“Mark,” Nicholas said in his cool, authoritative tone. Mark lowered his head, deferring at once, even as his jaw stayed clenched. “What exactly is your plan?”“I don’t have one,” Mark said. “Not beyond throwing myself at her parents’ feet. But I will spirit her away if I must. If…” For the first tim
That evening, after dinner, I met Nicholas and Mark near the front door of the palace. Then, we walked to the waiting car and a driver took us to Susie’s family estate.As pulled through the gate, I was amazed by the sheer size of the building. It wasn’t the size of the palace, but the palace was th
The butler showed me to Susie’s room, and then quickly excused himself outside of her door. When he was gone, I knocked.“Go away!” Susie called in a watery voice. She was crying.I knocked more insistently as I pushed open the door.“I said –” she started, cutting herself off she say me. “Piper?”“
Not long after, Nicholas and I excused ourselves. We left Mark there with Susie and her parents to celebrate and help solidify the engagement. Nicholas and my presence was no longer necessary.The driver was outside, leaning against the parked car. When he spotted us, he flicked away his cigarette a
The next morning, I headed down to breakfast with Elva per usual. Today, all of the girls were even more animated than usual, their voices quick and cheerful with the latest gossip, their expressions bright.“Susie and Mark are engaged!” Tiffany said, repeating what the others have said but louder a
“Have you ever heard anything like this?” I asked. “I can feel Miracle. I know she’s there. But she’s not speaking to me and she’s not coming forward to help me shift.”Nicholas’s brow crumpled as he considered my question.“I’ve never heard of anything like this specifically,” Nicholas said. “But i
Later, I left Elva to play with her Nanny and her dolls, and joined Tiffany, Veronica, and Julian for a meeting in our sitting room/investigatory office. No one seemed terribly excited today, as we didn’t have any good news to share.“There’s not much progress today, I’m afraid,” Julian said. “In fa
“Veronica’s right,” I chimed in. “We’ll still be able to see each other.”I hoped with all of my heart that would be true. Veronica could visit Tiffany and vice versa. Julian, as prince, would be able to visit whoever he wanted whenever he wanted.But me? If I returned to my life as a commoner, I do