Page 21 of The Abandoned Princess

“Duly noted,” he said in such deceptively meek tones that I continued to eye him suspiciously.

“I can’t believe you’re a princess!” Charli cried. “No wonder people kept coming to the village and asking about our claims there was a girl locked in a tower. There must be so many people looking for you.”

“People asked about me?” I cried. “Why didn’t you say anything? I thought all the adults who came to check the clearing were from the village.”

“Because I didn’t want to disappoint you. You know the village adults think you’re an elaborate game their children like to play, and the visitors always quickly came to the same conclusion.” She sighed. “No one believes children.” She glanced sideways at Xander. “Except for him.”

“I’ve followed far less substantial rumors in my search for the missing princess,” he said cheerfully. “I would have made it here sooner if you weren’t so remote.”

He looked at me apologetically. “You’re a long way away from where you were taken, and even further from my home across the desert. Since Lanover has become my home in the Four Kingdoms, and my search has been centered around Arcadia, this is my first time in Northhelm.”

I nodded, willing to forgive anything from the person who’d saved me—especially if he’d come all this way specifically to look for me.

“You’re a twin, aren’t you?” Charli asked abashedly. “I remember that from the royal trees. And your brother married a Lanoverian? Is that why you live there?”

“It’s…complicated,” Xander said with an easy smile. “But my new sister-in-law certainly has strong ties to Lanover. And all the Lanoverians have been very welcoming—even the ones living in Northhelm.” He looked back at me. “One in particular has a great interest in you. She’ll be very pleased to hear I’ve succeeded in finding you—and will be unimpressed at her own people’s failure.”

“Aurora,” I whispered breathlessly, and one of his eyebrows rose in response.

Those sporadic visitors Charli had mentioned must have been her agents. So she really had been looking for me all these years.

“Is she here?” I asked, but he shook his head.

“She remained back in the palace with her daughter. We should travel there immediately, though. King Richard and William have to finish the tour, of course, but I was only ever a tag-along, so I can leave whenever I want. Once they hear I’ve found you, they’ll understand completely. They’ll probably order us to go, in fact. Everyone has been worried about you. Only the assurances of the wise women have kept your family and friends from revealing the news of your disappearance to the entire population of all the kingdoms.”

“The wise women?” I asked.

“Godmothers, I should say. We call them wise women in my kingdom.”

“The godmothers made assurances about me?” I asked, frowning.

He nodded. “I’m afraid Princess Giselle got swept up in some awkwardness after the attack on your delegation, but the godmothers helped straighten it out, and they assured everyone that the other three of you were under their eye, busy in your own adventures. And Daria and Cassandra proved them right. But as soon as I heard you were still missing after so long, I knew I couldn’t sit around and do nothing waiting for you to reappear.”

“The godmothers said I was busily occupied and everyone should stop worrying?” I asked, my voice rising until I almost exploded in fury. “They just left me sitting doing nothing in a tower for FIVE YEARS!”

If I could have ignited fires with my glare like Princess Celine, the whole clearing would be burning. Had they really told everyone I was safe and then just abandoned me? Just wait until I got my hands on one of their smug, superior—

“Charli? What are you doing here on your own?” The disapproving voice cut through my thoughts.

I spun to stare at the new arrival. His face was still recognizable as Simon, but the boy I had known had been replaced with a young man. Jayda’s older brother looked disapprovingly at Charli, as if there were more than just a couple of years between them. He wore his extra years in the officious way of youth who liked to think of themselves as adults, and Charli and I rolled our eyes simultaneously.

“I’m not alone,” she said caustically. “And I notice you aren’t either.” She gave a heavy look at the young woman on his arm. The older girl was carefully not looking at Charli, and although she looked quite different from how I remembered, I was fairly sure it was one of Charli’s older sisters.

Simon gave Charli a superior look. “You’re getting too old to keep up this nonsense with Daisy. Real or not, how is she going to help you if you run into trouble wandering the forest at night? You know you all promised the adults not to come out here after dark.”

“That’s my fault, I’m afraid,” Xander said with his charming smile.

He looked relaxed, and almost friendly, but his voice carried a note of something else—a reminder, however subtle, that he was not only capable of dealing with trouble in any form but also outranked Simon in every possible way.

“I didn’t mean Daisy…” Charli’s voice trailed off as a crease appeared between her eyes. She looked from Xander’s confident presence to Simon and then back again.

She swallowed at the same moment as a terrifying possibility occurred to me.

“Can’t you see him?” she asked.

“Him?” Simon sounded impatient. “No wonder no one believes you’re telling the truth if you keep adding people to the story.”

“I’m not adding…” Charli swallowed, her voice wobbling slightly. “Are you seriously saying you can’t see Prince Xander?”

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