ONE HOUR EARLIER

At first, Willow thought the scene on the stage had been planned. A sort of surprise ending Coralina and Gord had worked out together. Watching from the wings, he'd felt confused and glanced at Briette, standing near the ropes. The stark pallor of her face answered his question.

Gord's voice, booming across the ballroom, held everyone spellbound; unbroken until one person clapped. Then applause broke across the audience and crashed against the stage like waves on rocks.

"Help me!" Briette shoved a long rope into Willow's hands and they rolled the curtains down across the scene. As he yanked on the lines, Willow heard the heavy step of Gord, passing behind them to exit the stage.

"Come this way." Briette grabbed Willow's arm and pushed on the door in the back wall, carefully painted with Ivy's sunset. Willow looked at the wooden tower as they passed through. Coralina had shrunken into a ball and he couldn't see her face.

Jaedis, Heidel, and Shulay stood in the cluttered prop room behind the stage. They'd stripped off their masks and wigs, and the expressions of all three matched the look of shocked disbelief he'd seen on Briette.

"Where is she?" Heidel asked.

"Still up there," Briette said. "I didn't talk to her."

"What happened?" Jaedis asked with wide eyes. "Did anyone know he was going to do that?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Where is he now?" Heidel asked.

"Think he left," Willow said. "He passed us as we were closing the curtains."

"It was a trick." Shulay looked almost impressed. "He fooled every one of us."

The back door of the stage snapped open and Maelyn passed through, her face like marble. The din of the audience came through the door with her.

"Get them out of here," she said harshly. "Every last one of them. Get them out before a riot breaks. There are two knights stationed at each outer door. Help me alert them to clear out the crowds. I want them gone as fast as possible."

Heidel looked consternated. "Is the crowd—"

"Talking. Just talking," Maelyn said. "But what Gord did could be interpreted as an act of rebellion. Before that idea takes hold, I want everyone out! Willow, take your sister home."

Willow nodded, throwing off the gloves and false armor of his costume. The younger princesses were already rushing out of the room.

"What about Princess Coralina?" Willow asked.

Maelyn glanced at the closed door of the stage. "I said her name twice. She didn't answer. I'm sure she'll come down when she's ready." She stalked away from Willow, who noticed now the deep blush of her cheeks. This had to be as humiliating for her as it was for Coralina. Or at least... almost.

He found his way out through the wings and headed into the ballroom. Everywhere he looked, people stood talking in bunches. Some horrified, some excited, some highly amused. Many gestured grandly at the curtained stage as they explained their idea of what had happened. Around the walls of the ballroom, he spotted two princesses lighting the torches that had been doused before the play began. Darkness would not be desirable now.

Willow hurried along the first row of benches. He found Maple alone, sitting with her hands in her lap, clutching a handkerchief.

"I knew you'd come," she said as she rose.

"We're going back to the inn." Willow took her by the arm. "Just to be safe. Maelyn wants everyone to leave."

Maple nodded. "What should I do with this?" She held up her hand and Willow saw that the handkerchief was actually a small doll wrapped in a blanket.

"There was a little girl next to me with her nursemaid. She fell asleep during the third act. Then that huge man—who I believe was her father—came down here and scooped her up. Wasn't until after they left that I noticed she had dropped the doll under the bench."

"Just bring it." Willow could not concern himself with a doll right now. The spirit of the crowd did not feel dangerous to him—more like the exhilaration people show when a fresh scandal breaks. But he knew that could change in a blink.

He and Maple were among the first to leave. But as they rolled down the hill in their hired carriage, Willow questioned why he'd left at all. Yes—Maelyn had ordered him to take Maple home. But this seemed no time to turn his back on the princesses.

"That wasn't the ending from the script," Maple said after a long silence.

Willow forced a laugh. "Oh, you noticed that!"

"Well, it was pretty obvious. The way their voices changed. Were they... together?"

"Not in that way. At least, not to my knowledge. I don't know either of them well."

"Well, something was going on between them," Maple said with confidence. "Sire Above. I thought when my fellow left me, he did it badly. This was oceans worse."

Willow nodded. He had liked Gord, but now felt a burgeoning resentment. He should have considered this would cause a scandal, one likely to spread far beyond the kingdom's borders. Whatever his disagreement with Coralina was, could he not have dealt with it in private?

Things got no better at the inn. He paced in his chamber, unable to rest his mind. He admitted to himself it was Maelyn he felt concern for. To think this dreadful embarrassment had happened, not only in front of a large portion of the kingdom but also in front of....

King Jarrod! Willow's mind reeled. Holy Toes and everything else! It had happened before King Jarrod. Willow hadn't noticed him after the incident. By the time he'd collected Maple from the front row, King Jarrod must have left, or he would've seen him. Where had he gone? He would not take this lightly—Willow knew that much. He was going to hold Maelyn responsible.

Willow jerked open the door of his chamber. She didn't need him. He had no right. There wasn't much he could do. It wasn't his place.

He didn't care.

He walked down the hall, passing the tapestry of the castle, and spoke through the next door without waiting for Maple to answer.

"I'm going back."