As he reached the MacKenzie farmyard, he saw that the family was up, could see smoke billowing from the chimney and figures moving inside the low windows.

Taking a quick breath, he knocked at the door.

“It’s the prince,” said Fintan uninterestedly, when he opened it up.

“I am not a prince,” said Konstantin awkwardly.

“Is everything okay at the hotel?” said Flora immediately, taking two seconds off from looking at her beautiful new ring from every angle and waking Mark and Marsha at four A.M. in New York, as was traditional.

“Why should he care? He’s only passing through,” said Fintan.

“I wish you cared as much as he does,” shot back Flora, then remembered what Joel had said and held her fire.

“Actually . . .” said Konstantin politely.

“Come in, come in, it’s freezing,” said Innes, who knew exactly what was up, beckoning him in and handing him a cup of tea, which left both Flora and Fintan feeling rather ashamed of their lack of goodwill.

“Happy Christmas,” said Flora. “Sorry.”

“She was just shouting at me,” said Fintan.

“Well, I like your local Scottish traditions,” said Konstantin, taking a sip of the tea, which was disgusting to him. He had never gotten used to it.

“I have coffee too,” said Flora hastily.

“I was actually looking for Miss Agot,” said Konstantin gravely. Agot had in fact woken up when the knock at the door had come and stood rubbing her eyes at the hall entrance. “I owe her something.”

“Are you really a prince?” she said.

Konstantin shrugged. “Oh well, for you, why not?”

Agot took a look at Douglas’s pile of presents by the wall, all wrapped in blue animal paper.

“And who are they for?” she said suspiciously.

“I have brought you something,” said Konstantin quickly.

Agot blinked. “Did you bring anything for Bugglas?”

“I brought nothing for Bugglas.”

“Okay.”

Konstantin winked at Innes, who vanished obediently.

“What’s going on?” said Eilidh suspiciously.

Presently, Innes arrived back, bearing a white box.

“But!” said Eilidh, but Innes hushed her and handed it over to Agot.

Eyes wide, she opened it.

Inside were the most perfectly beautiful little pair of skates, white and trimmed with white fake fur, with pink laces.

Agot gasped. “Nooooo!!”

She lifted them out of the tissue paper wrapping as if they were the most stunningly lovely things she’d ever seen. The silver blades caught the light, flashing and glinting in the early winter sun.

“But where is she . . .” started Eilidh.

“Shh,” said Innes.

“And you see here,” said Konstantin, pulling out a pair of skates. “I too have my skates.”

“You brought your skates from your palace in Norway,” said Flora.

“Of course,” said Konstantin, looking confused.

He lent the little girl his arm.

“Would you like to come skating with me?”

And he led her out into the farmyard, to a sight that provoked a gasp from all the others too.

On a flat piece of grassy ground, out by the cowshed, Konstantin had done something very simple. With Innes’s help, he had built a small wooden fence in a rectangle, about fifteen centimeters high. He and Innes had had a conversation the day before and had met in the night. Then they had used an old tarpaulin as a liner, filled it half full with water, waited overnight—and now, Konstantin was using a kettle and a broom to carefully smooth it flat.