Evangeline

Chapter 18

"I heard you had a rather interesting afternoon," Papa said, as everyone mingled after dinner.

I hadn't felt much like eating, knowing that I'd very likely ruined any chance I might have had with Henry, but I was expected to attend dinner anyway. Given that I was already in quite a bit of trouble, I couldn't afford to invite more. Besides, I assumed that this would be the last time I would see Henry. At least for a long time.

However, to my disappointment, he wasn't here. None of the princes were. I could only guess that was because they already left.

"You did?" I wondered at the look on his face. He seemed strange. He wasn't upset, but I couldn't tell if he was happy either. I tried to think of what I might have done this afternoon that would make him feel that he needed to talk to me.

"Something about you practicing archery?" His expression still didn't give anything away.

Were the guards tattling on me now? I suppose it wasn't unreasonable to think that they had to report things to Papa, but did they really feel the need to tell him that?

"Oh, um, yeah," I said, wondering if I were in trouble. I didn't think he would mind. "Is that alright?"

Papa smiled. "Of course. I was just a little surprised to hear that you'd done it."

"Oh," I said relieved. "Well, yes. Prince Henry had wanted to, and I..." I trailed off at the amused look on his face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said. "I was just wondering if you had fun."

Curiously, I watched him for a moment.

"Practicing archery?" I asked.

"With Prince Henry."

Oh! That must be why the guards told him about this afternoon. My face suddenly felt very warm.

Papa smirked at my embarrassment. "It seems that he is quite different from his brother."

I nodded. Boy, was that an understatement. "Yes, he is."

"And?" Papa asked.

"And...I did have fun," I admitted.

"Good." He smiled.

"Why?" I asked. If Henry was leaving, what difference did it make?

"I was curious to learn whether he was wasting his time or not," Papa said with forced nonchalance.

"What do you mean?" Wasting his time how? By going home?

"Prince Henry has opted to stay a while longer," he said.

"He has?" I asked, surprised.

He nodded. "Apparently, Prince Sebastian wasn't pleased by the news at all. According to the servants, there was quite the argument."

It shouldn't be so enjoyable to hear that they'd fought, but I found myself smiling anyway. If Sebastian was that upset, it likely meant that he didn't like thinking that Henry might have succeeded where he had failed.

Papa chuckled at my reaction. "What do you really think of him?"

"I'm not sure," I said cautiously. "He's...not what I expected." That was honest enough, but I was suddenly shy about sharing too much about how I felt. It seemed silly in light of the fact that the entire reason any of the princes were here was to find someone to marry me off to, but I hadn't expected to actually like any of them. It seemed more personal to admit that I might.

"Usually the pleasant things in life are fairly unexpected."

"Papa..." I said, embarrassed again.

He laughed. "Don't worry. We won't make any announcements just yet."

I smiled, despite myself.

"Take your time," he said. "There's no rush."

I still felt a bit embarrassed, but I was also relieved hearing that. As crushing as the pressure was from nearly everyone else, I was grateful that he had rarely ever pressured me to do anything, himself.

Papa's eyes were drawn to something behind me for a moment before he looked back at me and winked. A second later, he was gone. Curiously, I watched him walking away for a minute before I turned to look at what he'd seen.

Henry was across the room and he was watching me. To my knowledge he'd rarely ever even noticed my presence while we were in the same room unless I was actually speaking to him, but just now, he was focused solely on me. It was a little unnerving, but it was sort of pleasant too. Henry didn't frivolously flirt. That he was so focused must mean he was fairly interested in me. I mean, I thought as much when Papa said that Henry decided to stay, but something about the way he looked at me said he hadn't chosen to stay out of idle curiosity.

While I was pleased, it was a little scary too. My stomach fluttered with nerves and I was amazed that, for the first time in my life, I was actually anxious about speaking with someone. This man could be the one I would marry. I'd never had a face to possibly put in that place in my mind before, and suddenly I had to focus on breathing.

A man approached Henry and he turned to speak with him, allowing me to breathe again. I turned away and put a hand to my stomach, very glad that I hadn't actually eaten much during dinner.

Was I supposed to be this nervous? In the span of a few hours, I'd gone from barely thinking about Henry at all, to wondering if I was going to marry him. It seemed ridiculous.

Was it ridiculous? Was I being naive and stupid again? How did I know I could really trust him? How much did anyone here even know him? What if he'd been acting as much as Jonathan had? Maybe he just had a whole different plan in mind. My father and brother were in line to the throne. That was a huge reason for anyone to want to gain my trust.

I looked at Henry again, wondering if I could trust him or my own judgement. He was still speaking with that man, but he glanced at me again and something in his eyes reassured me. They were clear - honest. Jonathan's eyes had always seemed secretive. At the time I assumed he was just teasing and mischievous, but thinking back now, his eyes should have given me a clue. Henry's eyes weren't like that.

I turned away and my eyes found Mother's. She smiled at me, reassuring me even more. She'd been right. If I'd truly thought about what I was doing, I wouldn't have fallen into Jonathan's trap. And it's not as if I was going to go running off with Henry anywhere. Like Papa said, there was no rush. I could take the time to actually get to know Henry and let him earn my trust.

Feeling better, I smiled back at her, glad that my panic attack had only been in my head. After a second, she directed her gaze behind me, seeming amused. Not even having to guess what held her attention, I swallowed the nervous lump in my throat and turned to find Henry approaching.

"Princess," he said, stopping in front of me and bowing slightly.

"Prince Henry," I said, dipping into a curtsy and feeling stupid for the formality after this afternoon.

His lips twitched. "Well that's out of the way," he joked.

I smiled, glad that he was apparently just as uncomfortable with the formal protocol.

"I wasn't sure that you were still here," I admitted. "I mean, with what you said earlier..."

He shrugged. "I said Sebastian wanted to leave, but I suddenly find myself not all that eager to go home."

Pleased by his admission, I ducked my head and felt my face warm a bit.

"Care to step out onto the balcony?" Henry asked. "It's a little...warm in here."

I laughed at the excuse. It wasn't hot at all, but everyone was watching us. They were mostly trying to be discrete, but it was still obvious and made the room seem smaller. Sadly, I was getting used to that, but just now, people weren't watching because of my expedition out of the castle. They were paying extra close attention because of Henry.

"Definitely," I said, taking the arm he offered and walking with him toward the balcony.