"I have a problem," Maren announced at dinner with the Prince.

"Only one? I congratulate you," he said.

She couldn't help but laugh. Part of her hated to admit it, but the Prince could be very charming when he wanted to be.

"Alas, this is only the most pressing matter," she explained. "Lady Vanessa has invited me to tea twice, which I declined, but I received a third invitation today and I really cannot decline again without a good reason."

"Then you should go," he said. "Unless, of course, you're looking for a reason not to?"

She grimaced slightly, not entirely surprised that he had forgotten his directive.

"Ah...you may recall —"

He cringed.

"I told you not to, I had forgotten," he said and sighed. "I do apologize that was most unreasonable, and I apologize for forgetting I had done that. Please — do as you like," he added.

She waved him away, "It's no matter, I had no great interest in having tea with her and whoever else. I only mentioned it because declining her a third time would look rather...suspicious."

He nodded. "Yes, you should probably go." And then, after a pause, he asked, "Tell me, is there anything else I told you not to do that I have forgotten about?"

She thought for a moment.

"The only other thing I recall was you ordering me not to run away on a horse, which really didn't require an order, as that's just rather good sense."

The Prince laughed, "I expect so. Well, if you happen to recall any others, do let me know."

The next day, Maren sent a note to Lady Vanessa that she would be delighted to join her for tea. It wasn't exactly true, but Maren supposed it would at least be mildly entertaining.

Afternoon tea was held a few days later in Lady Vanessa's quarters. Apparently, she shared a suite with Lady Angelina and two of the other unmarried ladies at Court. Maren had no idea where their suite was though and needed Lucy to show her the way. It was in an entirely different part of the residential wing of the palace that Maren assumed must house anyone who wasn't royalty or guests of royalty.

Maren arrived a few minutes late, which she hoped was fashionable but not shameful. She was unexpectedly nervous. She couldn't ever recall attending a social gathering with women her own age before.

Maren knocked and Lady Vanessa herself opened the door.

"Lady Maren! I am delighted you were able to join us!"

Maren was preparing to curtsy, but Lady Vanessa surprised her by seizing her by the arms and kissing Maren on both cheeks.

"Ah...thank you so much for having me."

Lady Vanessa was a very lovely woman. She had an enviable hourglass figure and a lively face. Her blonde hair was beautifully curly. Maren thought more than one other woman at Court spent hours trying to make theirs as curly.

"And what a lovely dress you have on!" she said.

"Thank you," Maren said.

She felt rather uncomfortable about that particular dress. It was rather pretty, rich green with billowy long sleeves that were fitted around her wrists and white lace around the wrists and neckline. She felt uncomfortable because the Prince had bought it for her, along with several others.

Maren never would have agreed to such a thing, but Mrs. Whitley insisted that she had to expand her wardrobe. She had run through all the clothing she brought with her, which had been somewhat limited due to the nature of her travel. Maren still hadn't wanted any more clothing, but Mrs. Whitley said it would reflect poorly on the Prince if it appeared he wasn't providing for her appropriately. So she relented. Mrs. Whitley had ordered lovely dresses, but Maren still felt awkward about the whole thing.

"Please, come in, come in, everyone is already here," Lady Vanessa said.

Maren followed Lady Vanessa into the suite, where various ladies were sitting on sofas surrounding a low table laden with teacups and tiny cakes and sandwiches.

"Lady Maren, I believe you know Lady Callista and Lady Angelina. Have you met Lady Alyssa and Lady Cecilia?"

She had not, but she completed the various introductions and then was ushered to a seat beside Lady Vanessa and handed a teacup.

"So, Lady Maren, how are things with Prince Donovan?" Lady Vanessa asked.

Maren nearly choked on her tea. That was a rather personal question to be starting off with. And gods, how was she supposed to answer it? "Well, we recently formed an alliance because his brother wants to arrest me?" She could not imagine a more inappropriate response.

"Ah...fine, thank you," Maren said.

"Rumor is that it's going a lot better than fine," Lady Cecilia said.

Maren blushed. She had not heard that particular rumor.

Apparently, blushing was answer enough for the ladies, as quite a bit of tittering followed.

"Do you know what match he'll make for you?" Lady Angelina asked.

"Ah...it's rather early, isn't it?" Maren asked.

Shocked murmurings followed.

"It's never too early," said Lady Alyssa. "Lady Callista gave Prince Kieran her list weeks ago."

"A list?"

"Of possible matches I'd be interested in, and any I'm opposed to, of course," Lady Callista said.

"Of course," Maren echoed. She couldn't even begin to imagine who she would put on such a list.

"You should put one together as soon as possible," Lady Vanessa advised with great solemnity.

"Oh, I'm sure that isn't necessary. I wouldn't even know who to put on such a list," Maren said.

Sympathetic tutting followed that remark.

"You poor dear, it's terribly different in the North, isn't it," Lady Angelina said.

"You should at least put together a list of requirements," Lady Cecilia said.

"Absolutely," Lady Callista agreed. "You should include requirements for age, location, income, title, and previous children at a minimum."

Maren was baffled.

"Previous children?"

"If you're willing to marry someone with children from a prior marriage or under what circumstances you would be willing to. Your children would always be second, you know. I'd happily marry a Duke with prior children, but probably not a Count," Lady Vanessa explained.

Maren could not say she had thought about a single one of the "requirements" Lady Callista had mentioned. If she had to guess, she'd ask for the opposite of whatever Lady Callista asked for.

"Thank you, I shall give it some consideration," Maren said.

The conversation moved on to the ladies' own marriage prospects, and then fashion and Court gossip and various other topics Maren had little interest in.

"And Lady Callista, how are things with Prince Kieran?" Lady Alyssa asked.

That possibly was a topic Maren was interested in. She looked carefully at Lady Callista's face, but saw no signs of distress.

"Very well. I am quite content," Lady Callista said with a small smile.

The other ladies approved, but Maren was not sure that she believed Lady Callista. To be fair, she would not believe anything pleasant about Prince Kieran, but Lady Callista's response seemed almost too perfect, as though she'd practiced it.

The ladies were very kind even if Maren had absolutely nothing in common with them, so it was a reasonably pleasant way to spend an afternoon. The ladies seemed content to chat for several more hours, but it was getting late.

She rose. "I do hope you'll excuse me, I have a dinner engagement I need to dress for."

"Dinner engagement" was something of an exaggerated way to describe dinner with the Prince, and she knew it would not take very long to dress for dinner, but she was ready to leave anyway.

The ladies very kindly wished her a good evening and Maren left.

—

"So, how was the ladies' tea?" Donovan asked Lady Maren over dinner.

"Ah...it was...interesting," she said.

"How so?"

"It was rather like talking to people from an entirely different world," she said. "We have very few interests in common."

"Really? What are their interests?" He had very little idea what sort of interests the Court ladies had, and even less of an idea what interests Lady Maren might have.

Lady Maren chuckled. "Husbands mostly."

"Ah," Donovan said. He wasn't sure he could say anything else on the matter without being offensive, so decided to withhold any comments.

"Apparently, I should have already given you a list of people I'm willing to marry," she said. She looked extremely amused.

"Really? A list?"

"Yes, and in the absence of a list of people because the poor sheltered northerner doesn't know who to put on it, I should give you a list of requirements," she explained.

He laughed. "What sort of requirements?"

"It is really rather comical. Apparently, I should have preferences regarding title, age, location, income, and whether they already have children."

He had no idea about any of this.

"It sounds rather like ordering a suit, where you have to choose cut and fabric and the like."

"I know, it sounded ridiculous to me. And they were extremely concerned that I was woefully late in providing you a list," she said.

He laughed. "Well, please feel free to provide one at your earliest convenience."

She shook her head. "Gods, I can't even imagine what I'd put on it. If I'm still alive in six months, I'll give it to you then."

It did seem like a very long time before he would need to actually consider arrangements for her future, and so many things could happen in the interim.

"Well, I confess myself curious, what sort of person would you like to marry?"

She laughed as she sipped her wine. "Hmmm, old, very old. So old that when everyone hears about the engagement, they'll say, 'Oh, I didn't know he was still alive.'"

He laughed at that. He knew she was joking, but possibly only mostly joking.

"Ideally, he would have at least a dozen children, so no one expects me to have any," she said.

"Should be simple enough to find. Ancient and with numerous children. I'm sure there are half a dozen or more prospects for you," he said with a smile.

"Excellent," she said. "Come to think of it, just ask Prince Kieran for the list of people Lady Callista won't marry and choose one of them. I'm sure they're all perfect."

They both laughed.

"Did you see Lady Callista?"

She nodded. "She didn't say anything particularly interesting about Prince Kieran, but I think it's worth going next time in case she does."

"Are you spying on her, then?" he asked, amused at the notion.

"More like willing to sacrifice a handful of afternoons in case she lets something useful slip," she said.

"Well, I thank you for your very noble sacrifice," he said and lifted his glass to her.

She laughed. "Well, there's cake involved, so it's not really that much trouble."

"So, if your interests do not include husbands, what are they?"

She looked slightly surprised, as though she did not expect him to have any desire to hear the answer. To be fair, he was slightly surprised he did want to know the answer too.

"Ah...well...probably you could guess a few. Horses, of course."

"Of course," he said.

"I do like to read. My father has something of a collection of books, so I've read just about anything I can get my hands on," she said. "I have to say I'm not much for needlepoint or music or any of the typical hobbies ladies take up."

"You don't care for music?" he asked.

"Oh, I'm happy enough to listen to music, but I don't really enjoy making it. I can play the piano, just not particularly well."

"And what are your interests?" she asked.

He should have seen that question coming, but he was still mildly surprised by it.

"I'll admit that's somewhat of a difficult question to answer. I'm not sure whether I've had the time for a special interest or a hobby in a long time. Unless running the kingdom properly or drinking brandy with Alec count as hobbies."

She laughed. "Perhaps the brandy. But I understand. I feel like 'survival' occupies a good bit of my time and energy."

"I can see why you feel you don't have much in common with the other ladies," he said.

She shrugged good-naturedly. "I'm rather accustomed to being the odd one out," she said.

"That I can relate to," he said.

"Can you?"

"Not a lot of princes around the Court," he said.

She nodded, "I see."

"Well, here's to the odd ones out," he said, raising his glass.

She smiled and touched her glass to his. "To the odd ones out."