Page 35 of The Abandoned Princess

“That is admirable forethought indeed,” I exclaimed with a sweet smile. “Since our coin has recently run out.”

I batted my lashes at him, and he laughed. “Since you ask so politely, how could I say no to sharing my wealth with you?”

“Are you really leaving the tower and hunting Eulalie?” Arlo looked impressed. “So there’s no point us going to the clearing anymore?”

I nodded. “I’m glad I ran into you, so I could say goodbye. I don’t know—” I paused, finding it hard to say now that the moment had come. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be back.”

“We’ll miss you!” Anaya cried, throwing her arms around me.

I hugged her back. “I don’t know if I ever mentioned that I’m from across the ocean. I’ll invite you to visit me once I’m free from this enchantment.”

“Will you really?” Arlo asked, wide-eyed. “Promise?”

“Don’t get excited,” Anaya said glumly. “Our parents will never let us go.”

“They might if a prince invites us.” He gave Xander a calculating look.

The prince laughed. “I promise to do my duty if your parents prove recalcitrant.”

I smiled gratefully at him. I still didn’t want to reveal my true identity—not when Eulalie might be in the village somewhere.

We managed to detach from the children so we could follow Lori to Charli’s house, only barely convincing Anaya and Arlo not to accompany us. Thankfully, when we reached the spacious house, we found Charli alone.

She glanced up as the door opened, exclaiming in shock when she saw who was entering.

“Sorry,” I said, as soon as the door closed behind us. “But it looked like you were alone from what we could see through the windows, and we’re trying to stay out of sight since Eulalie is lurking around the village.”

“Eu…Eulalie?” she stuttered, clearly still too shocked to properly respond.

“She came to the tower after you left the clearing,” Xander explained. “So now everything has changed.”

I quickly explained the situation to Charli, glossing over a few of the details.

“You’re leaving?” she asked, looking devastated.

“I’m sorry.” This time I was the one to initiate the hug. “I’ll miss you, of course. But we have to find out what Eulalie’s planning.”

She nodded, managing a weak smile. “I always knew you wouldn’t stay forever. It’s just that you always felt more like a true older sister than my actual sisters.”

I tried to surreptitiously wipe the moisture leaking out of my eyes. I felt affection for all the children, but it was different with Charli. She hadn’t been the only one to feel like she had gained a sister. It had been nice to experience being the older sibling for once—even if I was stuck in a tower most of the time—and I wished we could take her with us. But she was much too young to leave her family.

“We should keep this short,” Lori said briskly, ending the emotional moment.

“Yes, why did you come here?” Charli asked, pulling herself together. “I hope you didn’t put yourself at risk just to say goodbye! You could have left me a message.”

“Actually, that’s exactly why we came,” I said. “We need to leave a message, so we need you to write it for us.”

She raised her eyebrows. “A message? For who?”

“The king,” I said triumphantly.

“The king!” she sounded horrified. “You want me to write a message for the king?”

“Obviously you won’t sign it from yourself. And you’ll have to do your best to disguise your handwriting.” I turned to Xander. “Please tell me you don’t have distinctive handwriting.”

“I don’t think so.” He looked taken aback. “Is Charli going to write a letter from me?”

I nodded. “If you write it yourself, no one will be able to read it. But as long as no one realizes the handwriting is wrong, they should believe Charli’s message is from you. Which it is,” I added. “Just not from your hand.”

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