Annie turned in her saddle to look behind her, but they had ridden far enough that she could no longer see the tower above the tops of the trees. When she was facing forward again, it occurred to her that something wasn’t quite right. “Are you sure this is the way to Treecrest? The sun is in front of us. That means we’re headed west.”
“We’re taking a short detour,” said Liam. “There’s another prince I want you to meet.”
Annie tugged on her reins, making her horse stop short. “But I need to get to Treecrest as soon as possible. I should be there already. The princes are probably waiting for me.”
“And they’ll continue to wait,” Liam said. He rode up beside her so that their knees were touching. Leaning across the space between them, he rested his hand on hers and squeezed it gently. Annie looked up, flustered, and felt her face redden when he looked into her eyes and added, “I swear that this is important. I wouldn’t ask you to do it otherwise.”
Annie had to clear her throat to speak. “How far away is this prince?”
“We’ll reach his castle before dark. We can spend the night there and leave for Treecrest in the morning.”
“Who is the prince?”
“His name is Clarence. He’s the crown prince of Dorinocco … and he’s my brother.”
“You mean you feel a special kinship with him? What did he do, save your life, or did you save his?”
Liam shook his head. “Nothing like that. I mean he’s my actual brother. We have to go see him, but I thought you should know who I am before we get there.”
“That doesn’t make sense! You were a guard in my parents’ castle, and you’ve been guarding me for the last few days. Why would a prince pretend to be a guard? Oh, I get it! We’re going to pretend that you’re a prince while we’re there, just like we pretended that I was a boy when we went to Shimshee.”
“That’s not at all what I meant,” Liam said, letting go of her hand as he sat back in his saddle. “I really am a prince! I know I may not look like one, certainly not like Clarence. He’s the handsome one.”
“So you and Clarence are like Gwennie and me? One of you got all the magic gifts and the other is normal?”
Annie nodded. “I see. It isn’t that you want to pretend to be a prince now—you were pretending to be a guard all along. Congratulations. Everyone in Treecrest believed you. Why were you there? To spy on us? I feel so stupid!” She was angry, too, and the more she thought about how close they’d become and how much she’d trusted him, the madder she grew.
“I wasn’t there to spy on you!” said Liam. “My intentions were never anything but good.”
“Really?” said Annie. “Then why didn’t you tell us the truth?”
“Because I couldn’t,” Liam replied. “I wanted to tell you. Lying to you was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.” He looked so sincere and earnest that Annie found herself wanting to believe him. But if he hadn’t told her who he really was, what else hadn’t he told her?
Annie thought the castle was beautiful. Located on the top of a high hill, it offered its occupants an uninterrupted view of the surrounding countryside. It was riddled with so many slender towers and swooping archways that the entire white-stone structure looked light enough to float away. Even the gates were a sparkling white and looked as fragile as lace. Annie could hear their magic singing as she passed below them. Curious, she reached out a tentative hand and touched the white metal, which immediately turned a dull gray. She had thought the magic made them strong, but it really just masked their true appearance.
Liam rode ahead of her to speak with the guards by the steps leading into the castle keep, and though she couldn’t hear what they said, she saw them bow their heads in deference before one of them turned and hurried into the castle. When the prince dismounted, stable boys rushed to take his horse’s reins.
Liam’s manner had changed as they’d approached the castle, and he now had the regal bearing of a prince, with his back straight and his head held high. He came to help Annie down from her horse, looking as if he wanted to say something, but a young man in his late teens arrived, distracting them both. He was one of the most handsome men Annie had ever seen, with hair the color of sunlight and vivid blue eyes that reminded her more than a little of her sister’s.
“Liam!” said the young man. “Where have you been? I was hoping we’d seen the last of you, but Father has been talking about sending out a search party. He’s been waiting for you to return ever since—”
“Clarence,” Liam interrupted, “I’d like you to meet Princess Annabelle of Treecrest, the second daughter to King Halbert and Queen Karolina.” Taking Annie’s hand in his, Liam led her toward the young man.
“Whatever possessed you to bring her here?” demanded an older woman, who had followed Prince Clarence out the door.
“I have my reasons,” Liam said. “Annie, this is my mother, Queen Lenore. I thought it was time you met.”
“You’d better have a good explanation,” said the queen, and she turned to go back into the castle.
Annie held Liam’s hand as he escorted her inside, glancing at him out of the corner of her eyes now and then. She saw the guarded way he looked at his mother and brother, and thought it would be better not to try to talk to him again as long as they were around. Following the queen up the steps and down a long, airy corridor, they entered the Great Hall. Two wooden statues of armed soldiers flanked the door with other statues standing at attention below the tapestries that hung on the walls. It was an impressive room and far grander than the Great Hall in Treecrest.
The queen stopped at a table and pointed at the bench beside it. “You will wait here,” she ordered Annie. “I wish to speak with my son alone.”
The queen’s manner would have been enough to make Annie dislike her, but she liked the woman even less when she saw the look of scorn she cast at Liam. Annie didn’t think any mother should look at her son that way. She felt a pang of sympathy for him as she watched him leave the Hall.
“I wouldn’t want to be him right now,” said Clarence. “Mother doesn’t like surprises. There must be more to you than meets the eye if he was willing to bring you here. You don’t look like much, certainly not like any princess I’ve ever met.”
“Really? You look like a typical prince.”
Clarence scowled, just like Gwennie would have if anyone had said that she was less than extraordinary. Annie had to stop herself from smiling; the prince was so much like her sister that she felt as if she already knew him.
“I don’t care what you say; she is a true princess and deserves to be treated like one,” Liam said from the door to the Great Hall. He and his mother had returned and neither one looked happy.
“Then she’ll sleep in the Princess Chamber,” said the queen. “It’s still ready from the last time a so-called princess visited, so we won’t have to go to any extra effort.”
“How thoughtful of you, Mother,” said Liam. His mother didn’t seem to recognize the sarcasm, however.
“You know I always have my boys’ best wishes at heart,” she said, beaming at Clarence.
“Yes, I’m well aware of that,” Liam said, glancing at Clarence as well. “Annie,” he called, seeing her seated at the table. “We have much to talk about.”
“Not tonight, you won’t,” Queen Lenore snapped. “The girl is going to the chamber now. You can talk to her in the morning and then I’ll send her on her way.”
Annie was dismayed. She wanted time alone to talk to Liam. She had so many questions that she wasn’t sure where to begin. Why had he pretended to be a guard? Why had he brought her here? Why was his mother acting as if she didn’t believe Annie was a real princess? Why was Prince Clarence sneering at her again? Did she really want someone like him to contend for her sister’s hand?
The queen tilted her head back so that she was looking down her nose when she finally addressed Annie. “My son insists that you are a true princess and deserving of every courtesy. Therefore, you will be shown to the chamber we reserve for visiting princesses, where you will remain until morning. At that time, I will decide on what course of action we will take next.
“You!” the queen declared, pointing at one of the guards. “Take this girl to the Princess Chamber and make sure that she stays there until I send for her in the morning. And as for you,” she said, turning back to Liam, “our conversation is not over yet!”
The Princess Chamber was partway down a long corridor where the last rays of the setting sun slipped through a tall, narrow window at the far end, providing the only light. Annie was listening for magic when the guard stopped and opened one of the many doors. She had scarcely stepped over the threshold when the door shut behind her and she heard the locking bolt grate home.
Annie frowned. She didn’t like being locked up anywhere, especially after spending so many days imprisoned inside a tower. Hoping to find a second door or some other way to get out, Annie began inspecting the room. Floor-to-ceiling wall hangings divided the front of the room from the back. A small gilded table and three uncomfortable chairs stood on one side of the door, while a tall cupboard rested against the wall on the other. Candelabrum scattered around the room held a wealth of tapered candles. Annie expected to see a normal bed on the other side of the curtain, but when she pushed her way through she was surprised to find a stack of mattresses rising higher than her head.
“They’ve got to be joking!” Annie muttered as she walked around the mattresses, inspecting them from every side. “That woman is crazy if she thinks I’m going to sleep up there.” The mattresses smelled musty and their edges were speckled with mildew. They had obviously been there for a very long time.
The sound of the door scraping open drew Annie back through the curtains to the other side of the room. A maid was setting food on the gilded table. She was laying a rose beside the plate when she looked up and saw Annie. “Good evening, Your Highness. My name is Meg. I’ve brought you your supper. The rose is from Prince Liam. He said to tell you that he’s sorry, although he didn’t tell me what for.”
“Thank you,” said Annie. “And please thank Liam for me. And while you’re at it, tell him that I can’t possibly sleep on top of a pile of mattresses. I don’t even know how I’d get up there.”
“That’s easy enough,” said Meg, who looked to be about the same age as Annie. “There’s a ladder. Here, I’ll help you set it up.”
Annie followed the girl back through the curtain to where a long wooden ladder lay on the floor under the only window in the room. Metal bars crisscrossed the window, making it impossible to get out that way.
Pushing up her sleeves, Meg reached for the ladder. “Here you go,” she said as she lugged it to the side of the mattresses. “Now you can sleep up there snug as a bug in a rug.”
Annie poked one of the mattresses with her finger. A puff of dust wafted toward her face. Coughing, she wiped her eyes with her sleeve. “I can’t sleep on a stinky old pile of mattresses! You can tell the queen that I said—”
“Oh, but Your Highness, you have to!” said the girl, her eyes opening wide. “The queen expects you to, and if you don’t she’ll take it out on me!”
“I won’t tell her if you won’t,” said Annie. “All I need is a blanket and I’ll be able to sleep down here. This floor can’t be any worse than the one I slept on for the last few nights.”
“Please don’t, Your Highness! What if the queen walks in during the night and sees that you’re not on the mattresses?”
“I suppose she might …,” said Annie.
“Surely you can sleep up there for just one night?” the girl added.
“Good! Then it’s all settled. I’ll be back with a fresh tray in the morning. In the meantime, just call out if you need me. I’m to sleep right outside your door.” The girl smiled as she extinguished most of the candles before bustling out of the room, leaving Annie looking up at the mattresses.
She was testing the first rung of the ladder with her foot when the scent of roast chicken lured her to the table by the door. Although everything looked delicious, the rich, heavy sauces coating the chicken, peas, and baby potatoes kept her from sampling more than a few bites. After a small sip of wine, she set down the goblet. Something must be wrong with her; everything tasted like the herb her nanny had used to help her sleep when she was young. Maybe, she thought, the moldy cheese I ate in the tower makes everything taste funny.
It was dark outside the window when Annie finally climbed the ladder, counting each mattress as she passed it. “Twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two … There are twenty-two mattresses here, and I bet Queen Lenore didn’t give me even one decent pillow. For someone who acts like she thinks she’s better than everyone, Liam’s mother is a lousy hostess.”
Annie was surprised when she reached the top, however. The highest mattress was filled with down and covered with a blanket as soft and warm as kitten fur. There were three pillows on the bed, each one stuffed with down that poofed out around her head when she tested it. The pillows and blanket all smelled like lavender, a scent she’d always found relaxing.
Yawning, Annie snuggled under the covers and closed her eyes. She was exhausted and expected to fall asleep right away and so was surprised to find herself still awake a few minutes later. She changed her position, hoping that would make a difference, then stared into the dark as the last flickering candle went out. She moved her legs from one side of the bed to the other. She rolled over and tried sleeping on her other side. She plumped up her pillows, wadded them into balls, and pounded them with her fist. No matter how she positioned herself, she couldn’t get comfortable.
Annie willed herself to relax, forcing every part of her to go limp, starting with her eyebrows. She tried to think about something pleasant, but wound up thinking about Liam. She thought about all the angry, hurtful things she’d like to say to him for lying to her about being a guard, getting tenser with each passing second. When she realized what she was doing, she had to force herself to relax all over again. She thought about how much Liam had helped her and how, aside from lying about his identity, he had shown that he had more integrity than most of the men she’d met. Lying there in the dark, she decided that Liam had earned the right to be heard; whatever he had to say, it had better be good.
She rolled over again and flung her arms wide. Maybe she’d never go to sleep again. Maybe she’d forgotten how.
Annie was lying on her back with her legs dangling over the side of the mattresses when the music began. The lute music was soft and soothing, as was the voice that sang the lullaby. It was a tune that had never failed to put her to sleep when she was a baby. Now, in the middle of the night when she was trying to sleep, she found it irritating. She sat up and listened. It sounded as if the music was coming from right outside her door.
Annie flopped back on the bed and pulled the ends of a pillow up around her ears. When that didn’t work, she turned on her side and pulled the pillow over her head, leaving just enough space to breathe. She could still hear the music.
The first tune ended and the unseen musician began another. “No!” Annie shouted, yanking the pillow off the bed and pitching it at the curtain. “Stop playing! People are trying to sleep around here!”
The music stopped abruptly. For a moment, Annie thought she heard the murmur of voices. When all she could hear was silence, she lay back down, hoping that maybe now she could finally go to sleep. Yet even as tired as she was, Annie still found it impossible to get comfortable. She rolled over again, but this time she was too close to the edge and nearly fell off. Feeling nothing but air under half her body, she rolled back and lay still, clinging to the mattress.
Annie was lying on her back, her eyes wide open, when the first rays of sunlight grayed the darkness of night. She knew that if she sat up, she could reach out and touch the ceiling, but that would mean moving limbs that felt like dead weights. Annie dozed then, coming fully awake when her door creaked open.
“Is that you, Meg?” Annie called, not sure if she’d slept for even a moment.
“It’s me, Your Highness,” Meg replied. “Queen Lenore wants you to come to break your fast with her if you’re awake.”
“I’m awake, all right,” Annie said, sounding grim. “Just like I’ve been all night.”
Although she expected to return to the Great Hall, Annie followed Meg to a much smaller chamber. A round table had been set up at one end of the room. Queen Lenore was there, with her two sons flanking her on either side. An older man was seated across from the queen. His leg was propped on a cushion and he wore a soft slipper on his foot.
“Come here, girl,” said Queen Lenore, gesturing to her with an imperious wave of her hand.
Liam frowned at his mother and said, “Her name is Princess Annabelle.”
“Humph,” said the queen. “So how did you sleep, my dear?” she asked Annie. “Tell the truth now. I’ll know if you’re lying.”
“I slept very poorly,” said the old man. “If anyone is interested.”
Annie yawned and wiped her eyes, which refused to stop tearing. “I didn’t sleep at all,” she replied. “I couldn’t get comfortable on your mattress tower.”
“I don’t believe you. Someone told you to say that,” said the queen, glaring at Liam.
“Don’t look at me,” Liam replied. “I haven’t spoken to Annie since you sent her off to that room. Tell me,” he said, turning to Annie, “is the tower of mattresses still as tall?”
“I counted twenty-two,” said Annie. “I could touch the ceiling when I sat up. Why did I have to sleep on all those mattresses anyway?”
“My mother has a theory,” Liam began. “She thinks that a real princess would be so sensitive that she couldn’t sleep if there was so much as a pea under her mattress. She tests every girl who claims to be a princess.”
The queen looked as if she was thinking about something else entirely, so Annie asked Liam, “Why would she doubt them?”
“She doesn’t think any princess is really a princess. It’s because she doesn’t think any girl is good enough for Clarence. Plus, she likes to torment whomever she can.”
Annie stifled another yawn. “But I don’t understand—wouldn’t a mattress squash a pea? Then it would be flat and no one would feel it.”
Liam chuckled and said in a loud whisper, “I doubt Mother thought of that. She doesn’t have much of an imagination.”
Queen Lenore shot Liam a disgusted look. Holding her nose even higher in the air, she gestured to a guard, saying, “You, come here.” After speaking to the queen for a moment, the guard hurried from the room.
“I’m going to watch the troops drill today,” said the old man. “I can’t ride a horse anymore, but I can keep my leg up if I go in one of the carriages. Liam, why don’t you join me? Your brother has never been interested in anything military.”
“I’d like to, but I have to escort the princess home.”
“Very good, my boy. Very good. I taught you to be chivalrous and I’m pleased to see that you learned your lessons well.”
Everyone looked up as the guard reentered the room along with Meg and a young man carrying a lute.
“Did you sleep outside the door of the Princess Chamber as I commanded you to last night?” Queen Lenore asked Meg.
Meg bobbed up and down in a quick curtsey. “Yes, Your Highness. After I took the princess’s supper to her, no one went in and no one came out.”
“Did you hear her snore or make any other sound that would indicate she was asleep?”
“No, Your Highness. All I heard was a lovely lullaby.” Meg smiled at the young man with the lute.
“Have you seen Liam’s carvings?” the old man asked Annie. “He whittled a unicorn for me when he was just a boy. Here it is. I had a pocket made especially for it. It’s six inches tall, but it looks so real, doesn’t it? He carved those statues in the Great Hall, too. Although the wooden soldiers are larger than life, the weapons’ proportions are the same as the real ones.”
“They’re very impressive,” said Annie. She was so tired that she had to fight to stay awake.
“As for you,” the queen said, turning to the lute player. “Did you play the lullabies as I ordered you to?”
“Yes,” said the young man. “I played until the princess told me to stop.”
Queen Lenore scowled.
“I told you she was a princess,” said Liam.
“Be that as it may, I still don’t understand why you brought her here,” said Clarence.
“Because I thought it was about time you met and that you learned about Princess Annabelle’s quest. It has been my privilege to accompany her as she locates princes to kiss her sister.”
“What’s this?” said the old man. “Why does her sister need a kiss?”
“Father, I’m sorry no one ever introduced you and Annabelle. The lovely young lady standing before you is Princess Annabelle of Treecrest, the younger daughter of King Halbert and Queen Karolina, who are at present asleep in their castle. They will remain asleep until the day their older daughter, Princess Gwendolyn, receives a kiss from the prince who happens to be her true love. Whoever wakes the princess will win her hand in marriage, placing him in line to rule Treecrest at the side of his queen one day.”
“Are you saying that if Clarence kisses this girl, she’ll marry him and he’ll be the next ruler of Treecrest?” asked the queen.
“If he wakes her, yes.”
Queen Lenore looked indignant. “Of course she’d wake if Clarence kissed her. He’s the most eligible prince in all the known kingdoms.”
“And Princess Gwendolyn is known to be the most beautiful princess. Even now princes are thronging to the castle, eager to win her hand.”
“They are?” the queen said, aghast.
“I should go, Mother,” Clarence said, getting to his feet.
The queen held up her hand as if to stop him. “But all our preparations …”
“What preparations?” asked the king.
“Those preparations have been very expensive,” said Clarence. “A prolonged campaign would be even more costly. However, if I were to win the princess’s hand in front of all those princes …”
“No one could deny your right to rule!” exclaimed the queen. “Brilliant, my dear boy.”
“What preparations?” the king asked again. “What have you been up to, Lenore?”
“I think it’s time for us to go, Annie,” said Liam. “I’ll have the cook pack some food to take with us.”
“As much as I hate going anywhere with you, we might as well ride together if we’re going to the same place,” Clarence told Liam.
“Great!” Liam muttered under his breath.
“Pardon me?” his brother said, raising one eyebrow.
“That’s great!” Liam said more loudly. Clarence looked satisfied and went off to collect his things.
Annie covered her mouth as she yawned again, wishing that she had the time to take a nice long nap.