Page 10 of The Mirror and the Curse

He was just beginning to relax and enjoy squiring her around when one peevish-looking aunt nearly spoiled everything by giving Eddi an up-and-down perusal and commenting, “Young Fidelio had better leave the pretty girls to his handsome brothers and focus on his studies if he intends to become a brain surgeon.” On that note, she turned to speak to another relative.

“Ouch,” Eddi said quietly as Fidelio, who was visibly self-conscious again, led her away.

“My relatives seem to think a man can’t become a doctorandlead an actual life,” he grumbled.

Just then, Fidelio was called to the head table. “Sorry!” he repeated, looking so anxious that Eddi patted his arm.

“I’ll be fine. Look. Dom and Carlo are beckoning to me.”

His expression darkened. “That’s no comfort.”

Eddi laughed. “Dance with me later?”

“You better believe I will! Tell Carlo I’m watching him.” Fidelio pointed two fingers at his eyes, then directed them toward his younger brother, who grinned with no visible evidence of intimidation.

After Carlo seated her between himself and Lady Gillian Montmorency, Eddi compared notes with the older girl, who’d received mostly civil welcomes from her fiancé’s extended family. “I think I did all right with all those introductions, but I was horribly nervous!” Gillian admitted.

“The aunts,” Eddi said in sympathy.

Gillian’s eyes furtively darted toward a nearby table as she nodded.

Raoul chuckled at their dramatics, but when he turned his gaze upon his fiancé, tenderness softened his dark eyes to melted chocolate. “Relax,tesoro mio. They will all love you in time.”

Eddi felt a twinge of envy. Someday, she wanted a man to look at her that way, to think of her as his treasure. Would Fidelio ever be that romantic? He had the dark eyes, yet she found it difficult to imagine. Maybe in a few years when he was Raoul’s age.

Dinner conversation was always amusing with the two princes around. Prince Domenico, youngest of the five brothers, was shy, but Eddi could always bring out his goofy side. She had less luck with his timid date, Mia, but the girl did smile a few times. And having Giancarlo, the second youngest and easily handsomest Vetrician prince, as her dinner partner was no torment, even if he was rather a toad at times—too flirtatious. All things considered, she had far more fun at the banquet than she’d expected.

Dessert had been cleared away and Eddi was chatting across the table with Dom when a random glance at the head table revealed Fidelio in animated conversation with Raquel Cambout, who looked stunning in royal-blue satin. Eddi’s high spirits took a plunge. Did he have to look so pleased with that girl’s company?

Sitting through the award ceremony was even worse. Not so much because Eddi hadn’t won or even placed in the race, but because Fidelio and Raquel came in second and third.

Once the dancing started, Eddi had no shortage of partners, but seeing Fidelio stroll around the room with Raquel on his arm sent her spirits into a free fall. As soon as she found an opportunity, she slipped through a side door onto one of the moonlit piazzas and strolled across to gaze over a parapet at the seashore beyond.

Was Kai still on the property somewhere? Had he and the other man caught whoever poisoned White’s ribbons? Her memories of the afternoon grew fuzzier by the hour. Distinguishing dreams from reality was a challenge. But she did have that note in Kai’s handwriting. And he had promised to train her and White . . .

After a moment of silent contemplation, she pulled out her cell phone again.

“Beatrice, do you have a minute?” Belatedly, she checked the time on the screen. Good. Too late for Beatrice’s charges to be awake.

“Sure.” Beatrice sounded tired but cheerful. “I had a feeling you would call tonight. I saw the race results. You didn’t finish. What happened?”

“I can’t tell you. It’s . . . classified.”

“Now that sounds intriguing. Introduce a mystery and then leave me hanging, why dontcha.”

Eddi had to smile. “I’ll tell you someday, once I solve it.”

“Even more intriguing! But if you can’t tell me who, what, and why, at least tell me you’re well and whole.”

While they were speaking, Eddi descended a set of stairs and found a secluded bench with a view of the ocean. The palace perched on the tip of a peninsula, allowing a view of the rising moon’s reflection on the waters of a quiet bay. With romantic music drifting down through the palace windows, it was the perfect setting for either romance or tragedy, and a spring breeze made Eddi shiver.

“Physically I’m well, and so is White. But emotionally I’m a wreck.”

“You sound pretty chipper for a wreck, but I’m listening. Is Fidelio engaged to Raquel?”

“No, but he is a two-timer.” With mixed pleasure and frustration, Eddi related Fidelio’s behavior of the afternoon compared with his actions that evening. “And just now I saw him look at Raquel exactly the same way he looks at me. How special is that?”

“Eddi, he is twenty, right?

---