A Royal Ruse

Chapter 33

Broken Vows On The Carnival Grounds

"Nara!" Harita jiggled Zita's arm. Her eyes jutted out. "Are you listening to me?"

Zita nodded.

In truth, She had not heard a word that Harita had spoken. Her attention was scattered like dandelion dust across the festival grounds. That day, the Jubilee Carnival was in full swing and the princess had spent most of it mercilessly scanning the crowds for electric eyes and an angular jaw.

Harita pursed her lips in annoyance. "And? What do you think it means? And keep in mind that I never remember my dreams so it means something that this one stuck with me."

"Well, umm..." the princess gestured to the children running past them, screaming like demons. "It's really loud."

Harita pinched her eyes closed, exasperated. "My mother thinks it means I'll grow old alone. I'm usually dubious of my mother's interpretations of my dreams. She tends toward the dramatic but maybe she has a point."

Zita witnessed one of the screeching kids drop their bag of candied nuts on the floor. The child's cries nearly burst her eardrums.

"How is the prince?" Harita dipped her face towards Zita's, determined not to be ignored anymore. Her desperation as clear as the midday sun, she pressed, "You can tell me. Is there any news about his condition?"

"Nothing new to report." Zita had all but forgotten about Adair's injuries in the face of her problems. She had a fiance to track down, wedding plans to resume, and a country to rule. Adair and his Intentions failed to make her list of things to care about.

Harita groaned, her frustration disgusting her. "Why did he have to miss the Carnival? No one misses the Carnival. It's one of the final events of the Jubilee Season. I'm sure he would've announced his Intentions today. No one in the palace has said anything?" Her eyebrow crashed together in a panic.

The princess shook her head.

The princess had taken a vow of silence as far as anyone in the palace was concerned. Zita had spent the previous night screeching into her pillow, livid that her plans for a future had been spoiled. The thought of being around the royals gave her a rash so she avoided all contact with them and insisted on riding to the carnival grounds in a separate carriage.

The rest of the girls all sat hunkered under a shaded pavilion waiting for Zita and Harita to return from their walk around the festival grounds with candied nuts and licorice. Zita had no intention of returning to them. She didn't want to interact with the girls who had been making her life miserable. Harita had been plucking Zita's last nerve with all the talk of her dream as it was.

Harita dabbed sweat off her upper lip. "I look like a slug without hair."

Zita couldn't be sure but she expected that Harita was still talking abeout her disturbing dream. Zita placated her friend with a hmm and resumed her Gadrian search.

"And you don't care," the princess' chatty companion continued. "I can tell you don't care. You're looking for Dreamy Eyes and as far you're concerned I could lose all my hair and teeth and die alone."

"I don't mean to be insensitive but I do need to talk to him."

"I saw him earlier today by the Face Painters. It makes sense. I would also want to hide my identity if I broke the prince's nose."

Zita sighed, relieved. At the very least she knew he was at the Carnival.

"I believe he's a tiger or bear. Some sort of animal. And I — Oh look, I think..." Harita cupped her eyes to shield them from the sun. "Yes, speak of the devil, that's him right there."