When I'd heard Penelope sing and watched Ashley win game after game of backgammon, I'd had just about enough of the queen's salon. Much as I tried to struggle through the etiquette tome, my eyes kept being drawn out the magnificent floor-length windows to the grounds below.

At half past two, when my belly was rumbling in anticipation of afternoon tea, there was a fuss at the windows where Sara Thornbury and her ladies in waiting had artfully arranged themselves on the cushions.

"There he is!" someone hissed

"Isn't he handsome?" whispered another. The queen had looked up from her embroidery, the ghost of a frown flitting across her features as more of the debutantes crowded the window. Emmeline and Mary all but pushed Sarah's ladies out of the way as they clamored for a view of what I guessed to be crown prince Andrew.

While they jockeyed for positions, however, Ashley and Penelope were shrewdly watching the queen's reaction. Her sniff of disapproval was reminiscent of Miss Halpern and I knew instinctively that the three crowding the window had made a mistake in being so eager to spot the prince. As I cast my eyes around the room, they met Princess Anne's once again, only to see hers jump between me and the gaggle at the window.

"Ladies, that is quite enough," the queen said finally, when the whispers had grown to titters and finally to shrill little squeaks. The three girls at the window quieted immediately, turning sheepishly towards the queen.

"I think we shall take our tea in the garden, as there seems to be such an interest," she said, setting aside her embroidery to rise. When Rosanna hopped to her feet to dip a curtsey with the others, I followed suit, not-quite-accidentally forgetting the etiquette book on the sofa.

The queen led us out of her solar, Ashley and Penelope falling in step behind her with their ladies in waiting in tow. Ella and Emily were frantically motioning for Rosanna and I to hurry up, which I did until a small hand grabbed me by the elbow.

"You seem to have forgotten this," Princess Anne said, holding the etiquette book out to me once again. I forced down the sigh I was longing to heave.

"Thank you your Highness, however could I have forgotten it," I managed. Ella left the room with her two other ladies in waiting before Sarah could cut in front of her. The princess still had me by the arm as the room emptied out, a few maids scurrying about to tidy it up.

"If I may, your Highness, I believe I'm supposed to follow my debutante," I said finally, when the princess' study of me persisted for a few more seconds.

"You like books," she said, ignoring me.

"They are one of my preferred pastimes, yes," I replied, shooting a worried look towards the closed door.

"Do you really want to go out there for tea? You know that all they'll do is fawn over my brother and cackle with laughter to draw his attention?" Anne said, following my eyes. I glanced back at her, unable to keep my eyebrows from lifting with shock. In response, the princess shrugged.

"They nearly tumbled out the window when he rode by downstairs. My mother took them all outside as a bit of a joke for Andrew. He hates this, you know," Princess Anne said. I blinked, then blinked again.

"Forgive me, your Highness, but should-" I started, unsure exactly what to say in the face of such honesty.

"I'm going to show you the library," she interrupted, linking her arm with mine, "Because you seem like the sensible kind of girl who prefers reading over cackling,"

I bit my tongue to keep from spouting whatever excuse my manners mistresses would have had me make. I desperately wanted to see the palace library, if only because of how enthusiastically Xavier spoke of it, but my absence from tea time would likely not go unnoticed. However, the princess was already leading me off in the opposite direction from the giggling of the debutantes and their ladies, down the hallway into the depths of the royal household.

"We have several libraries, but the best one is here," Anne said, finally coming to a stop outside a door that must have been at the complete opposite end of the palace. I didn't miss the way every servant we passed dipped a curtsey or bobbed their head as she passed. She offered each of them a smile if not a word of greeting and I found myself wondering what kind of princess I was dealing with.

Princess Anne had famously attended St. Mary's and graduated two years ahead of her classmates. During my brief stay there, every single one of my teachers was quick to compare our behaviour to that of the beloved Princess Anne. At the time I'd wondered if she were a real human being or simply a fabrication of their ideal girl. The fact that she had been finished so quickly, they claimed, attested to her status as a "true and honest lady."

The girl who was leading me down the hallways and smiling at servants as if they were her equals was not at all what I had expected.

"We get to choose what's kept here," she said, entering the cozy, book-lined room. I cast my gaze around, taking in the shelves upon shelves filled with books with not a hint of dust on any of them.

"The rest are kept in the other libraries. The great library, downstairs, is positively dreadful. Old Master Verrin doesn't let anyone touch those books except for my father. He once smacked my hand, you know," the princess nattered, circling the room as she ran her hands over the spines of the books.

"This is lovely," I said, once again at a loss for words. When the princess turned to face me again, she was wearing that same shrewd, calculating look as she had worn on the day of the inaugural ball.

"What kinds of books do you like?" she asked.

"Er...well...books about far off places, I suppose," I managed, caught off-guard by the sudden question. The princess digested that, her eyes narrowing as she nodded.

"It does not do to stammer," she said, passing me on her way out of the room. I followed her simply because I didn't know where else to go.

"If I may, your Highness, I should really be joining-" I started, as I followed her back the way we came.

"Why? Because you enjoy idle gossip or because you'd like to watch my brother train his horse?" she asked, cutting me off once again. I had to stop myself from asking her whether she was intentionally interrupting me or if she thought it ironic that she should lecture me on proper speech only to break the rules herself.

"Because I'd very much enjoy not awakening the ire of my cousin," I said automatically, almost instantly regretting my choice of words as the princess whirled around to face me.

"Your cousin should be honored that I chose to spend my afternoon with you," she said, crossing her arms, "Unless you'd rather be a ninny prince-chaser like the rest of them,"

I watched her, inhaling to give myself a moment to think. She did make a valid point in that if Ella asked where I had gotten to, surely spending time with the princess would count as a suitable excuse. I blew out my cheeks without realizing what I was doing, only to stop halfway.

The princess laughed, her stony face lighting up.

"You are the most ridiculous lady-in-waiting I have ever met!" she cried, seizing me by the arm and dragging me down the corridor with her, "We'll take our tea together in the little library!"

The "little library," it turned out, was more of a study than a library. The princess explained that the books not housed in the grand library at the base of the old palace were scattered throughout the new palace in similar study-like libraries.

"But this one has all the books on travel, foreign countries, and ancient mythology. It's my favourite, you know. Besides the one near my room, of course," she'd said, when a maid delivered us a fully stocked tea cart.

The princess had taken up a seat on a divan, pulling out a book on Norse mythology and eagerly devouring her scone. I'd hesitated before setting myself on an armchair, accepting the cup of tea the maid had poured for me.

"You should pick a book," the princess had said, her face turned down into the pages of her own book as she waved at me to peruse the room. With her blessing, peruse I did, taking in the sheer volume of titles in wonder. Books I could never have dreamed existed lined the shelves, chronicling everything from maps to accounts of travel, recipes, descriptions of famous far-off cities and their local legends. Picking one that told stories of far east cultures, I settled in across the room from the princess, thanking my lucky stars that I was away from the gaggle of fawning debutantes.