“Miss?”

Elyse’s voice was so soft that I would have missed her word if she hadn’t been standing so close. Actually she was about four feet away—but for her, that counted as close.

“Yes, Elyse?” We were in the playroom. Penny and her children had joined us for lunch an hour ago, but then they left, Blake confidently driving off through the palace gates.

Derrick and Elyse were extra quiet today—the excitement of having other kids to play with had worn off, and now they seemed tired. I didn’t blame them—I, too, felt a bit lethargic, especially when compared to how much fun last night had been. The four of us adults had stayed up quite late, talking, playing card games, and listening to Blake and Nico get progressively drunker, louder, and funnier.

“Miss? Can we…?”

Elyse pointed in the direction of the television Nico had procured for our use. I knew what she wanted, and for a minute, I was torn. Should I make her say the whole request? I did hope she’d start speaking to me more, but forcing her to do so probably wouldn’t be the best thing in the long run. Besides, I wasn’t one of those strict teachers who constantly corrected students.

I mean, I hadn’t been, back when I was a teacher.

Taking pity on Elyse, I filled in the rest of the question for her. “Do you want to watch Brave again? I know it’s your favorite, but we watched it the day before yesterday. I told your dad we’d only watch one movie a week.”

The disappointment on her face was evident, but she nodded her regal little head, the strands of her elaborate updo bouncing at the back of her head. It was kind of funny that someone who dressed as well as her loved a movie about a princess with a massive amount of wild and curly red hair.

“I’ll tell you what… why don’t you, Derrick, and I play a game together for twenty minutes, and then we can watch one hour of the movie. What your father doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”

“Excellent idea.” The deep voice behind me made me jump. Standing so quickly I got dizzy, I looked up to see Nico, smirking slightly at the way he’d made me jump. Clearly he still retained some vestiges of the overconfident former frat boy who’d reemerged last night.

As dignified as I could manage, I said, “Do you want to join us? We were just about to play a game.”

Something flashed behind Nico’s eyes, and he cocked an eyebrow. “Tempting, but I’ll pass.”

I nodded and looked away, afraid that a flush had risen to my face. Nico’s tone—not to mention his sexy smirk—were getting to me.

“Okay, then I guess it’ll just be Derrick and Elyse and—”

“Actually, I have a slight change to the itinerary.” He turned and addressed the twins. “We didn’t have our European history lesson this morning because I was hung—”

“Hungry,” I amended hastily.

Nico winked at me before continuing. “Exactly. So, let’s make up for that now. Cara, I trust you could use an hour to yourself?”

“Sure.”

“Then let’s get started.” He led the children out of the classroom while I contemplated what to do with my free hour. It was too early in the US to call Autumn. And it was too dangerous to my waistline to hunt up Gretchen and see if she wanted to join me with tea and scones.

In the end, I decided to go over the latest changes Von had made to his play. My laptop was in my room, but I brought it back to the playroom hoping that Derrick and Elyse would return here after their lesson.

When I next glanced at the clock, well over an hour had passed, and the twins hadn’t shown up. Maybe I should look for Derrick and see if he wanted to go up to the roof to check on his pigeons? But as I packed up my laptop, I saw movement by the door. I looked up just in time to see the top of an elaborate, sable-colored hairdo glide by.

Stashing my laptop, I hurried to the door and peeked out. Elyse was alone and heading in the opposite direction than her room. As quietly as possible, I slipped out and followed her.

I felt like a stalker as I peered around corners trying to keep the young princess in sight without being noticed, but this might be my only chance to find out where she disappeared to so often.

The beginning of the answer came when I heard a voice up ahead. It was a male speaking German. Elyse said something quick and quiet in return, and then I heard the sound of a door opening.

Who was she talking to? And had she gone through the door that opened or had the man who’d been speaking?

I straightened up, aware that darting from corner to corner would be a very strange look. Instead, I stepped casually into the last hallway Elyse had gone down.

As soon I turned, I saw a uniformed guard standing next to a familiar-looking door—a door I’d only seen once, but remembered quite well. It led to the queen’s chambers.

Elyse was visiting her grandmother.

“That’s a good thing, right?” It was after dinner, and I’d manage to catch Autumn on her lunch break back home. The picture on the screen was a little fuzzy, but seeing her made me feel better. All afternoon, I’d had this sense of unease.

“A little girl visiting with her grandmother?” Autumn asked. “Yes, in general… except your tone suggests that maybe it’s not.”

“No, it is,” I insisted, but even I heard the doubt. “She lost her mother. She needs some kind of maternal figure. I had you. She has her grandmother.”

Autumn waited patiently, but when I didn’t continue, she prompted me. “But?”

“But… she doesn’t seem like the type of grandmother who bakes cookies and puts together puzzles with the grandkids.”

“She’s a queen. She’s got other things she has to do. That doesn’t mean she’s not good with Elyse. And by the way, may I just say how utterly amazing it is that we’re having a conversation about an actual monarch?”

“It’s definitely surreal. But… what if… what if visiting with the queen somehow makes Elyse feel worse?”

Autumn frowned. “How could it?”

“I don’t know.” I couldn’t even really articulate my fear, but the thought of Elyse spending her afternoons in that closed-off chamber with that closed-off woman left me uneasy. Of course, the queen was likely less uptight with her granddaughter than she was with strangers bearing foreign wine, but still.

“She raised Nico, and he turned out okay, right?”

Hmm. That was true—in spite of some recent revelations about the prince’s nature when his old buddies were present. “I guess you’re right.”

“Well, I don’t know that I am. If I were you, I’d definitely keep an eye on the situation—at least as best you’re able.” She laughed abruptly.

“What?”

“I have to apologize. You told me those children were hard to reach, but I thought you just meant figuratively. But one escapes to the rooftops and the other hides behind a guarded door. That definitely qualifies as being hard to reach.”

I couldn’t help but laughing, too.

Nothing about this job was easy, but I supposed it was good that I knew little more about Elyse now than I did yesterday at this time.

We chatted for a few more minutes, but then Autumn had to get back to work. “Oh, but one more thing,” she said. “The university sent a welcome packet for you. Not sure what all’s in there, but it’s really thick. Would you like me to mail it to you?”

I sighed, a bit frustrated. Why couldn’t my new graduate school only send stuff electronically like everyone else? “No, that’s okay. I don’t need it right now.”

“All right,” Autumn said. There was a note of concern in her voice, and suddenly I remembered how excited we’d been when I’d been accepted to the teaching program at my old university. Or how we’d hugged and jumped up and down when she’d belatedly gotten her degree a few years later. Maybe it didn’t feel as exciting now because I’d already been through it once?

After we said goodnight, I couldn’t settle on any one task. I sent a few e-mails, caught up on the news back in the States, and played a few games online. Then it was official—I’d exhausted the things I could do in my room—yet I still felt restless.

Making a decision, I grabbed a sweater, pulling it on over the T-shirt and yoga pants I was wearing. I rolled up the sleeves and I pushed my feet into my slippers.

Navigating the castle was hard enough during the day. At night, it seemed even more daunting. And more than a little creepy.

Derrick liked to joke about the castle dungeons—at least I thought it was a joke, but right now, creeping down the ancient, dimly lit hallway, I wouldn’t have been too surprised to round a corner and encounter an inquisition or two.

I was pretty sure I was heading down the right hallway. It was older than the ones by the children’s rooms. And darker. Only every fourth or fifth overhead light was on, and for some reason, it looked like there should be lit torches along the wall every ten feet or so. And it felt far too quiet… except for the occasional creaks and groans older buildings always seemed to make.

At last, I came to what I thought was the right door and gave a soft knock. Almost immediately, I regretted it. This was dumb. It was late. I should be in bed.

I’d just turned away when I heard a sound.

“Cara?” The prince’s deep, rumbly voice sounded surprised.

I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t even know why I was here, so how could I explain it to him?

But it turns out I didn’t have to. After staring at me for a long moment, he held the door to his study open and stepped aside.

Avoiding his questioning eyes, I went in.