The Princess (24 page)

“Anytime,” Daria said, meaning it with all her heart.

The marvelous fun of the tug-of-war, the early dinner Sunday evening, and the awards ceremony on Monday, all lingered in Shelby’s thoughts for the rest of the week, but her husband had been correct. All too soon she found herself at the Palace Fair, which was set up under huge tents by the river, and working hard to do her part.

“Now, Toby,” she said sternly to the man whose intervention had brought her to this place, “I’ve handed out tickets and helped with the pony rides. I want a real job this time.”

“The others have been pretend?” he teased her.

“You know what I mean. I want to work hard and feel that I contributed. I almost wonder if Nikolai came and told you to take it easy on me.”

“Actually it was the king; Nikolai was right behind him.”

Shelby’s mouth swung open. “Are you serious?”

Toby grinned as he nodded, and Shelby’s eyes narrowed.

“I won’t need you to give me a job; I’ll find one of my own.”

“Now, Shelby—” Toby began.

“I mean it,” she said sternly. “If anyone wants to know where I am, I’m
working
!”

Toby opened his mouth, but she’d already turned away. He moved to follow her, intent on seeing where she went, but he lost sight of her when another worker interrupted him. By the time he looked for her again, she was nowhere to be seen.

“You missed a spot,” the young man working with Shelby teased, handing a pie pan back to her.

“Where?” She squinted as he pointed to a minuscule piece of food that Shelby flicked off with her finger.

Seventeen-year-old Luke Grant, one of the queen’s nephews, grinned unrepentantly at her.

“You’re pickier than an old woman, Luke.”

“Well, we can’t put these pans back unless they’re clean.”

Shelby made a face at him.

The princess and Luke were working in the pots-and-pans tent. Huge tubs of hot, soapy water had been set up, and they were taking turns washing and drying the pots, and emptying and refilling the tubs with clean soap and rinse water. Shelby’s back was screaming at her, and her arms were starting to feel like wet noodles, but doggedly she kept on. She had wanted a job and found one. Luke’s older brother Andrew had been on dish detail with them, but he had been needed elsewhere.

The Palace Fair was set up differently than the King’s Fair: This fair was less scheduled. The palace staff and their families were able to eat all day long. For this reason the pots and pans never stopped. Some weren’t so large, like the pie pans, but the
boilers they used for the corn and hot dogs were huge. Nevertheless, she did not complain.

The day was wearing on when Andrew came back with food for them and they took a few minutes to eat. Shelby had just started on another tubful of large pots when Nikolai found her.

“I wondered where you’d gone,” he said mildly, reaching for the pot she was trying to hand to Luke.

“I can do this,” she told him.

“I can see that,” he responded, his voice again deceptively mild. Her face showed that she was tired, and her arms shook as she lifted the pot. No one had meant to baby her, but he could see that she’d misunderstood Toby’s words. What his father had asked of Toby was that Shelby be in a place of high visibility. The children all loved her, and so did the staff members from all four quadrants. In the pots-and-pans tent she hadn’t seen anyone but Luke and Andrew all day.

The prince had been evading the question as to her whereabouts for hours. It didn’t look good to have him shrug in ignorance. The staff was supposed to be taking the day off. If they thought the princess was missing, it would have put some in a state of anxiety. “Oh, she’s working hard around here somewhere” had been his reply, but all the time he had wondered where she could be.

“I’ll help you dry, Luke,” Nikolai offered, picking up a towel.

“Actually,” Luke responded, setting his down, “it’s my turn to wash.”

“Okay,” Shelby said, telling herself not to look at Nikolai. If he was too kind to her right now, or for that matter scolded her, she was going to overreact. She was getting tired, and there was nothing like fatigue in Shelby to bring on the tears. She did notice that Nikolai was taking the largest pots to dry. She should have ignored it, but she didn’t.

“Have you been working hard all day?” she asked.

“I think I have, yes.”

“Then why do you take all the large pots? You must be just as tired as I am.”

Luke turned completely away from the soapy water to watch this conversation. He loved his older cousin but never missed an opportunity to tease him.

“Well,” Nikolai began, his gaze taking in both his wife and cousin, thinking anything he might say to his wife right now would be taken wrong. “I’m just trying to be chivalrous,” he blurted, thinking he’d had a moment of genius.

Shelby did not look convinced.

“I can do this,” she repeated.

Nikolai felt it was safe to nod. Even that got him frowned at. He looked over to find Luke grinning at him and had all he could do not to laugh. He was still working steadily when Shelby picked up a stack of pie pans and took them to the clean table.

“Has she been in here all day?” Nikolai whispered.

“Since about ten this morning.”

Shelby was on her way back, so Nikolai gave a surreptitious glance at his watch, glad to see they had less than an hour to go. The fair ended in ten minutes, and cleanup never took that long.

“Did you two get some dinner?” he asked conversationally.

“Andy brought us some.” This came from Luke.

“It was delicious,” Shelby added. “Who did the cooking for dinner?”

“I think Luke’s parents were in that tent,” Nikolai filled in. “Toby and my grandfather helped as well.”

“Don’t forget the queen,” Luke added. “She always does dessert.”

It was the last word anyone said for a while. Fatigue was beginning to grind on all of them, and when the last of the mess was cleared away, everyone was out of words. The next day after church the royal family would get together, prepare their own
meal, and talk about the fair; but for tonight, everyone headed home as soon as possible.

Because the staff was off, Nikolai and Shelby took her car. Nikolai didn’t even ask Shelby if she had a preference. He took the keys from her hand, saw her safely into the passenger’s seat, and drove them home. He let her off at the front door and took the car around.

By the time he got upstairs, she was nowhere to be seen. He knocked on her door but there was no answer. Risking embarrassment for both of them, Nikolai went in. The room was dim, but Shelby could still be seen. She had lain face down on the bed, not bothering to remove anything or cover herself.

Nikolai approached. He put his hand on Shelby’s shoulder and even said her name, but she didn’t stir. Moving to the foot of the bed, he removed her shoes and socks. The moment he did this, she turned on her side, curled into a ball around the other pillow on the bed, and slept on. Nikolai took a blanket and covered her.

When the blanket was tucked close around her, Nikolai stood looking down at her. He was gaining small glimpses into her personality, but there was still so much that was unexplained. Even her need to work hard that day and not be given preferential treatment was a mystery to him. She was always a hard worker, and he had a hard time seeing why she’d been so tense.

After a time Nikolai used the door that joined their rooms, slipping quietly away to let her sleep. Long after he’d showered and climbed into bed, he could still see her in his mind, curled peacefully around that pillow, and he wished she’d been holding him instead.

A week after the Palace Fair, Shelby stood alone, licked her lips, and rubbed her sweating palms together. She hadn’t been invited to this park, but she was here. Nikolai had been asked by Ryan to participate in a pickup game of field hockey. Nikolai had made a point of telling Shelby where he was going but didn’t invite her. She had sat for a long time after he left, trying to figure out if he wanted her to join him or not. In the end she had opted to go. Now her eyes scanned the field at the city park, looking for signs that other wives had come along and quite unaware that she had been spotted.

“Well now,” Ryan said to Nikolai from their place on the sidelines. “Did you just say you weren’t sure how it was going?”

“Yes.”

“If red hair is any indication, I think things might be looking up.”

Nikolai followed Ryan’s gaze across the field and smiled. Shelby was making her way slowly toward the field. She looked lost and uncertain, even when she spotted Nikolai approaching.

“Nikolai, you can tell me if I shouldn’t have come and I’ll go right home.”

Nikolai realized there had been no “Hello” or “How is the game going
?”
—just immediate panic over whether or not she was wanted.

“I’m glad you did. I wasn’t sure if you had time.”

Shelby nodded, looking relieved. Even if there were no other wives, she was not intruding.

“Come over and see Ryan.”

“Hello, Shelby,” Ryan greeted her. “Beth will be sorry she didn’t come.”

“Oh, tell her I said hello.”

“I’ll do it. Feel free to sit on the bench. We’ll be headed back into the game the next quarter.”

“Thank you.”

Shelby turned to the field and watched the players in action. The quarter break came faster than she anticipated, and in no time at all she was watching Ryan and Nikolai play. They moved well together and their team even pulled ahead before the half.

Shelby had taken a seat on the bench to watch, and Nikolai joined her as soon as he was able.

“Brice was here when I arrived.”

“Was he really?”

“Yes. He and some guys were skating the trails.”

“I can believe that. He’s the one who got me started.”

“He’s strong on the skates. Actually, he’s strong, period. It’s not a surprise to me that we won the tug-of-war.”

“Do you really think Brice made the difference?”

“Yes, I do.”

Shelby looked very pleased but still said, “Do you still think he’s uncertain about you?”

“As a matter of fact, I don’t. Now his sister . . .” Nikolai drew the word out. “She’s another story.”

Shelby looked at his teasing eyes and told herself not to blush. It was a relief to have Ryan join them, if only long enough to tell Nikolai that he had to run to his car.

What happened next was hard to recount later. Shelby only knew there was no warning. Nikolai was answering a question she had about the park when a ball flew right at him. His head was
thrown to the side a little, and for an instant Shelby didn’t know what happened.

“I think I’ll lie down,” Nikolai said in a strange voice. Reaching for his right temple, he slid off the bench unconscious. Shelby was on her knees beside him in a flash.

“Nicky!” She put her hands on either side of his face and leaned close. “Nicky, can you hear me?”

Ryan seemed to come out of nowhere and dropped to his knees as well.

“Nick!”

“Nicky,” Shelby tried again, her hands moving on his face.

His lids fluttered for a second and then opened. Things were blurry, but there was no missing Shelby’s concerned face so near his own. She continued to smooth his hair back and even laid her cheek against his for a moment.

“Can you hear me?”

“Yes. Did I get hit?”

“It must have been a ball. I didn’t really see it.”

“Sorry, Nick,” a voice said from above them. “It was my shot.”

“Who is that? Tom?”

“Yeah.”

“You always were a wild one,” Nikolai joked as he sat up.

Shelby remained next to him, her hands still trying to hold his face. He looked over at her.

“I’m all right.”

“You were knocked out.”

Nikolai’s grin was lopsided. “It’s not the first time.”

Shelby still leaned close, her hands framing his face for a moment.

“Do you have a headache?”

“Yes. I think I’ll just head home.”

“Here, buddy,” Ryan offered, bending over him. “Let me help you up.”

Nikolai didn’t so much as sway when he came to his feet, but Shelby was still shaken. Both Ivan and Kris had come in very close, their eyes glued to the prince.