She presses her lips together, processing my answer. “Then it truly won’t do me any good to go home like this.”
Feeling a stab of guilt, I nod. “In fact, it might be dangerous.”
“Dangerous?” she asks, raising her brows.
“Potentially.”
“And it’s not dangerous here, Mr. Devereaux?”
I wince. “Don’t call me that.”
The princess gives me a sharp smile. “Alexander.”
“Alex,” I correct, irritated with myself. “Just call me Alex.”
“I can’t.” Sabine takes a step closer, narrowing her eyes. “Because we’re not friends.”
I smile, wondering if I should kiss her again just to wipe the triumphant look off her face. Her eyebrows jump when I step forward, and she moves back to evade me.
“Perhaps it’s better that we’re not.” I slowly herd her toward the door, and her eyes widen when she bumps against it. I lean forward, moving in as close as I dare. “Because I don’t want you to call me your friend, princess.”
“I could stab you.” But her breathless tone makes the warning an idle one. She wets her lips, capturing my attention. As if she can’t help herself, she asks, “W…what do you want me to call you?”
“Director,” I answer, realizing my plan to get the upper hand has failed because the princess’s sweet floral scent fills my nostrils, and her nearness is making me forget she’s likely going to kill me the moment Alaric removes the ring. “Be my prima donna.”
“Your songbird, you mean.” She manages to add a bite to her tone this time. “Trapped in a cage.”
“You’re free to go, Sabine. But that doesn’t mean you have to leave. Stay.”
“Free to go?” she says. “The ring is a prison.”
“Maybe you’re looking at it the wrong way. What if the ring is freedom? I’ve given you an excuse to avoid your throne a little longer.”
Sabine laughs darkly. “You’re so altruistic, director. But you’re forgetting something. My brothers will send people to look for me, and they will certainly visit your theater. It won’t take them long to find me if I’m on stage.”
A smile tugs at my lips. “Why would they search the theaters for you, Sabine? Do you have a particular fondness for them?”
Her mouth works as she attempts to find an answer, and a blush spreads across her cheeks.
“Did our first meeting affect you so greatly?” I push. “Have I been on your mind all these years? You even learned Favoran for me, princess.”
Sabine rolls her eyes, but she’s noticeably unable to protest. “You said you need my voice. What does that mean?”
“If you’re hesitant to be on the stage, you can still help the show.”
“How?”
“Sing for Candace.”
The princess narrows her eyes. “Sing for her?”
Hating the idea when Sabine belongs in the spotlight, I nod. “Be her voice.”
“But that’s…”
I step back, giving her room to think. Borrowing Penelope’s words, I say, “It’s not a crime.”
“But it’s wrong.”