Chapter 8, part 2

In the morning Lady Gunilla, who Catherine had not even spoken to yet, had left. The prince made no comment this time. Catherine did not like the fact that his choice had now been made easier.

Catherine spent a few days acting exactly as she was supposed to. Ingrid helped her with her act, but she was beginning to get the hang of small things like how to sit, eat and walk, which made it easier for her to relax and focus.

She quickly began learning a lot from the small conversations. She found out that Lady Auriel had a weakness for card games, that Princess Laura could not say no to sweets and that Lady Marianne made grammar mistakes when she spoke.

Every new discovery was reported to the prince in the evenings. Every evening he seemed a little more angry with her. She understood that he still felt drawn towards her, and that the pain must be getting difficult for him to bear. It still surprised her when he kept getting closer to her, growling like an animal.

Two weeks passed during which the prince began undertaking little walks and similar activities with the remaining seven women. Naturally Catherine was there as well. Princess Iris never spoke a word to her, but did once or twice greet her. Princess Anna seemed to notice and began talking to Catherine as if she wanted to find out what her friend disliked.

Catherine found out that way that the princess was mainly interested in the prince to avoid the marriage to her cousin, which had been arranged when she was a small child. When she told this to the prince, he seemed relieved. He smiled at Catherine and sent her on her way. She did not know what to make of that. Except maybe that the prince did not like princess Anna very much.

As the weeks went past, she gathered more and more information, tiny scraps of knowledge about each of the women. The prince wrote down everything she told him and kept a journal of his own opinions. Catherine became quite skilled at sitting still and doing nothing with her hands. Her manners improved greatly and she rarely needed Ingrid's help any more. She even started getting used to having maids around.

Before she knew it she had been at the castle for more than three months. Her birthday had come and gone. She felt sure that she was now actually a great help to the prince, who had stopped shouting at her when she delivered bad news. When princess Anna pulled her aside and told her under four eyes to let the prince know that she was leaving, because she no longer enjoyed his little game, prince Alexander just made a note on a page of his diary and smiled at her.

"She was not among my first choices anyway," he said.

"So you are getting closer, sir?"

"Well, I have narrowed it down a bit. I am considering staging a few accidents to see how they react. I'm thinking of having an employee steal something of lady Corinna's, for instance. She is too calm. And maybe I would like to see princess Iris after her maid is unable to help her dress in the morning. Lady Marianne could do with someone better standing talking down to her, I think. Well, you get the picture, my dear. What do you think?"

"If that is what you need in order to make the choice, sir. None of them are patient any longer."

With that, she left in order to join the others in the garden. She made a short detour to the stables, where she declined the offer to have a horse saddled for her. She just wanted to check on her belongings.

When Ingrid had told her that she could order anything she wanted and pay for it with the allowance she had been given, she took her up on it and ordered a small, strong horse and a full pack of everything one might need to survive for quite a while in the wilderness. Knives, pots, a small tent, a blanket, extra clothing, rope, fishing gear and a thousand little extras that the servant had suggested she add to the pack.

She had not been asked about the purchase, and she made sure to go down and talk to the little horse, that she had named Pello, once in a while. He seemed to like her well enough and didn't complain about the little treats she brought him.

After a short visit and a trip to her rooms to freshen up, she went to the gardens where she would smile, listen in and participate in ridiculous games. Many of their days were spent this way. they had boring little lunches on the lush, green grass. They endured each other's chit chat and pretended to be on vacation. A long sort of visit.

Each of the six remaining women's families and friends had accepted their presence with that excuse, or they would not have remained. They all wanted to go back home or get married. Most of them despised the others. Catherine pretended as if nothing was the matter and did her best to engage the others in small activities, like card games or needlework, that made their tongues run a little more loosely.

When lady Corinna's pearls were stolen by a maid and she demanded the poor girl whipped, Catherine had to be very careful not to catch the princes' eye, or she would start laughing. The same thing was true when princess Iris came to breakfast with her beautiful hair loose and her dress in a tangled mess. Lady Marianne greatly insulted a guest of the prince, who made her loose her temper. Princess Laura had soup spilled in her lap by a clumsy servant and broke into tears. Lady Auriel was unable to walk to her rooms when she had been offered too much champagne and did not decline. Princess Lily Maria gracefully listened to the prince insulting her father. 



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