The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal

Author:Eilis O'Neal [O'Neal, Eilis]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: Fiction, Juvenile Fiction, General, Magic, Fantasy & Magic, Action & Adventure, Wizards, Identity, Royalty, Princesses, Conspiracies
ISBN: 9781606840795
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Published: 2011-01-24T13:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

I slept the rest of the day and woke the next morning only when one of the maids knocked on my door and told me that Philantha was waiting for me downstairs.

“A lecture, she says, on, oh, something magical,” Briath said as she headed back for the door. “Can’t remember the words she used. But she says you’re to go with her, and now.”

I scrambled out of bed, trying to smooth my wrinkled clothes as I went. As I reached for the comb on my desk—my hair looked like several birds had been at it with their beaks—I saw a small square of paper, folded over on itself and sealed with a blob of wax from the candle by my bed. Cracking it open, I recognized Kiernan’s hand.

Don’t you dare get up until you’re rested! When you are, send one of those message lights and I’ll come. In the meantime, I’ll talk to O., see if she remembers anything about last night. And I’ll find out if anyone saw M. or N. wandering the palace last night. Don’t frown like that! I’ll be sly.

I was frowning, I realized, which made me let out an irritated huff of breath. He knew me too well. Still, even his promise didn’t make my fears go away. Kiernan might think he was subtle enough to question Orianne, but I worried that his natural exuberance might give him away. And if the traitor thought that Kiernan knew about the second false princess … I shuddered, laying the note back down. “Be careful,” I whispered, then lifted my comb to my hair.

Finally decent, I hurried down the stairs to find Philantha wearing her black wizard’s robes over a dress that I knew had a rather large ink stain on the front. “There’s a lecture—Hemmel’s giving it, the old bore—on transference of energies from, well, you’ll see. It’s doubtful Hemmel will have anything really useful to say—I remember when he was a student and he was always so … rule bound, and that’s very limiting, always remember that—but you never know. It might be useful to you, though, so I thought we’d go.” With that, she flung the door open and marched out into the street, me at her heels.

It was a fine, clear day, without a cloud to be seen, and I found my head clearing as well while we walked. It seemed I had recovered from my sleepless night, and the edge of shock at what I had seen was being ground down a bit by time and distance. It was still sharp, but I was gradually getting used to the idea that Orianne was not the true princess. Now if I only knew what to do about it. Well, I would start by trying to get away from the lecture and at least look at Neomar’s rooms. That way, when Kiernan and I came back, we would know what sort of fortifications we were up against.

We made good time to the college, stopping only so that Philantha could examine a bird’s nest blown from a garden tree into the street.

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