Royal Line (Tattered Royals #1) - Carrie Ann Ryan Page 0,3

panties of half the women in the ballroom.

I wasn’t one of those women tonight, and probably never would be.

“Ah, sorry to bother you then.” He bowed low. “Happy birthday, Princess. I do believe we’ll talk again soon.” On that cryptic comment, he walked away, leaving me wondering if I was missing something.

“What’s with the snarl?”

I blinked and looked over at my brother Breck, who just smiled at me. The familiar twinkle in his eyes reminded me that I was home, even if I would rather be out with the rest of the world, not pretending like I actually had a right to be here among people who did so much more with their lives than I did.

“I am not snarling. Princesses do not snarl.”

“No, they smile daintily and nod their little heads while they curtsy, and they also use big scissors to cut through ribbons when they open up buildings.”

“And what do princes do?” I asked, doing my best to hold back a smile. It was not good to encourage him, but I couldn’t help it. I loved my brother, even if he was a bit much to handle.

“Princes smirk, they bow, they kiss princesses’ hands,” he said, lifting my hand to give my knuckles a brush of his lips. “And they wink,” he added.

“They wink,” I said. “And that is the best you can come up with?”

“I’ve had short notice. I promise I will come up with something better in the future. Just give me time.”

“And yet, it always feels like I’m running out of time.” I hadn’t meant to say the words aloud, but there was no taking them back.

“What’s wrong? Talk to me.”

I shook my head. How could I make him understand? “Nothing, I guess. Just having a rough day.”

“It’s your birthday party. You are the center of attention, the literal belle of the ball. You’re home in Alden, in the palace our forebears shed their blood, sweat, and tears for to create their own kingdom.”

“I’m pretty sure there are a few oxymorons in that statement.”

“Why do I feel like there was an implicit ‘moron’ in that remark?” he asked with a smirk.

Brothers and princes, you didn’t know what to do with them until it was too late.

I could do this. Put on the happy face for him. “I will smile, and I will laugh, and I will eat cake, and I will enjoy myself. I just needed a minute to act like a spoiled princess and sulk in a corner.”

“You don’t need to hide yourself from me.”

I didn’t think that was actually the case. I hid myself from everyone. That was how I got things done. And I knew for a fact that Breck, and my other brothers, Wilder and Roman, hid as well.

That’s what made us royals. We hid from the public, and sometimes from ourselves, but we got things done.

And we helped our people.

And that was enough of that.

“Okay, I want cake.”

“That’s my girl. First, you must dance, cake is much later. Aunt Rebecca wouldn’t allow us to cut the cake too early.” Breck screwed up his face when he mimicked her voice. “That just isn’t done.”

Laughing, I rolled my eyes as I slid my hand into his, following him out onto the dance floor, my dress swinging around my ankles as others joined us.

“Why do we let her run everything?”

Breck twirled me around the polished marble, demonstrating the three-times-a-week dance lessons that had been forced on him as a child.

“Because she helped raised us, because she has been the one organizing the social schedules of the kingdom since we lost our parents, and because if you don’t let her do something, she’ll do it anyway and scold you about it, all with a polite smile.”

I laughed at that, ignoring the warning look from one of the husbands of a councilwoman who didn’t like the idea of royals amongst them. It might be my birthday, but they were sure to remind me that they paid for everything and I was just a pretty princess on a cloud with no job and no prospects.

What was with me tonight?

I pushed those thoughts out of my head and turned back to Breck. “Oh leave her alone. Aunt Rebecca doesn’t snap. Or yell. She’s...kind.” And pushy and overbearing, but I didn’t say those things. My brothers had, of course, had to deal with Aunt Rebecca’s needling and orders as she helped raise us. But as we had all said before, it was for our own good. Truth be