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I told myself I’d wait until I had a spare moment in my schedule for lunch before making my escape. However, it never ended. I spent almost three hours going over the protocol for the evening once more with the queen, everything from place cards to the name and importance of all the guests. When she finally let me go, I had to spend another hour doing last-minute alterations on my gown. Now I was being led to meet Lady de Marissonne to go over my Ersovian waltz one more time.
“Once we finish here, a light meal will be brought to your room for you to eat as you prepare,” Wolfgang informed me as we reached our destination.
There was nothing I could do but nod, though I was starting to feel a bit tired again, which made me more anxious as to why.
“Lady de Marissonne.” My voice faded as I entered to find my fabulous teacher waltzing with Gale. Lady de Marissonne was dressed as she always was in a purple beaded dress with a beaded headband, standing with her old thin hand on his shoulder.
Gale stood in black trousers and a white shirt, his jacket and tie gone. For some reason, the age difference, the difference in their clothes, everything was just funny. It looked like two different eras sliced and placed together.
“Am I interrupting?”
“Yes, actually.” Gale snickered. “I was about to be complimented on my waltz.” To prove his point, he glided across the room and spun Lady de Marissonne once as they reached me.
“Yes, miss, Prince Galahad is devising to deploy his full arsenal of charm,” Lady de Marissonne said with her head high. “I do believe he may seek to outshine you.”
“Why am I not surprised?” Still, I watched them dance.
“Me? Lady de Marissonne, you must be mistaken, for it is she who outshines me. Did you not see her speech? She brought members of parliament, graduates, and a whole nation to their feet in less than fifteen minutes yesterday.”
“United, we are.” Lady de Marissonne chuckled, and Gale grinned, glancing at me.
“Shall I give you two another moment?” I asked.
“If only,” Lady de Marissonne replied and ended their dance, bowing to Gale and he to her before she turned me. “Sadly, I much prefer my own partner, and I believe His Highness prefers his.”
“I do,” Gale said, outstretching his hand to me. Stepping forward, I took it, and he spun me toward him. “Does she prefer me?”
I shrugged. “That is still under deliberation.”
“Is that so?” he asked, placing his hand on my hip as I put mine on his shoulder. “What can I do to hasten those deliberations?”
“Get me through tonight,” I said seriously as I put my feet together. I didn’t have much time to learn this dance, and I still wasn’t that great at it.
“With pleasure,” he whispered and began to lead. “Just don’t let go.”
This morning, I was worried she would be panicking over the recent headlines of our secret marriage. No, in fact, I was sure of it. She had looked terrified at breakfast and had refused to make eye contact with any of us. There was so much happening within the palace that there were no chances to speak with her privately. My mother had whisked her away. I was hoping for some time as we practiced our waltz, but the light-hearted nature in Lady de Marissonne had utterly disappeared as we got into our one and only rehearsal.
The woman should have been a general. There was no time for Odette to get any more words in as she paused to comment about every little thing, from space between our bodies, the positions of our heads, and how we breathed. It made me wonder if this was how she’d been teaching Odette this whole time. If it was, it explained why Odette had gotten so much better in just a few days and why she was always hard on herself. It also made me feel guilty for not coming to rehearse with her earlier. However, my schedule barely left any room for me to come today.
Just when we had gotten through one dance without interruption, it was time for me to go. I didn’t want to, but I had to sign the new acts before the state dinner. From there, I was sent to prepare for dinner. The day raced by, and there was nothing I could do about it except go along with it, for now, at least, taking comfort in the fact that in a few months, Odette and I would be truly married. That we’d be returning to our rooms together after a long day and what we weren’t able to say during the day, we would be able to say at night.
“Shall you wear the medals today, sir?” my valet asked as he brought a tray of medals I had not truly earned—except one, the Iron Heart of Service, which I’d earned simply by doing one year of charity of work. All I’d done was volunteer at a hospital for three hours a day before going to a beach. Seeing it now only made me ashamed of who I was in the past.
“No, James.” I offered the man a slight smile. “No medals.”
“Then at least the sash, sir,” he said, holding the white and gold material for me.
I nodded, allowing him to help me put it on. He paused when he saw the double stitching on my collar before a small frown appeared on his lips.
“Say it,” I replied.
He kept silent.
“It is all right. You can say it.”
“Sir, you are the Adelaar now,” he said as if I had forgotten. “You do not think it is time to wear the correct suit?”
“Even if my brother is not here, I am still second, James. Until the day I become king, I will be second.” It was small. Very few would notice. Even if everyone noticed, I preferred it that way. There wasn’t much I could do to pay tribute to Arty. “The world and country will slowly forget him, James. They are moving on, and not only must I let them, but I must move on as well. I can’t openly grieve. But I can wear this—a quiet reminder that someone was before me, someone else was here.”
