Page 5 of How Not to Marry a Prince

Well, who knew. One more question for which to seek an answer.

He continued on his way through the Rainbow Garden, admiring every single shade of rose, especially the blue and purple, which he'd never seen before. He hadn't thought roses came in those colors, but here they were, vivid and stunning.

There was also another pond, this one filled with tiny fish that looked like chips of rainbow themselves. Must be a lot of additional work to care for the fish in addition to the flowers. Where did they get the fish? Caught in the wild? Bred specially? Shipped in from afar somehow? What went into caring for them? Did different fish require different kinds of water, and plants in and around their pond? What did they—

Voices, one familiar, snapped Amador from his musings. Prince Nazaire, speaking with… They were tucked amidst some trees and shrubs, but he could just barely see them seated on a bench. A noblewoman, he thought, that was the other person.

"—asleep again!

The noblewoman laughed. "Why do you ever think you can stay awake? You're not a night owl, Nazaire!"

"You could help me, you know," Nazaire replied sourly. "Instead of just laughing at me all the time."

Snapping a fan open, the woman fluttered it in front of her face. "Secret admirers are secret, darling. If they wanted you to know their identity, they'd approach you directly, not sneak into your room to leave you roses and love notes."

"What's the point of saying anything at all if they're never going to give me a chance to return their affections?"

The woman snorted. "Ah, yes, because you've made such a show of being willing to return affections, what with casting out one suitor after another. So approachable."

"Oh, shut up and go away if you're just going to lambast me. I can't help I don't want any of these would-be suitors. Isn't it better to be direct about it than give them false hope?"

"That's not the point, dear," the woman said with a sigh. "The point is you've made yourself unapproachable."

Nazaire groaned and buried his head in his hands.

"I think I hear the familiar rattle of your brother's guards," the woman said.

"Oh, good, just what I needed to complete my morning: yet another lecture about being nice to this latest suitor."

Amador withdrew. He really needed to stop making a habit of accidentally eavesdropping on people. It was rude and going to get him in trouble. On the other hand, at least he knew what he was truly facing and wouldn't waste time on a hopeless courtship. No, he'd focus on helping—

Hands shoved him from behind, hard enough to bruise, jolting through his back and even down his arms, sending him slamming into the pond with a resounding smack.

Amador cried out, and then promptly choked on water as he flailed to sort out up from down, get his bearings, get the fish out of his jacket, which was now ruined.

Then strong hands gripped him, hauled him to his feet, and Amador once more found himself staring into moss-green eyes set in an unfairly handsome face. Wonderful. The only thing better than making a fool of himself was repeatedly making a fool of himself. "I'm so sorry," he rasped out, coughing out the last of the water. "I don't—"

"Shh, don't talk, give yourself a moment to get your breath back," the man said, his voice deep and warm, as beautiful as the rest of him.

Wiping water from his face, shoving his ruined hair from his eyes, Amador finally got a proper look at this man who'd seen him being hopelessly stupid twice now.

A crown. The man was wearing a crown. How had he missed that before?

Amador's heart dropped into his stomach. He was making a perfect fool of himself in front of King Sohan.

Why couldn't the stupid bastard who'd pushed him have been kind enough to finish the job?

'The stupid bastard.' Like he didn't know. Why was a mystery, but only one person in the palace would want to push Amador into a pond.

Amador couldn't decide if he wanted to burst into tears or throw himself back into the pond.

"I'm so sorry," he finally said. They were up to their thighs in the water. His clothes were ruined, and worse, His Majesty's clothes were ruined. "Your Majesty, I swear I don't mean to keep troubling you. Are you all right?"

"Am I all right?" Sohan laughed, and shifted to put Amador at his side, sliding an arm loosely around his waist, and guided him to the edge of the pond. "You're the one who took a spill, Your Highness. Are you all right?"

"Nothing wounded but pride and dignity." Amador made to climb out himself, but two soldiers, likely bodyguards, grabbed hold and hauled him out like he weighed nothing. "Thank you, Your Majesty. I truly am sorry to have bothered you with my clumsiness."

Sohan frowned. "Clumsiness? That's not what it seemed like to me, especially combined with yesterday."

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