love, but you couldn’t have everything.
‘That’s your assessment. It’s not hers.’
‘I need to speak with her.’
‘No,’ said Augustus. ‘You need to grovel.’
PUBLIC FLAYING OR NOT, Moriana’s charity commitments continued throughout the day and into the evening. She’d put together a charity antique art auction for the children’s hospital months ago and the event was due to start at six p.m. in one of the palace function rooms that had been set up for the occasion. The auctioneers had been in residence all day, setting up the display items. Palace staff were on duty to take care of the catering, security was in place and there was no more work to be done beyond turning up, giving a speech and subtly persuading some of the region’s wealthiest inhabitants to part with some of their excess money. Moriana was good at hosting such events. Her mother had taught her well.
Not that Moriana had ever managed to live up to those exacting standards when her mother was alive. It had taken years of dogged, determined practice to even reach her current level of competence.
The principality of Arun wasn’t the wealthiest principality in the region. That honour went to Byzenmaach, ruled by Casimir, her former intended. It also wasn’t the prettiest. Theo’s Liesendaach was far prettier, embellished by centuries of rulers who’d built civic buildings and public spaces beyond compare. No, Arun’s claim to fame lay in its healthcare and education systems, and this was due in no small measure to her ceaseless work in those areas, and her mother’s and grandmother’s attention before that. Rigidly repressed the women of the royal house of Arun might be but they knew how to champion the needs of their people.
Tonight would be an ordeal. The press had not been kind to her today and she’d tried to put that behind her and carry on as usual. The main problem being that no one else was carrying on as usual. Even Aury, her unflappable lady-in-waiting, had been casting anxious glances in Moriana’s direction all day.
Moriana’s favourite treat, lemon tart with a burnt sugar top, had been waiting for her at morning tea, courtesy of the palace kitchens. A vase full of fat pink peonies had been sitting on her sideboard by lunchtime. She’d caught one of her publicity aides mid-rant on the phone—he’d been threatening to revoke someone’s palace press pass if they ran a certain headline, and he’d flushed when he’d seen her but he’d kept right on making threats until he’d got his way.
There’d been a certain lack of newspapers in the palace this morning, which meant that Moriana had had to go online to read them.
She should have stayed away.
There was this game she and her lady-in-waiting often made out of the news of the day. While Aury styled Moriana’s hair for whatever function was on that evening, they’d shoot headlines back and forth. On a normal day it encouraged analysis and discussion.
On a normal day the headlines wouldn’t be proclaiming Moriana the most undesirable princess on the planet.
‘Too Cold to Wed,’ Moriana said as Aury reached for the pins that would secure Moriana’s braid into an elegant roll at the base of her head.
‘No,’ said Aury, pointing a stern hairbrush in the direction of Moriana’s reflection. ‘I’m not doing this today and neither are you. I stopped reading them so I wouldn’t choke on my breakfast, and you should have stopped reading them too.’
‘Jilted Ice Princess Contemplates Nunnery,’ Moriana continued.
‘I’m not coming with you to the nunnery. They don’t care what hair looks like there, the heathens,’ said Aury, pushing a hairpin into place. ‘Okay, no, I will give you a headline. Byzenmaach Mourns as the Curse Strikes Again.’
‘Curse?’ Moriana had missed that one. ‘What curse?’
‘Apparently you refused to marry King Casimir in an attempt to avoid the same fate as his mother. Namely, being physically, mentally and verbally abused by your husband for years before taking a lover, giving birth to your lover’s child, seeing both killed by your husband and then committing suicide.’
‘Ouch.’ Moriana caught her lady-in-waiting’s gaze in the mirror. ‘What paper was that?’
‘A regional one from Byzenmaach’s northern border. The Mountain Chronicle.’
‘Vultures.’ Never mind that she’d accidentally overheard her parents discussing a remarkably similar scenario involving Casimir’s parents. She’d never repeated the conversation to anyone but Augustus and she never would. ‘Casimir doesn’t deserve that one.’
‘Byzenmaach Monarch Faces Backlash over Secret Lover and Child,’ said Aury next.
‘That one I like. Serves him right. Do we have the run sheet for the auction tonight?’
‘It’s right here. And the guest list.’
Moriana scanned through the paperwork Aury handed her. ‘Augustus is attending now and bringing a guest? He didn’t say anything about it to me this morning.’
Not that she’d given him a chance to say anything much. Still.
‘Word came through from his office this afternoon. Also, Lord and Lady Curtis send their apologies. Their granddaughter had a baby this afternoon.’
‘Have we sent our congratulations?’
‘We have.’
‘Tell the auctioneer to put my reserve on the baby bear spoon set. They can have it as a gift.’ Arun might not be the wealthiest or the prettiest kingdom in the region but its people did not go unattended.
‘I put the silver gown out for tonight, along with your grandmother’s diamonds. I also took the liberty of laying out the blood-red gown you love but never wear and the pearl choker and earrings from the royal collection. The silver gown is a perfectly appropriate choice, don’t get me wrong, but I for one am hoping the Ice Princess might feel like making a statement tonight.’
‘And you think a red gown and a to-hell-with-you-all attitude will do this?’
‘It beats looking whipped.’
‘The red gown it is,’ Moriana murmured. The Ice Princess was overdue for a thaw. ‘Now all I need is a wholly inappropriate date to go with it.’ She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. ‘Actually, no. I’m not so merciless as to drag anyone else into this mess. I’ll go alone.’
‘You’ll not be alone for long,’ Aury predicted. ‘Opportunists will flock to you.’
‘It’s already started.’
‘Anyone you like?’
‘No.’ Moriana ignored the sudden image of a harshly hewn face and glittering grey eyes. ‘Well, Theo. Who I’ve never actually tried to like. It never seemed worth the effort.’
Aury stopped fussing with Moriana’s hair in favour of looking stunned. ‘Theodosius
