Sparks of a flame

5. There is hope for the future

ALEXANDER

Daniel remained mute after coming back from the walk with the prince, his right-hand man, and the princess's right-hand woman.

He refused to utter a word and only visibly relaxed when we got back to the guards' quarters where he stood with his hands on his waists, pacing dramatically in the small room. I cracked my knuckles and neck and proceeded to take off my boots, deciding to just leave him be till he was ready to talk. 

I took a shower to relax, yet the mere sight of the brown, rock-hard soap pissed me off. I missed my bottle of shampoo, not that I needed it anymore. A pang in my heart as I poured the cold water over my hairless head, I hoped Daniel was done processing whatever he wanted to and was ready to talk. I needed to get out of the town before any more drastic changes to my body were made.

With the towel wrapped around the lower half of my body, I stepped into the bedroom. He was sprawled backward on the bed we had shared the previous night, still fully clothed.

"Wow," I muttered. He sat up at the sound of my voice, a sullen expression on his face. 

He cocked his head to the side. "Need some clothes? Or would you prefer the dirty ones you wore in the garden yesterday?" 

I smiled gratefully as he stood up and opened his wardrobe without waiting for a reply, and tossed me a set of clean casual-looking clothes. "You can have the rest of the day off. There is no need to be dressed up," he said.

I raised an eyebrow. "The day off? Am I officially a guard now?"

He sighed and rubbed his palm over his face. "The royal family has never been one to wash its dirty linen in public and it is no surprise I am now hearing of what I am about to tell you," he started.

"From what my eavesdropping skills found out during the walk, Lady Katherine found the Princess's diary and discovered she has been sneaking out of the palace, to meet a goldsmith's assistant. She briefed the Prince on how she and the Queen are trying to discover who the Princess's lover is. She also mentioned, and the Prince confirmed, how peculiar it is that he and the Princess got along incredibly well today."

He took off his boots as he talked. "What I cannot fathom, is that if the woman in the palace is not the Princess, and you are not the one who won the puzzle challenge, then where are they?"

I bit my lip, trying to piece everything together. "Does it not strike you as strange that they both disappeared at the same time?"

"Well, it does appear that way," he nodded.

"And you just confirmed that the identity of the Princess's lover is unknown," I continued.

"Yes, I have. What are you getting at?" he asked curiously.

"The princess's lover might be the same person who won the contest and was with her in the garden. In other words, me."

He gasped. "That is preposterous."

"How so? That is a very plausible theory. Who chose the winner of the contest? Was any check done on him?"

Daniel looked like I was delivering bad news. "The Princess selected the winner herself but she could not have brought her secret lover into the palace. That is an abomination."

"It makes sense to me. Violet and I were the only ones in the garden when we opened our eyes. My guess is we have been swapped out with the original princess and the person who won the contest."

He whistled, unable to sit still any longer. 

"How specifically did you get here? This Kingdom?" he furrowed his brows.