Page 51 of Once Upon A Royal Christmas
“Not to worry. The coachman is right behind me, and he’s got a step stool,” Jaron said, and then he turned to Nick. “I’m glad I caught you. I need to let you know that the visiting royals have arrived, but your presence is no longer required at dinner later this evening. Princess Alana won’t be in attendance.”
Nick blinked. He’d forgotten all about Princess Alana. Again. Why did she keep slipping his mind? And why wasn’t she planning on attending dinner? Had his abominable reputation scared her off?
He didn’t want to think about that right now. For once, he was going to listen to his father, try to let things go, and enjoy himself.
“Very well. Thank you for letting me know,” he said.
Jaron regarded him through narrowed eyes. “So, you’re fine with it?”
“Yes, that’s what I just said.”
“Great.” Jaron glanced over his shoulder. “Here comes the coachman now. He’ll get you all settled, Gracie.”
“Good evening, sir.” The coachman nodded at Nick and Gracie in turn. “Miss.”
“Good evening, Charles,” Nick said. Charles had been part of the palace staff for as long as he could remember. He’d driven the carriage on Nick’s first Christmas ride around the kingdom, back when he’d been just a small boy sitting alongside his grandfather.
“Hello.” Gracie removed one of her hands from her muff to wave at the coachman.
Charles glanced at her ballgown in alarm. Even the four white horses connected to the carriage with harnesses strewn with silver sleigh bells had to be wondering how this was going to work.
“Shall we?” Nick took the step stool from Charles’s hand and placed it at the foot of the carriage door. He’d already made Gracie feel self-conscious enough about her costume. The best thing to do was just plow forward.
He offered Gracie his hand.
She took it, stepped gingerly onto the stool and into the carriage. The dress took up every square inch of the small space. She patted it down around her. It was like watching someone trying to cram one of those exploding snakes back into a fake can of nuts.
Once she was situated, Nick joined her and the dress spilled over…everywhere. He could barely see over the profusion of airy fabric in his lap.
“Charles is going to take you for the usual ride around all four sides of the village square,” Jaron said, focusing on Gracie. “Afterward, if you’re enjoying yourself, he’ll exit the square and take you on a spin through the countryside. It’s surprisingly peaceful away from the hustle and bustle of the kingdom proper. Any questions?”
Gracie nodded. “What do you mean by ‘the usual ride’?”
Nick batted a swathe of tulle from his face. “This is the annual candy cane toss. Every year, a few members of the royal family take a ride through the kingdom and toss candy canes to the children gathered in the square.”
“We thought this would be a perfect tradition for you to take part in.” Jaron’s gaze flitted to Gracie’s snowflake crown. “Considering your affinity for kids.”
“It sounds wonderful. Hopefully, Prince Nicolas here won’t scare them all away.”
Charles didn’t flinch. He just sat staring straight ahead on the driver’s seat. Jaron, on the other hand, laughed a little too hard for Nick’s liking.
“Oh, come on.” Gracie nudged Nick with her elbow. “What’s a little joke between friends, right?”
Maybe this exercise in indignity wouldn’t be so bad. The iciness between them was beginning to thaw. They were friends now, just as Nick had proposed.
The horses clip-clopped along the cobblestones in the palace courtyard, propelling the carriage forward with a sudden jolt. Gracie let out a delighted squeal, and Nick’s chest filled with warmth. Despite the occasional mouthful of ballgown, Nick realized he was actually enjoying himself. It was like being lost in the Christmas maze all over again. Rituals that he’d known for his entire life had a tendency to feel brand-new as seen through her eyes.
Friends.
Nick glanced at Gracie, and the warmth in his chest felt weighted down all of a sudden, tinged with a bittersweetness he didn’t recognize. He didn’t really know this woman. He wasn’t even sure what had prompted her to enter the Royal Winter Wonderland contest in the first place, other than the prize money. He should have been more than satisfied by the simple fact that she no longer found him abominable.
Why, oh why, didn’t it seem like enough?
The closest Gracie had ever come to a ride in a horse-drawn carriage had been the Cinderella sheet cake at her sixth birthday party. The cake’s topper had been a fanciful replica of Cinderella riding in her pumpkin-turned-carriage on the way to the royal ball, dragged through a two-inch layer of vanilla frosting by a pair of Barbie-sized plastic horses. Gracie had adored that cake. The topper had held a place of honor on the bookshelf in her bedroom well into high school. If she closed her eyes, she could still see those grand white horses prancing their way through buttercream, flanked on either side by a path of piped roses.
Now she sat in an actual royal carriage, and she couldn’t deny that the real deal was decidedly superior to the cake-topper variety. The snowy white horses trotted with their heads held high as the carriage bounced along the village square. Jingle bells on their harnesses chimed with each step, and children gathered along the route, anxious to receive one of the large candy canes with special silver foil gift tags embossed with San Glacera’s royal seal.
“It’s the princess!” A little girl in a bright red coat jumped up and down as the carriage approached a yarn shop with balls of colorful wool and angora in the window.
