Page 23 of A Touch of Charm
“You take care of yourself until the infection heals. You’re under my care until I dismiss you as healed, and you may resume your vendetta against List.”
“It’s not a vendetta, Andre; he’s threatening my country. He’s dangerous for our friends. Your friends. For Felix and—”
“I know. But if you die of an infection, you’ll make him stronger. Right now, you are his highest-ranking opponent, and you have a chance to defeat him. Take the time to heal and then return stronger on the battlefield.”
“It’s not a battlefield; it’s my life.”
“All of life is a battlefield, isn’t it?”
“Per aspera ad astra,” Stan quoted a Latin proverb.
“True. Through hardships to the stars.” Andre nodded and left to retrieve the wound dressing from his treatment room. But he feared that the trial ahead would not be a battle with the enemy but one with himself: How could he protect Princess Thea and be so close to her without losing his heart? She’d captivated him in a way that he felt in his bones—this battle he would surely lose. In promising Stan to look after his sister in his stead, Andre had implicitly agreed to have his heart broken by the fierce and beautiful princess whom he could never have.
Chapter Nine
After Thea andMary freshened up in the morning, Thea took Mary back downstairs to the oculist’s treatment room, where Andre said they could find paper and quill to pen a note for Mary’s parents. Stan looked feverish and tired even though he’d slept all night.
Mary found a large flat case with an arrangement of lenses. Next to each was a small piece of paper glued onto the velvet lining with numbers written on it.
“Oh, this is fun,” Mary declared as she switched them with each other in the case. “Can you put them back in order?”
“Mary, don’t do that!” Thea rushed to the girl’s side. “What is this even?”
“It says on the side of the tray,” Mary pointed at the edge. “Re-…reef—”
“Refractive Lenses,” Thea read aloud. “Oh, don’t mix them up! This is for eyeglasses.”
“I want to make some!” Mary cheerfully said, but Thea tried to keep track of which lenses Mary had already switched, but it was too late. “Let’s make spectacles!” Mary held two lenses over her eyes and looked like a big fish.
“Do you know where I can find a piece of paper to leave the oculist a note?” Thea asked Stan. “We need to leave him a note to warn him that they are out of order.”
“I promised Andre that we’d stay at the rehabilitation center for a while,” Stan said with a solemn look when he buttoned his coat. “It’s the best for all of us.”
“I have to let Mary’s parents know where she is and that she’s safe,” Thea said, scanning the room for said paper and a quill.
“We can send them a messenger. Should I arrange for Mary to return to—”
“No, I am staying with Miss Thea!” Mary hopped off the stool and seemed to forget about the lenses. “I’m not leaving for Europe, so I can be a nurse here!” She put her hands on her hips and tapped her foot on the floor. “I already slept in the nurse’s bed last night.”
Stan arched a brow and looked at Thea as if she’d said it, but all she could do was shake her head.
“Miss Mary,” Stan cleared his throat.
“I’m her governess,” Thea interrupted as sternly as she could muster, even though she rather wanted to burst out laughing at Stan’s fake look. “I can only return her to the care of her parents, nobody else. And since they are due to travel to Europe, Mary stays with me,” Thea said.
“She’s my princess!” Mary said, crossing her arms.
All eyes shot to the little girl.
“You heard us last night?” Thea asked with a stern look that hardly hid her astonishment.
Mary beamed at her. “I have my own princess!”
Stan’s mien sobered as if Mary didn’t understand what a princess was. No matter how much Thea loved her brothers, as the only girl, she felt on an island alone at sea when it came to feminine things—like the universal fascination with being a princess.
Thea tucked a thought into her mind about telling Mary that a princess had many more responsibilities than fairy tales suggested, such as strolling in gardens, dancing at balls, or holding audiences. Judging my Mary’s twinkling eyes, twirling in imaginary gowns was her priority in all things princess. But there was time to explain a real princess’s life another day.
“For now, I’m your governess.” Thea flattened her lips into a line.
