Luckily, other matters took the attention away from the sisters.

Their Father suddenly appeared and approached the table as if… well, as if he had been expected. He bowed his greetings to His Highness with familiar words, a loud laugh, and (to everyone’s gasps) soft taps on his back. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, he quickly excused himself to pierce through the rows of Nobles he surely thought were new ‘potential partners’.

Mother apologized profusely, promptly rising to follow behind her foolish husband. Nobody blamed her.

Now, only The Prince, the sisters, Madame Genoir, the host and her Mother (the Caustess) resided at the table, finally enjoying the admittedly delicious food and tea the servants were presenting.

“...But putting the boring details behind us, you just had to see her Majesty's face when I disregarded what that wretched Eunuch ordered and went inside anyway! Oh, Cian I just wish you could have been a little mouse on the walls to share my joy at her reaction!” Lady Elliot laughed as if irritating the Queen was the biggest jest she could think of. The Countess shook her head helplessly but still appeared strangely used to her daughter's antics of toying with the most important people’s temper.

Gabe was using all of her might to restrain herself from allowing her eyes to open wide in surprise. Her sisters were less subtle.

“Impressive,” said Samir, who seemed to finally be recovering (or perhaps distracting themselves away) from their illness, “Wasn’t she enraged by your petulance?”

The Prince laughed with their host, offering his hand to hold hers in a gesture of appreciation. It didn’t escape her the way the Lady referred to him with his given name, or how he treated her as a beloved friend. How peculiar, she thought, how unusual. Gabe wondered how he felt about her recent marriage.

“It was the most cruel of you, Louise, to decide to do it in my absence,” he let go and turned to the third sister, “And well, I suppose people regard it so much as common knowledge that the information doesn’t travel easily. The Countess is my mother’s second cousin, on her father’s part. Little Louise here, Samir, is like an annoying niece to her. Mother is used to her cheekiness by now.”

Oh. Things suddenly made much more sense now.

The Prince looked at Gabe, giving another hearty laugh when he spotted her face. The girl quickly touched it, finally realizing she failed at controlling her eyebrows and finding that they were frozen in the middle of her forehead, eyes big like a doe. She blushed, unable to stop glaring in his direction, and at least the Prince seemed to have the decency to look apologetic. That damn Charm was just-

“Oh my,” Lady Elliot’s voice had that same tone that puzzled her earlier, but before she could understand her meaning, she carried on the conversation, “So, girls, what are you deeming this ‘cousin of mine to be?”

The table’s good mood vanished.

“I fear it's not appropriate for them to answer without their Mother’s presence, My Lad-” Madame Genoir started but the Prince allowed none of it.

“Worry not, ma’am. I command them to satisfy my curiosity, as I have been thinking this very same question,” And with that, it was set.

The Charm had varying effects. Lulu was again lost in thoughts, and Manny was busy tasting all she managed to grab. The other three daughters, though, froze. Alani turned to her at the same time that Samir stated the following, with a familiar big smile on their face: “Well, you look like a fine guy, Your Highness, though Gabe says not to trust your good faith too much since nobles have lots of strange mood changes.”

Gabe shook her head. The effect was hitting hard on Samir the most, but it was no surprise considering how shaken they appeared to be just a couple of moments prior.

“Our sister has always been a wary person in nature,” Alani defended her, but people at the table didn’t seem to take the third sister’s words to heart.

“And what do you think, Miss Alani?” the Countess asked kindly. She seemed to have taken a liking to the eldest.

“His Highness behaves like an honourable and pleasing gentleman,” she didn’t hesitate, “He treats us very well, even considering how distant we are in ranks.”

They smiled at her earnest tone, none perceiving the half-truths hidden in her words. By the looks of it, her sister was adapting faster than she was.

Lulu abruptly stood up, halting whatever else would follow.

“I am to go relieve myself,” she announced with a stony expression that allowed no further comments.

She waited for no one’s permission before going away.

“It’s the Charm,” The Countess explained to their sisters' perplexed faces, “It affects some more than others but it will get better with time, don’t worry… Though, it’s surely inappropriate to travel alone in an unknown house. Should we go after her, Genoir?”

Even if Madame Genoir didn’t seem thrilled to let them alone with the Prince and Lady Elliot, their Mother had trusted their wellbeing to her while she was away. She excused herself to fetch the wild girl.

Like so, six people remained.

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“What about you, Miss Gabe? I’ve just noticed you still haven’t given your opinion on our Dear Prince,” Lady Elliot had that glean of mischief in her eyes again.

“I recall your sister said one wasn’t supposed to trust me, was that correct?” he continued in a humorous tone, resting his face on his knuckles.

Gabe took a deep breath, deciding how to approach the subject matter. It was surely a test, and with the Charm at play she was likely to fail, but she had to find a way to fail in the least damaging way.

“How could one trust someone they don’t know? I recall Lady Elliot saying she trusted her maid as a sister and I wonder, how many years did it take for this bond to form?”

“More than a dozen,” Lady Elliot humoured her.

“And like so, I speculate it will take many years for me to trust you like that, Your Highness.”

“Like a brother, you mean?” He seemed to find her words funny, “I feel that is not quite apt to… Our situation. Say, Lady Elliot, how long did you take to trust your husband?”

That made her pause, evaluating what he wanted to do with this information.

“Not nearly as long as Miranda, if that is what you want to know.”

The Prince didn’t take his eyes off the second sister as he continued:

“And did that happen naturally? Or would you say it was a deliberate decision you made to… Cooperate with him?”

Gabe’s mind sobered. He offered her his assistance… or rather if she interpreted things correctly the last time they met, he seemed set on getting her to follow his lead.

Gabe once again went through their last encounter from start to finish. Some things had been strangely hard to remember as if the memory itself was quietly trying to run away from her, but as soon as she grasped what was happening – Another of that cursed Charm’s effect she supposed – the girl wrote it all down and read it, over and over again, to make sure she remembered her accounting of the event (before burning the pages away, of course). He felt he had no control, like them – and one thing she had to do was to find out what he meant by that. He also had said he wanted to support her – but why? What was this support for? What exactly did that offer entail to her and her sisters?

“Well, yes, there was a decision involved at some point,” Lady said from somewhere else, and both she and the Prince continued where they had left.

In all honesty, (and Gods and Goddesses, she was rendered a beacon of that because of him) she wanted to say no. All her instincts were shouting it was a trap. But she knew as well as he did that too many things depended on him being satisfied for her to deny him. Gabe gritted her teeth.

“One cannot expect blind cooperation without understanding and earnest and continuous goodwill, can they?” Gabe settled at last.

“Not complete cooperation, no, but some cooperation is already a good start,” he gestured around them, “And blind I would expect the other part to be if they ignored such an opportunity. I am a man who shows my goodwill promptly, requesting nothing but for one to sit beside me.”

She knew it. He agreed to get along with their little trick earlier fully expecting to use it against them later.

“If you allow me to be so bold, your Highness, what does it say about 'a person of goodwill’ when they showcase it like a prize and mercy?”

He hesitated at that, taking long seconds to, finally, concede:

“Fair enough,” he sighed, finally averting his eyes. He shook his head, “But I must say your headstrongness is doing you a disservice, Miss Gabriel.”

What else could she say to that? She had won that round but Gabe felt… She too felt she had made a mistake, somewhat. But she couldn’t understand how and what else she could do to make it right, and… and… Gabe just felt so, so deeply frustrated. The same feeling when they had first met, she recognized.

“Your Highness,” Alani said, a quiet voice that called for all their attention. “If you would allow me a… suggestion.”

Their sisters looked at the eldest with worry. Why was she calling attention to herself at a time like this?

“You may speak,” the Prince said, mild curiosity on his face.

“As I stated before, my dear sister is a very wary person, though this… affliction of hers can be easily remedied with enough words to make her understand her or another’s situation. If I’m correct, that was what she was previously trying, but unfortunately failing, to communicate.”

“Oh, that would be the understatement of the age!” Samir thought fit to supplement, “People, especially our Gabe, always work best after knowing about everyone and all.”

Suddenly all eyes were on her, and Gabe tried and failed to hold off a frown. Well, she would never, could never, say it like that, but understanding why the Prince was doing what he was doing would surely help.

“Oh… I see,” They considered each other, “That… Well, that could be arranged.”

Gabe let out a breath she didn’t realise she was holding.

“I would be the most grateful, Your Highness,” she said, bowing slightly.

A loud clap shifted the attention once again. Unruly Lady Elliot looked at them with enough mirth to rival a fox.

“Well, well, wasn’t that entertaining? Much enlightening too. I almost feel guilty to steal today’s spot on the most remarkable event.”

“Care to explain?” The Prince’s tone held a dangerous tone as if he was waiting for that moment and dreading it immensely.

“You’ll see, dear Cian,” she chucked, “But I can’t be without mercy to our Crown Prince and his future wife, so…”

She put herself on her feet, some of the Nobles close by looking over before her dismissal. The young lady smiled, indicating Gabe’s sisters.

“We shall meet your sister inside the house. Let’s go. No, don’t worry, yes? We will be back in 10 minutes, and your sister is most safe and sound here with so many people at bay. Oh! No, worry not about those leeches around! I’m sure you don’t know it yet but Cian here has the great ability to make people think of him as one of their own. Unfortunately, if he is not in an active role, it frequently makes people forget he is even there. I’m sure little Miss Gabe will be swept under his influence and she will be let alone while we are gone.”

“Me too?” said little Manny, her mouth full of sweet pastries.

“No,” answered Alani, “You stay and be a quiet girl while we are away, yes?”

With a nod from her, they followed the vibrant ball of energy that was their host. Vibrant and smart. She knew that would be the perfect (and likely rare) opportunity to arrange their… possible deal without other’s scrutiny. There were too many people and, if the Lady truly spoke the truth, no eyes on them. From what Gabe could observe and the Prince's manner, it seemed like she was being truthful.

“So,” The Prince was the first to start, ”What do you want to know, Little Miss Gabe?”