her daughter up onto her hip, coloring as she did so.
“I’m sorry, she’s only young. She doesn’t know what she’s saying…”
She looked back and forth between each of us, suddenly uncertain.
No one had spoken the prince’s identity aloud, but the knowledge of it hung over us all, coloring our interactions. For a moment there was awkward silence, and then Gabriel blew out a quick breath.
“You all know who I am, don’t you?” When we all nodded, he sighed. “I suppose everyone in the town knows.”
Cora gave a wry chuckle. “Brylee is somewhat isolated, it’s true, but the innkeeper prides himself on knowing the face of every royal and noble in the kingdom. And word travels fast in these parts—it wouldn’t surprise me if half the inhabitants of the next village over know by now. Would you prefer we all start curtsying or should we maintain the charade, Your Highness?”
Gabriel gave a rueful grimace, running a hand through his hair and further ruffling the little curls. He shrugged and then gifted us all with a broad grin.
“I thought maybe I was far enough away from the capital that it was worth giving it a try at least. People tend to act strangely when they know you’re a prince.”
“I can only imagine,” Cora said dryly.
“You’re a prince?” Juniper’s eyes widened. Her gaze locked on Gabriel. “A real one or a pretend one?”
He chuckled. “A real one, from what they tell me. Are there a great many pretend ones?”
She nodded. “I thought maybe they were all pretend. Like dragons and giants and princesses.”
Wren clucked. “Princesses are real, Junie.”
“Are you sure?” Juniper asked, her wide-eyed face looking between each of the adults for confirmation.
I bit my bottom lip and looked away, not meeting her eyes.
“They most certainly are,” Gabriel assured her, gravely. “I have met many of them myself. I even have two sisters who are princesses. Twin sisters, in fact—Pearl and Opal.”
I thought of the young twins with a pang. They would be fifteen by now—so grown up. Did they ever think of me and wonder about my fate? Did anyone?
“And godmothers?” Juniper asked. “What about them?”
Oh, they’re real, I thought but had to leave it to Gabriel to inform her that godmothers also existed.
Juniper seemed to consider this before looking in my direction.
“Why did the prince bow to you, Lady?” She struggled in her mother’s arms until Wren gave an exasperated sigh and let her slip down.
Gabriel followed her progress toward me with his eyes before letting his gaze dwell curiously on my still-hooded face. I could feel the questions hovering on the tip of his tongue.
I wrapped an arm around the little girl’s shoulders, squeezing her affectionately against my leg. I said nothing, however, and Cora answered for me.
“That was a misunderstanding.” She turned to the prince. “Lady is her nickname, not her title. No one from the local castle ever comes down to the town. As far as we know, Lord Leander dwells up there alone. He has no wife or daughters for us to call lady.”
“What do you mean as far as you know?” Gabriel immediately latched onto the oddity. “Surely he doesn’t literally live alone? If he never comes down to the town, he must have servants who visit for him—to fetch food and supplies, if nothing else. Do they not gossip?”
“He has servants,” said Wren, her voice soft. “But no one ever sees them in Brylee. Not since his father died five years ago.”
“That sounds ominous,” said Gabriel with a laugh tinging his voice.
When none of us responded in kind, or even smiled, his humor slipped away, a frown taking its place.
“Well, that sounds serious enough to be worth investigation,” he said. “Have none of you…” His voice trailed away at the horrified expressions on the faces of Cora and Wren. They might be more sensible than most, but they were still citizens of Brylee.
“No, of course you haven’t gone to have a look,” he muttered to himself.
I frowned at him. Hadn’t he only arrived the evening before? Surely he hadn’t been here long enough to understand the strange and pervasive timidity that gripped the townsfolk and rendered them impotent in the face of even the mildest threat.
“It is certainly curious enough that I, at least, would like to go and pay a visit to your Lord Leander,” he said. “I wonder if my purposes would better be served by going as myself or attempting to…” His words dropped too low to be heard as he planned