Free Once Upon a Curse by E. D. Baker Page A

blinked and cleared his throat. "I'm Prince Eadric, a friend of Emma's."
    Hazel smiled at him coyly. "Another prince? How nice. Do you come from very far away?"
    "Farther than you can imagine," he said. I could have sworn I heard Li'l giggling in the bushes behind us, but no one else seemed to notice.
    "Ah," said Hazel. "That explains your unusual clothes. Perhaps one of the other princes could lend you something more becoming. You can share a room with them. We'll have to find a way to fit in one more pallet." She looked me up and down, her eyes lingering on my gown. "Send a tunic and surcoat for her, Mother. That thing she's wearing is most peculiar. One of your ladies-in-waiting should have something that would fit her."
    "I'm sure we can find her something—-" the queen began.
    "She is tall, though, isn't she?" Hazel said, brushing past me on the path. "And I can't imagine where she got that nose."
    "We mustn't be unkind to those less fortunate, dear," I heard the queen say as she hurried after her daughter. I could feel the heat rushing to my cheeks, and I knew that I was blushing—something I hadn't done in a very long time. When I glanced at Eadric, he was staring after Hazel with a dazed look in his eyes.
    "Don't pay any attention to her," said Millie, patting my shoulder. "My sister is like that with everyone."
    "Your sister?" No one had told me that Hazel had a sister, older or younger. It was a shame that so much of our family's history had been lost.
    Millie sighed. "I just turned thirteen, so she's only three years older than me, but she acts twenty years older. Come with me. I'll show you where you're going to sleep. I'll have one of the pages take Eadric to meet the princes."
    "How many princes are there?" Eadric asked.
    "Five," said Millie. "That room is going to be crowded."
    I glanced around, hoping to see Li'l, but she must have still been hiding in the bushes. I resolved to come back and find her as soon as I could. "It's awfully kind of you to let me stay in your room," I said, following Millie through the confusing maze.
    "Oh, I don't mind," she said. "I'm surprised they didn't put someone in with me sooner. Mother tends to forget about me, and as for Hazel—well, sometimes I wish she would as well. I shouldn't complain, though. You come from a big family. I suppose it's even worse for you."
    "Big family? I don't...." I stopped, remembering that I was supposed to have a whole gaggle of sisters. If my long-ago relatives wanted to believe that I was one of Aunt Frederika's daughters, I wasn't about to try to change their minds.
    "The drawbridge is this way," said Millie, leading us between two banks of heavy-headed roses that looked exactly like all the others we'd passed. We had left the maze and were passing the first of the flowering trees when Millie exclaimed, "Oh, look, there are your sisters now!"
    Any hope of passing myself off as one of the cousins died the moment I saw them. A cluster of six or seven girls—ranging from a few years older than me to a toddler clinging to her mother's hand—turned to look at us. Like their mother, each one was petite and finely boned; even the oldest girl was fairly short. Although their mother's hair was dark brown, all of the girls' hair was red, but none of them had my high cheekbones or distinctive nose. I wasn't sure what to do, so I waggled my fingers at them in greeting and hurried past, spurred on by their puzzled expressions.
    True to her word, Millie called to the first page she saw and had him escort Eadric to the princes' chamber. After that, Millie didn't say another word until we reached her room. Closing her door behind us, she plunked herself down on her narrow bed and turned to me with a determined look in her eyes. "We need to talk," she said, patting the blanket beside her.
    I climbed onto the bed. "If it's about Frederika—"
    "Don't worry," Millie said. "I understand perfectly. You aren't really one of her daughters, are you? I didn't think