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tones, but she continued to stare out the window.
    When Violet went to bed that night, she couldn’t sleep for many hours. Everything seemed to be happening so quickly that she couldn’t make sense of it. She thought of the conversation with Richard, about the princesses he had met, and she felt a sharp pang as she wondered which would be his wife. She thought about the kiss, and her lips burned with the memory of it. There was so much to take in. And then there was the storm, so soon on the heels of the first. Violet drifted off to sleep, fear curling around her heart. In the morning, when she awoke, everything had changed.

 
    C HAPTER F OUR
     
    As soon as she opened her eyes, Violet knew something was wrong. The air was cold, and she reached for a shawl as she sat up. Shivering, she wrapped it around herself before shrugging off her blanket and standing up. She found her father sitting at the table, his head in his hands. She glanced around the room. Richard wasn’t there and in her heart, she knew he was gone. Violet’s eyes fell on her parents’ bed, and a chill settled on her as she saw her mother’s still form.
    “Mother?” Violet whispered.
    Her father looked up at her, and she could see that he had been crying. “There’s nothing more Father Paul can do.”
    Tears stung her eyes. “How long?” Violet asked, her voice shaking.
    “Could be anytime.”
    Her mother stirred, and Violet pulled a chair up next to the bed. Her mother opened her eyes and looked at her. “There’s something you need to know,” she said, her breathing ragged and her face pinched in pain.
    “Don’t try to talk; just rest,” Violet urged. “You need your strength to get better.”
    She shook her head. “I’m dying, Violet, and I need to tell you the truth before I do.”
    Violet felt the tears sliding down her cheeks. “What is it, Mother?”
    “That’s just it,” Sarah whispered. “I’m not your mother.”
    Richard’s heart was heavy as he rode up to the castle. He had left in the dark hour before dawn, without rousing Violet. William had seen him off, and he’d left the man with a few coins and the warmest thanks. It had been a cowardly act, but Richard hadn’t trusted himself to say good-bye to Violet.
    She was amazing. She was strong yet graceful, intelligent and compassionate. She was everything he would want in a wife and nothing that his parents would accept. “Violet, why couldn’t you have been a princess?” Richard whispered to the wind, wondering if it would carry his words to her.
    While it had rained lightly throughout most of the morning, the sun shone weakly in the sky. Richard could tell from the look of the dark clouds on the horizon, though, that it was only a temporary respitefrom the storm. It looked like he would beat the rest of it as he drew close to the castle.
    A cry went up from the watchtower as the guards recognized him and his horse. The sound used to thrill him, but this time Richard squared his shoulders with a groan. He was home, which meant that in a few weeks’ time he would be married off to some useless girl of his parents’ choosing. He touched his heels to Baron, and they cantered into the courtyard.
    No sooner had he reined the horse to a stop and dismounted than princesses seemed to pour out of every doorway, calling and waving to him. Amidst the noise and confusion his father suddenly appeared, a smile on his face, and wrapped his arm around him.
    “Welcome home, son. I see you’ve found a wife.”
    Richard could feel his heart sink. “Which one?” he asked.
    “I don’t know, but we’ll figure that out soon enough.”
    Richard looked around. He saw the girl whose foot had been bruised by the rose petal. She looked like she was going to faint from the overexertion of the moment. One of the other girls jostled her, and she cried out in anguish. Prince Richard shook his head. All of the princesses vied for his attention except for one. He recognized her from the