Estefania shivered as the boat pulled into the icy harbor of the Cyran capital. She had already been given a fur-lined cloak by the rangers, but she'd never seen snow like this. Nathaniel stood behind her, and she resisted the urge to back into him since he radiated heat, but she knew that was highly inappropriate.

She could see a carriage on the dock in front of them. There were a group of soldiers on either side of it, and at the front stood a young man who couldn't have been older than seventeen. He had curly sandy hair and a richly decorated uniform. Beside him stood a beautiful girl dressed in silks and furs, her long black hair braided into a cone on her head.

"Looks like Prince Lorenzo and Princess Avangelique are here to greet us," Nathaniel said. "But I don't see Fletcher."

The fact that her betrothed wasn't at the docks didn't bother her. Not when her sister was standing right there.

Estefania couldn't help but gawk at the stranger, who was also her sister. She looked exactly like their mother, with amber-tan skin and hazel eyes. She even carried herself with the same poise.

"Than," Prince Lorenzo shouted. "How was the journey? Did you find the princess?"

Nathaniel grinned as his men began to help the sailors lower the gangplank. When he tried to help the captain with some rigging, the grizzled man told the marquis that he couldn't abandon his title since they were back in Cyra.

Instead of trying to help more, he turned to Estefania. "Princess, it would be my great honor to introduce you to my younger half-brother and the lovely lady who follows him around like a lost puppy."

Estefania balked at his descriptions of the royals but realized he could sense her tension. She smiled slightly at his attempt to make the situation easier for her.

She took the marquis's arm and followed him down the gangplank towards her sister. Her heart raced, and she could feel her palms sweating as they approached. She wondered if Bastien was also meeting them here, but she didn't see her brother anywhere as she looked around.

"Than," Lorenzo grinned. "How did you manage to get her here so fast?"

Nathaniel gazed at her. "Favorable currents, and the new steamship chops far better through ice than the old ones. I'm just glad we made it with a day to spare. I was nervous I'd have to deliver her straight to the ball tomorrow night."

"The Marquis de Ryne did an admirable job," Estefania said.

"The marquis?" Lorenzo laughed. "No one calls Than that. Days on a ship, and you couldn't break her of formality, dear brother?"

"I..." Nathaniel actually blushed. "Well, it was how we were introduced, Zo."

"The Marquis de Ryne," Lorenzo shook his head, as if his half-brother's title were the funniest joke in the world. "Wait until Fletch hears."

"Where is Fletcher?" Nathaniel recovered his composure, but Estefania saw something dark in his eye.

"Fletcher is indisposed," Lorenzo said.

Nathaniel frowned. "Again?"

Estefania looked between the brothers. Lorenzo seemed too cheerful while Nathaniel was guarded. There was something wrong. She just didn't know what.

"Is Crown Prince Fletcher frequently ill?" She asked.

The brothers looked at each other. Lorenzo opened his mouth as if to answer, but Nathaniel subtly shook his head. Instead, Avangelique spoke.

"Fletch isn't ill," she said. "He gets tired easily. Zo and I left him to take a nap. He'll probably be awake when we get back."

Her sister looked like a picture of health. Estefania had been afraid she might find her sister with some sort of strange malady since she was the one the fairy said would face a fate worse than death.

"Father is expecting us all at the castle for a celebratory dinner," Lorenzo said. "A few top advisors and the Saharite guests."

"Has Bastien arrived yet?" Estefania asked her sister.

Avangelique shook her head. "Bash is supposed to arrive this evening. After all, it's only a few hours' ride from Nene to Cyra Castle. He told me last week that he had some complicated business in Nene at the Earl's home."

"Complicated how?" Estefania couldn't fathom what would be causing her brother's delay.

"I've heard it has to do with a girl," Lorenzo said. "After all, the Earl of Nene has several eligible young women who live under his roof."

Estefania knew her brother was seven months from his twentieth birthday majority. Still, in her mind, he was only a little kid throwing foods he disliked and screaming when anyone tried to give him a bath. The very idea that he was old enough to court hadn't even crossed her mind.

"The Earl of Nene graciously accepted our invitation for the ball and is bringing his entire family," Avangelique said. "I've even heard a rumor he's planning to attempt to marry off his two children at the ball."

"You're excited to see his daughters again," Lorenzo swatted her arm. "Ava is friends with practically all of Cyra. You should see her charm visitors to the court."

Snow landed on Estefania's shoulders as she tried to make sense of the sister who stood before her. Avangelique thrived in the center of trade and commerce in Cyra. She was comfortable in the presence of Cyran royals, and she'd made a home among them.

Nathaniel turned to Estefania as a chill ran down her spine from the cold. He took his cloak from his shoulders and stacked it on top of the one she was already wearing.

"We should race back to the castle," he said. "Zo, will you take the lovely princesses in your carriage?"

Lorenzo raised an eyebrow. "You sure you don't want to come?"

Nathaniel's entire body stiffened, but he shook his head. "I think I need to stretch my legs."

Lorenzo nodded. "Then we'll see you at the castle, brother."

Estefania couldn't help but watch as Nathaniel started walking away. She wanted to call out that she didn't want him to leave yet. She liked the marquis, and somehow, after their travels, she knew him better than her own family.

Still, she knew better than to ask him to stay. After all, a princess didn't beg, and Nathaniel clearly didn't want to travel with them.

Instead, she climbed into the carriage and tried not to keep her eye on Nathaniel as he walked further away. When he was barely in sight, Estefania thought she saw a flash where the marquis stood, and something with four legs disappeared over the horizon.

The image of the marquis's transformation burned into Estefania. When they arrived at Cyra Castle, she asked Lorenzo how long it would take for Nathaniel to walk, which had taken them almost an hour to drive. The prince just laughed and said Nathaniel would be fine.

Estefania still had his cloak, so it surely wouldn't be a warm walk through the snow. She'd grown up in the desert, so she knew little about what cold weather did to the human body.

Still, she had little time to ponder his predicament because Avangelique rushed her into the castle. Her sister introduced her to an army of servants prepared to take her measurements for gowns and prepare her for dinner.

Her sister gushed over fairy silk and bolts of fine Saharite satin. Estefania knew a princess was expected to have servants, but she'd only had Solomon, who certainly hadn't dressed her.

Avangelique ordered the servants with remarkable respect and precision, making sure each completed their task, from washing her feet to ensuring the gown Avangelique had commissioned for her sister was tailored to Estefania.

By the time Avangelique was done, the two girls were dressed for dinner in large skirted Cyran dresses with balloon sleeves and lace that stretched up around the collar. Her sister thanked the hairdressers and the tailors.

"You look lovely," Avangelique smiled at her sister. "And we're on time for the dinner. Fletcher is going to drop dead when he sees you."

Estefania had been so worried about the marquis she'd barely considered his half-brother she was supposed to one day marry. She still knew little about Fletcher. She wasn't sure if he was what she wanted for some reason.

Avangelique led her to the grand reception hall. Estefania tried to bury her shaking hands in her skirt. Her heart was beating in her throat as a herald called out her name.

Her sister poked her in the back, and Estefania almost fell into the ballroom if it weren't for the hand reaching out to catch her.

Suddenly, Nathaniel was by her side, dressed in a military uniform. His hair was slicked back, and there was something hard in his green eyes that hadn't been there in the desert or on the ship.

"Let's get this over with," even his tone was more formal. "I hate these things."

Estefania tried not to let her dress drag on the floor as The Marquis de Ryne escorted her past the grand table set up to dine and over to a group of well-dressed blond men and a woman with graying red hair.

"Your majesties," Nathaniel said. "I present Princess Estefania."

Estefania spotted Lorenzo leaning against a sideboard in the back of the group. Beside him, she could only assume was his father. The king of Cyra looked as young as his son with hardly any gray hair or wrinkles. His crown was a thick band of gold that matched one braided in the woman's hair. Estefania assumed she was the queen.

The final member of the group was staring out the window at the night sky with his back to the princess. Lorenzo elbowed the young man in the ribs, and it was only then that he turned. His long, wavy blonde hair was pulled back by a ribbon. Unlike his brothers, he had bright blue eyes like the queen's, and he looked her over with what seemed to be a degree of pity.

Estefania was almost offended. She'd traveled all this way at her grandmother's bequest, and it didn't even seem like the prince was happy to see her.

"Well," the queen held her head high. "At least she's as beautiful as her sister. I feared that bit about the monster would mean she was cursed to be hideous."

Estefania wanted to launch herself at the woman. How dare she say such a thing to a future queen? Nathaniel's fingers dug into her palm in warning, as if he knew exactly what she wanted to do.

"Mother, I think the kitchens forgot to put out the good wine," Lorenzo caught his brother's eye and steered the queen away. "Would you go with me to find out why we're stuck drinking bottom barrel swill tonight?"

The king smiled at Estefania as he looked her over. "Nathaniel, you've done great service to your country. She'll make beautiful little heirs."

Nathaniel placed Estefania's hand in Fletcher's before turning to his father. "You should hear about the journey. Your rangers deserve a raise."

Fletcher allowed his brother to distract his father, and he led Estefania into a more private corner. He was quiet, but Estefania noticed he was leaning on a bejeweled cane.

Once they were out of earshot of his family, he finally stopped. Estefania broke away from his scrutinizing gaze and focused on the stone wall behind him.

"I apologize for my family," he said. "My mother is jealous of another queen in the house, and my father thinks of no one but himself."

"Your brothers seem kind," Estefania said.

"We all carry our own burdens," Fletcher said. "Ones we do not wish to pass on to anyone else. That is why I must tell you, princess, this marriage was not my idea."

Estefania didn't know what to say, and the longer she was silent, the more foolish she looked in front of Fletcher de Cyra. Fortunately, something else caught her attention on the other side of the room.

The herald cleared his throat. "Announcing His Royal Highness Prince Bastien de Sahar."

Her brother walked into the room with his head held high. He'd chosen to wear a Saharite robe, and his beard was as well-kept as his hair. He looked around the ballroom as the guests took in his foreign attire. She wondered if he'd recognized her since the last time they'd been together, he was only three years old.

The moment Bastien locked eyes with Estefania, his entire face lit up, and he threw his arms to the side. "Steffie!"

Estefania found herself in an enormous hug. Her brother smelled of earth and something acrid that made her wrinkle her nose slightly, but that didn't matter. Bastien was here.

"Bash," she said. "What took you so long?"

"Tales to regale later, big sister," Bastien broke their hug. "For now, we should convince these Cyrans to begin the feast. I'm starving."

"I believe that can be arranged," Fletcher clapped his hands. "Let us eat in honor of our guests, the illustrious Princess Estefania reunited with her siblings."