dark red, not brown.

I thought it was strange, I couldn’t understand how Janna would confuse dark red with brown. I mean, it was pretty obvious that Janna had a very keen sense when it came to fashion–everything around me was huge proof of that: the furniture, the decorations, all of the clothes. It was really confusing how could she confuse the colors.

“Um, that’s not brown, Princess,” Mona commented.

“Ah! Yeah, my mistake, I guess it slipped my mind,” Janna said, shrugging, and Mona just smiled. “What do you think, Marie? Do you like it?”

“Yeah, it’s nice. Thanks,” I replied, and at my answer Mona reached for the blouse to take it from Janna’s hand, but Janna moved it out of her reach, objecting.

“I’ll help Princess Marie dress, why don’t you go bring us something to drink, please?”

“Yes, of course. Anything you’d prefer, Princesses?”

“Anything would be fine, thank you,” I said.

“Surprise us,” Janna grinned, despite the sadness that I could easily see in her eyes.

“I’ll be right back.”

Once Mona had left the closet, Janna’s face cleared of any grin or smile; she turned from her cheerful mood into a serious one in the blink of an eye. The next thing I knew she was pulling me by the hand to the furthest corner of the closet and then standing in front of me, as close as she could get.

“Marie, listen to me carefully,” she started and for some reason, my heart started thumping rapidly in my chest just hearing those five words, “We won’t be going to see Rosanna. I’ve prepared everything for you to get you to the US by morning.”

Her words took a second to settle in. My mind couldn’t comprehend it right