Dinner with the Ascher family went as well as he’d hoped. He conversed easily with the king and queen, and discovered, to his surprise, that Inari’s young brother, Carsten, was quite interested in the history of his ancestors. They shared a common thread, which created endless speculation and questions of their country’s past.

Seated across the table from Inari, he caught her eye often, once giving her a wink when Carsten seemed like he might talk for hours about Elias’s own forays into the hidden tunnels beneath Latvala’s castles.

In truth, he enjoyed encouraging the young man to pursue his hobby.

One never knew, Elias reminded Carsten, what one might find.

After, he sat next to Inari as they visited Lisbet, who proved to be fighting back hard against her bedridden state. She looked well on the road to recovery, if still a little frail and weak.

Inari’s dedication and attention to her sister did not go unnoticed. Elias recognized relief and affection in the way Inari talked to Lisbet, and set a hand discreetly on Inari’s back as a show of support.

Now the sun had set and they were strolling the long corridors of Somero Palace. Like the castles of Latvala and Imatra, the palace was steeped in history, its stone walls and high archways showing signs of age. That was what happened to structures that were centuries old. Elias loved it, and had always preferred the mystique of ancient buildings to their more modern counterparts. He examined Inari’s ancestors on a wall of paintings, taking note of swords, shields, crests. Faces. He paused before one, a woman, painted by the hand of a master.

If he hadn’t known better, he would have thought it was of Inari herself. Yes, there were subtle differences, but the painter had captured the tawny hair and straightforwardness of Inari and her ancestor’s gaze perfectly.

“That’s my great-great-great-greatwhatever-grandmother. Once a queen, the only queen to have ever ruled Somero. At least until I take the throne,” Inari said.

Elias paused before the painting. “Those will be big shoes to fill. Was she a good ruler?”

“The people thought so. They loved her, even if she didn’t put up with anyone’s bull. Maybe that’s why they liked her,” Inari said.

“You share more than looks in common,” Elias said with no small amusement.

“You haven’t seen the beginning of my sharp nature,” Inari replied with a lift of her chin.

Elias laughed, snared her by her lifted chin, and slanted a kiss across her mouth. He managed to take her by surprise, if her indrawn breath was any indication.

“I believe that I have. But I’ll withhold final judgment for a few years, see what comes of it,” he said.

Her eyes widened.

“What?” he asked, as if he didn’t know his casual reference to a few years wasn’t the cause.

“That’s awfully presumptive,” she retorted.

“Are you denying you want to see me, then? Because I can let myself out . . .”

Her delighted laughter in turn delighted him. He’d rarely seen her face so lively, eyes sparkling with mirth. And the way she pressed herself against him riled his ardor. There was no way in hell, however, that he would even consider intimacy this soon, nor in the palace where their dalliance might be seen or heard by anyone.

“Yes. Yes, I want to see you, Elias Ahtissari. I have a feeling that beneath your austere demeanor still lurks a rogue of unimaginable proportions. I’ll have to wait a few years, however, before I make my final judgment.”

He laughed when she turned his words around and used them against him.

“There’s not a bit of rogue left in me, I swear,” he lied. He offered her his elbow.

She scoffed, slid her fingers under the crook of his arm, and fell into step beside him. “We’ll see about that.”

“Indeed, Inari. We will.”

---

The following two days passed in a blur of activity. Thane had brought charges against Valentina for attempted murder and, despite his discreet handling of the matter, the media somehow caught wind and the story broke worldwide. Elias kept Inari company as interview requests overwhelmed the palace, especially for Thane, Inari, and Lisbet.

Lisbet was not well enough to endure question-and-answer sessions, and Inari declined to see anyone at all except her immediate family and Elias.

Thane wisely chose to ignore all the requests, at least for the time being, a move Elias secretly approved of. The media would make up their own stories anyway, or twist his words and create more of a firestorm than there already was.

Elias’s name had been completely absent from all stories that circulated through the news. No one had pinpointed him as the one who’d gained the evidence, and if Valentina had said anything to her lawyers, they’d kept the information to themselves. For now, at least, he did not have to deal with the public.

On the fourth day, he departed Somero Palace for home. He still had other duties to see to and events that required his attention. Sander had gone home shortly after their conversation the night he’d shown up with the recorder.

As the plane leveled out, Elias thought back to that night. How he’d expected his father to have an adverse reaction to his actions.

“I can’t sit here and tell you that what you did was foolish, because I’ve gone off on a whim before and done what I thought was right in that moment,” Sander had said.

“But you still think it was the wrong choice?” he’d replied.

“I think it was the only choice you thought you had.”

Elias had considered that for several minutes. “Wasn’t it?”

“Probably not. But your gamble worked. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t. You’ve been on the sour end of a mission before; you know how unpredictable things can be. You happened to catch her at the wrong time for her, and the right time for you.”

“Would you have done the same thing?” Elias had asked next.

“Like I said in the hallway, son, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Yes, to answer your question. I would have.”

And, with that, Elias had let any lingering doubts about his action fall away. If the mission would have been good enough for his father, it was good enough for him.

As Sander had pointed out, he’d gotten lucky. Fate had been on his side.

This time.

Next time, who knew?

He spent the remainder of the flight reading the journal entries Caspian had sent, somewhat shocked to learn of the assassination attempt on his ancestor.

That was history he’d never previously heard.

It sparked a new desire to return to the tunnels, to finding answers.

He thought about Inari, too, and their time together. There’d been a lot of fun and laughter in between the serious consultations with advisors. He’d promised to call and text until they could see each other again.

Two days after his return to Kallaster Castle, Elias sought the tunnels during a reprieve from his princely duties. He searched with renewed vigor and interest, while Caspian raided the Crypt in Imatra for more lost journals or other evidence of strife between his country and Elias’s.

One week turned into three.

He shunned a few galas he should have attended, because he knew Inari would not be there, and instead accompanied his father on royal visits to the mainland. All his spare time was spent beneath Kallaster Castle or the Ahtissari family seat.

Nothing new came to light. No more clues about the strange crest, no papers, journals, or otherwise.

Frustration set in during the fourth week of his return home.

With an idea to change the setting and try a different venue, he put in a call to Inari. The public uproar over the attempted murders and Valentina’s involvement had died down enough to risk inviting her on another subterranean trip.

Two pairs of eyes were better than one, someone had once said.