Page 72 of The Abandoned Princess

“We have to catch up with her!” I gasped. I looked toward the alcove, shouting for Lori, but she was already approaching us. “We need to run!”

Thankfully, she didn’t stop to ask questions, increasing her pace as we both turned and sprinted down the corridor in the direction of the empty meeting room Ben had found for us the day before.

We both almost slipped as we rounded the corner, grabbing at each other to keep our balance. Lori, moving at a safer pace, overtook us and pulled the door open, having guessed our destination.

We crowded behind her, peering into the room. Four children stood inside.

I immediately relaxed, stepping into the room behind the other two. But when Danielle turned to face us, she was wearing the circlet, necklace, and bracelet and looking downcast.

“They don’t work,” she said. “Unless you feel a strange compulsion to obey me?” She didn’t sound hopeful.

I glanced at Xander and then shook my head. “I don’t feel anything.”

“Neither do we,” Arabella said.

“Except elation!” Benjamin crowed. “I’m glad we worked out the powder wasn’t going to explode because that was even better. Did you see their faces when they started getting dressed and then noticed each other smoking?”

He and Andrew went off into paroxysms of laughter, but I was focused on Danielle.

“What do you mean it doesn’t work?” I asked. “You said they were a gift from your mother’s godmother. They have to do something!”

“Do they, though?” Lori frowned. “Maybe they were just a gift. They’re beautiful.”

“Maybe they do something else,” Xander suggested. “Their power might not be immediately obvious if you don’t already know what it is.”

“Perhaps,” Danielle agreed, but I shook my head.

“If it does something else, then it isn’t what we’re after! No wonder Eulalie wasn’t there this morning. We must have it completely wrong.” I felt the blood draining out of my face. “In which case, where is Eulalie right now? And what was she actually looking for?”

Xander looked at me with an equally horrified expression. “We just let her go. We have no idea where she is right now.”

“That design looks familiar.” Arabella was staring at the necklace, ignoring our mutual panic. “Haven’t you seen it before, Dani?”

“My parents took me into the vault a couple of years ago,” Danielle said, but Arabella shook her head. “No, not those specific pieces. Don’t they look like Aunt’s earrings? The ones in the section of her jewelry box that she never lets us touch? I got curious and snuck a look once. You must have done the same.”

Danielle gasped. “Yes, you’re right! They look like they could be the same set.”

“If there’s a missing fourth piece, and it’s the one with the power,” Lori said, “why wouldn’t it be stored securely?”

“Because someone wants to use it regularly.” Xander’s voice sounded grim, and he was staring accusingly at Danielle.

“Yes, you’re right,” she said calmly, removing the pieces she was wearing and placing them in a velvet bag. “But there’s no need to look at me like that. My mother hasn’t been using it for what you’re imagining because those earrings don’t allow you to control someone else. They just allow you to alter your appearance—a useful ability in my mother’s line of work.”

“They can make you look different!” I stared at her. “Are you sure?”

She nodded. “Of course I’m sure. Mother never lets me touch anything in that section of her box, but she explained it all to me last year.”

“Then we were completely wrong about what Eulalie has been looking for,” I said. “I should have realized that she can’t use her current disguise enchantment as queen. It’s designed to make people overlook and forget her, and once she’s claimed the throne, she’ll want everyone looking at her. But they’ll never accept her as queen if they see her actual skin—especially since it’s so much like her brother’s was. She needs a new appearance—a queenly appearance. One that will stay the same all the time.”

“Where is this jewelry box?” Xander asked Danielle.

“In my mother’s chambers,” she said.

“And your mother is currently out of the city.” I took her arm. “You need to take us there now.”

The boys had picked up on the urgency in the room, abandoning their discussion of their triumph.

“Eulalie might be there right now!” Ben said with something far too much like relish. “We should all go.”

---