Chapter 38: You Aren't Catherine

Mariela was an interesting person to spend time with because on one hand, she was intelligent and well spoken, but on the other she seemed to prefer listening to me talk.

We couldn't exactly rehash the events of our days in the typical form of small talk I was used to because our schedules were too similar.

Instead, she would talk about a wide variety of princessy topics she was an expert in and I would amuse her with stories from my childhood that were slightly modified so they would fit within the realms of possibility for this world.

Al was the only one I kept slipping up around talking about home.

I knew that Mariela was my best chance at getting to Franz so I had to cultivate this relationship carefully.

Did I feel guilty about having ulterior friendship motives? Yes. But I wasn't completely horrible—when I wasn't pushing for information I genuinely enjoyed talking to her.

It was nice having a female friend in this world. Girls talk differently to each other than they do to guys. Plus Mariela was much less stressful to be around than Al because I didn't have to walk through a minefield of dangerous topics.

Nothing seemed to offend her. Or maybe that was just her princess training at work. Oops.

"You talk about your sister frequently," Mariela noted as I finished up a story about the time Abby and I tried catching fish in a cup at a lake and she ended up with a frog on her head, bringing on her lifelong fear of frogs.

"I thought your sister was nearly ten years younger than you but the way you talk about her makes the two of you seem around the same age."

I sighed. She could be too perceptive sometimes.

"Remember when you said I understood longing for a home I couldn't go back to and I said you wouldn't believe me? It has to do with that."

Setting down her tea cup, Mariela gazed at me with an impenetrable expression.

"You…are not Catherine du Pont, are you?"

My mouth dropped open. How on earth had she come to that conclusion? Seeing my reaction, she clapped her hands together in delight.

"I knew it! But who are you? And how did you end up with the earl's family? Did she run away and you were contracted to take her place to be presented before the monarchy?"

Her eagerness surprised me. How could she be so calm when discussing an imposter sneaking her way into the palace?

Oh yeah, she wasn't from Annalaias. She probably couldn't care less about what went on in this country as long as it didn't affect her negatively on a personal level.

"It's a bit more complicated than that," I hedged.

Would she believe me if I told her the truth? Or should I go with her idea?

Oh, I wasn't good at coming up with things on the spot! If I made something up I would have to keep track of all the lies I told.

Sitting forward in her seat, Mariela looked at me expectantly.

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"Do tell me, Katie! This is the most exciting thing that has happened since I came here. Oh…is that not really your name?"

"My name is Katrina Pullman but everyone has always called me Katie," I confessed.

Why was I bothering to tell her? She was a lonely foreign national that liked me. I didn't think she would rat me out but even so, who would believe her?

Mariela was looked down upon inside the palace and the du Ponts had been thoroughly fooled by me so if anyone asked them, they would deny it.

"I was born and raised in a place called Arizona with my parents and sister, Abby, and lived there for twenty-three years before dying in an accident. Next thing I knew, I woke up in Catherine du Pont's body. You don't have to believe me. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't experienced it myself."

Her eyes narrowed briefly before she surprised me by giggling.

"If it were anyone else telling me this sort of tall tale I would not believe them. However…there is too much about you that does not add up so your story actually makes a strange sort of sense. No one in Annalaias thinks or speaks the way you do. Where exactly is Arizona? I have never heard of it."

She…didn't think I was crazy. Unbelievable! If someone had told me a story like this back home I would've run far, far away.

I wanted to keep it that way so I wouldn't disclose the part about how we were currently inside a novel. That might be a bit too much for her to handle.

"You won't find it on any maps—it is too far away to ever go back to. My parents passed away when I was younger but Abby got left behind when I died. I have no way of ever seeing or speaking to her again. That is why I can relate to you."

Mariela tentatively laid a hand on my arm.

"I cannot even imagine how frightening that must have been for you. How ever did you manage to fool everyone into believing you were Catherine du Pont? I never would have suspected a thing if I had not spent so much time talking to you. On the surface you seem like any other well-bred young lady. Does Alpheus know?"

I exhaled heavily.

"It wasn't easy. I spent months learning etiquette by watching the countess and pretended I lost my memories from a fever. For the most part, I smiled and nodded and pretended I had some idea of what was going on until I read enough books about Annalaias to not make too many mistakes when talking to people. And no…he does not."

It was such a relief being able to talk about this. Everything had been stuck in my chest for so long without being able to breathe a word. No one here understood me at all.

"He…does not know? Really?" Mariela suddenly burst out laughing, deeper and harder than I had ever heard her laugh before.

Usually her laughs were so polite. Princess laughs rather than real ones. I was bewildered by her actions. Was that really something worth laughing about?

It took her a minute to regain herself. With a wide smile on her face she shook her head at me as if I was a precocious child.

"That explains so much, actually. You said he proposed to you because he wanted someone to ease his boredom…of course you would pique his interest; you think differently than anyone here! Do you plan to tell him?"

No, I plan to make him fall in love with someone else and quietly sneak away to live my own life. But I couldn't tell her that for so many reasons. What was I supposed to say?

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