The Princess Game_A Reimagining of Sleeping Beauty by Melanie Cellier

Author:Melanie Cellier [Cellier, Melanie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Luminant Publications
Published: 2017-06-09T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Celine had never possessed the discipline or the will to stick to a steady exercise regime, so she struggled to keep up with us when we trained. But she never complained, no matter how many times she lost her balance and fell. And every night she pushed herself harder.

Around Aurora, the old Celine returned. And I realised how much I had missed her. Clearly I had been wrong to exclude her for so long. I wasn’t the only one constrained by circumstances outside my control and in desperate need of an outlet.

William accepted her inclusion with good grace, even if his eyes did sometimes linger on me a little wistfully, as if he missed our time alone. He treated her as a younger sister, and she embraced the relationship in a way she had never done with Frederic or Cassian.

I had to take extra care when transferring between my two personas now that Celine was sneaking out of the state cabin at night as well. I was more grateful than ever that the beds each had a privacy screen. I walked a tightrope, and I knew it.

Since I spent my nights cooped up below decks, I endeavoured to spend as much of the day as possible in the open air. Most of the other royals seemed to feel the same way, with the exception of my uncle who preferred to avoid us all by holing up in his cabin.

Rafe and Marie kept largely to themselves, and I tried to respect their privacy as much as I could. They had already been forced to bring half of their family along on their wedding tour.

We enjoyed almost perfect weather, the boat flying along on the planned route. We passed several islands, but Rafe had decided to sail straight to our southernmost port and then stop off at some of the larger isles on the way home. Even from a distance the islands looked magnificent, however. And, thankfully, the curse allowed me to enjoy them openly.

William and Celine’s shared secret produced a new camaraderie, and spending time with them reminded me of what it had been like between me and my siblings before the curse and before Rafe and Cordelia had left Lanover. Celine was a great deal more fun on-board ship than she had been lately at the palace, and I once again regretted holding myself back from her.

As we travelled, William read aloud from a travel guide he had found at the palace, and Celine interjected with scathing and hilarious commentary. I giggled often and added my own observations whenever I thought the curse would let me get away with it, which was much less often than I would have liked.

“Is that the smallest island we’ve seen?” William asked, standing at the rail and gazing across the waves.

Celine nodded. “That’s Inverne.”

I jumped up from my seat on a large coil of rope and leaned out over the edge. Inverne was my favourite island, and I had been looking forward to passing it.

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