Page 44 of The Abandoned Princess

The guard relaxed a little, but he was still tense, his eyes darting into the corners of the room one by one. King Richard sighed and lay back down.

“My apologies for disturbing you. We should both get sleep while we can.”

The guard nodded, watching as the king lay back down. But while the king soon settled back into steady breathing, the guard remained sitting upright, his back to the door, clearly reluctant to sleep after the king’s alarm.

“Well, that’s unfortunate,” Xander said in what I felt was too calm a tone.

“Just unfortunate?” I asked. “It’s a disaster.”

Once again, I had gone chasing adventure and ended up in trouble.

“It’s not that bad.” Xander took a seat against one of the walls. “They’ll leave the room eventually, and then we’ll have our chance to escape.”

“What about all those important documents I was joking about?” I looked around the room. “Are you sure they just leave the king’s room unguarded during the day?”

Xander went still, and I gave him a knowing look.

“I’m right, aren’t I? They leave a guard here during the day to watch the king’s possessions.”

Xander groaned. “I’d forgotten that. We’ll just have to be ready to sneak out behind the king.”

“It might work,” I said. “And it might not. The enchantment pushes us away from people, remember? And we can’t stop the door from closing. If they close it quickly enough, the enchantment won’t give us a chance.”

“An opportunity has to come eventually!”

“I assume so,” I agreed. “And in the meantime, Eulalie may well leave the inn and the village altogether.”

Xander gave me a guilty look, and I continued on unrelentingly. “But that would still not be the worst outcome. What do you think Lori will do when she wakes up for her turn at watch and we’ve both disappeared?”

“Not quietly complete her shift, I’m guessing.”

I rolled my eyes. “I see you’ve met her. She’ll tear the inn and village apart looking for me, regardless of whether or not that brings her to Eulalie’s attention. We might all end up exposed from this.”

Xander rubbed the back of his head. “It’s possible I may not have entirely thought this through. In my defense, I’m still new to these powers of ours.”

“They’re not powers!” I said. “It’s an enchantment—a bad one that we want to be free from. Please don’t forget that.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” he said, making me frown even more deeply.

“We need a plan,” I announced.

“Then it’s a good thing we have the queen of plans with us.” He looked at me hopefully. “You’ve concocted a plan for this sort of situation, right?”

“Might I remind you that I’ve been captive in a one-room tower with only a window as entry and exit? I didn’t put a lot of thought into how to get through doors.”

“Well, there’s no time like the present!”

“Actually,” I said slowly, struck by my own words, “maybe I am the expert on this situation.”

He followed the direction of my gaze toward the window, his brows rising. “You do remember we had to climb stairs to get here?”

I turned to him, giving my words a slight mocking air. “Why, are you scared?”

He laughed. “If you knew me from Kuralan, you wouldn’t be worried about that.” He winked. “You wouldn’t think you needed to resort to daring me either. I’ve done far more foolish things from just a polite request. In fact, it doesn’t even have to be that polite.”

“I wish you and your siblings were Trionian,” I said wistfully. “I love Teddy and Millie, of course, but it sounds like you were all much more fun as children.”

“I, on the other hand, am very grateful not to be your brother.” There was a light in Xander’s eyes that made me squirm and look away.

---