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“Are you alright?” The prince’s concerned words cut through my haze, and I pat his hand. Force another smile.
“Fine,” I rasp. “Thank you. That was lovely. But now I—I need some air.”
“Of course.” He’s frowning, but he’s not angry with me. He’s worried. Because he’s a good man, anobleman, and he doesn’t deserve to find himself in the middle of this shit show. “Shall I come with you?”
“No.” I answer too quickly, and a flicker of hurt crosses his blue eyes. Oh god. “I’ll, um. I’ll be right back. I need to freshen up, that’s all.”
His brow clears. Prince Alden smiles down at me again, warmth and hunger dancing in his expression. “Don’t be too long.” With a quick squeeze, he releases my hand. “I’ll be waiting.”
Ow.My poor, battered heart.
My steps are wobbly on my heels, my upper lip clammy with sweat, and though several people try to speak with me, I ignore them all and slip through the crowd, fighting my way toward the exit.
It’s very rude of me. Or of Olympia, I suppose.
Just like it will be wrong of ‘Olympia’ to run away from her own engagement party, kicking off her heels and sprinting across the palace grounds.
My sister will cackle when she hears what she’s supposedly done.
But it’s not funny. I’ll never recover from tonight. Not when Alden discovers my deception and hates me forever, and not when I have to watch the prince and my sister walk down the aisle in a month’s time.
A doorman greets me as I brush past, calling out to ask if I’m well, but I’m moving faster now. Hurrying through the palace halls, heels clacking against the expensive floors.
I need to leave. Need to find an exit; a doorway to the grounds. Need to catch my breath out there in the darkness, far away from these crowds, then slink back to my suite and call my sister for the millionth time.
Then, even though the thought breaks my heart… I need to never see Prince Alden again.
Bea
Twelve hours earlier
She’s gone again. My incorrigible sister has disappeared, last seen three days ago lip-locked with a scuba instructor on the marina, and now she won’t answer her phone.
Olympia is probably deep underwater—or wrapped around her diver like an octopus in a cramped cabin bed, oblivious to the rest of the world.
Oblivious tome.
“Come on.” I pace up and down her palace suite, the guest quarters Olympia was ushered into last week. They’re all high ceilings and gilded paintings and a four poster bed—much fancier than my own smaller rooms next door. These rooms befit the future queen.
My phone rings against my ear, on and on andonas I slowly lose hope. “Olympia.Don’t do this to me. Oh my god.”
It’s bad enough that my parents sent me to Caledithia as my twin sister’s minder. Bad enough that I’m supposed to magically tame my wild child sibling and make her a suitable match for the neighboring country’s prince.
But for her to ditch me like this, leaving me high and dry in a strange palace…
I’m never baking those chocolate fudge cookies she loves ever again.
“Shit,” I say, since no one can hear me anyway. No need to be perfectly behaved behind closed doors, not when I’m about to deliver the ultimate insult to Prince Alden, courtesy of my flaky sister. They were supposed to meet today for the first time as adults, a month before their planned wedding. She was supposed to charm him. AndIwas supposed to… well. Make sure everything goes off without a hitch, and then make myself invisible. As usual.
My delicate sandals sink into the plush rug as I pace back and forth across the suite. The balconies are thrown wide, white drapes fluttering in the breeze, and even indoors, the heat of summer is intense. Songbirds tweet in the palace gardens, and the air shivers with the sound of crickets.
“Shit,” I say again, hanging up the phone with a shaking hand. I’ve left dozens of texts and voicemails already over the last three days.
This is not good.
Tonight’s ball was announced months ago. All the dignitaries and titans of industry will be there; all the diplomats and members of the press. All eyes will be on Prince Alden and his promised bride, and meanwhile Olympia is…
Missing. AWOL.
