Page 46 of The Abandoned Princess

He had already proved his confidence in his own landing. I should trust that he knew what he was doing when he said he could safely catch me. If I tried to jump on my own and broke a leg, we’d never be able to track Eulalie.

“Fine!” I called down, making his eyes light up. “Don’t drop me!”

“Never,” he assured me, unusually serious.

I pulled back for a moment, waiting for the flush on my cheeks to die down. Even as a child, I had always wanted to go on adventures myself rather than be rescued, and from the very beginning I had made plans to save myself from the tower. But I couldn’t deny the warm feeling that filled me at Xander’s words. Apparently part of me did want to be rescued after all.

And what’s so wrong with that? I asked myself. I had always envied the way my twin siblings always had each other. We all needed other people sometimes. And if they happen to have strong arms that are good at catching, there’s nothing wrong with that.

“Daisy?” Xander called up. “Are you coming? You can trust me!”

I grabbed the window and swung my legs over the sill. Sitting perched there, I smiled down at him. “I know.”

I pushed myself off, letting my body drop down as I twisted and gripped the sill with both hands. Once I was dangling down against the wall, I held position for a second, my arms straining.

“Ready?” I called.

“Ready,” came Xander’s reassuring voice.

I took a breath, pushed slightly off the wall with my feet, and let myself drop.

“Oof!” The breath rushed out of me as I landed in strong arms, my momentum carrying us both downward.

Xander kept his feet, however, stopping my downward force before I reached the ground and straightening so that he stood, cradling me in his arms. I looked up at him and immediately realized how close our faces were.

“Good job,” he said softly. “A beautiful fall.”

He hesitated, as if he wanted to say something else, but stayed silent. Instead of speaking, his eyes traveled over my face, catching briefly on my lips before returning to my eyes.

I remained in place, too frozen to move or respond. The night air grew warmer, tension stretching between us in the silence.

Just as it was about to snap, a third voice shocked us out of the moment.

“What in the kingdoms is going on here?” Lori exclaimed.

Xander released the arm beneath my knees, letting my legs drop to the ground. I stumbled slightly finding my balance, and he left his other arm curled around my shoulders. But as soon as I was steady, he stepped back, clearing his throat and adopting an expression that somehow perfectly combined respectability and innocence.

“We had to jump out the window,” I said quickly. “Xander jumped first and then caught me. I’m very grateful.”

Lori looked slowly up at the open window and then back at me, eyes narrowed. “You had to jump out the window,” she said in measured tones that only made me more nervous. “And what exactly were you doing inside the inn?”

“I needed to test something,” Xander said, his expression becoming deadly serious. “And unfortunately my guesses were proved correct. We may have a big problem on our hands.”

Lori’s eyebrows rose. “It’s not quite morning yet, but I suppose you’re sharing your theory now.” She glanced at me. “I can’t imagine any of us will be getting back to sleep until we’ve talked this out.”

I slipped my arms around her and squeezed. Lori knew me well.

She sighed, but her eyes were smiling. “Let’s at least go to the front of the inn so we can keep watch while we talk. You had better hope Eulalie didn’t slip away while the two of you were playing detectives, or whatever you were doing in there.”

“You don’t suspect us of playing assassins?” I asked as we walked around the side of the inn.

“Of all the ridiculous things to say!” Lori exclaimed, incensed.

We found an out-of-sight place to sit that still had a view of the inn’s front door—an easier feat to achieve in the shadows of nighttime. Lori turned to Xander with an expectant expression.

“We went into the king’s bedchamber to test his jewel of the true ruler. We ascertained that the king doesn’t need to actually wear it, he just needs to be near it.”

Lori raised an eyebrow. “That sounds like it could become confusing. What if the true ruler is actually someone near the king?”

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