Page 37 of Charmless
Standing at the edge of the crowd, I spotted Commander Crushington. Horatio stood almost a head taller than anyone else, making it easy for his gaze to meet mine. I longed to send him a pleading glance, begging him to rescue me. But I knew he could not intervene, without offending the prince and putting himself in jeopardy. Yet I did not want Horatio to think I wasenjoying this. I conveyed my feelings by shrugging and rolling my eyes. A slight smile touched Horatio's lips.
I had to bite back a smile lest the prince see. I counted the moments until this ordeal would end and I could slip away from Florian and make my way to Horatio's side.
But when the prince’s song finished, he was greeted with such enthusiastic applause, he launched immediately into another. The majordomo’s persuasive voice whispered through my mind again, “If you came to know him better, you would discover that Florian is a very vulnerable young man, so unsure of himself.”
But when I looked at the prince, all I could see was his arrogance and vanity. My hands twitched. If he began one more song, it would be difficult to quell the impulse to push him into the fountain.
“I know what you are thinking, Ella,” someone murmured in my ear. “Much as I sympathize with the urge, you had better restrain yourself.” The amused voice sounded remarkably like Mal.
Startled, I twisted around to discover an old man had worked his way to stand behind me. He leaned upon a gnarled cane, his long gray hair spilling over the shoulders of his woolen brown tunic, the kind that hermits wore. A full, bushy beard obscured most of his features. Even his brows were thick and gray, but beneath them, Malcolm Hawkridge's roguish eyes twinkled at me. My heart leapt, torn between joy and alarm at the sight of him.
“Mal!” I gasped. “Are you mad? What are you doing here?”
“I'm glad to see you, too,” he replied wryly.
“Of course, I am glad to see you. I've missed you dreadfully, but—” I stole a nervous look around. Fortunately, everyone’s attention, including Horatio’s, appeared to be focused on the prince.
“You should not be here,” I muttered to Mal. “Do you have any idea of the number of disgruntled women who want to see you tarred and feathered?”
“Relax, Ella. My own grandmother would never have recognized me in this disguise.”
“I hope you have not been experimenting with hair potions again because that didn’t turn out so well last time.”
Mal had resorted to magic to cure his prematurely receding hairline. As with most of Mal’s attempts at magic, it had gone awry. His hair had fallen out in tufts, rendering him completely bald.
Mal scowled at the reminder. “No, it is only a wig and false beard but it's very effective, don't you think?”
“As long as no one takes a good look at your hands,” I pointed out. Instead of the wrinkled skin of an old man, Mal's strong, tanned fingers revealed his true age, a detail Mal had overlooked when planning his disguise.
Mal swore, tucking his hands out of sight, but not before I glimpsed a series of angry red scratches.
“What happened to your wrist?” I asked. “Did some of your unhappy customers catch up with you?”
Mal grimaced, “No, that was Delphine. I caught her trying to sneak into my bed again, disguised as Ebony. I picked her up by the scruff of her neck and told her I was wise to her tricks. I was starting to feel foolish, scolding a cat and wondering if you were mistaken about her ability to transform. But then she turned into a hissing, spitting fury and scratched the frap out of me. As if that wasn’t bad enough, she coughed up a hairball on my grandmother’s best quilt.”
“Cats are known to do that.”
“She did that after she turned back into Delphine.” Mal shuddered. “It was truly disgusting.”
I clapped a hand to my mouth to smother my mirth.
Mal shot me a disgruntled look. “Oh, yes, it is all right for you to be amused. You were not the one with a furious, naked witch hocking up slimy balls of fur in your bedchamber. I wished that she had stayed a cat.”
A laugh escaped me. I couldn’t help it. Some of the ladies shot me indignant looks and Ardelia Vanderwix shushed me. My pleasure in seeing Mal had caused me to become reckless. I realized our conversation was attracting attention. Florian was too wrapped up in his performance to notice, but Horatio stared in my direction, a slight frown creasing his brow.
I focused my attention on Florian. Out of the side of my mouth, I said to Mal, “Are you aware Commander Crushington has been looking for you?”
“Why? Has our fierce commander been overwhelmed by women demanding my head?”
“No doubt he has been, but he needs to speak to you about something far more serious. Someone broke into Quad Hall at midnight during the Royal Ball. The thief made off with a sack full of aura crystals.”
“I heard rumors about that. So what?”
“The commander suspects that you were somehow involved.”
Mal gave a snort of suppressed laughter. “You know where I was at midnight. I am a clever fellow but not clever enough to be in two places at once.”
“Then it would be best if you met with the commander to allay his suspicions.”
