I expected Celine to protest, but she merely sighed and collapsed into a chair. I had noticed on our return journey that her second rebellion in as many years seemed to have sobered her the slightest bit. I couldn’t blame her. While the old nightmares were mostly gone, I sometimes woke with new ones. But I had determined to work on that. I would face my fears and hurts while I was awake so that they did not need to always leach into my dreams.
And it was easier to face them in the daylight hours now that so much of my waking life resembled a fantasy developed especially for my enjoyment. Frederic and I spent as much time together as possible, and I had already chosen a successor for my dressmaking business, moving myself into the palace at Celine’s insistence. She told me that as an heiress I wouldn’t have continued to live in my small shop, even without my unofficial betrothal, and that I might as well save myself the trouble of looking for a different abode by moving straight to the palace.
I had been willing to do it because in the end Dancer had accompanied me as well as Reya, and since the new dressmaker already had a home, they were to live in the tiny apartment above my shop. I feared it would be too small for the two of them, but they assured me it was more than adequate and that they preferred to be together. It was a sentiment I could understand from my own experiences of arriving in a strange place.
The new dressmaker had been disappointed to learn that she would not inherit exclusive access to my source of materials, but she cheered up when she learned I would be a new source of royal commissions. I could hardly sew all my own dresses once I was a princess. And when she learned I still intended to design my own dresses, at least—and that she would share some of the credit for them—she had happily agreed to my one stipulation. Reya and Dancer were to be her apprentices, safe where I could keep an eye on them.
None of the other urchins had shown any interest in leaving Largo, so I had spent some time before my departure finding them respectable places that fitted each of their interests. An easier task given my new almost-royal status.
When we had sailed from Largo, it had given me a pang. More than anywhere else, Largo had been my home. But when we sailed into Lanare, a sense of comfort washed over me. Not quite a homecoming since my new home stood beside me on the deck, but a sense of rightness. Lanare alone was free of bad memories and the taint of old fear. Here I could build a new future on the foundation of my past.
And if I could breathe more easily, if the air was a little less dense—and if the greater range of temperature allowed a broader range of dress design—why, all the better. Frederic had already promised that we could make many future trips in the royal yacht to visit my friends around the kingdom.
“Cassian wrote to his twin about your engagement, as I’m sure you know my dear Tillara,” said the queen, jerking me from my distant thoughts. “And we have just received a reply from Clarisse.”
Celine looked up and grinned. “Was she suitably amazed? I hope she means to come visit so she can see his transformation for herself.”
“It seems—as is so often the case with twins I find—that despite the distance that separates them, their lives parallel in strange ways. She has also become engaged at the same time.”
“Good for her,” said Celine. “Hopefully he is a great deal nicer than her first husband who quite deserved to be run through from all I hear.”
“Celine.” The queen gave her remonstrance without heat, and her youngest daughter seemed entirely unabashed by it.
She looked over at Tillie and me. “I’m great friends with Lily and Sophie, the Arcadian princesses, and they heard all about it from someone who was there. It sounded perfectly thrilling.” Her face turned sad. “Although not, I think, for poor Clarisse.”
“No, indeed,” said the queen. “But it seems her new betrothed is everything we might wish for. They are to have a quiet ceremony in Rangmere, apparently, and then she will bring him here to meet us all.” She smiled at Tillie. “She wishes to be here for her twin’s wedding.”
Tillie didn’t have a chance to respond before Celine jumped in. “Talking of Lily and Sophie and weddings, can I invite them to come for Frederic and Evie’s wedding, Mother? It’s been over a year since they were here last.”
“Naturally all the royalty of the Four Kingdoms will be invited for the wedding of our crown prince,” said the queen. “Whether they come or not will be entirely up to their own parents, however, and I would not dream of placing any pressure on them to do so.”
“Well do tell them how much I am longing to introduce my friends to my two new sisters.” Celine turned away from her mother and gave me a wink.
I hid a smile. Frederic had already warned me about those three together, but his words had only inspired an earnest desire in me to meet the twins who were a year younger than Celine.
“I would have thought you experienced quite enough adventure on the Tour,” said the queen, watching her daughter with a resigned air.
Celine considered this. “It’s true that adventures can be less fun than I used to imagine when I was younger, before I had any. But I still think I would like to have one of my own.”
“You will, my dear,” said her mother, looking a great deal less terrified by the idea than I suspected I would have been if I were Celine’s mother.
“Do you really think so?” Celine swung one foot disconsolately. “It seems all the adventures have already been had. No corner of the Four Kingdoms has been neglected.”
“Well,” said the queen, “then you will have to sail across the seas and find some new lands.”
Celine laughed and bounded up, crossing over to kiss her mother on the head. “Sometimes you are even more ridiculous than Frederic, Mother. There are no lands across the sea.”
Her mother simply smiled at her before expanding the expression to include me and Tillie, who looked almost as nervous as I felt, despite not needing the council’s approval for her own betrothal. She seemed to think she could not endure life at court and learning the ways of a princess without my support. No doubt it gave her comfort not to be the least-equipped potential new member of the royal family.
It had been fun to watch the capital’s astonishment at the transformation of Cassian in the presence of his beloved. Celine in particular took great delight in provoking romantic outbursts from him in front of astonished courtiers.
In truth, I was as glad as Tillie to have company during the overwhelming transition. It had helped to arrive at court with ready-made friends.
The door across from us flew open, and I swung around. Frederic strode straight to me, picking me up and spinning me around.
“You’re going to be a princess, Evie.” He smiled down into my eyes and lowered his voice. “You’re going to be my queen.” I shivered at the words that were almost too much to believe.
Later that evening, I smoothed the soft silk of my gown with nervous fingers as I stood behind the closed double doors that led onto the landing above the ballroom.
“Don’t be nervous,” said my betrothed beside me, stilling my hand with his. “It is a triumph. I have never seen you look so beautiful.” He leaned down to whisper in my ear. “And that’s saying something since every day you take my breath away.”
I rolled my eyes but smiled up at him anyway, and he stole a quick kiss.
“Frederic!” I whispered. “The doors might open at any moment.”
He grinned. “I don’t care.” When he tried to snatch another one, I ducked away, evading him. He might not care, but this was my first proper introduction to the court, and I didn’t want to start with a scandal.