Page 89 of Songs and Spun Gold
“You...must have told me,” he mumbled. When Katy strongly denied it, he amended, “Then Otto must have told me. He likes to talk about his favorite cousin when we walk through the town in the mornings.”
They both turned to look back at her cousin, but he shook his head without looking at them. “Not that I recall,” he said simply.
“Then ’twas a lucky guess, I suppose. For both of us.” The prince tugged her in a different direction. “It would be my pleasure to introduce you to my new favorite: pirogi.”
They found an out-of-the-way place to stand and consume their snack. Katy offered some to their guards, but Axel merely laughed, correctly predicting that they would all refuse, even her cousin. She felt bad eating in front of them, but all three firmly told her not to worry about it.
“Are you ready for tomorrow?” Katy asked quietly. She couldn’t be too specific in public, especially since two of their guards were unaware of Axel’s unsanctioned activities.
Having just taken a bite, he chewed for a bit and swallowed before replying. “Of course. Thanks to your subtle prodding, I had ample time to prepare the rest. Areyouready for tonight?” He grinned at her. “Your first time enjoying a fine theatrical production from the best seats in the house?”
“I thought the box I sat in last time was pretty good.” Winking at him, she added, “It gave me a fine view of that new actor everyone keeps talking about. Too bad he won’t be there tonight.”
“Alas, no, I fear our tickets are for the wrong night if you wish to hear him perform again. But I think I like it better this way; I am not sure I could contain my jealousy were I forced to sit next to you while you openly admired another man.”
“And yet you take me tonight? What makes you so confident that I won’t be admiring Georg?” She shot him a mischievous grin before stuffing her final bite into her mouth.
Axel leaned over to whisper in her ear. His lips brushed her skin, sending a pleasant shiver down her back. “Perhaps only confident that you prefer me to an unknown on the stage.”
She pushed his lips from her mind. When her mouth was clear to respond, she calmly stated, “Overconfident, then. I didn’t know the new young actor before I saw him on the stage. And he entranced me enough to track him down in the dressing room.”
“Perhaps. Shall we continue?” Instead of offering his arm,he reached for her hand. She whisked it out of reach, settling her hands safely around his solid upper arm. His smile faltered for a moment. “Then let us be off.”
~
“Katy!”
Waving her maid aside, Katy leapt from her chair with her hair half done, rushing to respond to the insistent knocking at her door. She threw it open. “Axel! What’s wrong?”
Instead of responding, he pushed past her, freezing when he looked up and saw the maid staring at him with wide eyes. Pasting on a playful smile – with only a slight hint of panic around his eyes – he said, “Would you give us a moment, Britta? I find I cannot wait another minute and simply must have my fair Katrin to myself for a mite of conversation.” He waggled his eyebrows and winked.
Britta pressed her lips together, clearly hiding a smile. “Yes, Your Highness. As long as Miss Katrin desires it?”
“Yes, of course, Britta,” Katy hastily said, waving her out of the room. As soon as the door closed behind her, the mask slid from Axel’s face and the look of panic returned.
“What’s wrong?” Katy asked again, keeping her voice low as they walked farther into the room. “What happened?”
“I just found a letter from the operations director.” Pulling a folded paper out of his pocket, he handed it to her. “It was delivered while we were out. I dropped by my study to glance through my correspondence while waiting for you. That was lying on top of the stack.”
Katy took the note, opened it, and scanned it as quickly as she could. “But this—!” she gasped. Looking up, she saw her own distress mirrored in his eyes. “He has no right to demand this of you!”
“You’re right, he doesn’t,” Axel replied grimly. “And heisn’t. But if this note can be trusted, I don’t have a choice.”
She returned her attention to the paper in her hand. “Do you think the note-writer would do it? Would he really hurt Georg if you don’t sing tonight?”
“I don’t know.” Axel paced away from her and buried his hands in his hair. “I don’t know anything about this person. But I can’t risk that he would. It wouldn’t be the first time Georg was injured, and I’ve had my doubts about his first accident.”
“This has happened before?”
“Opening night ofThe Tanner’s Secret? He would have been performing the part of Lars if a falling curtain hadn’t broken his leg a week before.”
Katy felt her throat constrict as the realization hit her. “If he hadn’t broken his leg, we never would have met.” The grinning red-haired stranger danced across her mind. “Someone could have dropped that curtain on him just so that we would meet.”
“I don’t see how someone could anticipate that,” Axel said, frowning. “Besides, we would have met anyway. Just not until you finished spinning gold.”
No, perhaps their meeting at the theater could not have been predicted. But she was willing to bet she knew someone who would have taken the chance.
Someone with a vested interest in Katy marrying the prince, no matter the cost.
