Page 94 of A Slipper in the Smoke
She had never seen the Toulousian Prince. She’d seen so many of the others, but not him.
Suddenly, it all made sense. No wonder she’d been given a room in the palace. No wonder he’d been able to afford her a ticket back to Navarra. No wonder he could summon food fit for royalty.
Because he was.
Pip was Prince Phillippe.
And Elena was an idiot.
“Princess Sofia.” Pip bent to kiss her hand, the rough fingers he’d clung to days before hidden beneath silk gloves. “Welcome to Petragrad. May I have the honour of your first dance?”
Elena could not summon her voice, but she knew she had to dosomething.She managed a polite nod. Pip smiled, and slipped his hand around her waist. She tried not to gasp as the music changed, and the waltz began.
“I’m sorry,” Pip said, as he swung her around the dancefloor, “I daresay you’d rather be resting after your long journey. How was it?”
Elena swallowed. “It was… good, Prince Phillippe. I thank you.”
Pip shuddered, only slightly.
“Something wrong?”
“Your voice…” he whispered.
Elena nearly missed a step. Her voice. The mask might disguise her face, but the voice…
“Forgive me, it is very beautiful,” he continued, although his gaze was over her shoulder.
What was going on? Was he hearing her, missing her? What had she even been to him—some kind of game? A conquest?
Why hadn’t he told her who he really was?
She tried to tell herself it didn’t matter, that there were other things at stake here, namely rescuing—
Oh gears,him.The Spartan forces were afterhim.
They were going to try to kill Pip.
Elena missed a step, almost tripping. She spotted Snowdrop beside a nearby pillar, trying to stay still and inanimate, nearly lurch forwards at her stumble, but Pip was there first, pulling her upright and sweeping her away to the buffet table.
“You must be famished after your long journey,” he said, passing her a glass of wine, “I should have gotten you refreshment beforehand. I apologise. The Queen rather put me on the spot.”
Me too.
Elena drank her wine, trying to recover her senses. She needed to speak to Snowdrop and explain this new development. Or maybe just get Pip to a private space. She could tell him who she really was, explain that his life was in danger… Maybe she wouldn’t even need to cause a distraction at all.
If he believed her. If he wasn’t too distracted by the fact she wasn’t who she said she was either.
“Our families are very keen for us to make an acquaintance,” Pip continued, when Elena remained mute.
“And you are not?” Elena asked, finally finding her voice.
Pip sighed. He stared at his own glass of wine. He had barely looked at her once since her arrival, never holding her gaze long. “I’m afraid, Princess Sofia, that my heart lies elsewhere, and I’m not sure when, if ever, it will be released.”
Elena’s heart quickened. It was real. Whatever else he had pretended, whatever mask he had hidden behind, he hadn’t lied about that.
Unless there were other girls. Which seemed unlikely. But why was he wearing servant attire when they first met? Maybe it was a game to him—some strange game to seduce servant girls. Maybe he and Prince Nero had concocted it together. Maybethat’swhy Nero hadn’t reported her—
“It might be best if you just tell your parents I was a horrible slob and you couldn’t stand the sight of me,” Pip carried on. “I don’t mind embarrassing myself in public if you need a few stories to tell.”
