am sorry to disturb you,” Erin said. She paused in the door another moment, and then crept farther into the room. “I was coming to return some books.”
“No,” Aurora said. “No, you’re not disturbing me. I was just—”
“Just getting revenge on the candle?” Erin smiled. “I hope it is not my fool of a brother who has made you so angry. I assure you, he’s not worth the effort.”
“No,” Aurora said again. “No, I just—I’m sorry. I shouldn’t lose my temper like that.”
“Who am I to tell you what you should and shouldn’t do? And if you were angry at my brother, I would not be surprised. He often deserves it.”
Erin began arranging the books on the table. She had lugged four of them with her, all tomes with Alyssinia in the titles.
“History books?” Aurora asked. “On Alyssinia?”
“Yes. My mother wanted me to study Alyssinian history in more detail . . . I presume because you are here.”
“I’ve been trying to research too,” Aurora said. “I missed so much while I slept.”
“None of these books are that modern, I’m afraid. It’s mostly older history. Alysse, Queen Desdemona, the Golden Age . . .” Erin fidgeted with her books. “They are my favorites, I think,” she said. “The hated queens. Driven out for having too much power. It’s fascinating.”
“Yes,” Aurora said. “Fascinating.”
Erin pulled one of the books toward her, and then paused. “Actually, there is something I wanted to ask you. The other day, you spoke of Prince Rodric as if you liked him well.”
“Yes,” Aurora said. “He’s a good person. Why?”
“I had wondered, with you running here. . . . People always say good things about princes, but you were still reluctant to marry him.”
“That was not why I ran.”
Erin nodded. “There were discussions about a marriage alliance between us, you see. I think my mother was more interested in pursuing one farther away, in Palir perhaps . . . but after the tragedy with Princess Isabelle, she may pursue it again. If Finnegan cannot cement the alliance, then it might fall to me. And so I was curious.”
Aurora looked at the younger princess, the way even the curl of her long red hair was elegant. She was the sort of girl Iris had expected, the sort who could have taken everyone’s adoration and spoken wisely and used it for good. Perhaps Aurora should have been jealous, to hear that Erin might marry Rodric one day. But Rodric deserved happiness, and it would not come with Aurora. She had no claim to him, except as a friend. She didn’t want any claim to him beyond that. “Rodric is wonderful,” she said. “He would make a good husband, I think.”
“Yet you did not marry him.”
Aurora opened the book in front of her and began to turn the pages, without really looking at the words. Her hands could not keep still. “I could not stay,” she said. “I could not support John like that . . .”
“That is the only reason?”
Aurora looked back up at her. Erin was watching her, lips apart. Intrigued. “It was strange,” Aurora said. “At first, I thought Rodric was rather . . . awkward. That we didn’t fit together. But I don’t think I’ve ever met a kinder person. It was as though . . . he seemed exactly like the sort of person I should love. That I would be a fool not to see the value in him.”
“You did see the value in him,” Erin said. “From what you’ve said.”
“But I didn’t feel for him that way,” Aurora said. “I liked him as a friend, and we might have been happy enough together, but—I didn’t feel what I should.”
“You felt what you felt,” Erin said. “And if you did not love him, and the marriage could only hurt the kingdom, it is better that you ran, don’t you think? A sweet person like that deserves someone who will not resent him.”
“I don’t resent him.”
“Then you are a better person than most, if that is true.”
Aurora turned another page. “And you think you will resent whoever you marry?”
“No,” Erin said softly. “No, of course not. I think there is a difference between making a diplomatic alliance you’ve expected your whole life, and waking up in a future to find out that your throne is no longer yours and you are expected to marry the new heir. It is a strange sort of coup. If you do not mind my saying so.” She let out a little