Page 54 of The Princess Trap
When Agathe came into the kitchen, Cherry was still sitting on the island like a damned fool. And she didn’t even mind.
Cherry didn’t know what she’d expected, but it wasn’t this.
She stood in the bright, January sun, wrapped up in a thousand and one layers—Ruben had insisted—and leaning against a huge maple tree. If she raised a gloved hand toprotect her eyes and squinted just a little, she could watch a gaggle of children running around on the white-frosted grass, laughing and screaming and chasing a football.
A gaggle of children, and Ruben.
In the car over, he’d told her that these kids were aged 9 to 12. Some of them looked tiny; a few seemed huge for their age. She’d worked in a school long enough to notice that some of them probably had learning difficulties, and one of the girls might be autistic. But they were surrounded by staff members in matching purple jackets who made sure that everyone was involved, and that every child was comfortable.
It was as different from the Academy’s approach as anything she’d ever seen. She remembered her first date with Ruben—their only date, she supposed, since lying in bed with your fake fiancée, whispering your feelings into the dark, didn’t count. Ruben had seemed uncomfortable with the idea of sponsoring the Academy, had pushed for her opinion on the matter. She, of course, hadn’t wanted to badmouth her place of employment.
But when she thought about education, this was her personal ideal.
Not that she knew shit. She was just HR.
The kids clearly loved it, though. And when they’d seen Ruben approaching, they’d all run to him like he was their long-lost-father.
It was disturbingly sweet.
“You are impressed?”
Cherry jumped slightly, even though she recognised that impossibly deep voice. Hans. He was standing beside her, his arms folded, his eyes on Ruben and the kids. And his thin lips were tilted slightly into that half-smile he occasionally displayed.
“Yes,” she said, truthfully. “I didn’t expect him to…”
“To give a shit. I know. People are always surprised.” He leant back against the broad trunk of the maple, like her, as if they were friends. At first, she’d thought he didn’t like her at all, but recently she’d realised that he was just a prickly guy. She liked prickly people. She liked people who couldn’t be charmed.
“You and Ruben are close,” she said.
There was a slight pause, as if he were surprised. Then he said, slowly, “Yes…” And sheknewhe was surprised. “We haven’t been acting like it,” he added. “Since you came.”
“I know,” she said. “That’s why I noticed. Absence takes up a lot of space.”
He grunted.
“So what’s up? You’re still angry with him about… This?”
Hans sighed. “I am angry with him because he never looks out for himself. He thinks he can handle anything. He thinks if hecan’thandle something, it’s a weakness and the end of the world, instead of a normal human limitation.”
“Always slaying dragons?” she suggested.
“And coming home half-dead, thinking no-one will care.”
She digested that for a moment. Then she said, “Tell me about his brother.”
And Hans said, “No.”
Cherry nodded slowly. “So it’s bad?”
His voice became almost small, hesitant.“You understand, Ms. Neita, my loyalty is to the crown. If it weren’t, I would not be fit for this position. If it weren’t, I could not stay with him.”
Strange, the many ways that people could be trapped.
She turned away. Watched Ruben laughing in that cold, cold sunlight, letting the children foul him left and right, separating them when they got too rough or over-excited. He was beautiful. He was wonderful. He was perfect.
Oh, dear.
“I think this has gone on long enough.”
