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gently.
    “Have you had a tour of the palace yet?” Alexander asks, taking a bite of bread.
    I shake my head, “No, and I really should. I nearly got lost just making my way to the stables this morning. Perhaps you should draw me a map.”
    “I can do better than that,” Peter interrupts. “I will give you the tour today. I will show you the new theater my aunt just installed. It will be part of tonight’s festivities. And I could show you the trophy room if you’re interested.”
    “That sounds wonderful. Have you added any trophies of your own yet?”
    He frowns. “Most of them belong to my great uncle, but I plan to add a few of my own soon.”
    I smooth my skirt. “That sounds like great fun. I do love a good hunt. Perhaps I can join you sometime.”
    We wile away a few more hours in pleasant company until the sun is high in the sky and the food and wine are gone.
    “I’m afraid I have an audience I must attend shortly,” Peter says, standing up and offering me a hand. “More boring treaty discussions my aunt forces me to endure.”
    I stand beside him. “Of course. I’m sorry to have kept you so long,” I say with a curtsy.
    He takes my hand, still in his, and brings it to his lips quickly.
    “Time moves far too swiftly in your company, Princess. Perhaps I can come by later, and we can have that tour? In say, two hours or so?”
    “I look forward to it,” I say honestly.
    He jerks his head for Mikhail to join him, and the two walk off. Beside me, Alexander stands and offers me his arm, which I accept, and we begin walking back to the palace.
    “Wouldn’t want you to get lost on the way back to your rooms,” he teases.
    I sigh. “I actually have a very good sense of direction, you know.”
    “Oh yes, I can see that.”
    I lower my voice so the ladies following behind won’t hear. “Thank you for your advice, about Peter.”
    He nods. “Anytime. I have to say, putting him off like that was brilliant. How did you know he’d come after you?”
    “Just something I remember from when we were children. He always loved playing chase. And as for the ride, that was a happy accident. I really did need to clear my thoughts. That he chose to ride after me was a bit of a surprise.”
    “Not much of one though?”
    I shake my head. “Peter loves to play and hates to lose. I don’t think that’s changed much over the years. As you said, it’s just a game.”
    “I must ask then, is your affection for him genuine?” he asks boldly.
    “What a thing to ask,” I fire back. “Peter is an old friend, and possibly, might someday be my husband. Of course I have affection for him.”
    “And do you love him?”
    I open my mouth to say something, but come up at a loss. Do I love Peter? Perhaps. Yet when he kissed my hand, I felt… nothing. None of the longing or intensity I’ve read about in books, not even the tiny stirrings I get around Sergei and Alexander. Perhaps those things are just fiction. Perhaps love is simply trust. Alexander is staring at me intently.
    “You shouldn’t ask me such things. It’s rude.”
    “My apologies then.”
    I lick my lips. “Besides, there are many kinds of love.”
    “I’m sure that’s true.”
    His words are hollow, complacent. I have a nagging urge to explore the topic further, but I can’t bring myself to and I’m not sure why. Surely, he’s been in love before. Wouldn’t he know? As if sensing my questions, he continues.
    “I think that love can indeed be many things. But the one thing it will never be is practical. Love is irrational by its very nature. It demands passion, fire, and no less than absolute surrender. It is a longing, a burning that consumes you, leaving you without reason, or defense. When love comes, nothing can stand in its way.”
    I say nothing for a minute, letting his words absorb into my skin. Is that want I want, to be consumed by love? To have someone so desperate for me that they are beyond reason? And to be that desperate for