The Rebel Prince (The Season Series #3)

Chapter 10

**A/N: As promised, another early update as a THANK YOU for putting me in first place for @thefictionawards Best Historical Fiction!! The voting closes on Aug 27 2017 so we still have a long time to go to hang on to the lead, but considering you guys rallied and put me in first within literal MINUTES of my last update, I have the utmost faith in you! 

The link to vote is on my profile page, so keep spamming those +1 comments next to the line that reads "The Heiress Queen by MissKatey" on "The Fiction Awards 2017 - Voting" chapter!

Oh, and the picture above is the closest thing I could find to how I imagine Prince Frederico...happy reading!**

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Ambassador Wells was waiting for us the moment we rode into the stable courtyard. Bobbing on his toes, I could tell that he was less than pleased when he realized who my riding companion was. Sliding from the saddle, I tried my best to ignore him as he wrung his hands, instead helping Ana-Cristina down from her horse.

Embracing my new role of enamoured idiot prince, I held her hand for a moment longer than necessary, bowing to kiss it before taking my leave.

"It has truly been a pleasure, princess," I said, my lips lingering for a beat longer than they should have.

The smile she fixed me with this time was nothing short of triumphant.

My own rakish grin didn't leave my face until I turned to walk away, Ambassador Wells falling in beside me.

"You've been summoned to meet with the king," he said by way of greeting, "We'd best hurry, he does not enjoy being kept waiting."

"Is something the matter?" I asked, as Wells waddled faster than I'd ever seen him move before. He pursed his lips, seeming to debate whether or not to say something.

Finally, when we'd entered the cool shade of the entrance hall, he cast a look around. Certain we were alone, he gestured for me to come closer.

"It was my understanding that the king ordered you to spend more time with Dulciana, not her sister," Wells said, fixing me with a stern look that one might use on an unruly toddler.

I straightened, emphasizing the height difference between us. It was one thing to play the part of idiot prince before the foreigners, but quite another for my own ambassador to presume to chide me.

"I was not aware that I was subject to the orders of a foreign king," I said. "I think my father would be very interested to hear how the king of Ardalone thinks it is his right to command the actions of a foreign prince."

Wells swallowed.

"Of course, of course," he said hurriedly, turning on his heel and gesturing for me to follow.

We walked the rest of the way in silence as I studied the ambassador. I'd been wary about whether to consider him an ally, but now he had demonstrated knowledge of a conversation I knew only one other person, besides the king, had witnessed.

Armando.

And what Armando knew, I didn't doubt that Dulciana knew.

But most confusing of all was why Wells was so distraught. If he'd learned of the king's orders from Dulciana, that meant they must surely be colluding in some way. But Dulciana's ultimate goal was to not marry me and avoid spending time with me. Why would Wells, her ally, be upset that her plan had worked?

If I'd doubted it before, I was now certain that my outing with Ana-Cristina had been Dulciana's idea, not the younger princess'. It was a clever plan, to disguise our very public outing as a thank you so that an 'idiot prince' wouldn't see it for what it was: an attempt to distract him from his rightful betrothed.