Page 64 of The Abandoned Princess

“Are you a threat?” the girl asked, but she sounded more curious than worried.

“We are not a threat to you or Northhelm,” I said firmly. “In fact, I’m—”

But before I could reveal my identity, the brown-eyed boy spoke over the top of me, cutting me off.

“He’s right. We should get Danielle. Do either of you know where she is?”

I exchanged a bewildered look with Lori while Xander stared, slightly stupefied, at the twins’ enthusiastic approval of this plan.

“She was with the dressmaker earlier,” Arabella said, “but I think she was going to the library after that. Give me a minute, and I’ll get her.”

She raced off, leaving us with the two boys.

“I’m Ben,” the brown-eyed boy said after a moment of silence. “That’s Andrew. And the girl who left is Arabella.”

I opened my mouth to give my own name, only to decide I should wait for the two girls to return given that they were likely to be incredulous at my claimed identity.

Xander looked even more shocked at the boy’s words than at their earlier comments. But before I could find a way to subtly ask him what was wrong, the door burst back open.

Arabella stormed in, a second girl following in her wake. I gasped at the sight of her, and then immediately felt foolish.

But there was no denying that this girl, who appeared similar in age to the other three, was also unlike them in a way that was hard to quantify. She was stunningly beautiful, despite her young age, but it was more than that. I had never seen someone so young carry themselves with so much poise, and something in her expression made me certain she was devastatingly intelligent as well.

But while I was held silent by surprise, Xander exploded into speech.

“You responded to a possible threat by fetching the crown princess? Alone!”

I gaped from the girls to Xander and then back to the girls, trying to make sense of his words.

“I’m not the crown princess until tomorrow when Grandfather abdicates and Father is crowned,” the girl said calmly. “And they did quite right to fetch me.” She gave Ben a look. “For once.”

“I already apologized for that time,” Ben said cheerily. “And I won’t keep apologizing forever. You can’t expect us to invite you every time given how often you’ve spoiled our fun.”

“But we always have the best fun when Dani’s with us,” Arabella said reproachfully. “And no one ever catches us when she’s with us either.”

Danielle—apparently Princess Danielle—rolled her eyes. “Which is precisely why the boys never invite me along when they’re doing something particularly foolish that’s likely to fail. They know I’ll stop them before they start. But what I want to know is what Prince Xander is doing in Northgate, and why you’ve stashed him in this room?”

“This is Prince Xander?” Andrew gave Xander a curious examination.

“Princess Danielle is the only one of you I met on my previous visit to Northgate,” Xander said, “but I realized who the rest of you must be the moment you said your names. I really must advise you to exercise a little more caution in future.”

I couldn’t help laughing at that. “Like you and Xavier did at a similar age, I assume?”

His look turned rueful. “Oh dear. I’m turning into Rek, aren’t I?”

“I’ve been assured that it eventually happens to the best of us,” I said with a heavy sigh.

“Are you all princes and princesses, then?” Lori asked, clearly struggling to make sense of the situation.

“This is Princess Danielle, only child of Crown Prince William and Crown Princess Celeste,” Xander said. “And the other three are her cousins. Prince Benjamin is the oldest child of Prince Rafael of Lanover and Princess Marie of Northhelm, and Andrew and Arabella are the children of Princess Cordelia of Lanover and Major Ferdinand of Northhelm.”

“Emmett isn’t here because he’s only seven,” Ben said. “He’s always wanting to follow along with us, but thankfully his nanny keeps a close watch on him because he’d spoil all our fun otherwise.”

“I feel sincerely sorry for both him and his nanny,” Lori muttered.

“And how old are all of you?” I asked.

“We’re eleven,” Arabella said.

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