YENA         It made more sense to work on my project in the palace than in the studio at school, so I set myself up at a big table in the parlor down the hall from our bedroom.       Rafaela happened upon me there the next afternoon when she came in to clean.She was amazed, walking around and touching the fabrics I had draped over the chairs and chaise lounges. I was drawing at a small table, and had drafts scattered all around me on the floor.       “We cannot have this,” she said, shaking her head. Soon, a small army of servants crowded the parlor, hauling out most of the furniture. One nearly pulled a chair right out from under me.They pinned my drawings to tufted bulletin boards they installed on the walls, and staged a big, polished oak desk under the window.    &nbs

YENA        I woke up in the dark, being carried in someone’s arms. I was so startled I nearly leapt straight up out of them.       “You’re alright,” Nolan whispered, holding me tightly. “You fell asleep at your desk. I’m taking you to bed.”       I felt a little pang of embarrassment, thinking about my weight. But it seemed like I hardly weighed anything in his strong arms.In the bedroom, he laid me down gently on our satin sheets. I rested my head on the pillow. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been snoozing in my studio, but I was still half asleep, feeling like I couldn’t keep my eyes open.       I was wearing a light dress, something casual I liked to work in. Nolan put his hands on my legs and ran them upward, touching me all over and p

The prince locked his office door behind him.He went to his desk and opened his email. Ignoring the hundreds of unread messages in his inbox, he scrolled down to an archive folder labeled For Emergencies.The folder was empty except for a single, unsent email draft. The subject line was blank and there was no text in the body. The only bit of information was an email address saved in the recipient field.       Nolan double-clicked the email draft to open it, typed a very quick message into the body, and hit Send.       In another corner of the prince’s office, a leather armchair and a coffee table faced a grand stone fireplace that was currently cold and empty. Nolan went over and retrieved a bottle of whiskey from the table. He took it with him around the corner, to the narrow library that adjoined the office.       In the library,

YENA        I woke to my phone chiming and turned it over to see a reply from Susan.       Fine. Meet me in the library at 730.       That was it.I blinked and rubbed my eyes. Nolan was already up, talking quietly on the phone and pacing in his walk-in closet.I was wrapping myself in a towel after taking a hot shower, when he knocked softly on the door. I told him to come in.The door swung open gently and Nolan stepped just over the threshold. He glanced at me and then looked down at the floor for a moment. When he looked up at me again, it seemed like he was making an extra effort to focus on my eyes.“Hey,” he said. “Would you like to come have some breakfast with me?”I said, “Oh,” and stalled, fumbling for a lie that would explain why I

 The man returned with a bunch of paper towels from the bathroom. He pulled a water bottle out of his briefcase and crouched on the floor, insisting I step aside and let him handle it.He asked me what happened with the cupcake, and I’m not sure why, but I just told him everything.About Susan being my only friend at the start of the year. About how she begged me to go along with her to the Full Moon Ball, and then completely flipped out when, through no fault of my own, I was chosen by the prince instead of her. And about how I reached out to her last night, and felt so full of hope this morning, and how she got mad about my earrings, and all of the awful stuff she said about my family.Never before in my life had I just opened up and spilled my guts to a total stranger like that. But he was easy to talk to, a good listener, and kept asking questions.Finally I said, “I’m sorry, I’ve been rambling on about my problems and hav