“So, how did you get these rolls?” I asked between bites. I was trying not to talk with my mouth full, because even the son of a horse thief knows that’s rude.

“I faked a wrist injury, as you likely guessed, and your cook wrapped my hand in this bandage. While we were walking back to the courtyard, two of the helpers were talking instead of stirring, and a little too much smoke was rising from one of the pots. Cook flew off the handle, yelled at everyone in the entire kitchen, and started waving a towel at the pot as if the whole manor were on fire.”

I was laughing hard at this, because I could see it happening in my mind. “Yep. That is our cook,” I said. “So, you used the commotion to steal us these rolls?”

“Exactly.”

“Oh, man. That is fantastic!” I yelled, a little too loudly. “The princess stole from our kitchen. I feel so honored! This a great day in Fortenbare history.”

“Oh, stop it,” she said, faking a blush. She was just so cute. How was she so cute? I mean, I get it, genetically. The king was the most powerful man on the island, so he basically commanded the most beautiful lady on the island to marry him, and she gave birth to the most beautiful child. That part makes sense.

This is where I was struggling: beautiful girls with money usually have horrible attitudes. There is a constant stream of visiting merchants and dignitaries at our manor, and most of them bring their daughters. They want to show off how pretty they are, in the off chance that some suitable match might be visiting, too. There is one small problem: pretty girls are often made ugly by the scowls they choose to wear.

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The princess was the opposite. Her smile was the cutest thing about her, and she wore it all the time. “This may surprise you,” she said, “but these rolls are not the only thing I have stolen from your manor.”

“No?” I said, in genuine surprise. “Are you a regular thief when you don’t have princess duties?”

“Yes,” she said, with the cutest face yet. “And I think being a thief is a fine line of work.”

“Oh, then you are going to love my father,” I said. “But, come on. What else have you stolen?”

“I have stolen this,” she said, producing a piece of my spiced pudding bread. I absolutely fell over laughing.

“How did you do that?” I asked. “I was with you the whole time!”

“Yes,” she said, “but you were not paying attention the whole time.”

“I’ll admit to that,” I said. “Focus has always been a problem for me.”

“Me, too!” she cried. “My tutors had the darndest time getting me to pay attention when I was younger.”

“Well, well," I said. "We may not have everything in common, but we certainly have that. And, I must admit, that is why I am not formally educated. Well, that and the fact that my family was always running from the authorities and hiding out in caves.” Normally, I would try to hide that fact, but the voice screaming “Honesty!” was at it again.

The princess was still smiling, and looking at me with a look I did not recognize. It was a new one. When Mollyanna flirted with me, she just played hard to get. Or sometimes she rolled her eyes. Or slapped me for no reason. This is how we flirted.

Alameda was more...aggressive. She was looking at me very directly. She said, “I think we have rather a lot in common.”

I wanted to kiss her, but can you do that? Is there a law against it? I have been forced to think about the laws of this island a lot lately, but I still don’t know whether or not it is illegal to kiss a princess. As it turns out, that particular law is now the least of my worries. That one law that says you shouldn’t kill a king is way more important.