Switched (18 page)

We ran inside the front doors, skidding on the marble floors, and water dripped off us into rapidly growing puddles. I only had a second to catch myself when I realized we weren’t alone in the entryway.

Elora walked towards us, carrying herself with her usual regality. Her gown swam around, making her appear to float as she moved. Standing with her was an obese balding man, his jowls jiggling when he talked. He wore a white suit that I can’t imagine looking good on anyone, but it made him look like a giant, sweaty snowball.

“How good of you to arrive now, as I’m showing the Chancellor out,” Elora said icily, glaring at both Finn and me, and I’m not sure which of us she was more angry with.

“Your majesty, I can stay and talk,” the Chancellor said, looking up at her with small, fevered eyes.

“Chancellor, I’m sorry we missed your visit,” Finn said, doing his best to compose himself. Even dripping wet, he looked collected and obedient. On the other hand, I hugged my arms around myself and tried not to shiver.

“No, you’ve given me much to consider, and I don’t want to waste your time further.” Elora smiled thinly at the Chancellor, and her eyes burned with contempt.

“You will take it under advisement, then?” He looked up at her hopefully and stopped walking. She’d been trying to usher him to the door, and her smile strained with impatience when he stopped.

“Yes, of course,” Elora sounded too sweet, and I assumed she was lying. “I take all of your concerns very seriously.”

“My sources are very good,” the Chancellor went on, and Elora had gotten him walking again, urging him closer to the door. “I have spies all over, even in the Vittra camps. That is how I got my position.”

“Yes, I remember your platform.” Elora suppressed an eye roll, but his chest puffed up, as if she’d complimented him.

“If they say there’s a plot, then there’s a plot,” the Chancellor said with conviction, and next to me, I saw Finn tense up, narrowing his eyes at the Chancellor.

“Yes, I’m sure there is.” Elora nodded to Finn, who held the door open for the Chancellor. “I’d love to talk with you more, but you must hurry if you want to beat the worst of this storm. I don’t want to keep you stranded.”

“Oh yes, quite right.” The Chancellor looked at the sheets of rain coming down, and his face paled slightly. He turned back toward Elora. Bowing, he took her hand and kissed it once. “My Queen. I’m at your service, always.”

She smiled tightly at him, and Finn wished him a safe journey. The Chancellor barely even glanced in my direction before diving out into the rain. Finn shut the door behind him, and Elora let out a sigh of relief.

“What were you doing?” Elora looked disdainfully at me, but before I could answer, she waved me off. “I don’t care. You’re just lucky the Chancellor didn’t realize you were the Princess.”

I glanced down, at my dirty, soaking wet clothes, and I probably did look nothing like royalty. Somehow Finn still looked high class, and I had no idea how he managed that.

“What was the nature of the Chancellor’s visit?” Finn asked.

“Oh, you know the Chancellor.” Elora rolled her eyes and started walking away. “He always has some conspiracy brewing. I should really change the laws so the Chancellor is appointed instead of voted for. The people always fall for idiots like him.”

“He mentioned something about a Vittra plot,” Finn pressed. He followed her, staying a few steps behind, so I went after them.

“I’m sure it’s nothing. We haven’t had Vittra come into Förening in years,” Elora said with an eerie confidence.

“Yes, but with the Princess-” Finn started, but she held up her hand, silencing him. She turned to him, and by the look on her face, I knew she was speaking in his mind. After a minute, he took a deep breath and spoke, “All I am proposing is that we take extra precautions, have extra guards on duty.”

“That’s why you’re around, Finn.” She smiled at him, something that almost looked genuine, but with a weird malicious edge to it. “It’s not just for your pretty face.”

“Your majesty, you put too much faith in me,” Finn said, humbly disagreeing with her.

“Now that, I can believe.” Elora sighed and started walking away. “Go change out of those clothes. You’re dripping all over everything.”

Finn watched her retreating figure for a minute, and I waited next to him, until I was certain she was out of earshot. If I thought about it, I wasn’t sure that Elora was ever out of earshot. She probably heard everything.

“What was that about?” I whispered.

“Nothing,” Finn shook his head. He glanced over at me, almost as if he’d forgotten I was there. “You need to change before you get sick.”

“That wasn’t nothing. Is there going to be an attack?” I demanded, but Finn turned and started walking towards the stairs. “What is with you people? You’re always walking away from questions!”

“You’re soaking wet, Wendy,” Finn said matter-of-factly, and I jogged to catch up to him, knowing he wouldn’t wait for me. “And you heard everything I heard. You know what I know.”

“That’s not true! I know she did that creepy mind-speak with you,” I insisted.

“Yes, but she only told me to keep quiet.” He climbed the stairs without looking back at me. “You’ll be safe. You’re the Princess, the most important asset to this kingdom right now, and Elora won’t risk you. She just hates the Chancellor.”

“Are you sure I’m safe?” I asked, and I couldn’t help but think of that painting in Elora’s hidden room. The one that showed me terrified and reaching for nothing.

“I would never do anything to put you at risk,” Finn assured me when we reached the top of the stairs. He gestured down the hall to my room. “We still have much to go over. It’d be best if you forgot about this and changed into something warmer.”

15. Education

After I had changed, Finn directed me to a sitting room on the second floor, down the hall from my room. The vaulted ceiling had a mural, all clouds and unicorns and angels. Despite that, the furniture looked modern and normal, unlike the expensive antiques that filled most of the house.

 Finn explained that this had once been Rhys’s playroom, but when he’d outgrown it, they had tried to turn it into an appropriate sitting room for him, but he rarely used it.

Lying on my back on the couch, I stared up at the ceiling. Finn sat on an overstuffed chair across from me with a book splayed open on his lap. Stacks of texts sat on the floor next to him, and he tried to give me a crash course on Trylle history.

Unfortunately, despite the fact that we were some type of mythical creatures, Trylle history wasn’t any more exciting than human history had been.

“What are the roles of the Markis and Marksinna?” Finn quizzed me.

“I don’t know. Nothing,” I replied glibly.

“Wendy, you need to learn this,” Finn sighed. “There will be conversations at the ball, and you need to appear knowledgeable. You can’t just sit back without saying anything anymore.”

“I’m a Princess. I should be able to do whatever I want,” I grumbled. My legs were hanging over the arm of the couch, and I swung my feet back in forth.

“What are the roles of the Markis and Marksinna?” Finn repeated.

“In other provinces, where the King and Queen don’t live, the Markis and Marksinna are the leaders. They’re like governors or something,” I shrugged. “In times when the King or Queen can’t fulfill their job duties, a Markis can step up and take their place. In places like Förening, they’re mostly just a way of saying that they’re better than everyone else, but they don’t really have any power.”

“That is true, but you can’t say that last part,” Finn said, then flipped a page in the book. “What is the role of the Chancellor?”

“The Chancellor is an elected official, much like the prime minister in England,” I answered tiredly. “The monarchy has the final word and wields the most power, but the Chancellor serves as their advisors and helps give the Trylle a voice in the way the government is run.

 “But I don’t get it,” I said, looking at him. “We live in America, and this isn’t a separate country. Don’t we have to follow their laws?”

“Theoretically yes, and for the most part, Trylle laws coincide with American laws, except that we have more of them,” Finn said. “However, we live in separate pockets unto ourselves. Using our resources – namely cash and persuasion – we can get government officials to look the other way, and we conduct our business in private.”

“Hmm.” I twirled a hair on my finger and thought over what he was saying. “Do you know everything about Trylle society? When you were talking with Garrett and Elora, it was like there was nothing you didn’t know.”

I’m sure he would’ve easily won the Kroners over if he had tried. He had assumed it was his role to hide in the background with them, so he’d kept his mouth shut. But everything about him was more refined than me. Cool, collected, intelligent, charming, and handsome, he looked much more like a leader than I did.

“A foolish man thinks he knows everything. A wise man knows he doesn’t,” Finn replied absently, still looking down at the book.

“That’s such a fortune cookie answer,” I laughed, and even he smirked at me. “But seriously, Finn. This doesn’t make any sense. You should be the Prince, not me. I don’t know anything, but you’re all set to go.”

“I’m not a Prince,” Finn shook his head. “And you are right for the job. You just haven’t had the training that I’ve had.”

‘That’s stupid,” I grumbled. “It should be based on your abilities, not lineage.”

“It
is
based on abilities,” Finn insisted. “They just happen to come with lineage.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, and he shut the book on his lap.

“Your persuasion? That comes from your mother,” Finn elaborated. “The Markis and Marksinna are what they are because of the abilities they have, and they are passed down through their children. Regular Trylle have some abilities, but they’ve faded with time. Your mother is one of the most powerful queens we’ve had in a very long time, and the hope is that you will help restore some of that power.”

“But I can barely do anything!” I sat up. “I have mild persuasion, and you said it wouldn’t even work on you!”

“Not yet, no, but it will,” Finn corrected me. “Once you start your training, it will make more sense to you.”

“Training? What training?”

“After the ball this weekend. Then you will begin working on your abilities,” Finn said. “Right now, your only priority is preparing for the ball. So…” He flipped open the book again, but I wasn’t ready to go back to studying.

“But
you
have abilities,” I countered. “And Elora prefers you to me. I’m sure she’d like it better if you were Prince.” I realized sadly that that was true, and I lay back down on the couch.

“I’m sure that isn’t true.”

“It is too,” I said. “What is the deal with you and Elora? She definitely likes you better than me, and she seems to confide in you.”

“Elora doesn’t really confide in anyone.” Finn fell silent for a moment, and then exhaled. “If I explain this to you, do you promise to get back to studying?”

“Yes!” I answered immediately and looked over at him.

“What I say to you cannot leave this room. Do you understand?” Finn asked gravely, and I nodded, gulping painfully.

I had been growing more and more preoccupied with Finn and Elora’s relationship. She was an attractive older woman, and he was definitely a foxy guy, and I could see her digging her cougar claws into him. That was what I was afraid of, anyway.

“About twelve or thirteen years ago, after your father was gone,
my
father came under the employ of your mother. He had retired from tracking, and Elora hired him to guard her and the estate,” Finn explained.

“Elora was in love with my father,” His eyes darkened and his lips tightened, and my heart raced. “No one knew, except for my mother, who is still married to my father. Eventually, my mother convinced my father to leave.

“However, Elora remained quite fond of him, and in turn, rather fond of me.” He sighed and spoke casually, as if he were talking about the weather. “She has personally requested my services over the years, and because she pays well, I have accepted.”

I stared at him, feeling nauseous and nervous. Since his father became involved with my mother after I was born, I could safely assume that we weren’t siblings, so at least that was something.

Everything else made it feel rather disturbing, and I wondered if Finn secretly hated me. He had to hate Elora, and he was only here because of how much she paid him. Maybe he was some kind of glorified gigolo, and I had to fight to keep from vomiting.

“I am not sleeping with her, and she has never made any advances of the sort,” Finn clarified, looking at me evenly. “She is fond of me because of her feelings for my father. I don’t blame her for what happened between them. It was a long time ago, and my father was the one that had a family to think of, not her.”

“Huh.” I looked up at the ceiling because it was easier than looking at him.

“I have distressed you. I’m sorry,” Finn apologized sincerely. “This is why I was hesitant to say anything to you.”

“No, no, I’m fine. Let’s just go on,” I insisted unconvincingly. “I have a lot to go over and all that.”

Finn remained silent for a minute, letting me absorb what he had just told me, but I tried to push it from my mind as quickly as possible. Thinking about it made me feel dirty, and I still had too much on my mind.

Eventually, Finn continued on with the texts, and I tried harder to pay attention. If I was thinking about what exactly a Queen’s job entailed, I wasn’t thinking about my mother crushing on his father.

Frederique Von Ellsin, the dress designer, came over the next day. He was excitedly flamboyant, and I couldn’t tell for sure whether or not he was Trylle. I wore only a slip as he took my measurements and sketched like mad in a notepad. Finally, he declared that he had the perfect gown in mind, and he dashed out of my room to get working on it.

 All day long, there was an irritating succession of people. They were all staff of some kind, like caterers and party planners, so most of them ignored me. They just trailed after Elora as she listed an inconceivable amount of information about what she expected them to do, and they all scurried to write it down or punch it in their Blackberries.