Cordinas Crown Jewel Read Free

foolish, Camilla’s stomach jumped as she walked to the desk, pulled open a drawer. And removed a pair of scissors. “Princess Camilla.” She shook her waist-length fall of dark red hair, and sucked in her breath. “Is about to get a whole new look.”
    Horror, so huge it would’ve been comical if Camilla hadn’t felt an echo of it inside herself, spread over Marian’s face. “You don’t mean it! Camilla, you can’t just—just whack off your hair. Your beautiful hair.”
    “You’re right.” Camilla held out the scissors. “You do it”
    “Me? Oh no—absolutely not.” Instantly Marian whipped her hands behind her back. “What we’re going to do is sit down, have a nice glass of wine and wait for this insanity to pass. You’ll feel better tomorrow.”
    Camilla was afraid of that. Afraid it would pass and she’d go on just as she was. Doing her duty, fulfillingher obligations, sliding back into the bright lights and the undeniable comfort of her life. The unbearable fleeing from the media.
    If she didn’t do something—
something
—now, would she ever? Or would she, as the media continued to predict, marry one of the glossy men deemed suitable for someone in her position and rank and just … go on.
    She set her jaw, lifted it in a way that made her friend gasp. And taking a long lock of hair, snipped it off.
    “Oh, God!” Weak at the knees, Marian folded herself into a chair. “Oh, Camilla.”
    “It’s just hair.” But her hand trembled a little. Her hair had become so much a part of her image, of her life, that one snip was like cutting off a hand. She stared at the long length of gilded red that dangled from her fingers. “I’m going in the bathroom to do the rest. I could use some help with the back.”
    *  *  *
    In the end, Marian came through, as friends do. By the time they were finished, the floor was littered with hanks of hair and Camilla’s vision of herself with long flowing hair had to be completely adjusted. A snip here, a snip there. A glass of wine for fortification. Another snip to even things up. And she’d ended up with a cap short as a boy’s, with long spiky bangs to balance it out.
    “It’s awfully—well … different,” Camilla managed to say.
    “I’m going to cry.”
    “No, you’re not.” And neither, Camilla vowed, was she. “I need to change, and pack some things. I’m already behind schedule.”
    She packed what she felt were essentials and was both surprised and a bit ashamed that they filled a suitcase and an enormous tote to bursting. She put on jeans, boots, a sweater and topped them all with a long black coat.
    She considered sunglasses and a hat, but decided the addition would make her
look
like she was in disguise rather than letting her pass unnoticed.
    “How do I look?” she demanded.
    “Not like you.” Marian shook her head and walked two slow circles around Camilla.
    The short hair was a dramatic change, and to Marian’s surprise an intriguing one. It made Camilla’s golden-brown eyes seem bigger and somehow more vulnerable. The bangs concealed the regal forehead and added a youthful edge. Without makeup, her face was rose and cream, maybe a bit paler than it should be. The high cheekbones stood out, and the long mouth seemed fuller.
    Rather than cool, aloof and elegant, she looked young, careless and just a little reckless.
    “Not like you at all,” Marian said again. “I’d recognize you, but it would take me a minute, and a second look.”
    “That’s good enough.” She checked her watch. “If I leave now I can be well away before morning.”
    “Camilla, where are you going to go?”
    “Anywhere.” She took her friend by the shoulders, kissed both Marian’s cheeks. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll keep in touch. I promise. Even a princess is entitled to a little adventure.” Her long mouth bowed up in a smile. “Maybe
especially
a princess. Promise me you won’t say anything to anyone before eight in the morning—and