I waited with bated breath to see if either of the footmen recognized Elspeth from earlier. To her credit, her hands didn't shake as she stood there, sternly staring down the pair of footmen who'd up until recently been about to beat me into a pulp.

"Just drop those and be on your way," the first footman snapped and my stomach unclenched. He hadn't recognized her.

"As you wish," she said, her little voice strong as she strode across the room. Instead of heeding his command, however, she busied herself by the fire. When the footmen exchanged an annoyed look, her eyes found mine. I could tell that the men were debating what to do about the meddlesome maid, especially since my presence at the palace was supposed to be a secret. If Elspeth talked about what she'd seen in Dorian's sitting room, there would be hell to pay for the pair of footmen. As an internal debate raged between the two, Elspeth widened her eyes at me, glancing up to a place just above my head to the left. Risking a look, I noted the tipped-over marble bust on the table I'd slammed into.

"Mr. Fletcher had asked that this room be left alone," the bitten footman finally said, turning around to look at Elspeth, "So what are you doing here?"

Still crouched by the fire, she peered warily up at him.

"I'm here to tend the fire, unless of course you'd want Mr. Fletcher returning to an icebox instead of a room," she said, her normally meek voice unwavering.

"He never told us he sent for someone," he replied, taking a few casual steps to put himself between her and the exit. Elspeth let out an annoyed noise in her throat, chucking a log into the fire and reaching for the poker to nudge it into place.

"I take my orders from the head housekeeper," she said, an edge of annoyance in her voice as she rose, "And I think she'll be quite interested to hear about a pair of footmen knocking a lady to the floor."

Both of them looked around at her before exchanging a look, the air thick with tension. The larger footman moved first, advancing towards Elspeth and forcing her to back away towards the wall. I seized the opportunity of their distraction to hoist myself to my feet, snagging the heavy marble bust. They'd almost backed her into the corner when I advanced on them from behind.

"Oy! Don't forget about me!" I shouted, testing the weight of the bust in my hand. Both footmen whirled around to face me as I charged them. Elspeth suddenly brandished the fireplace poker she'd been hiding in her skirts, swinging it around to club the larger footman across the head. He cried out, distracting the other footman and allowing me to swing the bust to crack him on the side of the skull. He collapsed into a heap as Elspeth continued raining blows on the other footman. He finally managed to seize the poker from her, shoving her roughly against the wall, defenceless. When he raised the poker to strike, I whacked him in the back of the head with the bust. He staggered forward, but didn't fall. Elspeth grabbed the poker as his arm came down towards her, giving it a solid yank to throw him off balance. He tumbled forward head first, crashing into the wall. Elspeth didn't wait to see if he rose again, she continued raining blows down upon his prone form until I dropped the bust and seized the poker to still her frenzied strikes. She was wild-eyed when she turned to me, blinking in surprise as if only just remembering why she had come.

"We must hurry!" she said, chucking aside the poker as she grabbed my arm to push me towards the service door. Her stricken eyes seemed only just then to notice the two prone men on the floor, widening with horror.

"How do you know how to fight?" I asked, following her out the door. She closed and locked it behind us, chucking the key into the dark depths of the corridor beyond with a shudder.

"My Da used to beat my brothers," she said, "So they taught me how to fight someone larger before he set his sights on me."

"Oh Elspeth," I breathed, wondering how such a cruel fate could be dealt to such a sweet, gentle girl.

"It's come in handy more than I'd like to admit. Now, hurry!" she said, reaching back so she could yank me onwards to keep up with her.

"How did you find me?" I asked, lifting my hefty skirts with my free hand so I could match her swift pace.

"I followed the soap suds of their footsteps until I heard you shouting," she said, giving my arm a tug to pull me into another corridor and down a flight of stairs. We rushed past servants, heedless of the stares we were getting until the corridors grew narrower and narrower. We finally reached to a dark, crooked corridor whose walls were a bizarre mix of stone and brick. I guessed that we were somewhere between the new and old palaces, in a service hallway they'd wedged between the new and old stones.

"In here," Elspeth said, opening a rickety door that had turned a tiny alcove into a tiny broom cupboard. She shooed me in and despite my best attempts to gather my voluminous skirts, there was barely enough room for the both of us. But like a little mouse, Elspeth tucked herself inside with me, tugging the door closed to plunge us into darkness.

"What now?" I whispered, only for her to shush me.

"I sent a friend for the prince," she whispered, her voice barely audible. We waited in silence until a pair of footsteps echoed down the deserted corridor. Elspeth seemed to hold her breath when the footsteps approached, only breathing a sigh of relief when two sharp knocks rapped on the door, followed by a third a beat later.

Throwing open the door, Elspeth tumbled out into the corridor that was now occupied by another young maid and Lord James Amberly.

"Matilda, where's the prince?" Elspeth blurted out while the other maid wrung her hands. 

"He's already gone to the ceremony," James said, reaching past Elspeth to take my hand. To her credit, my tiny maid seized James' wrist before he could pull me from the broom closet. 

"I'm not letting you take her unless I get word from one of the princes!" she said fiercely. 

"We don't have time for this. They've already been summoned to the ballroom by the king. Andrew is due to announce his choices any moment now," James said hurriedly, "Come along if you don't believe me, but the time for talking is over."

The urgency in his tone was enough to sway me. 

James, Elspeth and I raced through the service corridors, leaving the other maid, Matilda, in our dust. James must have nearly trampled at least three servants as we careened around corners, but he didn't spare a moment to apologize, further fuelling my worry that we were too late. When we finally emerged in the entrance hall, a polite smattering of applause echoed across the marble from the ballroom ahead of us. 

"Bloody hell, Thomas couldn't stall them," James swore, rushing so quickly across the entrance hall that I had to run to keep up. Elspeth remained hovering in the service corridor, following us with worried eyes until we reached the ballroom doors. 

"If two debutantes are up there already, you need to make an almighty scene," James said, shoving open the door and craning to see over the sea of nobility before us. I leaned up on my tiptoes beside him, only for a pair of cold grey eyes to catch mine from across the room. 

"Oh no," was all I managed before Dorian started shoving through the crowd, murder in his eyes. I shot a glance towards the thrones, only to see Adelaide Winters curtsying before the king and queen, Dulciana already standing beside them. My eyes searched the dais, but it seemed that only the two of them had been named so far. As Adelaide climbed the steps, Andrew reached out a hand to help her the rest of the way up. He was smiling, but his eyes weren't on her, they were searching the sea of nobles before him.

I knew then that I couldn't let him call someone else's name. I'd opened my mouth to shout for him when James took a step in front of me. Dorian was nearly upon us, a gaggle of startled, jostled nobles in his wake.

"You dare-!" he started, attempting to shove James out of the way as he charged for me, his face curled into a murderous snarl.

It didn't stay that way for long. James' fist connected with Dorian's nose, sending his head snapping back as he tumbled to the ground in a spray of blood. Startled gasps erupted around us as the crowd parted around Dorian's unconscious form and James's bloodied knuckles. 

"...His Highness Prince Andrew's third and final choice..."

The herald's booming voice cut through the titters around me and I whirled around to face the dais, a wordless shout of panic escaping my lips.

Andrew's eyes caught mine from across the room, drawn by either James' assault or my shout. For a heart stopping moment, time stood still as my life teetered on the point of a needle. I hadn't bothered to think about whether Andrew had forgiven me or not. I was too preoccupied getting back to the palace that I'd nearly forgotten that it had been Thomas who had come for me, not Andrew. Now that he'd noticed me, what if he didn't call my name? What if he didn't want me after all? What if Thomas hadn't succeeded in talking him around? He'd never gotten my letter, so what if he still believed I'd run off with Dorian?

I needn't have worried.

"Elizabeth Marks-Whelan," Andrew said, his clear voice echoing across the silent ballroom. His words hung in the air for a moment of shocked silence before the hall exploded with whispers. 

"Go!" James hissed, nudging me along as he followed me through the parting crowd, flexing his damaged hand.

I kept my eyes on Andrew's, ignoring the shocked whispers and scandalized glares as I made my way across the interminable ballroom. I didn't dare look over at the king or queen for fear that I'd lose my nerve and halt in my tracks. Thankfully, James' presence was steady behind me, his other hand on my elbow to keep ushering me forward to the thrones and the royals before them.

At the front of the crowd on the ballroom floor, the debutantes were all kneeling in curtseys, no shortage of hate-filled glares turned my way. Annabelle looked as if she'd swallowed a frog, her eyes nearly bulging from their sockets as I walked past. I resisted the urge to stomp on her, only to come up short as another blonde leaped out of her curtsey to block my path.

"She can't be chosen, she's engaged!" Ashley snarled, her beautiful face contorted with rage as she turned to look up towards the king and queen. I followed her gaze, realizing with terror that the king's stern eyes were on me and he did not appear pleased.

"As a matter of fact, she is not," Thomas said before the king could speak a word, the younger prince's voice carrying across the room in much the same way his brother's had, "Unless of course you and Mr. Fletcher thought that blackmail and kidnapping were legal ways to arrange a marriage."

The king had leaned over to whisper something to the queen, but for her once her blue eyes weren't icy as they watched me. She hushed him with a word that looked distinctly like "wait" as Thomas strode out from where he'd been standing beside Anne, off to the side of the dais.

"Her parents consented to the match!" Ashley screamed, whirling around to face me. Angry tears streamed down her face as Thomas jogged down the steps, gesturing for the guards posted by the walls to come forward.

"One cannot give consent under duress," Thomas said, adding more quietly so only those near him could hear, "But clearly you and Dorian hadn't consulted a lawyer prior to hatching your scheme."

When he reached for her arm to lead her away, Ashley wrenched herself free with a snarl. She advanced towards me, but I held my ground, staring her down. I would not cower before Ashley Mayfair, even seized by the desperate, bitter throes of defeat as she was.

"You conniving little trollop!" she screamed, her nails raised like claws. She lashed out at me, but I was quicker. I grabbed her wrists, forcing them down and away from my face.

"I hope you burn in Hell, you vile harpy," I hissed, another scream of fury escaping Ashley's lips before the guards descended upon her and dragged her away. Thomas exchanged a brief nod with James before he followed the guards through one of the side entrances. Once the cacophony of Ashley's screams had died away, the ballroom fell silent once again.

"Now you curtsey," James whispered behind me. My legs obeyed automatically and I took a moment to collect myself as I sank to the floor. I schooled my breathing before I rose, swallowing the nerves and willing my swirling thoughts to calm themselves until I'd at least made it up the dais. The room was silent save for the sound of my shoes echoed on the marble steps, the polite applause that had greeted Adelaide Winters' name very noticeably absent now. When I'd nearly reached the top, I risked a look up at the crown prince before me. Our eyes met and, for the first time in weeks, his lips tilted up into that eye-crinkling grin.

"You have no idea how much I've missed you," he said, extending a hand towards me.

"I'm fairly certain that I do," I replied, unable to keep the relieved smile from my face at the familiarity of my hand in his.