Emry felt her shoulders start to shake. She really didn’t want to cry. Especially here, in the herb garden, alone with the prince.

“I’m so sorry,” Arthur said. “If I’d known, I would have told you. I promise.”

Emry took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves, and her magic.

“I just can’t believe she was here. That I missed her.”

She’d been at the ball. Emry must have walked right past her.

“Do you think—” Arthur began.

“That she took the enchantment off your scabbard?” Emry supplied, finishing his thought. “Yes.”

They stared at each other, the horrible realization settling around them.

“The Lady of the Lake said she would go to any lengths to gain Anwen’s magic,” Emry said. “And she’s certainly powerful enough to have transferred the enchantment, rather than just destroying it.”

Arthur’s expression grew even more distressed.

“So King Yurien possesses an enchantment that makes him unkillable in combat?”

This was bad. Catastrophic. The worst possible outcome.

“I could kill my father for this,” Arthur went on. “The scabbard was never meant to be used in some silly sword-fighting contest. Yet he insisted, because he wanted to show off a sword that wasn’t his to boast about. And I let him.”

“You can’t blame yourself,” Emry said. “Morgana would have known that scabbard if you’d worn it to supper.”

“I suppose,” Arthur said, his brown eyes full of despair. “Still, I don’t know what to do,” he confessed, his shoulders slumping. “I don’t even know where to start.”

“Me neither,” Emry promised, “but we’ll figure it out.”

CHAPTER 44

Emmett swung the hidden panel aside, marveling at how clever Guinevere had been to discover it. But when he stumbled into the princess’s salon, she looked up at him with wide eyes. She had a lady’s maid with her, and was practicing her embroidery.

Sard, he’d thought she’d be alone. The maid stared at him, her mouth falling open, and Emmett wished he’d at least thought to knock.

Well, it was too late now. The only thing left was to act as though his presence was entirely unremarkable.

“Er, you wished to see me, Your Highness?” he asked blandly, brushing some invisible lint from his new silk jacket.

“Yes, I require your help mending a—perfume decanter,” Guinevere replied, fixing him with a warning look.

“Consider it done,” Emmett said with a bow.

“How did you enter through the wall?” the maid asked.

Guinevere gave a gentle shake of her head, as though he might be fool enough to reveal the passage.

“I apologize if the spell startled you,” Emmett lied. “But I wanted to arrive discreetly. I wasn’t sure of the delicacy of the princess’s request. And the guards at the end of the hallway did assure me she was chaperoned.”

The maid sniffed.

“Some tea perhaps, Linota?” Guinevere said pointedly.