Page 16 of Twin Crowns

Please try, thought Wren as she grabbed another piece,so this infernal boredom can end.

A droning bumblebee startled them from their conversation. Ansel yelped as he sprang to his feet, his teacup sailing through the air. Wren lunged without thinking, hooking it on her pinkie finger a heartbeat before it could shatter on the ground.

“My, how impressive!” panted the prince. “Especially considering you accidentally toppled the chessboard on our last date. Don’t you agree, Tor?”

Tor smiled tightly. “Good catch, Your Highness.”

Wren stifled a groan. Of course her sister would be a clumsy fool. “More like a lucky catch,” she said, gently placing the teacup back on the tablecloth. When she looked up, she gasped. A white blur was bounding out from the rosebushes and heading straight for her.

“Rotting carp!” She stumbled backward, tripping over her chair in a clatter.

“Elske! Down!” Tor’s command ripped through the air like thunder. He leaped toward the blur, which turned out to be a fully grownwolf, and curled a strong arm around her before she could pounce on the table.

“I told you to control that beast, Tor!” cried Ansel. “You’ve frightened the princess half to death!”

“She meant only to protect you, Your Highness.” He scratched behind the wolf’s ears and she licked his face. Wren didn’t blame the wolf one bit. “Elske wouldn’t harm a flea unless I commanded it.”

“Even so. This is no place for your wolf to play, Tor. She belongs on a chain. I shouldn’t need to remind you of all people that in Gevra, we train our animals to be soldiers, not pets.” Ansel helped Wren to her feet, putting a protective arm around her waist. “You have nothing to fear, my flower. I would throw myself between you and even the most fearsome of beasts.”

Except the dreaded bumblebee, noted Wren.

Tor stood up, stiff-backed. Wren could see he was affronted byAnsel’s words, but he knew better than to defend his beast. Despite everything the prince had just said, Elske was very clearly a pet.

Wren spun out of Ansel’s embrace. She had never seen a wolf before, and she was quite taken with the beauty of this one. She knelt to get a closer look. Elske’s fur was the color of freshly fallen snow and her eyes were pale as glaciers.

“Hello, sweet girl,” cooed Wren.

Elske blinked her bright eyes, then rested her head in Wren’s lap, where she began to nibble at her skirts.

Ansel cleared his throat. “Darling, our puzzle.”

“It will keep.” Wren pressed her face into the wolf’s fur. She smelled of wild pine and adventure. “Oh, you’re a beauty,” she murmured as she scratched behind her ears.

“Elske does not often warm to strangers.” Wren could feel the soldier’s gaze on the crown of her head and detected a hint of curiosity in his voice. “Especially in this country.”

“She is a princess.” Wren tipped her head back, her eyes meeting his. For the briefest moment, she felt utterly at sea. “Like calls to like.”

“Well, this prince is calling to his princess.” Ansel drummed his fingers along the table. “Come, my flower. We must see our puzzle through to its stirring conclusion.”

Tor released a sharp whistle. Elske lifted her head from Wren’s skirts and padded over to her master. Wren got to her feet and returned to the table, with the melancholy of a prisoner walking to the gallows.

With remarkable quickness, Ansel returned to boring the life out of her. She threw her remaining energy into finishing the damned puzzle, and with it, their date. After today, she would have to come up with away to remove from Chapman’s schedule any further meetings with the prince. Otherwise she might perish from acute boredom before her coronation. The pieces of grays and whites slowly arranged themselves into a towering fortress cut into the heart of an icy mountain range. No sun above, just an endless swath of white sky.

“Grinstad Palace,” said Ansel triumphantly as he placed the last puzzle piece. A finalsnap!completed the specter. “Once we’re married, my flower, this is where we’ll summer.”

Wren’s heart juddered to a grinding halt. She stared at the prince in silent horror.

Ansel whipped his head around. “What is it? Is it another bumblebee? Where?”

Wren feigned a cough to hide her grimace, but she could do nothing about the violent shock coursing through her body. Since when did Rose have ahissingfiancé? And why had he been plucked from Gevra of all places? The more she thought about it, the more uneasy she felt.

“Rose?” said Ansel. “Are you well?”

“I was just thinking about our wedding,” said Wren weakly. “Sometimes, I get so excited I’m afraid I might vomit.”

Ansel’s grin revealed every one of his pearly teeth. “I admit the idea that you will soon be my wife gives me butterflies, too.”

Wren exhaled through her smile. She didn’t have butterflies. She had scorpions, and right now, they were eating her alive. To her relief, Chapman arrived presently to collect her, with his precious schedule tucked underneath his arm. She said her goodbyes to Prince Ansel, allowing herself a final stealthy glimpse of his guard, before following Chapman back into the palace.

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