Doon

“So Jamie could be king by next week?” The revelation was shocking. I swallowed my reaction, burying it deep down until I could get away.

“Aye.” Gabby leaned in like a conspirator. “And my sister, Sofie, could be our new queen.”

CHAPTER 16 Veronica

I sat staring at my own empty eyes while Kenna played Extreme Storybook Princess Makeover and curled my hair into dark ringlets with a twisted length of metal she’d heated over the fire—her make-do version of a curling iron. As she chatted about our “costumes”—the flowy calf-length skirts and embroidered peasant blouses Fiona’d brought for us to wear—all I could think about was what we’d learned from the Rosettis: Jamie was practically engaged.

We’d gotten a quick lesson on Doon’s customs by the time we finished our care packages. When the Brig o’ Doon opened for the Centennial, the king had to welcome all who’d been led to his kingdom. If the auld laird died, then Jamie would assume the throne. However, before he could be crowned he had to do this thing called the Completing.

In Doon-speak, he had to choose a fiancee in order to be king. Sharron had said something about the tradition being born from a need for balance and equality, but to me the reasons didn’t justify the end result— Jamie choosing a bride in less than two weeks.

As we made our way down to the feast, I dropped back, only half-listening to Kenna and Fiona’s plan to go shopping the following day. My head spun with dark emotions and I trailed farther and farther behind. Outside the wide double-doors, I stopped, poised to run back to the safety of the turret suite.

Lively music poured from the Great Hall, punctuated by the stomping of feet and the occasional hoot and holler. But for once in my life, I didn’t feel like dancing.

Kenna got halfway into the room before realizing I wasn’t beside her. She turned and pursued me as I backed away from the open door. “I don’t think I can do this.” I spun on my heel, but before I could take a step Ken looped her arm through mine and pulled me back toward the party.

“Relax, scaredy-cat.” We moved through an arched doorway and into the assembly hall at a leisurely pace, though my heart was sprinting at full speed. “Vee, do you remember our first junior high dance?”

I nodded. “I was afraid no one would dance with me.”

“And …”

“And I ended up meeting my first boyfriend.”

“And …” She made a rolling gesture with her hand.

“And what? He forced his tongue into my mouth, which I accidentally bit because I didn’t know what he was doing, and then he dumped me the following week.”

Impatiently, Kenna finished the story. “And yet you’ve been popular ever since.”

I shrugged. Popular and alone. Since that seventh-grade dance, every one of my relationships had been short-lived and lopsided—either the boy wanting more than I could give or being totally indifferent to my aching heart. Like Jamie.

Kenna squeezed my upper arm and sighed. “I know things aren’t working out like you thought, but this is still the chance of a lifetime. Doon’s a freakin’ medieval kingdom—and we’re stuck here for two weeks. We wanted an epic summer, and it doesn’t get any more epic than this.”

Before she could say anything else, Duncan came barreling across the room and skidded to a stop in front of my friend.

“You’re a right vision, Mackenna Reid. Care to dance?”

“To this?” Kenna gestured to the revolving mass of people on the dance floor. Her eyebrows pinched together above her wrinkled nose to silently declare Think again.

At first glance, it was chaos; people spinning and stomping, couples twirling through the crowd in a vigorous two-step to the raucous tones of a fiddle. Then the sparkling notes of a flute joined in, cranking the tune up even more, and I could see the order in the chaos—the sublime composition in the movement. The beat of drums layered into the song, and my body began to move in time.

I gave Kenna an encouraging smile, which she answered with a head jiggle before answering the hot boy anxiously waiting before her. “Thanks, but I have two left feet.”

Duncan looked vaguely appalled. “Ye have what?”

I chuckled while Kenna explained. “It’s an expression. It means I can’t dance.”

I leaned in toward my friend, infusing fake innocence into my tone. “But you were in all those musicals, Kenna. The video clips you posted online had very complicated dance steps.”

She rolled her eyes in my direction. “Just because you waltzed your way out of the womb doesn’t mean the rest of the world did. Have you ever heard of choreography? I had to learn each step and practice it over and over. Even then, I still managed to mess up something at every performance.”

Duncan raised his eyebrows in curiosity. “Performance?”

“Kenna’s a stage actress.”

“But Vee’s a dancer.” As Kenna shifted the conversation away from herself, I felt as if we were caught in a game of verbal table tennis.

Duncan smiled politely at me. “Then perhaps you should join in the dancing, Veronica.”

“So you’re not dancing, Ken?”

“No!”

Thinking my BFF protested too much, I flashed Duncan my most irresistible grin. “How about you, handsome?”

“Not for the present. No.” Immune to my charms, Duncan cast Kenna a sidelong glance while she raptly concentrated on appearing unaffected. His face was a mask of sincerity, but I sensed the mocking in what he left unsaid. “Perhaps I shall be more inclined later.”

“Sure.” I smirked at my best friend, enjoying the confusion that played across her face.

She rolled her eyes and then looked me up and down. “Go dance, Vee. Before you gyrate out of your stockings.”

Ever gallant, Duncan took my arm and propelled me to the edge of the dance floor. “Feel free to join in. We have many fine dancers in Doon. Even my brother is most accomplished in this area.”

“Really?” I paused to watch Jamie in the middle of an animated group of young women, including the lovely Sofia.

Suddenly the music was replaced by the pulse beating a tattoo in my ears, and my whole body stiffened. I couldn’t do it. Couldn’t go out there and lose myself in the music, like I longed to do. What if he didn’t want me there?

Then Jamie vanished in the revolving mass of bodies, and I forced myself to relax. Did I want to spend the rest of my time in Doon as a spectator? I’d spent too many years locked inside myself, catering to others. It was time to live. With a deep breath, I swallowed my insecurities and let the music flow back into my veins. Ken was right; this was my epic summer, and if I wanted to dance, I wouldn’t let anyone stop me. “If you will excuse me, Duncan, the music calls and I must obey.”

With a lithe skip, I wove my way into the crowd. The music swirled around me as I high-stepped into melee, my feet flying into the tempo with a life of their own. My sadness and doubts melted away as I lifted my arms in abandon, clapping to the beat, time disappearing. I spun and shimmied with the escalating rhythm, the faces around me blurring into a kaleidoscope.

When the music slowed, I swiveled and almost collided with a handsome red-haired boy with sparkling green eyes. He extended his hand toward me and bowed with a wide grin. Accepting the unspoken invitation, I placed my hand in his. But as I stepped toward him, another hand clasped the boy’s forearm. My gaze traveled from the sun-darkened fingers to a sapphire sleeve, across a black leather vest, and up to a familiar face.

Jamie.

He nodded once to the red-haired boy, who dropped my hand like it was covered in warts.