Blooming Stars

Chapter 9

"Ah." I pressed a hand to my mouth. Standing a few meters away was the crown prince, watching us. His eyebrows sat high in surprise. When everyone else saw what I was looking at, they scrambled from their seats to curtsy to him.

"We greet His Highness, Crown Prince Esidwa," they said together. I was too frozen with shock to follow them. What was he doing here?

With one hand on the table, I felt something warm and wet. I had spilled my tea. It stained the tablecloth and I saw splatters on my dress. I wanted to crawl under the table and hide in embarrassment. My face burned hot, but I curtsied anyway, keeping my sights on the table in front of me. I did not want to see him staring at me. He must've thought me a barbarian.

"Lady Mayhew," said the prince, "you forget that Miss Sutton is an honored guest at the palace." His words were like a cold blade under the skin. "It is not wise to make disparaging remarks against someone favored by the emperor."

I dared to look up just enough to see the long edges of the bolo tie he wore, and glanced at the subject of his ire.

Lady Mayhew's entire body shook. She bent forward. "I-I... I ap-apologize profusely, Your Highness. I was not aware—"

"That's not an excuse."

Although the prince faced her, he shifted his eyes toward me. I shivered.

"Belittling someone because of their appearance is foolish," he said to Lady Mayhew. "You don't know how to see beyond looks, do you?"

Lady Mayhew chewed her lip, her face plastered with shame.

The prince swept his searing gaze over the other women. They recoiled as though a dragon had entered our presence. I had heard that he had an intimidating aura, but I didn't know it was quite like this. My mouth went dry.

"You should listen to Miss Markham," he said.

Everyone nodded stupidly.

I still didn't know why he had come here. Maybe he had heard the ladies and been curious?

He lingered for a few moments longer, staring at me. I was sure my face was as red as a tomato. I quickly curtsied.

"Please excuse me," I said. Then, I turned and hurried away.

My steps carried me to a private corner of the garden where I was able to calm down. My dress would need cleaning. I inspected the stains and sighed. In the distance, my sister called my name. She would scold me for making a scene, but I was only standing up for our cousin. I had to because my sister wouldn't.

I thought to go back to my room in defeat when I heard leaves rustling. I jumped, expecting my sister to come at me with a waggling finger. I bit my tongue when I saw who arrived.

The prince came around a tall bush and spotted me. I took a step back as he approached. He noticed, and stopped. "Are you all right?"

He was asking me that? "Um...yes."

He saw the tea stains on my dress. "You didn't get burned, did you?"

"By the tea? No."

"Good."

I didn't understand why he had followed me here. "I'm sorry you had to see that."

His eyebrows came down in confusion.

"It was very unladylike," I said. "I shouldn't have yelled."

"You were angry at what she said about your cousin."

"Well, yes..."

"You were right to be angry."

I said nothing.

"It means you cherish your family and see peoples' hearts."

"Ah..." Why was he going on about this? "I suppose, but... I don't think it's all that unusual to defend one's family."

This seemed to surprise him. He stared at me for a long time as if trying to figure me out. The quiet went on for so long that I started to sweat. Should I excuse myself again? A soft wind blew through the garden, stirring a few stray leaves. A leaf landed against the prince's uniform. Without looking, he picked it off, his eyes never leaving me. His expression softened.

"May I ask you something?" he said.