Page 25 of Peril

How should she react? What should she say?

How would she react if Edmund really was here and they had been woken up from a sound sleep?

She drew in a deep breath and attempted to make her tone sound angry as she replied, also in elvish, “No, not yet. Keep stalling.”

“Now you have done it, sir. You have woken my princess,” Sarya said in the language that Escarland and Mongavaria shared, though Sarya had a distinct elven accent.

“I demand to see the ambassadors.” Crown Prince Jimson’s voice sounded even closer. “They are here on my family’s gracious invitation. I have the right to know where my visitors are at all times, and if they are abusing the hospitality my family has provided.”

What was Jalissa supposed to do now?

She rolled off the bed and quickly stuffed pillows under the blankets on the far side. She left the rest of the blankets rumpled.

A glance around the room, and she quickly stuffed several spy items out of sight in the trunks. They weren’t fully concealed, but hopefully the crown prince would not be rude enough to start searching their things.

Though, he might do that if he barged in and found Edmund missing.

She glanced toward the rope still tied to the bed and draped over the balcony. Neither Edmund nor his fellow spy Alvin were back yet. If she took in that rope, they might not be able to get back. But if she did not take in the rope and the crown prince came in, he would see it and know.

At that point, it would not matter, not with Edmund still missing. She simply had to make sure the crown prince did not step into this room.

Should she pretend that she and Edmund were…that they…after all, they were newlyweds…

Her ears burned just thinking about it. Nope, she was too much of an elf to pull that off.

Instead, she raced to the door and shoved a hint of her magic into the door, growing tendrils of it to the doorframe. Now the crown prince could not get in without breaking the door down.

Just in time. There was a thump and a protest from Sarya. Then the door latch rattled. “Prince Edmund, Princess Jalissa, I demand to be allowed in.”

Jalissa started shouting back in elvish. She was not even saying anything intelligible. She just needed to sound angry and as if she was cussing the prince out in elvish.

She quickly threw on a silk robe over her clothes and mussed her hair to look as if she had just rolled out of bed.

With a deep breath, she unbarred the door, slipped out into the main room, then shut the door and secured it again behind her before the crown prince had a chance to shove it open.

She pulled herself straight and gave Crown Prince Jimson the iciest, most aloof princess glare that she could. “What is the meaning of this? If you keep yelling like this, you will wake my husband.”

Crown Prince Jimson snorted. “As if he wouldn’t have woken already with all this shouting. Is he even there, Princess Jalissa, or are you covering for your husband sneaking around this castle at night? Is your visit just a cover for spying?”

She forced her expression to go icier to hide the way her heart thumped harder at the accusation. “How dare you! We are here as emissaries on an official diplomatic visit to your kingdom. I gave up my wedding trip to come here, and I find you barging in here at this hour highly offensive. We have every right to an expectation of privacy. My brother will hear about this. We came here to salvage relations between our kingdoms but you, sir, are not helping your kingdom’s cause.”

The door behind her opened, and Edmund rested a hand on her waist. His sleep-gravelly voice spoke near her ear. “What’s going on here, dearest heart?”

She glanced over her shoulder and nearly gaped at him. He was bare-chested, clutching a blanket around his waist and his hair sticking up in all directions. She forced the icy anger back onto her face and in her voice. “The crown prince barged in here and demanded to see you. He seems to think you were wandering the castle or something.”

Edmund raised his eyebrows and tugged her against him. “What would give you such an idea, Your Highness? I have been here the whole time with my wife.” He pressed a kiss against Jalissa’s neck, nuzzling her ear a bit. “We were married two weeks ago, you know.”

Jalissa’s ears burned, her skin going hot. She had gone from fear to relief to embarrassment in the span of a few short seconds.

Crown Prince Jimson swept his sharp gaze over Jalissa, giving a little smirk. “Yes, I can see how I should have known better. Of course you wouldn’t be anywhere else when you have a wife like that.”

That was an innuendo, right? Jalissa’s ears burned even worse. The way Crown Prince Jimson was looking at her was far from appropriate.

Edmund’s empty smile remained in place without even a flash in his eyes to betray any anger. “She is rather special.”

“Before I go, I would like to see all your guards. Just to make sure they are accounted for.” Crown Prince Jimson gave such a fake smile that Jalissa’s skin crawled. “An intruder was spotted in the hallways of the palace. He wasn’t caught, but one of my guards seemed to think they had caught a glimpse of you. He was clearly mistaken, but perhaps one of your guards decided to wander?”

Edmund motioned to the door to one of the spare rooms. “Sarya, please wake the others.”

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