With a headache the size of Cambria province, Duncan was now wishing he had listened to Anton and played sick. The charity tea was shaping up to be just as boring as their older brother Leo had predicted, which is why he’d asked Duncan and Anton to go in his place. Being the crown prince had a few advantages, like getting your little brothers to do the things you didn’t want to.

The throbbing in Duncan’s head worsened as the late afternoon sun glared off the white tiles on the upper veranda of the palace. At least he didn’t have a real job to go to, like Leo, he reminded himself. Why on earth his brother had wanted to try his hand at banking before taking on the responsibilities of the throne was still a mystery to Duncan, but he suspected that it was, in part, because it excused him from the worst of the charity events.

This particular event featured the usual cast of sycophantic “wives-in-waiting,” as Duncan and his siblings liked to call them. The same group of women somehow always managed to receive invitations to things like this. They were mostly the daughters and sisters of important businessmen in the city who had donated large sums of money to various causes. They behaved as if they were nobles, and they probably would be soon. It was only a matter of time before a lonely count or duke snapped up the youngest of them.

However, amidst the crowd of tittering blonde heads, Duncan spotted Alix’s dark waves. His eyes lit up and his headache suddenly disappeared. He hadn’t expected her to be there. She had completely ignored his advances the previous night, which intrigued him. He’d never had to work to get someone before, and the challenge excited him.

He wondered how she knew the Duke of Apfelnesse. Not that it really mattered. But it was an excellent excuse to go and talk to her. She had run off last night just as things were getting interesting. She’d left in such a rush that she’d left her diamond bangle at the table.

“Hello,” he said quietly behind her. She jumped a bit before turning to glare at him, the china teacup in one hand clattering against the saucer she held in the other.

“Your Highness,” she said, tilting her head respectfully, though her eyes flashed. With annoyance or anger – he couldn’t tell. “How are you feeling this morning?”

“Wonderful,” he replied, flashing his warmest smile at Alix and the women she had been talking with. “And you?”

“Fine,” she said, and pursed her lips. Her eyes moved to the woman next to her, indicating that he was interrupting a conversation. He decided to ignore it, smiling again at the woman. She returned it and moved away with a tilt of the head, giving them privacy.

“How do you know the Duke of Apfelnesse?” he asked.

“I don’t, really,” she answered, keeping her body turned away, and merely inclining her head in his general direction. “My father and his family do. They are great supporters of the Duke’s work with animal shelters in the country. My cousin, Evangeline, who you just scared off, was nice enough to invite me to the event today.”

“Does his work interest you? Would you like to work with animals?” he inquired, genuinely curious to learn more about her. She had barely spoken ten words to him the night before.

“I didn’t spend four years working hard to become top of my class to run an animal charity,” she said sharply.

“So you were serious about being a doctor?” asked Duncan, knitting his eyebrows in confusion. “Why would you even want a job?”

“Because going to tea parties is a job?” she retorted, disdainfully.

“The best job in the world, getting to meet and talk with so many lovely ladies,” he said with a smile and a wink.

Alix simply stared at him with an arched brow and her mouth set in a thin line.

“Seriously, why would you want to do that when you have a simple, easy life here?”

“Because I want one where I can make a difference,” she said, handing off her cup and saucer to a passing waiter. Duncan followed suit.

“We make a difference here,” he replied, sweeping his arms to show how many people were in attendance. “All of these events raise money and awareness to support important causes. I may not enjoy every single minute, but my presence can make a huge difference in how much attention and money is given to something – something that matters.”

Alix hesitated, thinking it over, as she looked around the garden full of Prynesse nobility.

“Raising money and awareness isn’t the same as saving someone yourself,” she said finally, turning back to face him with a seriousness that surprised him. “I’d give up all of this just to know I’d made a real difference in someone’s life.”

He had no quick reply to that. He noticed her twisting a hand around her wrist, and he remembered the bangle, and took the opportunity to switch topics and tone.

“You forgot something last night,” he said with another wink.

Alix’s eyes flashed. He felt the heat of them run through every part of him. She was definitely a spitfire; not like the cookie-cutter wives-in-waiting with their vapid laughing and fawning. The attraction that he’d felt the previous night doubled–no, tripled—as he considered all the ways he wanted to show this serious girl how to have some fun.

Before she could say whatever retort was clearly on her lips, her father came over.

“Ah, hello Your Highness,” he said, tilting his head to the prince. “I hope you’re enjoying getting to know my lovely daughter, now that she’s back from New York.”

He turned to Alix.

“Poppet, might I speak to you?” he turned back to the prince, who tried to hide his smile as she flushed at the family nickname. “My apologies, Your Highness, for pulling her away. It’ll just be a moment.”

And with that, she was gone as hastily as the previous night. Yet again, he’d barely exchanged more than a handful of words with her but she clearly was so much more than the others. Duncan was happy to give up his days to helping his family, but she was after a whole life of studying and hard work. He had to find out more, and see what could happen when those hints of feistiness were given free rein in a more private milieu. He smiled to himself in happy anticipation when he remembered he still had the bangle to return.