Chapter 5
For a moment, all Pippa could do was gape. Prince Bennett, heir to the throne, lost and presumed dead, for certainly no one had come forward demanding a ransom for his return. He was here, in the enchanted woods.
Then she remembered herself.
“Your Highness.” The words came out in a croak. Her skirt was hanging in tatters around her, but she gathered it as best she could. She was half-committed to a full curtsy when a flash of pain raced across her scalp.
Prince Bennett held up a hand. “Under the circumstances.” His gaze took in the halo of her hair, then traveled downward to where his leather boots transformed into black bear paws. “Yours and mine. We’ll ... dispense with formalities.”
“But ...?” Now that the pain had subsided, one mortifying thought took its place. She’d ju
