AQUA

“I miss my old life.” Aqua’s voice trembled, and a tear spilled down her cheek as she whispered, “I miss Mama.”

Her friend, Razi, wrapped her in a tight hug. “I do too. She’d be so proud to see you like this. Now get out there before Ali starts looking for you and—”

The pantry door flew open, and the kitchen head, Razi's mother, stood glaring at them with Alistair peering over her shoulder. “What are you two doing in here?” she asked.

Aqua aimed a nervous yet swift wipe at the tears that were falling from her eyes. “Last-minute wardrobe consultation.”

“You have flour on your hands,” Alistair said.

“That happens when you make pastry dough.” she quickly dusted her palms together and blinked the last of her tears away. Ali needed someone to stand with him tonight, and she was all he had left. It didn’t matter that she kept forgetting to behave like a real princess. It only mattered that when he faced his new subjects she was at his side.

“Princesses don’t make pastry dough,” Ali said, his dark eyes on hers.

Aqua snorted. “This one does.”

“Princesses also don’t snort.” Ali’s voice was strained, but he didn’t sound angry. He hadn’t sounded angry since the night they’d fled from the bounty hunter who’d killed their mother and awakened to the news that the entire royal family had taken sick and died, leaving him, in the absence of any other blood relation to the king, with an uncontested claim to the throne. Instead, Ali sounded tense. Worried. And grieved in way that even Aqua, with her shared heartbreak over their mother’s death, couldn’t seem to touch.

“Look at our princess in a gown. Ready to dance! Maybe you’ll find a nice young man tonight and be swept off your feet. Now, no kissing behind the ballroom pillars, and no—”

“Stop, Mama,” Razi said as Ali tugged on his collar as if it were choking him, and the princess’s cheeks heated.

This wasn’t a fairy tale. She was in more danger of losing her footing while dancing than of being swept away by a handsome nobleman’s kisses.

Aqua’s stomach fluttered as her brother took her arm and turned toward the hallway that led to the ballroom.

Arched windows lined the passage, and long, sheer curtains fluttered in the sea breeze that swept in through the open windows and chased the lingering heat of the summer’s day out of the palace. Bells rang from the palace’s tower, sonorous and deep, announcing the beginning of the coronation ceremony.

The same bells had announced the royal family’s funeral three weeks earlier, and black bunting still fluttered from the tower in honor of their deaths.

“Aqua, I’m serious about you acting like a proper princess tonight. It’s important.”

“Why? You’re the king. You’re the one everyone is here to see.”

Her brother glanced at the doorway and spoke rapidly. “We can’t hold a kingdom without alliances, both from within and without. Tonight there will be a host of potential allies in that room. Members of AnDràz’ Assembly, royalty and nobility from seven of the ten kingdoms—”

“Including Elphie?”

“Yes.” He gave her an exasperated look.

Aqua's smile brightened. “I’ll be in charge of courting a relationship with the Ephieans. They make excellent allies.”

The night was starting to look interesting.

“I’m being serious, Aqua.”

“So am I.”

He looked at the ceiling and drew a deep breath. “You have to be a proper princess. No snorting in scorn.”

“Even if someone richly deserves it. Understood.”

“You dance with everyone who asks.”

“Wait . . . everyone? Even if they’re old?”

“Yes. And you make polite conversation. No wayward opinions about how boring you think small talk is.”

“It’s not just boring, it’s entirely useless.” Ari twitched her skirt to the side as the first trio of maids from the kitchen, carrying trays of food for the buffet table, hurried past.

Ali lowered his voice. “It’s not useless. Think of it as an interview to see if you both understand how to be diplomatic.”

She sighed. “So to be clear, I’m not supposed to show my true opinion—”

“If your true opinion is something other than polite, diplomatic interest.”

“I can’t express myself with inarticulate noises—”

“Not under any circumstance.”

“I have to dance with everyone who asks, even if my feet hurt or I want to go eat some snacks in peace—”

“And that’s another thing. Don’t get caught stealing snacks.” He gave her a stern look.

Stars, not this again. “It was only the one time. Besides, technically you can’t steal something that is offered to you for free.”

“It was still difficult to explain to the guests why the newly acknowledged princess of AnDràz would stuff one of every appetizer in her handbag and try to smuggle them out of the ballroom.” Ali held her gaze.

“Just be a proper princess tonight. Please. We need allies, and these people need to believe wholeheartedly that you are next in line for the throne in case . . .”

“In case you die? You’re seventeen, in perfect health, and nearly always surrounded by guards. Why are you talking like this?” Her voice was sharper than she’d intended, but his words had ignited a spark of fear she didn’t know how to extinguish.

The loss of her mother was a dark pit of grief inside her. She couldn’t bear the thought of losing her brother too.

He cast a quick glance at the open doorway fifty paces to their left and leaned closer to her. “There are only two of us left, and it’s my job to make sure AnDràz stays safely in the hands of a competent leader. Someone the people will follow. When—if I’m not here to rule, then you have to be ready to take my place. That means you need powerful allies. And you don’t get powerful allies unless people view you as a real princess. A true heir to the throne.”

There was an edge of desperation in his voice, and she studied him for a moment.

He’d lost weight in the three weeks since the rest of their family had died. His formal coat hung a little loose across his shoulders, and his high cheekbones were sharp slashes in a face that otherwise looked remarkably like her own—golden-brown skin, full lips, and the wide dark eyes they’d both inherited from their father.

Whatever burden of grief Aqua was bearing, his was twice as heavy. The weight of the kingdom had fallen across his shoulders, and if he needed her to pretend she was comfortable acting like nobility, she could do it. They only had each other now.

Before that thought could worm its way into her heart and send another piercing ache through her veins, she forced herself to give him a little smile.

“Fine. No scorning dumb ideas, no turning down dances with potential allies, no complaining about small talk, and no sneaking into the garden for a little midnight mayhem. You really know how to take the fun out of things.”

Ali laughed—a quick burst of merriment that seemed to surprise him as much as it did her. Tucking her arm in his, he said quietly, “Thank you. You and me against the world, right?”

She pressed her free hand against her fluttering stomach and took a deep breath. “Always.”

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