Page 21 of Once Upon a Royal Summer
He took another bite of his ice cream. Ian’s tongue appeared to be turning bright blue from the frosty mermaid scales, which meant Henry’s probably was too.
“Have you had a good time today, sweetheart?” Henry glanced at Rose and stuck his tongue out at her.
She nodded, giggling at him as her pink ice cream dripped onto her white-gloved fingertips from her unicorn horn—a fatal flaw of Princess Sweet Pea’s white glove rule, as far as Henry was concerned.
“Do you have something to say to Princess Sweet Pea?” he said, prompting a thank you.
“Thank you, Princess Sweet Pea,” Rose said softly, leaning into the puff of Lacey’s ballgown.
“Of course, my darling. We’ll have fun tomorrow too.” Lacey bent to give Rose an affection squeeze around her slender shoulders.
When she stood back up, Henry smiled at her, but Lacey’s attention strayed to a spot over his shoulder.
He took a backward glance and at first couldn’t tell what had captured her interest, but then he noticed a child in a wheelchair, dressed in the same Princess Sweet Pea costume Rose was wearing.
The girl appeared to be a year or two younger than Rose, and she waited in line with her family for a ride in the swan boats. She had the gown, the gloves…the whole deal, except for the crown.
When Henry turned back around, Lacey was once again refocused on Rose, but every so often, she snuck a glance in the other child’s direction.
Henry felt a tightness in chest. He didn’t need to ask why Lacey’s gaze kept flitting to the little girl in the wheelchair. He just knew. If Princess Sweet Pea hadn’t been assigned to accompany Henry and his royal entourage and cater to his every whim, she would’ve been over there in a heartbeat.
“Go,” he said quietly, while Rose and Ian debated the virtues of unicorn ice cream versus mermaid tails.
“What?” Lacey’s eyes went wide. She blinked, clearly worried she’d been caught doing something wrong.
“The child in line at the swan boats.” Henry tipped his head in the direction of the Swan Princess River. “I know you want to go talk to her. Please don’t let us stop you.”
She shook her head. “But…”
“Don’t worry about Simon Dole. I’ll deal with him, if necessary.” He shot her a wink. “Go.”
“Thank you! I’ll be right back,” she whispered, beaming at him as she shoved her ice cream bar into his hand, gathered her skirts, and floated toward the queue for the swan boats.
The girl’s face lit up when she saw Lacey coming toward her. Lacey went into full princess mode, posing her hands just so and dropping into a deep curtsy in front of the girl’s chair. Then she bent down to eye-level with the child and chatted animatedly with her. Henry was too far away to hear the conversation, but he would’ve bet money that it involved bubble baths, fanciful footmen, and sleeping on piles of mattresses atop a troublesome pea.
A lump lodged in his throat.
“Daddy, you have ice cream dripping down your arm.” Rose tugged at Henry’s shirt sleeve, then pointed to a garish trail of blue and green melting down his forearm.
“So I do,” he said, voice going thick. “Oops.”
Rose’s tiny forehead crinkled. “Where did Princess Sweet Pea go?”
“She’s over there, talking to another young visitor who’s wearing a ballgown just like yours.” Henry pointed toward Lacey with one of the rapidly melting ice mermaid tails.
“Oh.” Rose’s face fell.
The ache in Henry’s chest felt cavernous all of a sudden. Was his mother right? Had he doted on Rose to such an extent that she didn’t want to share Princess Sweet Pea with anyone else?
But then Rose shook her head. “She’s missing her crown.”
Henry blinked. “What?”
“That little girl.” The crinkle in Rose’s forehead grew deeper. “She doesn’t have a crown.”
Before Henry could truly grasp what was happening, Rose shoved her unicorn ice cream bar at him, much like Lacey had just done, and ran toward the Swan Princess River, where a crowd had begun to gather around Princess Sweet Pea.
Ian launched into motion, intent on following for the young princess’s protection.
