A princess on the run, Briar Aldrich has no choice but to take on the role of scullery maid when Lord Sterling Huntington stumbles upon her in the woods and doesn't recognize her. But how safe is she actually in his home? And how safe is her heart?
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He sat in the parlor with the visiting Balienese men, feeling remarkably as though he was part of some sort of interrogation. They asked him what was found around the wagon, what the local constable believed to have happened, what he believed had happened after his own investigation. Sterling told them no more than a country lord ought to know and allowed them to wonder freely about his loyalties.
At lunch, the Balienese met with the Duke and Duchess who were encouragingly diplomatic and welcoming. Sterling dined with them, gave them a tour about the grounds, and offered them his boundless hospitality but still they never looked at him without much suspicion and he found them muttering to one another in incomprehensible Balienese on more than one occasion. Upon the third round of questioning, having been certain that the princess was in the kitchens safely crafting dinner with Mrs. Woods, Sterling invited his guests to investigate the grounds. They took to the borders for the remainder of the afternoon, returning to the estate only for dinner, having clearly turned up nothing of note in their search.
The Duchess, having learned conversational Balienese while living abroad, spoke mostly to the guests though she got stumped more than once and it seemed the conversation was never able to progress past pleasant small talk. After dinner, the Duchess showed the men to their rooms for the evening and Sterling retired to his own, exhausted from a day of manual labor and interrogation. He had just removed his shirt and was about to unbuckle his pants when there was a knock at his door. Believing it to be a member of his family coming to discuss the events of the day, he crossed the bedchamber and threw open the door, prepared to tell them to wait until morning. But it was the princess herself who breezed past him and into his room.
"I believe you're in great danger and I feel it's my responsibility to tell you what I overheard because-" the words had flowed from her rapidly at her entrance but now they halted as she turned to him and realized his state of variable undress. He waited patiently as her eyes roved over his chest. It was the first time he had ever seen her blush. It made him smile. "I'm terribly sorry to have barged in. I didn't realize-"
"Did you say I'm in danger?" he asked, his senses returning to him. She nodded, white faced and wide eyed.
"The Balienese," she explained. "I overheard them speaking in their own language about how they were authorized to get you to tell them what you know by any means necessary including torture and kidnapping."
"You know Balienese? Oh, of course you would."
"If you don't convince them that you know nothing about me, they will hurt you."
He stepped back for a moment, thinking.
"You were originally supposed to go to the Balienese," he realized suddenly. "Do you want to go with them?"
To his surprise, the strong girl standing before him turned a ghostly white and turned her gaze to the floor.
"No," she said simply. He fell silent. "Prince Lucien is... he's not a nice guy."
