It turned out that watching polo was even less fun than most of the sports her friends and boyfriends had dragged her to back home. They really do just ride around on horses hitting a very small ball with very long sticks. That’s it. Why do people like watching this?

Fortunately, when the match — if it’s called a match — was over, the players milled about and everyone took to bidding exorbitant amounts of money for things in a silent auction instead of watching sports. I myself, having no money, was reduced to merely admiring the items on offer and pretending to be at all useful raising money for what appeared to be some type of children’s sports program.

“So what exactly is this?” I pointed at an ornately carved piece on the table in front of me and then turned to face Ezrah, who hadn’t strayed far from my side the whole afternoon. “Ezrah!” His attention was squarely focused away from me and toward a couple in the far corner of the tent. “Ezrah?” I asked more quietly, placing my hand gently on his arm. “You okay?”

“Yeah, sorry. It’s, uh…” His cheeks began to brighten with embarrassment.

“You don’t have to explain,” I diverted the conversation. “I’m just wondering what this strange contraption is for?”

Ezrah somewhat regained his composure and turned his face back toward the item I was pointing to. “You’re serious?”

“Ezrah, how long have you known me? Do I look like the kind of person who would know what this is for?”

“Yes, actually.” He smiled and opened the lid. “It’s a jewellery box.”

Of course it is. “I promise I’m not trying to embarrass myself!”

“I’ve definitely known you long enough to believe that!” He jostled my shoulder with his. “And that in the corner is an ex-girlfriend showing off.”

“How kind of them to always show off just for us, isn’t it? We could always do what Kat and I used to do back home and find you someone to make her jealous. I’m sure there are a lot of women here who would jump at the chance to be on the arm of Ezrah Bellamy.”

He let out a bitter laugh under his breath. “You don’t know the half of it.”

“A little cocky, aren’t we? Especially given you currently have someone else’s fiancée on your arm.”

“Now who’s hilarious?” Ezrah asked, steering me out of the auction and towards an open field where people were walking about arm-in-arm, talking and enjoying the scenery.

“Where are you taking me?” I asked, trying not to sink into the muddy grass as we walked. “Don’t you think a path would have been helpful?”

“I’m supposed to get you out here so Edward can talk to you without raising suspicion,” he said finally. “I… there’s probably something I should have told you a while ago.”

I stopped dead in my tracks and held onto his arm so he jerked to a stop with me. “Like what? What should you have told me?” My voice came out sharp and low and maybe even more accusatory than I’d hoped.

“Well, you know I’m working for your grandmother as an apprentice carpenter?”

“Yes.” I narrowed my eyes and sized him up. What is going on in that head of his?

“And I am. An apprentice carpenter, I mean. Probably not a very good one, but I am. And, well…” He took a deep breath and turned to face me. “I am also the second son of a Duke.”

It took most of my strength to leave my face looking somewhat neutral so people around me wouldn’t become suspicious. On the inside, I was wracking my brain for the names of those in line for the throne. I’d learned it all in school and I couldn’t remember an Ezrah. “Oh, but you have a last name!” The words just slipped out.

“Yes. I’m not the second son of the king, Adelaide, just a duke.”

“So, why is that something you probably should have told me? You’re more responsible and adult than me because you’re earning a career instead of just relying on your parents’ money like I was planning to? Did my grandmother set this up as some kind of—”

He put his hands on my shoulders and pushed down gently but firmly. “No, Adelaide. This isn’t about your grandmother. It’s about Edward.”

“Edward?”

“We have been very good friends since probably before I could walk. Our parents are quite close and, well, there is quite a small pool of dukes in this country. And what I really wanted to tell you is that from the moment I met you, I already knew you were engaged. But we weren’t friends then and I thought you rude and—”

“Oh, that makes it better! ‘I only didn’t tell you because I thought you were rude’!” Taking deep breaths was hardly keeping me calm enough not to hit him, but I had to try. I clenched my hands into fists holding the side of my skirt. “And if you knew I was—” I lowered my voice to a whisper—“engaged, then why did you hit on me?”

“I never hit on you!” he said, just loud enough to attract the attention of nearby walkers. “I swear I never hit on you. I was just—”

“Choose your next words carefully, Mr. Bellamy. If that even is your name.”

He sighed. “Of course it’s my name. Will you just listen, Adelaide?”

My reason was fast slipping from my grasp, my body becoming uncontrollable as I took in what he was saying. “If you weren’t spying on me for my grandmother, and you weren’t hitting on me, then what were you doing?”

Deep breath, Adelaide. You can do this. Just hold it together.

“I was… checking out your suitability for the role on behalf of his royal highness.”

“Edward,” I whispered. “You were spying on me for Edward? How much does my grandmother know?” The pause between us grew larger, but I didn’t let him avoid my gaze.

“Everything,” he said finally. “Your grandmother was aware of everything.”

“Everything,” I breathed. “Everyone knew about everything except for me. You know, when I got here I thought this was one big pile of crap heaped upon me by my parents. I even sort of expected more of it to be thrown at me by my own grandmother. What I didn’t expect was for my only friend and my supposed fiance to be making deals behind my back.”

“But you have to know, Edward—” He tried to say something but I lifted my hand and slapped him clean across the face before he could finish.

“How dare you!”

I have no idea what he did in response to what was surely stinging his face as much as it was my hand, because I turned around and walked straight through the field, across the path, and through the gate at the entrance to the gardens.

Fuck this. I’m out of here. I don’t care if I have to walk home.

I dug around in my purse for my phone to call a cab but instead found myself walking down the side of the road dialing a number all too familiar to me.

“Hello?” said the voice from the other line. “Adelaide? Aren’t you supposed to be at some kind of fancy party?”

“Yes, I am supposed to be at some kind of fancy party but have I got a story for you.”

By the time I had relayed all of the day’s events to her, she had threatened to punch no less than three people. “When I get there, they are going to rue the day—”

“Kat? You really don’t have to come. I could just come back there.”

“And miss my chance to punch some people? No. Plus, I already bought the ticket. Oops!”

A small part of me had to admit that, despite everything, I still didn’t want to leave. So I just nodded and said nothing as Kat continued to outline what she was planning to pack and give me the details of her arrival in town.