The Rebel Prince (The Season Series #3)

Chapter 13

But right as I worked up my nerve to reveal some of my Ardal, she took a breath as if to steel herself.

"You need to leave here," she said, her voice even more accented than Beatriz', "For your own sake. Please."

I blinked, taken aback.

She used my surprise to duck away, nearly throwing her plate towards the buffet table as she hurried through the crowd of nobles. I watched her emerald green dress disappear, the whispers of the surrounding nobles reminding me that my disguise had slipped as I attempted to puzzle together the younger princess' warning.

I strode away from the buffet table, walking purposefully even though I had no destination. Ana-Cristina was still safely waltzing with another of her suitors, while Dulciana had made such efforts to avoid me all evening that I didn't doubt she'd stop now. I was halfway to the starlit windows at the edge of the ballroom, eager for a moment to process Inés' warning, when a voice stopped me in my tracks.

"You certainly know how to charm princesses."

I whirled around to find Beatriz not two paces away, lurking in the shadows behind one of the ballroom's massive marble columns, still veiled and dressed entirely in black. In the sea of colourful gowns and silks, she'd have stood out like an ink stain, but tucked behind a column, she was nearly invisible.

I wondered how much of my conversation with Inés she'd overhead.

And whether she'd been instructed to follow me to eavesdrop on such conversations.

"I was warned that Inés was shy," I admitted, slipping on a rueful grin in a bid to maintain my disguise, "Apparently I was not wise enough to listen."

One of her eyebrows twitched as she watched me with a look that I'm certain must have been a smirk underneath her veil.

"You dislike listening, it seems," she said. "So I feel inclined to offer you a word of counsel, even though you will likely not heed it: do yourself a favour, foreigner, and stay away from princesses who are not your betrothed. Especially while my father is watching."

She fixed me with a look to be sure I'd understood, before slipping back around the column.

I couldn't help but follow.

"Does that mean I should stay away from you as well, princess?" I asked, coming around the other side of the column to stop her.

She didn't edge away or step back, she simply leaned against the marble, holding her ground and peering over my shoulder as if I were the most uninteresting thing in the world.

"My father doesn't much care what I do," she replied, "But Inés does not deserve to be dragged into Dulciana's dramas."

"Your brother certainly cares what you do, though," I said, seizing on the way Frederico had so abruptly interrupted our conversation the night before.

That dragged her eyes back to me, her dark gaze dancing across my face as she assessed me.

"My brother is keenly aware of how much trouble princes can cause in foreign kingdoms," she replied, her gaze unwavering on mine as she addressed someone behind me in Ardal, "Have you come to check on me?"

"Good evening, your Highness," Frederico said from behind me, adding in Ardal, "Are you some sort of fool, speaking to him like this where everyone can see?"

"Someone had to keep him from chasing Inés and, last I checked, you were too busy flirting with the Duquesa Dellanos," Beatriz fired back.

I pursed my lips to keep from grinning at her cheek, but she was still watching me, her eyes dropping to my mouth as it moved.