Page 77 of The Abandoned Princess

I couldn’t think of it either. Xander had done nothing wrong. He had saved my life, and I should be grateful to be alive instead of crying like the world was ending.

I straightened, wiping away my tears. “Lori, you’ll have to be our interpreter. Please thank Xander for saving me. How did you both find me?”

“She says thank you for saving her life,” Lori said to Xander, making his face twist even more. “As for finding you,” she continued, “we both felt the enchantment lift—the shock of our lives that was and must have been for everyone around us too.”

“I don’t know how, but I just knew the enchantment had been lifted from this direction,” Xander said. “I followed the sensation, and it led me here.”

“Thank you for coming so quickly,” I said. “If you hadn’t…”

“She says thank you for coming so quickly,” Lori repeated before sighing. “This is going to get tiresome.”

“I agree,” I said firmly, determined not to fall back into despair. “Which is why we need to find a way to get Eulalie to lift the enchantment again.”

“And how do you propose doing that?” Lori asked doubtfully.

“Doing what?” Xander asked.

I waited while Lori repeated my words.

“I can’t see you, Daisy, but both of us can now interact normally with other people,” Xander said. “So I think the first thing we need to do is go find the royals. The adult royals, I mean.”

I nodded then remembered he couldn’t see me. “I agree,” I said aloud and then groaned when I remembered he couldn’t hear me either.

“I think we can all agree on that suggestion,” Lori said. “I don’t suppose you’d know where to find them?”

Xander frowned. “From the activity in the corridors, I gather the procession has arrived at the palace and been formally greeted. Now everyone will be settling into their rooms and getting changed for the coronation. I’m sure the royals will gather together before the ceremony, and I think I know the most likely place. Follow me.”

We hurried through the corridors behind him. I collided with two separate people before making the mental adjustment that I had to watch where I was going for myself now.

“It’s almost enough to make you miss the enchantment,” Lori joked, but I just shuddered.

“Never.”

Xander led us confidently to a room in the back of the palace. It was a large sitting room but not formal in style, with tall windows overlooking ordered gardens. It was easy to imagine the extended royal family gathering here when they weren’t engaged in official duties.

We strode in without knocking, causing everyone already in the room to stop what they were doing and look up. As soon as they saw Xander, there was a general outcry and several people hurried toward us.

“Xander!” A man in his thirties came over and clapped him on the back. “You made it back for the coronation. William will be pleased. He was disappointed that you disappeared like that, but I tried to soften the blow for you. I don’t think William ever understood the lure of adventure in quite the way us younger sons do.”

He smiled broadly, and it wasn’t hard to guess this was Prince Rafael, better known as Rafe, the husband of Northhelm’s Princess Marie. Sure enough, a fair-haired woman strolled over and put an arm around his waist, giving Xander a rueful smile.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness. I’ve heard all about you from my husband. We’re pleased to have you again, of course, but we may struggle to find a room to stash you in. Half of the Four Kingdoms have descended on us for the coronation.”

“A room is the least of my worries,” Xander said grimly, making them both frown.

Before they could question him further, however, the door opened and another woman walked in. She had a notable family resemblance to Rafe and hurried straight over to him with a harried expression.

“I think Ferdy has almost managed to placate the guards, and their uniforms have finally stopped smoking, but I can’t find our children anywhere.”

Rafe laughed, but Marie’s face darkened. “I’m sure they went into hiding the minute the official greeting was finished. Even Emmett is missing, and I’m told he was eating breakfast when the incident happened.”

“The children are missing?” Xander asked sharply. “You mean you haven’t spoken to them yet today?”

All three of the older royals looked at him blankly. “We exchanged formal greetings on the steps,” Marie said cautiously, “but that’s all. I didn’t realize you’d met our children.”

“Who are you?” Cordelia asked, clearly too frazzled from the behavior of her children on the important coronation day to manage any niceties.

“This is Prince Xander of Kuralan,” Marie said, and Cordelia flushed.

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