Page 38 of Once Upon A Royal Christmas
“Did you hear that, Gracie? Homemade cinnamon rolls,” Clara said.
Cinnamon rolls were Gracie’s favorite. Although, save for Christmas morning, the ones she typically ate came from a tube with the Pillsbury Doughboy’s picture on it.
“Please don’t go to any trouble, Ingrid. Everything is lovely.” Even Prince Abominable couldn’t get between her and a cinnamon roll wreath. Could he? “I’m just not feeling like myself this morning.”
“Yourself, as in Gracie, the American tourist? Or yourself, as in Princess Snowflake?” Ingrid flashed her a wink. “You were wonderful last night. Just what the Ice Festival needs, if you ask me.”
“Thank you. That means a lot.” Gracie felt herself smile. “Truly.”
“You’re probably just feeling a little overwhelmed. Maybe the two of you need to get out and do something fun today.” Ingrid’s gaze swiveled from Clara to Gracie and back again.
Clara picked up her phone and scrolled through her calendar app. “Actually, we don’t have anything going on until tomorrow when Gracie has her first rehearsal for the performance on Christmas Eve. It’s only supposed to last an hour or so. The next major thing on Princess Snowflake’s agenda is a ride around the kingdom in a horse-drawn carriage with Princess Emilie tomorrow evening.”
A ride in a horse-drawn carriage? Like the one Prince Harry and Meghan Markle rode around in after their wedding? That sounded excessively royal. Thank goodness Princess Emilie was scheduled to accompany Gracie, and Nick wouldn’t be there. Gracie would rather ride a horse bareback over the Swiss Alps than share a carriage with him.
Ingrid clapped her hands. “Perfect. I know just the thing. Have you heard about the Christmas tree maze?”
Clara shook her head. “Like a huge maze made from evergreen trees?”
“Exactly! It’s another San Glacera tradition. Just lovely, especially when it’s snowy out.” Ingrid nodded toward the window. The entire village square was covered in a pristine blanket of white. “Make sure and bundle up. The maze is quite large, with lots of twists and turns. When you find your way to the middle, there’s a surprise.”
Gracie’s thoughts went straight to the kiss stamped onto the bottom of her cup of cocoa yesterday and the way it had seemed so dreamy and romantic at the same. So fated, as if she and Nick had been characters in a fairy tale.
She’d had enough surprises lately, thank you very much. But getting lost in a maze of Christmas trees sounded like just what Gracie needed. With any luck, no one would find her ever again—especially San Glacera’s not-so-charming prince.
Two hours later, Gracie and Clara stumbled their way down a snowy path that looked awfully familiar.
“We’ve been this way before.” Clara pointed at a cluster of Scotch pines. “I definitely recognize that tree.”
“How can you tell? They all look the same,” Gracie said.
They were surrounded by evergreens on every side—live ones, sparkling with snow. It was like being lost in the world’s most chaotic Christmas tree farm. On the plus side, thus far it had proven to be the perfect distraction. Gracie hadn’t given a single thought to her recent humiliation or Prince Nick since they’d embarked on this impromptu adventure.
Okay, maybe Nick’s lopsided smile had popped into her head once or twice. Three times, tops. It was too bad he didn’t seem to know how to smile when he was on official prince business.
“I know that pinecone.” Clara pointed at a pinecone nestled in the lower branches of the tree directly in front of them. Then she made a quarter turn and pointed at one on a different tree. “Or maybe it was this one.”
“I’m pretty all the trees have pinecones.” Gracie laughed.
Clara’s shoulders sagged. “I’m starting to wonder if we’re ever going to find our way out of here. No wonder we’ve hardly run into anyone else. The locals must know this is a trap.”
“I doubt it’s a trap. I, for one, am having a great time,” Gracie said.
She would have been perfectly happy spending the rest of the week right there, stuck in a twisty Christmas forest—so long as she could still leave San Glacera with thirty thousand dollars in her pocket.
Clara’s gaze narrowed. “You’re hiding in here, aren’t you? Have you been sabotaging us this entire time?”
“I’ve been doing no such thing.” As appealing as the thought of hiding might be, doing so in an outdoor tree maze was less than practical. Gracie’s hands were already getting numb, despite her mittens.
“I think we should split up,” Clara said.
“What?” Gracie tucked her hands in her pockets and wished she’d thought to pack some of those hand warmer heat packs that she sometimes used for outdoor princess appearances in Denver. “No. That’s a terrible idea.”
“Think about it. I’ll make right turns, you make left.” Clara pulled her cell phone from the pocket of her puffer coat. “Whoever gets to the center first calls the other and tells them what to do.”
“I’m not sure that’s how mazes work,” Gracie said.
Clara shrugged. “It’s how we found the center of the corn maze at the Botanical Gardens when you and the other princesses appeared at their annual HarvestFest. Left turns all the way.”
