Page 40 of The Abandoned Princess

“I can see you must have been beloved of your tutors,” Xander said with an infuriating grin.

“While yours no doubt adored you,” I said back, but he merely grinned more broadly, owning it.

“We were talking of the Northhelmian jewel of the true ruler,” he said. “Also known as that giant blue stone that King Richard carts around on his chest. I think it’s the real reason for this tour. He wants everyone in the kingdom to have a chance to see it and believe in its power.”

“What is its power?” I examined it more closely. There was no point denying it had power of some sort. No jewel could glow like that otherwise. “Oh wait! Is that the godmother object that they received because of the princess being secretly adopted?”

“I’m not sure that’s the exact reason the godmothers gave for the gift,” Xander said, looking suspiciously like he was trying not to laugh at me. “But King Richard did receive it following that business with the rebel fifteen years ago.”

The king and prince finished their conversation about contacting the Kuralanis and returned to the tap room, allowing us to finally move away from the walls.

“That’s right.” I nodded. “I do remember learning about it—I just hadn’t thought about it in years. There was some unrest among the nobles after the attempted rebellion, especially given the king and queen had been keeping secrets from them. Since the whole rebellion centered around who had the true birthright to rule, the godmothers gave the king a jewel that would glow in the presence of the true ruler. That way his people could always remain confident in the identity of their king.” I beamed, proud of myself for remembering the old lesson.

“So what happens now that he’s abdicating?” Lori asked.

“Supposedly it has all been discussed with the godmothers,” Xander said, “and the jewel was always intended to be passed down through rulers. The king and prince will withdraw for a private ceremony of some sort—only they know the details—and as long as William emerges with the jewel glowing on his chest, then the handover of power is considered complete and a coronation will be held immediately.”

“I wonder if he’s nervous.” I gazed at the closed tap room door.

“He has no reason to be,” Xander said. “William is the oldest child of the current king and has been the undisputed crown prince since his father took the throne. On top of that, the populace like him, and it’s hard to imagine a more capable team than him and his wife. I’ve traveled through half the kingdom with them, and I haven’t heard a single suggestion he might not have the necessary qualities of a ruler.”

“May we all hope for such glowing tributes to be paid us,” Lori said, looking at me with a heavy look that suggested she had long since despaired of hearing such praises directed toward her ward.

I smiled sweetly at her. “I love you too, Lori.”

“So it’s all a formality for the prince,” I mused. “But the king thinks the authority of the jewel will be solidified if all his people have seen it for themselves. Now when the news spread that the new king has been crowned and that he wears the glowing jewel, there will be utmost confidence in his reign.”

“Exactly.” Xander was also staring at the tap room door, but he sounded concerned.

“What is it?” I asked.

“I’m hoping it’s nothing but a flight of fancy,” Xander said. “If you could both laugh at me, I’d be most grateful.”

“Uh oh, that sounds ominous,” I said. “While I would usually be more than happy to laugh at you, I feel a sinking certainty I won’t be able to do so in this instance.”

Xander grimaced. “I just keep thinking about what Eulalie said about having one chance, and it seems awfully coincidental that Northhelm is so close to the coronation of a new ruler.”

“You think she means to disrupt the handover of power?” I asked. “Why would she want to do that?”

“As to that…” He hesitated. “I have an idea, but it’s far-fetched. Like I told you before, I need to check something before I say anything more.”

“Check what?” I asked suspiciously.

“Just give me a day,” he pleaded. “I’ll tell you everything in the morning, proved or not.”

“That’s fair,” Lori said with a quelling look at me, cutting off my budding protests. “We don’t have time to be standing around talking anyway. While we’re here jabbering, Eulalie could have waltzed out the front door of the inn and disappeared. We need to split up and keep a watch on all the inn’s exits. We just have to make sure we find somewhere hidden to watch from. That should be our priority.”

Reluctantly I subsided, unable to dispute her point.

Since Eulalie still didn’t know Lori had been caught in her enchantment, Lori volunteered to check she was still in the tap room. And once she’d ascertained her presence, she would be the one to keep watch on the front door of the inn. Since the inn was located in the center of town, watching the front door from a hidden location would be difficult, so Xander and I accepted our assignments at the back and side doors.

We circled the inn together, choosing our hiding places and being sure each of us knew where to find the others in case our target appeared.

But as soon as that initial excitement was over, a long period of boredom set in. Thankfully, I had plenty of experience with boredom. And even the side door of the inn saw more activity in an afternoon than my tower used to see in a full day.

The time passed eventually without Eulalie ever appearing, and we reconvened in the street outside the inn.

“There’s no reason for her to sneak away from the inn in the middle of the night,” Lori said with a sideways look at me. “We should get some sleep.”

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