“Or what they planted themselves,” Delphine muttered again.
I bit the inside of my cheek. I had always assumed either Monique or Marcus placed the jewelry beneath my pillow but had occasionally wondered if a true thief among the staff had stashed it there, happy to use me as a scapegoat if the thievery was discovered. I didn’t like to think it of any of them, though. They had always treated me with respect, even if the noble family had not.
Celine righted herself and splashed us, and we both swam away, squealing and splashing back in her direction. I checked quickly that I wasn’t inadvertently splashing in Monique’s direction—a course of action sure to bring some sort of revenge—but she seemed to be sulking in the far corner of the cove. So I redirected my attention to Celine, who was pursuing us, chuckling evilly, and took off at a faster pace. Celine had soon pulled half the group into her splashing war, but I continued to duck between them, enjoying the chance for a proper swim. It had been far too long since I had been in the ocean.
I had never seen the two princes as relaxed as they were now, playing in the water as if they were ordinary young people. Celine, however, was her usual self, sending a wave of water into Cassian’s face. For a split second I wondered if her antics might provoke some stronger reaction than his usual calm, but he merely shook his head, flicking several drops in her direction.
Frederic, on the other hand—although he looked equally undisturbed—responded by casually brushing his arm along the surface of the water, sending a mini tidal wave to engulf his sister. She disappeared under the water for a moment in a flash of orange and bubbles, and he smiled.
Unseen behind them, I ducked beneath the clear water, took a firm grip on both his ankles, and tugged. He went straight over with a huge splash and muffled yell. I surged out of the water, grinning in triumph, to applause from Celine.
Frederic reemerged, sending water spraying from his hair with a flick of his head. He came up just in front of me, and the air seemed harder to breathe all of a sudden as I tried to tear my eyes away from the muscles of his bare chest. His skin glistened in the sunlight, and I was suddenly conscious of the way my bathing costume clung to my curves despite its layers.
But unlike me, the prince didn’t hesitate. Swooping toward me, he scooped me up, cradling me for a brief moment, before flinging me straight up into the sky. I gasped, only just having time to grip my nose closed as I flew through the air and back down to splash into the water. Flailing, I reemerged, making sure that everyone in my vicinity got splashed in the process.
Frederic laughed, a martial light in his eye. “No one dunks me and gets away with it.”
My hand, which had been about to send a surge of water in his direction, paused, a grin spreading across my face. Hearing his deep laugh was even more satisfying than I had imagined. A rapid-fire barrage of water hit me from behind, jerking me out of my thoughts and back into the battle being waged across the calm cove.
Monique continued to hang back, well out of the way of any splashes, a look of haughty disdain on her face, and Carmel stood with her, clearly torn and wishing she could join the fun. Shantelle, however, to my surprise, joined in with a goodwill, ignoring her sister’s glares.
When we found ourselves next to each other at one point, she said, “I can’t imagine you would consider making me one of those costumes. And I can’t say I blame you, either.”
“You never know, I might be feeling generous.” I swam away leaving her with a surprised look on her face.
My words had even surprised me, but the light-hearted feeling remained. And though it hadn’t been an apology, it was closer to one than I had ever expected to get from anyone in their family.
I swam back toward Frederic, trying to position myself for a stealthy approach, but he was alerted to my tricks now. Instead of sending him sprawling into the water, I found a strong arm wrapped around my waist, and I was flung through the air, shrieking and flailing the entire way. I forgot to plug my nose this time and a rush of water shot up my nostrils and down the back of my throat.
I got my feet under me and began hacking and coughing, trying to blow out the remaining water. The sound of a swimmer approaching made me whirl around, suspicious, but Frederic made no attempt to attack, a concerned expression on his face.
“Are you all right?”
I smiled. “You clearly need to spend more time in the ocean if you think a little salt water up the nose is a problem. Here, I can help with that.” I aimed a splash upward, directly toward his face, and he tried to scramble back so quickly that he fell backward into the water.
I laughed, my heart lightening even more, if possible. His trust in me the day before had been a beautiful gift, and I wanted to repay the favor. He had confided in me how heavily his responsibilities weighed on him—an admirable trait in a crown prince—but he needed to let off steam every now and then. Or else one day he would explode.
And for a reason I didn’t understand, from the very first, something about Frederic of Lanover had made me want to see him laugh. So the sound of his low chuckles, and the sight of the smile on his face—shining from the glow of the sun against the droplets of water which lined his lashes and ran down his straight nose—made my heart sing.
Once we had all exhausted ourselves in the water, we scrambled back on shore to enjoy the picnic that had been spread out for us. The light breeze and the sun soon dried Celine’s and my silk, although the other girls didn’t fare as well. From the envious glances sent our way, I began to suspect I wouldn’t even need to send Celine out on an expedition from the capital. At this rate, the island girls would have written to their friends and relatives in the capital by the time I got back.
Once all the delicious food had been consumed, the group broke up. Celine demanded that Julian find crabs for her in a rock pool they had passed the day before, and soon young people were spread all up and down the beach, most out of sight of our picnic spot although I could still hear their voices as they called to one another.
I had chosen to stay, finding a spot on the sand where an occasional adventurous wave rushed over my outstretched feet. But when I looked up and saw only one other person left, his angry eyes trained on me, I paled. The grooms must still be close by, but would they step in against Marcus if I needed them to? They had come from the manor not the Tour, so I couldn’t be sure. If I got up now and tried to walk away, would he let me go?
Chapter 9
But my heart rate had only begun to race when a shadow fell across me. Apparently we weren’t alone after all. Frederic sat on the sand beside me, and I almost cried from the relief of his presence. Only the slightest flick of his eyes in the noble boy’s direction gave any hint that he knew Marcus was there. Had he seen Marcus’s expression and come to rescue me? For some reason, my heart rate sped back up.
After a moment of silence, I heard retreating footsteps and peeked across to see Marcus’s disappearing back. I let out a breath.
“Tell me,” said Frederic quietly.
I looked at him with a furrowed brow.
“Tell me what happened to you here on this island. And I don’t mean how you came to leave. Celine already told me about that.” His hand, which had been resting against the sand, clenched, squeezing a handful of sand tight in his fist.
I looked across the water, wondering where to start, wondering what he wanted to hear.
“The viscount was on a visit to the mainland,” I said eventually. “And he found me in a small town on the edge of the jungle. I had run out of food while traveling through it and so had stopped to pay for my meals with work. He asked me who my family was, and I told him that I had none.”