Valerie Parv - The Princess and The Masked Man

She had thought she had done her duty and spoken to absolutely everyone by now, but there were still people who wanted to congratulate her on her progress. All she was doing was walking, for pity’s sake. Babies did it every day. She tried not to let her impatience show as she responded to the well-wishers in her slow circuit of the ballroom.

Her heart picked up speed as she scanned the room. Midnight was only seconds away and some people were already reaching to undo their masks. The orchestra struck up a bright tune and someone began a countdown. Her gaze became frantic. Where was he?

He was tall enough to stand out from the crowd, so she should have no difficulty picking him out. A wide-shouldered man in a dark suit had her heart double-timing until he turned around and she recognized him as a teacher from the castle school where she lectured in royal history.

Three. Two. One.

With a happy crescendo, the orchestra played into the moment. Laughter bubbled around her as faces were revealed, some expected, some obviously causing surprise. Nowhere could she see her mystery man. He had vanished as if into her imagination.

“There you are.”

Maxim stepped in front of her, his mask dangling from his fingers. Reaching out, he unfastened hers and looped it over his hand. She wanted to wrench it back to hide her features from his searching gaze.

It was too late. “You don’t look very happy for a woman who will soon be the toast of Merrisand. Thanks to your hard work and planning, this year’s ball looks like it will break all fund-raising records for the trust.”

“I’m delighted of course,” she managed to say.

“I knew it was too soon for you to be walking. You’re in pain, aren’t you?”

Only if you counted the ache in her heart. “I’m fine,” she insisted. She wanted to ask her brother if he knew what had become of the man who had offered her his arm at the start of the ball, but that would be far too revealing. They might be grown up, but her brother wasn’t above teasing her as if they were still children, and she didn’t think she could stand being teased about this.

She felt as if something precious had been offered then snatched away. She didn’t know his name or what he looked like. Why had he left before midnight? He might at least have dropped a shoe so she would have some way to start looking for him. But this wasn’t a fairy tale, and he—not she—was the quarry this time.

As soon as she could, she would go through the guest list name by name. Whatever it took. For now she would blame curiosity for the desire flaring incandescently through her. Only curiosity, nothing more.

Nothing she would allow herself, anyway.

“That’s all for today. Class dismissed.”

The children streamed out of the classroom, bowing or curtsying as they passed her. Acknowledging them with a smile, Giselle stood up. It was great to do so without pain, and without having to depend on that wretched walking stick.

It was propped by her desk, but she could now move around the classroom unaided. By working at her physiotherapy exercises, she should be able to discard the stick altogether in a few more days.

The sessions had been tedious, only relieved by thinking about her mystery man. She still didn’t know who he was, having been too busy catching up on the backlog of work to investigate. A substitute teacher had taken over her class while she was in Taures City, and Max had handled the most pressing of her royal duties, but many tasks had piled up in her absence.

Then as soon as she managed to find some time for herself, a virus had crashed the network of computers serving the executive offices, leaving her unable to access the staff files. She had been assured the problem would be fixed today, so she would have an answer soon.

Why was an answer so important? She hadn’t even danced with him. And felt irritated knowing how much she had wanted to. As he escorted her around the ballroom, he had felt strong and dependable. She could easily imagine how his arms would feel if they came all the way around her.

Annoyance flashed through her like quicksilver. He was a phantom, most likely of her imagination. At least the strength and beauty of him. Without the mask and in broad daylight, his charms would probably have vanished. Besides, she had more pressing concerns right here.

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