The Temple of Indra’s Jewel: Read Online Free Page A

a sharp breath as the cool metal touched my skin so I could connect the clasp. I felt as if Gigi’s warmth and love melted into me from the jewels. The sudden thought of her brought tears to my eyes. I turned to see Nick staring bizarrely at me, and I quickly pulled the necklace away and dropped it back into the box, slamming it shut.
    Wrapped up in the quilts of my strange new bed, I groaned and twisted, suddenly opening my eyes. Beautiful warm rays of afternoon sun trickled in the quiet room. Shaking the memories away, I got out of the bed and stepped onto the balcony, breathing deeply as I stared out at the sea. If I could find a phone I could simply call a cab company to take me back. Of course it would help if I knew where I was.
    I stopped mid-thought, as my last encounter with the maid came rushing back. She said I was the Princess of Monaco! Oh my God, the painting—it looked just like me, just like my reflection.
    I pushed my confusion aside. Maybe I’d imagined the last twenty-four hours. Maybe I woke in this room earlier and created this elaborate hallucination. I was probably concussed from my fall at Marguerite Island.
    Wandering the rooms, I felt along the wall for light switches but found only gas lamps and a few sconces. There was no phone in the room either.
    That’s because it’s 1857, you fool.
    “No, no, no, no!” I mumbled back to myself.
    I hadn’t seen a phone anywhere in the palace, not even at the party. Usually people texted or perused their cell phones no matter where, even if they had been playing a game. Feeling a sense of dread, I walked to the desk and opened the diary. It couldn’t be. I couldn’t be. The back read PRINCESS SAPPHIRA ALEXANDRIE DE MONACO .
    22 July, 1857
    I came across suspicious behaviour on my way to the study today. I saw coattails turning the corner as a paper fluttered to the ground. Naturally, I stole down the corridor to collect it. The moment I touched it the bumps on my flesh stood. It was coded and from Ferris. I had only seconds before I noted footsteps returning. I released it and hurried into the alcove.
    Communications with Nice have been disrupted, and Charles is away dealing with the politics of our position in the Kingdom. Mother, of course, is busy with her constitutions, and I have no one in whom to divulge.
    I breathed in sharply, flipping the page. A tattered envelope fell out. It was from a William Ferris, but nothing of importance stood out to me. Setting it aside, I scanned the next several pages of the book, but they spoke only of gossip and social events. Then I found one dated a week later.
    I realize after much reflection I must retrieve William’s letter. The Prince’s hands are full organizing La Societe des Bains de Mer to operate a gambling concession, and there is too much at stake if anyone but Charles or I decipher the code. There could be only one brazen enough to try. Mother continues to dismiss his inappropriate advances; I think she encourages him. He wants me for some political end, which I have not yet figured out. I dislike the idea of opposing Mother, but I refuse to concede to that snake. Unfortunately, every time I try to discuss it, she interrupts with rants that people dislike her. She lives in a bemused state. I’m worried he is somehow rendering her incapacitated.
    I tucked the book away and lay down on the bed, wondering who she spoke of. I had to face facts. Nick was not here.
    If I was to believe Anais, then I had somehow awoken in another time—and in another body, for that matter.
    That was a pretty hard truth to swallow, but the evidence was all around me. And this Princess Sapphira was obviously afraid of someone, probably the same individual who accosted me, but who was it? My senses were off, my vision blurry, and I doubted I would even recognize the voice given my state.
    I stood and returned to the dressing room door. That reminded me—where had my visitor gone? Had I really seen him exit through this