I left Minerva's rooms with an ache in my heart and another between my legs. The former faded to a dull knot, the latter to bittersweet memory. Theories and anxieties raced around my mind. Was I not good enough for the princess? Of course I wasn't. Maids did not consort with royalty.

But no, she obviously found me attractive--she had made that abundantly clear. Minerva's discomfort with our being together came from somewhere else. Had someone threatened her? The thought made me angry, ...