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for my day so far.
    My pulse quickened when my father came forward, taking my arm in a show of ceremony. “I told you to leave,” he whispered, looking unusually stately in his best receiving garb.
    “I’m sorry,” I whispered back. “I only meant to look.” But my unease sharpened to a fine point when he answered me with silence. Together we halted before Garrett standing beside my seated mother. Her petite, wispy figure was tight with an unusual tension.
    “Prince Garrett, second son to King Edmund,” my father said. “This is our daughter, Tess. I apologize for her forwardness, but she has a mind of her own, as you can see.”
    A flash of emotion went through me as my father settled my hand into Garrett’s. It was strong and lightly callused, telling me he had much practice with a sword. He held my hand gently, as if he might break it. “A woman who thinks is a boon to her kingdom,” Garrett said, his voice mixing with the birdsong as if it belonged. “I’m pleased to meet you, Your Highness—under any circumstances.”
    I flushed, thankful he didn’t seem offended by me pushing up the courting timetable. “It’s an honor to make your acquaintance, Prince Garrett,” I said formally. “I trust your journey to join us was uneventful.”
    The expected words flowed from me, a well-practiced litany. His nose was small, and his eyes were a riveting green. Both my parents had blue eyes, and I’d never seen quite their like before. They were beautiful, and I couldn’t look away.
    As tradition dictated, Garrett brushed the top of my hand with his lips. I smiled, welcoming the age-old promise behind that simple act and the feeling it pulled through me. “The honor is mine,” he said.
    His voice was pitched low and his enunciation elegant. “Now that I have found you, the trials of the road have faded to a distant memory. It’s truly a pleasure to see the claims of your beauty have erred on the side of modesty. But why did you have the portrait artist straighten your curls? I think they become you.”
    I met his smile with my own, glad to see he had a sense of humor. Straighten my curls, indeed. A flash of emotion went all the way to my toes, raising gooseflesh on the way back. This is to be my husband?
    Oh, the trials of being a princess … “Please call me Tess,” I said, thinking my face must be red. “Life is too short to stand on formality behind palace walls.”
    Garrett glanced at my mother for permission before inclining his head in agreement. “Tess, then,” he said. “I’d be pleased if you called me by my given name as well.”
    “Garrett,” I repeated. “Of course.” The formalities observed, Garrett escorted my pounding heart and me to the table. The tension eased as our court manners could now be dropped.
    I glanced at the game of thieves and kings in progress upon the wall of the pool in passing. My father had finally shifted his pieces, putting one of his knights in danger to lure me into exposing my king. Pulling Garrett to a halt, I accepted the challenge of taking his piece in the hopes I could return my thief to safety before his second knight could make good his threat. My father made a sound of surprise as I set the black knight aside.
    “Your princess is threatened,” Garrett murmured as he helped me with my chair.
    My hopes soared. He knew how to play thieves and kings! “Yes,” I murmured. “But if he takes her, I will have his king in four moves.”
    “Clever,” he breathed into my ear, adding to my fluster. A slow shiver filled me from the inside out.
    And I rather liked the way his hand lingered on the back of my chair. The mix of possessiveness and protection was something I couldn’t find fault with at the moment. I knew I was behaving worse than a kitchen maid who had caught a nobleman’s eye, but I couldn’t help it. Saint’s bells, but I liked him.
    “There,” my father said gruffly as he stood by Garrett. “Isn’t this as nice as a day on the bay