The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen Page B

wouldn’t you?” He laughed at his own joke. Obviously, Imogen could not have told him. And I suspected even if she could, she still wouldn’t have dared.
    “We have business,” Conner said to all of the servants in the room. “You may all go.”
    When they left, Conner said, “You seem very interested in that girl’s affairs, Sage.”
    “Somebody gave her that bruise. We both know it wasn’t an accident.”
    “She’s a servant girl, beneath your station now. Let those in her circles look after her interests.”
    “Those in her circles probably caused it.”
    Conner brushed off my statement with an empty promise to look into the matter, then said, “Forget the servant girl and remember why you’re here. Did you know the prince is already engaged to be married?”
    That had Roden’s attention. “Already? To who?”
    “To whom , Roden. The betrothed princess Amarinda of Bultain was chosen at her birth for the crown prince Darius. She is the niece of the king of Bymar, and an alliance between Eckbert’s home and hers is necessary for continued peace in Carthya. The betrothal was King Eckbert’s idea. His wife, Queen Erin, was from an inconsequential border town in southern Carthya, unknown in any social circles of the upper class. He was expected to choose from amongst the noblemen’s daughters, so there was a great controversy when he married. Even today, little is known about her life before the marriage. For all his weakness in defending his borders, he was always a great defender of his wife.”
    “Why was that necessary?” Tobias asked. “What was she before? Some sort of criminal?”
    “Bite those words!” Conner ordered. “She was your queen, Tobias, and a respectable woman, always. My only point is that Eckbert wanted to avoid a similar uproar with his son. Now that Darius has been killed, the betrothal will pass to Prince Jaron, if he is found. If you take the crown, you will one day take Amarinda as your wife.”
    “But if she was engaged to Darius —” Roden asked.
    “She was betrothed to the throne, not the prince. Amarinda will marry the man who becomes king.”
    “Marry?” Tobias chuckled loudly, echoed by Roden and me.
    “Not until you’re older, of course,” Conner said. “But when the time comes, she will be yours.”
    “What does she look like?” I asked. Conner raised an eyebrow, and I added, “Seems to me a girl whose marriage is guaranteed might not need to take care of her looks as much as one who has yet to catch a man’s eye.”
    “You shall see for yourself,” Conner said. “I have invited her to dinner at the end of this week.”
    “But if she sees us —” Tobias said.
    “You three will be in disguise as servants amongst my staff. She is a betrothed princess and will hardly deign to look at any of you. But I want you to see her, to gain an understanding of her mannerisms and style. It will help you after you take the throne.”
    “So what is she like?” Roden asked.
    “I’ll have you judge that for yourselves. But I suspect she will appeal to you boys, and make our contest that much more interesting.”
    Roden and Tobias perked up at the prospect of seeing her, but I only slumped back in my chair. Conner had collected another victim in this hideous game, and the princess would never even know it.

B ack in our rooms that night, Roden went straight to bed. Tobias was at his desk, reading another book. I lay on my bed, staring out the window. Tucked beneath my pillow was a spool of thread, a needle, and a small pair of sewing shears. I did have a tear in a shirt from the horse ride, but I wasn’t going to repair it. When I had enough privacy, I planned to cut the shirt up and sew a few pockets into the linings of my clothes. The vest I wore in the daytime had only one useless pocket on the outside. I needed a way to hide items inside my clothes, where nobody would think to look.
    After verifying the sewing items were well hidden, I sat up and stared out