Page 36 of The Abandoned Princess

“You want to give an excuse for my disappearance,” Xander said, catching up with my plan. “So they don’t start searching the kingdom for me.”

I nodded. “It will just be a waste of time for them. They won’t be able to help us. So there’s no point causing them unnecessary stress.”

Xander smiled slowly. “You’re more thoughtful than you appear, Daisy.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Is that a compliment or an insult?”

His lips twitched. “Always a compliment, of course.”

Charli still looked reluctant, but she fetched a piece of paper and a pen. Pausing with her hand above the page, she looked questioningly at me.

I looked at Xander expectantly. “What should she write in the note?”

“That’s easy,” he said. “Charli, you can just write that I discovered a time-sensitive clue about the missing princess and have gone to investigate. It’s even true, for the most part.”

“You can’t say that!” I protested. “Even if King Richard believes it, I’m sure he’ll feel obligated to inform your family of your disappearance and message, and your family would never believe such a ridiculous tale. We’re trying to avoid trouble, not create a diplomatic incident.”

“Actually…” He coughed uncomfortably. “There’s nothing my family would believe more.”

I stared at him. “You can’t mean you’ve done that before?!”

He grimaced. “I didn’t leave a note last time, so they’ll probably consider this evidence of my personal growth.”

I shook my head. “I would be flattered if I didn’t already know you’ve been searching for a meek damsel in distress who doesn’t exist.”

“I don’t believe I ever used the word meek,” he said in a falsely dignified manner.

“No, you just thought it,” I muttered.

“So should I write it?” Charli asked, looking between us.

We both nodded, but she still hesitated, so Xander began to dictate the exact wording. It was better for him to do it, anyway, since it would sound more realistic. He instructed her on how to form the letters as well. It took them several tries until he declared himself happy with the hand writing, but the final letter looked believable to me.

We stayed long enough to see the previous attempts burned and to complete a final round of farewells. Charli and I clung to each other for an especially long time before Lori finally pulled me away and we faced the harder task: working out where to leave the letter.

CHAPTER 13

“Where were you staying?” I asked Xander as we lingered in the shadows behind another house.

“Many of the tour members are in tents to the south of the village,” he said, “but I had a room in the inn along with the other royals.”

“Your room is the obvious place to leave the letter, but it might also be risky,” Lori said thoughtfully. “If they’ve already searched it and not found anything, it will look strange for a letter to suddenly appear now.”

“Where else would he be likely to leave a note, though?” I asked. “Surely it would be in his room. Maybe we can put it somewhere that’s not immediately obvious and hope they assume they missed it the first time?”

“And what if they miss it the second time as well?” Lori asked.

I frowned, unable to give an answer to that.

“I think we’re overthinking it,” Xander said cheerfully. “Even if they have searched it before, who’s to say I haven’t returned?”

“What?” I stared at him.

“Just briefly, I mean. I’d rather not go wandering across the kingdom with nothing more than the clothes on my back, so I want to take the opportunity to pack some of my belongings as well. Let them assume I was chasing down this clue, I came back to get my things and leave a note, and then slipped away again.”

“If we want to make that believable, we’ll need to leave the note there overnight,” Lori said. “Otherwise why wouldn’t you talk to them in person?”

“I was in a rush, of course, and didn’t want to be caught in conversations and protests.” He winked.

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