Oh, she was definitely angry.

  “That’s a long story… but to make it short, I’ve found myself in line for the throne, and as His Majesty is in poor health I had to visit the palace… it’s not really something I ever had any plans for.”

  Marie’s mother clapped her hands together. “Oh, how marvelous! A true fairy-tale story if I’ve ever heard one. So, you’re a candidate to be queen, then? That must be a lot of responsibility to carry on one’s shoulders, but I’m sure that you’ll be able to handle it, surrounded by so many talented people as you are.”

  She smiled and patted Marie on the shoulder. Marie grimaced and began to speak. “It must have been difficult to take time away from important matters to have a meal with people like us, Your Highness.”

  “Marie…”

  Frost cleared her throat. “She’s always been quite good to us. It eased my mind to know that she was by Helian’s side when matters demanded I leave the estate.”

  Marie rolled her eyes. “Yes, she does have a tendency to spend a lot of time in the company of other women.”

  Solana laughed. “I suppose she learned from me too well!”

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  Helian shouted. “Your Gr- Mother, please!”

  Lady Herschel seemed genuinely confused by the tone of the conversation. “Sweetheart, what’s the matter? Am I missing something?”

  “It seems that during all our quality time together, the idea of informing me about all this slipped Her Highness’s mind.”

  Susanna turned pale. “Oh. Yes, I can understand why that might upset you. I’m sure she had a good reason for it though, didn’t you, Your Highness?”

  “Well… it was a closely guarded secret…”

  “So closely guarded that I learned about it in the papers instead of in a letter from you?”

  “I sent a letter from the palace as soon as I could, Marie…”

  Helian attempted to help. “She never told me either, you know.”

  Marie wasn’t buying it. “I had thought she’d at least trust you, Lady Saintess. But I guess the gap between royals and the common people is too vast to cross.”

  I had to stop this from getting worse. “Marie, please don’t speak to her that way… it’s not her fault, it’s mine…”

  “Is it proper for us to use first names, Your Highness? Even if we’re close friends, it sets a poor example.”

  I had hoped not to be downgraded to close friends, but I supposed I should count myself lucky that she still considered us close. Marie never cared much for gifts or luxurious outings, so it was going to be difficult to distract her from her anger. I would have to convince her to forgive me somehow.

  “None of this was supposed to matter, Marie… I promise, I wasn’t trying to trick you or anything. What would I gain from doing that? I was just trying to live my life…”

  A knock came at the door, rescuing me from my predicament, at least for the moment.

  Solana answered in a loud voice. “Yes? What is it?”

  The door opened, and a concerned butler entered holding a letter. “There’s a missive from the palace – it seems to be quite urgent.”