Chapter 135

“It doesn’t seem like this exhaustion is directly related to her illness,” the doctor told me. We stood a few feet away from the bed where Elva rested, watching her. “She likely got so excited for tonight that she simply wore herself out.”

“So she’ll be alright?” I asked.

The doctor nodded. “She just needs a good night’s rest. Let her sleep. In the morning, I’ll return and check on her.”

“Thank you, Doctor.”

The doctor saw herself out. When she’d gone, Mark approached me.

“I can watch her,” he said. “I’ll stay inside the room. No one will get past me.”

I was worried about what Jane might have been getting up to at the gala in my absence.

Mark checked his phone. He frowned.

“Something wrong?” I asked. My heart began to race.

“Still no reply from Prince Nicholas,” Mark said. “I’m wondering if he received my messages.”

“Maybe he hasn’t checked,” I said. “When I last saw him, he was busy talking with the benefactors. It would be rude to check his phone at that time.”

“Maybe.” Mark didn’t seem convinced. “I tried to warn him about Jane…”

“You don’t think…?” No, surely Nicholas would be able to tell the difference between Jane and me?

“You’d better get down there,” Mark said, and I agreed.

I went to Elva’s bedside one last time, and brushed some hair away from her face. She was sleeping soundly, her chest steadily rising and falling with each breath.

“Sweet dreams, princess,” I whispered.

Then I stepped away.

When I walked into the ballroom, I felt the weight of many pairs of eyes all pressing down onto me.

One of the candidates near me whispered to someone else. “She changed again. Who does she think she is? None of the rest of us got to change.”

I had no idea what they were talking about. I hadn’t changed. This was still my same gown.

Many of the candidates were glaring at me. Even Tiffany and Veronica were casting me dark looks. Only Susie waved when our eyes locked, though she looked more worried than pleased to see me.

I looked over the ballroom first for Jane, and then for Nicholas. Jane, I didn’t see. Nicholas was hurriedly walking toward me.

When he stopped at my side, he asked at once. “What was today’s identifying answer?”

“Moon dust,” I answered as quickly.

He exhaled, but relaxed only marginally. His whole body seemed wired with tension. A muscle ticked at the corner of his jaw.

“What’s going on?” I asked. “Why is everyone looking at me like they want to push me off a bridge?”

“Jane was here,” Nicholas said. “She pretended to be you. She… caused a stir.”

The fear that had taken root in my stomach blossomed now, spreading throughout the rest of my body.

“What did she do?”

“She purposefully insulted many of the benefactors while pretending to be you.”

Oh, no. To keep my hands from trembling, I worried them together.

Yet, as terrible as that was, I could tell Nicholas was holding something back. He seemed more upset than seemed necessary, even for such an act.

“Did something else happen?”

He didn’t answer right away, so I pressed.

“Did she say something to you?”

“It doesn’t matter,” he said. But it clearly did matter. He looked like he wanted to tear the room apart. Even his hands were curled like he expected claws at any moment.

A shocking thought crossed my mind. “Are you close to shifting?”

He didn’t say anything, but that was answer enough.

I stepped closer to him and placed my hand on his chest. Beneath my palm, I felt the thunderous beat of his chest and the tense pull of his muscles.

He was struggling to keep himself in check.

Nicholas was typically so calm. I’d never seen him so near a shift before. The only other time might have been when he had come to my rescue in Terry’s dungeon, but even then, he had emerged already in wolf form. I’d never seen him actually struggle for control.

Whatever Jane had said to Nicholas must have been something horrific.

“I’m okay, and Elva’s okay,” I said, hoping to soothe him and his prowling wolf. “If the worst she’s done is tarnish my reputation, then we can recover from that.”

A storm raged in Nicholas’s eyes, the green flashing against the gold.

“She threatened you,” he said and it came out a growl.

“That’s nothing new.”

“What she said… cannot be allowed…”

“Whatever she said is just words. I’m here and I’m safe. She can’t touch me while I’m beside you.”

That, at last, finally seemed to bring him some measure of comfort. He breathed in deeply, held it, and then released. Some of the tension bled away from his shoulders. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, they were clearer.

Slowly, I lowered my hand away from his chest.

“I need to speak with the benefactors Jane insulted. If I apologize, then maybe…”

“I don’t think that will work,” Nicholas said. “Their pride won’t allow them to accept your apologize. At least, not this soon.”

“But I can’t just sit around and do nothing. I have to repair what she’s done.”

“Even with me beside you, they will refuse to speak to you. The things she said to Mrs. Marble –”

“Mrs. Marble? The ultra-rich lady?”

Nicholas nodded, expression grim.

This past week, all the girls had been talking about the wealthiest of the benefactors, Mrs. Marble. Everyone had her in their sights, deciding that whoever won her support, won the whole thing. I had never heard of her before, never cared to, but now I understood her influence.

To insult her was to insult the whole of the nobility. The only thing worse would have been to insult the Queen herself.

Blood drained from my face. “She didn’t talk to the royal family…?”

“No,” Nicholas said, and as bad as things were, that was at least somewhat of a relief.

I spoke with Nicholas a minute more, trying to come up with some kind of plan to improve my situation. As it was, we were coming up short. Everyone – the benefactors, the candidates, and the guests – glared at me as they past.

The camera crews, however, were all too interested in capturing my every expression. The producers meanwhile shouted out questions.

“Prince Nicholas! Did you and Piper make up?”

I glanced at Nicholas. “We were fighting?”

He nodded. “I had a few terse words for Jane. Before Terry intervened. Then I had to let her go.”

Ten minutes later, Nathan claimed everyone’s attention. He stood beside the King and Queen on the lifted thrones at the middle edge of the room. He held a few papers in his hands.

“We will now announce the organizations that the benefactors have chosen to support tonight,” Nathan said. We appreciate everyone’s time and generosity. Many good causes will be receiving donations this evening.”

Nathan lifted his list and began reading the names of the benefactors and the organization they have chosen to support. One by one, he ticked down his list.

Not once did I hear the name of the orphanage.

Not even from those that had promised me to my face to support me.

I supposed I couldn’t blame them. Whatever goodwill I had garnered, Jane had taken apart in ten minutes of rudeness and insults.

Tears welled in my eyes, unbidden, as Nathan continued down the list. Many of the names I didn’t even recognize. Had I truly missed talking to so many people?

I felt ashamed. I failed those kids at the orphanage. And I failed myself.