She finally slipped her hand into Lila’s. For some strange reason, Lila had expected the girl’s hand to be sticky—children were usually sticky, weren’t they?—but the palm pressed against hers was perfectly clean. And soft. It was a nice surprise.

“I’m not allowed to talk to strangers,” the girl confided with a shy smile. “But a princess isn’t a stranger.”

“Oh dear,” Lila murmured. It wasn’t her place to lecture children on stranger danger, but for all she knew, the girl would take this one successful venture and run off in the future with anyone claiming to be royalty. “Actually, I am a stranger. It’s important to be wary of grown-ups no matter what they’re wearing. You know that, right? A fancy dress doesn’t automatically make someone a princess. Just like a tuxedo doesn’t automatically make someone a prince.”

In fact, now that she thought about it, there were lots of warning signs that could be worn on the outside. Take, for example, a man’s blinding smile across a crowded ballroom floor.

“It’s all too easy for a person to hide their true nature behind clothes,” she added. “Clothes and makeup and shoes and a smile you know better than to trust, if only because no man has teeth that white unless there’s something wrong with him. I don’t care what anyone says or how many times they say it. You shouldn’t be able to see your reflection in someone else’s molars.”

The girl tugged on Lila’s hand, pulling her attention down. She pointed first at her own ears and then at Lila’s lips before blinking expectantly.

“Oh,” Lila said, dismayed. “I went on a bit of a tirade there, didn’t I?”

“Emily might not have had the privilege of catching all that, but I sure did,” a male voice sounded from behind them, causing Lila to jump. Again. “And I, for one, am dying to meet this man. Does he gargle with bleach, do you think, or is it that new charcoal toothpaste everyone is going on about?”

“Daddy!” The girl—Emily—dropped Lila’s hand and ran to the man, wrapping her arms around his knees. Her words were muffled by a sob. “I got lost.”

He lifted the child into his arms and waited until her head was level with his before speaking. “Yes, I noticed that. But I see you found your time-traveling adult self and came to no harm. Strange that you never ended up buying a different dress. I thought for sure you’d outgrow pink sparkles.”

Lila stiffened. He was making fun of her. This man, this stranger clad in a socially acceptable tuxedo, was making fun of her.

“Daddy, she’s a princess.”

“Is she?” He cast a scrutinizing look Lila’s way. “I didn’t know princesses could time travel.”

“She rescued me.”

“Well, that is what princesses do.”