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We were alone again, but it wasn’t safe to take his hand in case anyone saw us, and I missed the feel of his fingers in mine keenly.

“This is weird as fuck,” he muttered, looking at the land surrounding us. A flowering meadow stretched into the distance, and cutting directly through the archaic town that sprawled out in front of the palace was a sparkling clear river with gently rushing water.

We crossed an ancient stone bridge that passed over a river bend and followed the smooth, paved path that led directly toward the town. Vince shifted a touch closer to me as we approached, because the fae tending to the farm fields on either side of us began to look up and watch our procession. Soon we were passing small stone cottages with chickens clucking around outside, horses grazing in the small paddocks behind, and young children chasing each other and playing until they fell silent and gawked as we passed.

I could see Vince trying to subtly take everything in. Up ahead was a small stone cottage with its own water wheel, the riverbanks bursting with thick, healthy reeds and swathes of wildflowers. Lining either side of the path we were walking down was a low stone wall that had crumbled away to nothing in some places, thanks to its age, and fat green bushes bursting with more spring blooms filled the gaps. Bumblebees flew in front of us to collect nectar from both sides, a bird chirped from a nearby blossom tree and the gently rushing water of the river gave the warm spring air a hint of cool moisture. Above us, the blue sky was bright and dotted with wispy clouds. The air was already fresh and warm despite the somewhat early hour, fragrant with the scents of wisteria and hyacinth.

“It’s all so weirdly… idyllic,” Vince muttered to me.

“No, it’s not,” I replied immediately, my voice tight. “It looks like it is, but it’s not.”

He nodded, glancing over at me warily. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” I looked up at the palace again, much closer now, and felt dread sink into the pit of my stomach like a river stone. “Just… want to get it over and done with.”

“Sure. Yeah.” Vince nodded again, and for a split second I felt his little finger brush against mine. A tiny, comforting touch that would go unnoticed by everyone. “I’ll be with you.”

“Thank you.” I swallowed and glanced around when the cottages started appearing more frequently and closer together, until we reached the town proper and began seeing packed together townhouses. And a lot more fae. Licking my dry lips, I quietly told Vince, “There is a very good chance that I will be recogni—”

“By the gods, that’s the missing prince,” someone hissed, like clockwork.

Holding in a sigh of resignation, I tossed my hair back and fixed a slight, aloof smile on my face. When fae began to stare and bow, I gave them brief nods and kept my chin up, letting the mask of indifference settle over me.

I hadn’t realised just how embarrassing this would be in front of Vince.

I started worrying that he thought I enjoyed this, that I was lapping up the attention and adulation. I probably would have enjoyed it not that long ago. Honestly, I would have been enjoying it right now if it hadn’t been coming from my mother’s subjects, which just made me incredibly tense.

None of them dared try and stop us, to ask me questions about where I’d been or what I’d been doing or why I was back. But we still heard them whispering, and I sensed Vince growing more and more tense with each hushed remark that reached us.

“Do you think this has anything to do with the Summer Court carriage that came through the town to the palace yesterday?” one fae asked his companion.

“That was a royal carriage,” the other hissed back. “I heard it was the younger Summer Princess and her retinue. Does that mean we’ll finally be getting the royal wedding the queen wanted years ago?”

“Gods, he’s so much more handsome than his brothers,” someone else sighed, which made my gaze flicker over to Vince as heat crept up my throat. I saw his eyes narrow at the fae who’d said it.

“Who’s the ghoul?” someone asked.

“Probably just some servant,” someone else muttered with a derisive wave of their hand, which made me narrow my eyes at them this time.

“Is the prince really walking through the town without any guards?” a young fae woman asked breathlessly. “How modern.”

“Maybe the ghoul is his guard,” her friend whispered. “He doesn’t look very friendly. He’s scowling at everyone.”

My mouth twitched, but I managed to keep the smile off my face as I glanced at Vince. He was scowling at everyone, walking as close to me as he appropriately could, and when the crowd thinned out as we reached the more affluent part of the town closer to the palace, he leaned in and muttered, “So the princess is already here?”

My stomach clenched with apprehension. “Apparently so.”

“Are you going to talk to her?” he asked, his voice tight with something.

I hesitated. “I should. None of this is her fault.”

“What if she really wants to marry you, though?” he asked, now sounding somewhat sullen.

My gut churned with dread. “Then all the more reason to speak to her privately beforehand.” I glanced over at him, wanting more than anything to feel his hand in mine. “I don’t want to humiliate her. She doesn’t deserve that.”

“No, I know,” he muttered, stretching his neck until it cracked and letting out an irritable huff. “You’re right. Just… what if she warns your mom if you tell her what you’re going to do?”

I hesitated again, my gaze fixed on the guards up ahead, standing sentinel either side of the gate that led to the palace grounds. “I will gauge her… attitude towards the whole thing before I say anything.”