I handed the parchment I still held to the closest official, who looked down at it with a frown. As soon as she read the words, her brow cleared, however. She passed it along to her companion while smiling broadly at me.
“Naturally we would be only too happy to accommodate your request, Princess Verene. And we apologize for the oversight that saw your chosen servant excluded in the first place. I don’t know how that happened.”
I shrugged. “It’s no one’s fault. I hadn’t made my choice known yet as there seemed no need. She was top of her group.”
“I will admit,” the second one said, looking up from the parchment, “I was surprised not to see your name on the list, Elsie.”
“As I said, it was all due to a misunderstanding,” I said. “And I apologize that since I didn’t write that composition myself, I can’t tell you exactly how much energy it contains. But I’m sure it will be enough for more than just Elsie.”
“Don’t give it another thought, Your Highness,” said the first one. “That’s our job, and you can safely leave it to us.”
I could tell from the buzz of suppressed energy that now emanated from both of them that they were anxious for me to be gone. I had just thrown their morning into disarray, and they would be eager to ensure they could make full use of this new gift of energy.
“Where should Elsie…” I glanced back at the girl, my voice trailing off as one of the officials leaped in.
“You may leave her with us, Your Highness. We will give her the necessary instructions. Naturally you cannot be at the sealing yourself, but we will ensure that she comes straight to you once it is complete.”
Elsie nodded vigorous agreement, so I thanked them again and swept out of the room. I would only get in their way by lingering, and they were right that no one would want me anywhere near the large shielded hall used for the ceremonies, despite my perceived lack of ability.
When I reached my suite, thoughts of my bed called to me. But I found Stellan waiting for me in my sitting room. He was pacing up and down but stopped mid-stride as I appeared through the door.
I hid a sigh. Apparently my pillow would have to wait a little longer.
“Well?” he asked.
“It’s all arranged,” I said. “Now there’s nothing for us to do but wait for Elsie to reappear with the mark of the sealed around her wrists.”
Stellan drew a deep breath. “Thank you, Verene.”
I shrugged. “You’re my brother, Stellan, and you were about to do something unutterably foolish. Of course I had to help rescue you from yourself.”
He grinned. “Could you sound more like an older sister?”
“Just be glad you have an older sister,” I told him, tartly. “Or you’d be left to clean up the mess you’d made all on your own.”
“Are you going to get in trouble?” he asked. “I thought even royals weren’t allowed to take any personal guards or servants with them to the Academy. Is it different in Kallorway?”
“Not usually.” I collapsed onto a sofa and yawned. “But Mother and Father already weaseled Captain Layna into the Academy to be my personal guard. Not that she undertakes that role while I’m inside Academy grounds, but she’s still there, ready for if I leave. Plus we now have a king-elect attending which seems to have thrown all the rules into chaos. He’s to have an entire squad of personal guards. What’s one little servant in the midst of all that?”
“What if they refuse and send her away?” Stellan asked, concern all over his face.
I yawned even harder, my jaw cracking. “Then she’ll ride back to Corrin in my carriage where she will have no trouble finding a new position given she will be sealed. Stop worrying, Stellan.”
“Sorry,” he said swiftly. “I should let you get some sleep.”
“Yes, please.”
He chuckled and came over to give me a brief hug.
“I’m lucky to have you, Verene.”
“I know,” I told him with a twinkle. “Now go away.”
He crossed over to the door, but my next words made him pause.
“Don’t forget your promise.”
He looked back at me with serious eyes. “I never forget my promises. I don’t know what’s going on with you, Verene—although I’m sure there’s something—but I’ll wait.”
When he slipped out the door, I stumbled to my bed, grimacing to myself. If Stellan could tell I was hiding something, then probably the rest of my family could too. How long before one of them demanded answers?
Chapter 3
I was once again startled awake—this time by a slender girl who catapulted onto my bed.
“What are you doing in bed at this hour, Verene? And who is that servant girl in your sitting room who tried to bar me from your bedchamber?”
I gurgled something unintelligible as I forced my eyes to focus.
“Bree? Where did you come from? How late in the afternoon is it?”
“Shockingly late,” she assured me.
I groaned and threw an arm across my eyes. “In that case, I assume the girl in my rooms is Elsie—Stellan’s commonborn love and my new personal servant.”
“What?!?” Bree’s shriek made me come fully awake, sitting up abruptly.
“I probably shouldn’t have said that. You can’t tell anyone about Stellan, Bree.”
“Have I ever told anyone your secrets?” She looked at me reprovingly. “But you have to tell me everything immediately.”
I told the strange tale as concisely as I could, although Bryony had a great many questions which meant it took some time.
“And so now, I assume, she’s out in my sitting room,” I said. “And we’ll have to take her to the Academy with us.”
“Well if Stellan has fallen in love with her—a palace servant!—then I’m sure she must be easy to like,” Bryony said, as loyal to the family as ever.
“So far she seems even more kind-hearted than him, and she must be intelligent. I’m just hoping that a year apart will help them both gain a little distance.”
Bryony’s mouth twisted. “It’s hopelessly romantic, but you’re right, of course. I can’t imagine what your aunt will say if Stellan wants to marry her when he graduates.”
My mind flew to Duke Francis and Zora, as it had many times since first discovering Stellan and Elsie attempting to slip out of the palace. But since I hadn’t told Bryony about their secret marriage—between a mage and a commonborn servant, just like this case—I couldn’t mention them now. And I had to admit it wasn’t a true comparison.
The duke had already chosen to eschew court, and he lived in such a remote location that he could keep knowledge of his marriage from almost everyone. They had advantages Stellan didn’t have—the two of them ruled unequivocally over their own small domain—and yet still they felt the need to keep their relationship a secret.
I didn’t know how long they had been married, but I assumed it was a love that had come to them later in life. I doubted the duke had been assigned to such a senior position as a young man. There certainly didn’t seem to be any children involved. But Stellan was young and not only royal but from a unique bloodline, with a unique ability.