Page 5 of Charmless
He took my foot gently in his hand and worked the shoe over my toes. My foot was sore from last night, but I did not realize until that moment that it was slightly swollen. The majordomo slipped my heel into the dancing slipper.
I stared down at my foot in horrified disbelief. That frapping shoe fit me like a glove.
Em clapped her hands together in delight as the prince exclaimed, “My beloved!”
I yanked my foot off the stool and stumbled back as the prince knocked the majordomo out of his way and rushed toward me. Dreading another sloppy kiss, I clapped my hand over my mouth.
The prince seized both of my hands in a firm grip. “My dear lady! Do you realize the depth of my despair when I thought I had lost you? I have been searching my entire kingdom for you.”
“Truly?” I asked wryly. “I was under the impression that the aura cat led you directly to my doorstep.”
An odd cough escaped the majordomo, almost as though he had suppressed a chuckle. When I glanced in his direction, he stared woodenly at the fireplace screen. A look of annoyance creased Florian’s brow, quickly smoothed away as he continued, “What Imeantwas, I feel as though I have been searching for you all my life. Every year I have attended the royal ball, prayingthat I would find my one true love, having my hopes dashed again and again. I had almost resolved never to attend another ball, so wearied was I. But this year was very different. Do you know why?”
“The ball was much more crowded?” I ventured.
“No. It was different becauseyouwere there, my beautiful. . . ” He paused, groping for my name.
My stepmother came to his rescue, filling in eagerly, “Prunella. But we all call her Ella.”
“Ella.” Florian murmured.
I shrank back, tugging my hands free as he leaned closer. He tried to employ his soulful trick of staring deep into my eyes. The effect was ruined since his were rather bloodshot.
“Ella, do you believe in love at first sight? That it is possible to meet someone’s eyes across a crowded room and realize you have found your destiny?”
“No, I do not.” I stopped myself from adding,not anymore.
It would not have mattered what I said. The prince paid no heed to my answer as he went on, “Thus it was for me. From the moment I first saw you, you enchanted me so completely, you were etched forever upon my heart.”
“And yet you required an old shoe to identify me,” I said.
“Ah well, that is because last night with you passed in such a dream. I was so dazed with love.”
No, I believe it is called pixie dust, I wanted to retort so badly I had to bite my tongue.
Florian sighed. “The last that I remember is strolling with you in the moonlight, enjoying the fireworks.”
I managed not to roll my eyes. My memory of what happened in the garden was very different. It seemed that Mal was correct about the hazy effect pixie dust had upon the brain.
“We were having such a magical time together.” Florian regarded me with reproach. “But then, alas, you disappeared.Why did you flee from me, Ella? Without so much as a kiss goodbye?”
Because I didn’t want your tongue jammed down my throat again.
As I struggled to find a more tactful answer, Em spoke up, “My youngest daughter, Amy, was taken ill and needed to be conveyed home at once. Ella is such a devoted sister. Naturally she wished to be at Amy’s side.”
“More than she wished to be with me?” The prince began in an irritated tone, but he stopped.
“Never mind,” he said, waving his hand in a magniloquent gesture. “I have entirely forgiven Ella for deserting me. The important thing is that I have found her again. But I have been so swept away by my feelings that I have quite forgotten the proprieties. Madam, I trust I have your approval to pay my addresses to your lovely daughter.”
I shook my head, frantically trying to signal Em, but my stepmother was so dazzled by Florian, there was no hope she would refuse.
Clasping her hands to her bosom, she breathed, “Oh, yes, most certainly, Your Highness. And what about the king? I daresay you have his blessing?”
Florian’s face darkened. He snapped, “I am a fully-grown man and the heir to the throne. I do not require my father’s permission.”
Em had obviously prodded some sore spot with the prince. His mouth twisted into a sour expression as he went on, “After all, was that not the purpose of my father’s ball last night, to find me a bride? The very reason that every wench— I mean lady in the kingdom— grabbed up those tickets to the ball in hopes of winning a prince as the ultimate prize?”
I had thought Florian lapped up all that attention and thoroughly enjoyed being the object of so much feminine desire,but perhaps the man possessed a sensitive side I had never suspected.
