Chapter 10
LUCAS
“Oh, yes. Give it to me faster. Deeper, my prince…”
The words were enough to clue me in on what was happening inside the royal hall, and watching my brother go at it was the last thing I wanted. Or needed. But I couldn’t exactly leave, either, considering this wasn’t even in a restricted section and anyone could literally stroll by and witness something they shouldn’t witness.
A surge of irritation came at such carelessness, and some choice words were already at the tip of my tongue as I fumed outside. It looked like Benjamin’s fun was just starting, and normally I wouldn’t mind how many women he banged and where he put it in—it was a necessity to kill some of the hunger off. But this right here was irresponsibility at its finest, and not even our situation could have excused him from having the semblance to drag her somewhere more private.
Just as I was thinking of barging in there and laying it on thick with my reprimands, footsteps nearby had me freezing.
My body acted before my mind could think, taking me away from the royal hall doors and towards where the footsteps were. I waited a couple of beats, standing still.
Then I stepped forward and rounded the corner, just in time to meet the footsteps on the other side.
The first thing I spotted was the blond braid of hair, followed by muted clothing in pink and silver. There was a gasp as she almost bumped into me, and I watched pink stain her cheeks when she recognized me.
“Your Highness!”
“Good morning, Princess Ana,” I greeted, keeping my voice just a tad bit warm. “Have you had your breakfast yet?”
She recovered pretty quickly, offering me a smile. “Not yet. I was admiring the palace because I feel the first tour wasn’t enough to see the whole beauty of it. You have a lovely home, Your Highness.”
“Please, call me Lucas.”
“Prince Lucas.”
“I can gladly give you a tour of the palace.”
“That sounds lovely. Where is Prince Benjamin, by the way? We seem to have missed him at breakfast.”
The inward groan was inevitable, but I made sure none of the frustration showed on my face. That he even skipped breakfast meant he really was randy as hell, and now I was going to have to distract Ana. I remembered Kyle’s words about her—experienced in royal life and eager to know about the prince, but not necessarily aggressive.
I gave her a smile. “He’s nursing a headache and will be down shortly. Have you seen our back gardens? The flowers are really beautiful at this time of the day.”
“I’d love to see them.”
And that was the start of me doing damage control.
I did the same for three other princesses later in the morning, followed by me joining them all for lunch in the main dining hall. Benjamin was present by then, charming them as usual, but it was a strained kind of charm that I just hoped no one else would notice. The queen didn’t join us with an explanation of needing to join some international meeting, but she summoned me and Benjamin later on, telling us it was imperative.
The princesses were scheduled to watch a film for the afternoon, about the history of our family, as they requested. Benjamin and I took that time to slip out and head into the queen’s office, which was filled with Victorian style architecture and a combination of modern and old furniture. Laverna was seated behind a huge oak desk, deep in concentration, only glancing up when we both finally sat down on the two chairs in front of her.
She didn’t waste any time stating her purpose for the meeting.
“We have an impostor in the vicinity.”
“An impostor?” Benjamin echoed.
Laverna nodded. “One of the women isn’t the royal blood she’s claiming to be. One of the maids caught someone on the phone bragging about it and reported right away.”
I frowned. “Then let’s kick that person out.”
“That’s the problem. The maid heard a voice but doesn’t know who it belongs to. I thought about calling the royal families to confirm, but…”
“This might be an elaborate, deliberate plan and the involved family wouldn’t be telling the truth,” I finished.
“Exactly.” She paused, her lips pursing as she looked at us. “And I can’t exactly go around accusing everyone. It might cause a huge offense and an international scandal. We all know how crucial it is to maintain a good, positive image right now. We need full support for Benjamin’s coronation.”
Benjamin leaned forward, forgetting his posture for a fleeting moment. “Lucas and I can go ahead and try to find out.”
It was a good suggestion, but the queen shot him a steely look. Then she shook her head. “No. Absolutely not.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t want you or Lucas exposing your suspicion on the matter. In fact, no one from our family or main staff should be involved with any spying at the risk of getting caught. I will have none of that.”
“What do you suggest?” I asked.
“We need an outsider. Someone who can befriend the princesses and get them talking. They won’t talk to someone they know is on our side, so that means staff is out. They might, however, spill something significant to someone they think would sympathize with them.”
Another plausible solution, but… “If we bring in outsiders, it will take us time to screen them. Considering how confidential this matter is, outsiders might end up taking even more advantage of the situation.”
“I thought of that, too,” the queen said. “It might turn into a complication we don’t need.”
Beside me, Benjamin raised a hand. “Might I provide a suggestion?”
“Go on,” the queen responded.
“I know someone who’s fairly new here who may be able to blend in with the princesses. We can train her on the basics and slip her in, with the reason that some family emergency delayed her from coming. I trust her completely.”
I already knew where this was going, already knew who my brother was referring to even before he could state the name. Once he did, I watched as the queen’s brows rose. Obviously, she recognized who the new maid was.
“And what makes you think she would blend in?” she asked.
Benjamin shrugged. “She’s young. She picks up fast on things. She has no solid background and is unrecognizable, since she hasn’t served the princesses yet. She can easily talk to people. If anyone can weed the impostor out, it’s her.”
The queen eyed him watchfully. “And can we trust her?”
“She saved my life when she could have left me for dead. As I said, I trust her.”
Part of me thought Laverna was going to reject the idea right away or present yet another one of her own. But to my surprise, she nodded and agreed, a gesture that told me she really didn’t have any idea in store at the moment.
Benjamin looked pretty pleased with himself. “After training her, we can provide a fake background for her. I can let her know now—”
“No,” I interrupted. “Your flirting would get in the way, and we want her to enter this agreement with a clear head. I’ll deal with this.”
Benjamin looked like I just told him the earth was flat. “But you dislike her.”
“That’s exactly the kind of person that needs to talk to her. So everything will be on neutral ground, and she’ll know the exact terms of what we need.” I turned to Laverna. “Are we going to compensate her in any way?”
“Of course. I trust you to name the price.”
“He’s stingy,” Benjamin muttered.
“I will,” I responded at the same time.
We both looked at each other, gazes warring. Then we both turned to the queen when she spoke in finality.
“Go tell her now, then. We need this done as soon as possible. Let the staff know she will be assigned a new role temporarily.”
* * *
The duty reversal happened right after the meeting, with Benjamin going back to the women and me hunting Liz down. I found Kyle in the library as usual, too absorbed in his book and only looking up when I called his name. He looked pleased to see me, something that didn’t happen often with other people.
“I have a question that I don’t want anyone finding out.”
“Yes?”
“What does your sister usually do at this time of the day? Where can I find her?”
That made his eyes widen until I assured him I just had some additional tasks to give her. When he gave me the answer, I walked over to the location immediately, not wanting to waste any time as it was of the essence.
As Kyle indicated, she really was where she was scheduled to be—inside one of the many guestrooms in the palace, standing on a ladder and changing the curtains on a window. It was a pretty large window, and she was already standing on the top rung and still tiptoeing to reach the curtain railing. One movement, and—
As if the scenario read my thoughts, the curtain railing slipped out of her hand and fell. The curtain itself covered her up, a movement that had the ladder wobbling. I reacted in record time, running and grabbing at the ladder before it could topple over. But she lost her balance all the same, the curtain weighing her down and leaving her no choice as she fell off.
I let the ladder go and caught her easily, her weight sinking into my arms as she gave out a loud oof! Her hands clung to steady herself, and she let out a breath that warmed the side of my cheek.
My gaze met brown eyes, widening as they recognized me. I felt her breathing sharpen, felt her body go still against me.
Time stopped.
My hands tightened around her waist, even while I slowly lowered her to the ground. I gritted my teeth as her gaze zoned in on my mouth, where she stared for a good while.
Then we both stepped back at the same time.
Liz spoke first.
“Thank you for catching me, Your Highness,” she muttered. “That could have ended badly.”
It could have ended with a broken neck, but I didn’t say it out loud. Instead, I nodded my head and waited for her to meet my eyes—something that didn’t seem fruitful, because her gaze seemed to be wandering around for no particular reason…other than she wanted to avoid looking at me.
I cleared my throat. “I have a question.”
“Yes?”
“Are you grateful to my brother for offering you this job and allowing you and your brother to stay here?”
That surprised her enough to finally look up and meet my gaze. “Of course. I’ll always be grateful.”
There was no denying the sincerity in her eyes, and I knew it was the type that couldn’t be faked. The passion there was visible, and it meant she would do anything to fight for my brother and for what he’d done for her.
It was a good step in the right direction. But a twinge pinged at my chest, burying deep. I dismissed it and focused on the matter at hand.
“And if you were given an opportunity to show you’re grateful to him, would you take that opportunity?”
The sincerity in those brown eyes turned wary.
“What is this opportunity?”
“It involves helping him reach his full potential as king and helping us weed out a certain impostor within the visiting princesses.”
Her eyes widened. “There’s one?”
“There’s one,” I confirmed. “Are you willing to help?”
Worry set in on her face, and she bit her lower lip. I tried to ignore it and focused on her eyes instead.
The worry turned to determination. She looked up and met my gaze again, steel in them.
Then she nodded her head.
“Count me in.”