Page 44 of This Prince Is Not Charming

“Good game,” she said back with an empathetic look passing over her face.

Meera, Siobhan, and Clio had won the first round, leaving Marsten, Lila, and me behind, and I was in dead last with only twenty-five gold coins. I’d have to do much better this round.

I now sat across from Siobhan, who flipped her lavender hair over her shoulder.

“Did your mother play this game with you as well?”

Her violet eyes snapped to me. “All the time. My mam is very serious about my education. Always has been, even in the time of the godwitches, but more so after they were gone. She always said the best way to fight against this curse was to educate ourselves. That one day one of us would break it, and we’d be free once more.”

“That’s a lot of pressure,” I said. “The expectation of breaking a whole curse on your shoulders?”

She cleared her throat as she grabbed a cookie, nibbling on it. “Not at all. She was right. We may not have broken the curse, but we found Fairwitch Isle, and now I’m close to becoming queen, becoming everything mam wants for me.”

I wanted to ask what Siobhan wanted for herself but didn’t have a chance as Morton announced the second challenge was beginning and that we would be completing another phrase.

I had to do well this round.

Siobhan chose her letter but didn’t get it correct, her seventy-five gold piece disappearing. The game went on longer this time, both of us struggling with the phrase, and in the end, I once again lost with a measly fifty gold coin piece while Siobhan won when she risked a three hundred gold piece and correctly guessed, “X marks the spot.”

Now I sat across from Meera, who so far had won both her rounds. Godwitches, she might win another date with Cillian.

“I thought you didn’t want to go on another date with him,” I said to the cat.

She blinked. “I’m not trying to win a night with the high prince. I’m trying to not be disappeared.”

That was fair.

“What was so bad about the date?” I asked with a laugh.

“Well, he basically kidnapped me,” she said. “All I wanted was fish, and he promised me the best fish on the continent if I took him somewhere.”

I straightened. That wasn’t the story Cillian had told me. I tucked a curl behind my ear. “Oh. Really?”

She licked her paw. “Yes! And then he took me there and just left me on the beach to fend for myself while he disappeared for over an hour. What an arse.”

My throat went dry. Cillian had lied to me. He’d used Meera to go somewhere outside Fairwitch Isle, but I couldn’t understand why. Maybe he’d been looking for Lor and just didn’t want to tell me because he knew I’d tell him it was a bad idea.

I didn’t have time to think about it anymore as Morton announced that during this final round, we’d be guessing a person. The hourglass flipped over and Meera’s turn had begun.

The cat didn’t guess correctly her first try, and I stared at the words, cursing myself for always wanting to do puzzles and play cards instead of this game. I’d just accepted the fact that my sister was better at it than me and never tried to improve.

_ _ O F _ T_ _ _ _ R R I _ R M _ I _ _ N

My eyes twitched as I stared.

“Your time is almost up,” Meera whispered.

I jolted, grabbing a tile and putting it on the table. Just a twenty-five gold coin piece. I couldn’t be reckless this early in the game.

Finally I made my choice. The A’s flipped over, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Meera stared at the board, eyes boring into it as her turn began. She picked a small amount, only ten gold coins, then chose D.

My brain tickled as I watched the letter appear. This was so familiar. It was there, in the back of my mind. A name. I knew this.

A_O F _ T _ _ _ A R R I _ R M A I D _ N

Then it hit me. I’d read about her. She was in the book we were reading in book club. A great mythological hero who fought wars and won many battles.