The morning did prove to be interesting. The prince joined them without making any prior announcements, and began engaging them in conversation at random. He even said a few words to Catherine, wishing her good luck, wishing her mother good luck and making a point of telling her a small anecdote about the man who was supposed to be her father.
It worked like he had said he hoped it would. When he left her, she was the centre of discreet attention. Princess Iris and Princess Anna, yet again complementing each other, this time even in contrasting dresses, came to stand at her side. Princess Iris whispered an invitation for tea in her ear. Catherine smiled and nodded in confirmation.
Princess Anna, the strong-looking woman, who the prince had described as manly despite her pretty face, leaned in.
“I did not realise you knew him so well, my lady. Will you be seeing more of his majesty while you are here?”
Catherine shrugged and shook her head. The prince glanced at her but did not make any sign that he had noticed the exchange.
“You are not here … by invitation?”
Catherine shrugged again, waving her hand back and forth to signify disinterest. It seemed to work; Princess Anna took a small step back and looked at her more closely. The prince came strolling towards them, a worrying grin on his face.
“Naturally she is here by invitation. You are all here as my honoured guests. In fact, I believe it is on time that I am honest with you all.”
He made a sign towards the doors, and two servants closed them, stepping out of the room as they did.
“I realise that I am breaking every social protocol, my dear friends, but I hope you will forgive me. You are all here for the same reason.”
The room grew quiet. Catherine looked around at the women, and did not see much surprise or shame. Only three women did look as if they had not know that fact, though she suspected that their open-mouthed looks of horror were more for show than out of true disbelief.
They all stood up, two of them forming words of protest, the last one keeping quiet. After a brief confusion, they all went towards the door in silence. The prince bowed at them, a mocking grin on his face, which did not seem to ease their outrage. The doors closed behind them.
“I assume that we can speak freely now,” he said, looking around at the neutral faces.
“I did cast a spell, and it did choose each one of you as a good match for me. Catherine held his eyes for a second, noticing a strange uncertainty in them before he looked away. “The only problem is the fact that there are many of you here. I wish to choose the one among you who is most likely to be happy at my side, and allow the rest of you to go home and continue as if nothing ever happened. I apologise for my lack of complete honesty with you in the beginning, but I sincerely hope that you will not suffer any consequences from your choice to join me here under the guise of a friendly visit to our magnificent city.”
None of the eight other women left in the room looked thrilled. Princess Anna mumbled something under her breath in a language that was probably not being used for the sake of the prince.
“I suggest that you continues as before and allow me a chance to get to know you better,” the prince continued. “Of course I will not oblige if either of you should want to leave now.”
The women continued to sit still. Catherine gathered that none of them were interested in leaving, and that none of them wanted to be the first one to say so. There was no knowing how much gossip might still spread. The prince smiled benevolently at them all, one by one, then left the room. The women got up and left in turn, still not speaking.
“Catherine!” She looked up and saw Princess Iris looking at her. She smiled.
“Will you still join me for tea? I hope this is not all too shocking for you?”
Catherine nodded, waved and shook her head. She smiled at the princess.
“Then I will see you in an hour, my friend,” she said, and left the room behind the others. Something jingled every time she moved her left foot, and Catherine felt jealous of her natural, easy beauty. She kept the smile on her face and followed Ingrid to her rooms.
“This is very good, my lady,” Ingrid said. Her face was prettier when she was happy, Catherine noticed. It made her eyes seem less cold.
“Princess Iris is actually quite withdrawn. Princess Anna is the only other person who has been invited to see her in private. His majesty will be happy to hear of your progress.”
Catherine smiled and nodded. She was afraid to speak now, in case she forgot herself in the presence of the princess. Something inside her felt uneasy since last night, and she was afraid it might cause her to loose her concentration, whatever it was.
Deep in thought, she was surprised to find someone tugging at her dress. She spun around and noticed the maid, who was looking at her in confusion. She remembered then; she would have to change her clothes. It seemed like a ridiculous amount of work for such a small benefit. She doubted anyone would notice her clothes if they would only stop constantly changing it.
“Do you have anything slightly more … relaxed?” she asked the maid.
“My lady, I was informed you would be having tea with the princess,” she answered, raising an eyebrow.
“I mean something less heavy,” she explained. The woman looked her up and down a few times.
“I am sorry, my lady, but I've been told to dress you well, but old fashioned. This style was very popular about a decade ago. I could not find you anything else without ruining the look.” Her voice was stern, as if Catherine had insulted her family. She gave up, and thought about the slim, pretty dresses the princess in question always wore. She looked so much more graceful, much more like any sort of royalty than she did.
It cost her a lot of confidence to walk down the hallways, stairs and streets that led her to the building where she would find the princess. Her hair had been made up into a giant shape that resembled her father's old clock more than anything. It was miles away from the long, silky strands that flew freely from the princess' shoulders.
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