“Sure. She had blond hair.”
“Yes. And blue eyes. And creamy skin. A heart-shapedface—all of it. The resemblance about bowled me over.” And I can’t help it: tears well in my eyes. “I’d thought I’d seen a ghost.”
He stops moving forward. I turn around and he’s watching me, brows pulled together and serious. It’s just as he was on the balcony, suspicion slinking across his skin as fierce as the sunlight.
“Are you sure there’s no way this girl could have known that? Picked the name Annemette on purpose? She could be preying on the both of you—using your memories against you.”
The slope of the trail puts us face-to-face, and he presses his thumbs to the corners of my eyes, wiping away the tears that have welled. I place my hand on his chest. “Who are these scoundrels you meet on the high seas? Does anyone in the world really do such awful things? Do you not have any faith in your fellow man?”
“Evelyn, I am aware that you are not naïve, but I feel as if I should remind both you and my cousin that people aren’t always who they say they are.”
“You’re not wrong.” I take a step toward him and touch my forehead to his, our lips a breath away, our eyes locked. “And while I find your concern incredibly endearing, I’m through talking about this. Annemette may not be Anna, but sheismy friend. I have not been duped.”
I close the distance between us, our lips meeting. Hesinks deeply into me, hands wrapping around my back, fingers in my hair. We stand like that for several moments, but it isn’t until he’s so taken he closes his eyes that I know I’ve finally won this round.
“Taking the long way up the mountain?”
I push away from Iker and see Annemette standing a few feet from us, Nik surely around the bend. Her brow is raised, but there’s a smirk on her black cherry–stained mouth.
“Haven’t you heard? I’m never on time.” He grins a bit at his own self-effacing jab, but I swear I still see a skeptical look in his eyes as he stalks past her.
Annemette grabs my hands, and we both burst out laughing. It really does feel like Anna is here.
We make our way up to the games, but by the time we reach them, Nik and Iker have already been plied into competing in the mountain run portion of the games. Royal duty and gamesmanship mean Annemette and I have been left behind to hold court on a fallen log. Normally, I’d run too—I’m swifter than I look—but Annemette’s feet are already bothering her, the burning she felt yesterday more painful than before. Instead, we’ll watch the rock climbers from afar while waiting for the boys to rumble back down the mountain, sweaty, dusty, and full of new tales.
“How do you do it?” she asks quietly.
“What do you mean?” I reply.
“Get Iker to kiss you like that?” she says with more than a hint of exasperation lining her voice. “It’s silly, but I was watching you—”
“For tips?” I want to laugh—the idea of someone watching me for my alluring abilities is ridiculous, and I still have my doubts about whether there’s actually any love behind Iker’s kisses, but Annemette seems so desperate. Sheisdesperate.
Annemette’s cheeks flush, though the pink is tempered by the mountain light. “I’ve done everything I can to show him how I feel, and still no kiss! But I do think he likes me.”
“He does. I know he does!” I push this morning out of my mind entirely. Nik has heeded my words. I know it. It’s going to be all right.
She is quiet for a second, her features mellowing with thought. “My father, the sea king, says that when everything is as you hoped, you are blind to the imperfections.”
Somehow, I’m stunned silent that the sea king in our childhood tales is as real as the mermaid before me. Finally, I nod. “Your father is wise.”
“But I’m not blind. His wise words ring in my ears when I should be enjoying every moment. Instead, I look past the perfect couple we are on the outside and see all the reasons why Nik isn’t in love with me.”
“I know what you mean,” I say.
“No, Iker loves you.”
I shake my head. “I would like Iker to love me. But Iker has a reputation for kissing any girl whose knees go weak at the sight of him—and I’m not the only one in the Øresund Kingdoms with trouble standing. Iker and I are not forever, and I’m trying to be all right with that.”
She looks at her feet. “So, he has other girls he treats like you?”
“Yes. Or he did. I don’t know.” I can feel my face flushing. “The point is, Nik does not! There is only one fish in his sea and it is you...”
“That is a ridiculous analogy, Evie.”
“And here I thought it was clever, given your situation.”
Annemette squeezes her eyes shut, and I regret making a stupid joke at a time like this. “My situation. Yes.” She huffs out a sad little laugh. “Such a situation—love at first sight with a boy who won’t even kiss me. I was so sure he was going to lead to a lifetime of happiness, not...”
