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if her mother’s voice had Summoned him, a door appeared in the stone wall and Zol and Renel strode in. Eve rolled her eyes – seeing Zol made her think of Zain. How glad she was that the potion hadn’t worked. Now he was free to find love too. The locket had been empty, so she must never have completed the mix in the first place. Or did she have a change of heart and dump the contents? It was so hard to remember. Her brain felt fuzzy, events rubbed off her memory like chalk from a blackboard. But then she lifted her eyes to meet Lyn’s and instantly felt her worries melt away.
    ‘We have a lead on the first ingredient for the Hunt,’ said Zol.
    ‘There’s a Hunt?’ At this, Eve perked up. ‘That’s exciting. But there is no one here in mortal danger . . . What are they looking for? I do hope it’s a good luck potion for my marriage – that would just be wonderful.’
    Zol looked at her in such slack-jawed wonderment that Eve laughed. She didn’t think she had ever seen Zain’s dad look so uncomfortable in her presence. ‘Your marriage, Princess?’ he asked.
    ‘Oh, silly me. I haven’t even told my parents yet! Mum . . . Dad . . . I want you to meet someone. This is Lyn.’ She gestured to her love, who stood frozen still. ‘You should curtsy,’ she whispered to Lyn. When she still didn’t move, Eve laughed. ‘Of course, you don’t know how! Please don’t take offence, mother, she’s new to all this Royal nonsense. I’ll show you, Lyn, it’s easy.’ Eve curtsied in the mirror, and to her delight Lyn did the same. ‘Oh, that was perfect! Don’t you just love her?’ she said to her parents. ‘We want to marry as soon as possible!’
    They all stared at her, not saying a word, but she shrugged and turned her attention back to Lyn. Her parents would come around in time.
    ‘If you had controlled your son, this would never have happened in the first place!’ the Queen hissed.
    ‘Oh don’t worry, I will be speaking with him,’ said Zol, his voice dark with anger. ‘And we will be the ones to find the cure, mark my words. As I said, I already have a team in place tracking down the first ingredient and researching the rest of the mix.’
    Eve sighed. It was clear that all this adult talk was boring Lyn. That just wouldn’t do. ‘So, when am I going to the party?’ Eve said, her bright voice cutting through all the tension.
    All eyes turned to her. ‘I have my big announcement to make. Set up a television interview. I want nationwide coverage. Oh, and get a photographer for our official portrait. I want to introduce Lyn to the entire world!’

CHAPTER NINE
    Samantha
    G RANDAD AND I SIT SIDE-BY-SIDE ON the tram ride home. We left without joining the Hunt and were escorted through the Palace, ending up in the courtyard of the castle at the top of Kingstown, which was empty following the cancellation of Evelyn’s concert. I guess there is a connection between the two buildings, after all.
    Despite my grandad’s stubborn refusal to join the Hunt, my head spins with everything I know about love potions. There are endless myths surrounding them – it’s going to be hard for the Participants to separate the truth from fact. But even though they were banned before his time, I’m positive that somewhere in our store there is a lead on the original recipe. Who knows, maybe the recipe itself is actually stashed away somewhere, amidst the hundreds of books and the significant archive of Kemi alchemist grimoires – or potion diaries, as we call them now. This could be what the Kemi family has been waiting for – the chance to bring back honour to the traditional alchemists, the first potion-makers. And if it brings a little glory too, what’s the harm in that?
    I bring up the Hunt again but Grandad waves his hands at me and tells me to shush. He mumbles something about the ‘audacity of Royals’.
    ‘They think they can just drag me up to their Palace, without even a word of apology for the