I tugged at the hem of my skirt. Next to me, Jinx was fidgeting even worse. She couldn’t sit still at all. She was shifting from cheek to cheek, tapping her foot, nibbling at her nail. “Oh my God, would you stop?”

She rolled her eyes. “I can’t help it. I’ve never been to the palace. They confiscated my damn phone, so I can’t even text my excitement. What am I supposed to do with all the energy?”

“Just breathe. Be cool.” I was one to talk. I’d been a mess for two days over seeing Lucas again. And sleeping with him… again. He was becoming a habit I couldn’t break. But you have to, or it will break you. And I was the idiot who had admitted that I still loved him.

She sighed. “Okay, okay, I’m doing my best. But we are in the fucking palace. You know, with the king and queen. There are hundreds of years of history here. Do you understand what that even means?”

I sighed. “Yes, Jinx, I know. Remember?”

She sighed too. “Yes, I know. I’m trying to be cool, okay? Sorry. It’s just so damn exciting.”

“Didn’t you ever do a tour when you were a kid? You know, we all did.”

“Nope. When our class was supposed to go, I think it was in fifth or sixth grade, I was ill. Remember, I had to stay home?”

“Oh God, yes. I do remember. I was devastated to be without my best friend on the field trip, the one person I actually wanted to show off to.” The other girls in my year hadn’t been appropriately excited, at least I didn’t feel like they were. But I knew Jinx would have really appreciated it. But she was sick. I remember being worried about that too. And I was glad that I had the opportunity to take her again. I’d always figured there would be some chance in high school or something, but no, never.

Finally, the reception area door opened, and a very stern-looking woman in a crisp navy blue uniform with a stiff collar walked over to us. “The queen shall see you now.”

Jinx and I stood and followed behind her because there was really no option but to do so. She led us to the interior room. I didn’t know what to expect, but it wasn’t this. There were at least ten different people tapping away on computers. I didn’t expect to see a well-lit room with a view of the gardens. Somehow, I always thought an interior office would be dark and drab. This was well lit and pretty. And it led into the courtyard.

I wondered if anyone ever ate lunch out there. Probably. Queen Penny seemed to be the sort to encourage that kind of thing. She didn’t seem like she’d particularly like being forced indoors a lot. Then the old bird knocked on the interior door and opened it at the sound of Queen Penny’s voice.

We were ushered in, and immediately, I relaxed.

Penny stood. Her hair was up in a messy bun, and she was wearing stained pink overalls with a T-shirt underneath that said, ‘Natural girls do it better. Why? Because they like it kinky.’ Her appearance apparently pleased Jinx too, because she laughed. I pointed out the shirt immediately. “Oh my God, I love it. I need one.”

We both eventually remembered our manners and curtsied. Penny waved her hand. “No, stop that.” She came over and hugged us both. “Thank you so much for coming. Thank you for calling me. Have a seat.”

I didn’t want to waste her time, so I dove right in. “Your Majesty, I appreciate you agreeing to see me. I hope it’s okay that I brought Jinx along.”

“Of course. I gave you my card because I wanted you to call.” There was another knock at the door and Penny called out. “Come in.”

A slim redhead, about Jinx’s height, strolled in.

“I swear to God, why can’t I just come in through the courtyard like always? That old biddy scares me.”

Queen Penny rolled her eyes. “You have taken down badass assassins. You can hack into any database in the world. And she scares you?”

The redhead shuddered. “Yes. I have delicate sensibilities.” She startled a bit when she saw us. “Oh, I didn’t know you had company.”

Queen Penny made introductions and turned to Ariel. “Actually, I wanted you here because I had a feeling that we might need your help.”

“Anything for you, buckaroo.” Ariel turned toward one of the oversized chairs and dropped into it then propped her feet up on the coffee table. And I also noted that she hadn’t curtsied. This was madness to me.

Penny turned back to me and nodded. “Sorry, go ahead. What do you need?”

“Well um, it’s just—" How should I even start? I’d come to see her about some pretty bizarre circumstances. I took a deep breath and tried anyway. “So, my parents and I have a difficult situation.”

Once I got started, it was surprisingly easy to tell the story. The lies and deceit, the stealing.

At key points, Jinx interjected to back up my evidence. “But my parents are my problem, and that’s not what I’m here about. I just—given our conversation the other day about Lucas and what my father is trying to do to him, I wondered maybe if they somehow tried to drag me into it. I don’t know. Ten thousand dollars appeared in my bank account yesterday, and I honestly don’t know what to do about it. Even if my parents just returned the amount that they stole from me, this is above and beyond. And they honestly have no reason to do so. Not to mention they don’t have access to my accounts.”

Ariel frowned from her slouched-down position on the couch. “Wait, so you had connected or shared accounts with them before?”

I nodded. “Yeah, you know, basic things. When you start your own bank account, you go with the family banker, or whatever, so I did that. It bit me in the ass though.”

Ariel nodded. “No shit. But now, the amounts have returned and then some.”

“I have a job now, so I am earning money. But not that kind of money. I’m not like my parents. I live on a budget. I’m frugal. I don’t really have any use for the pomp and circumstance kind of thing. It’s not really my deal. I don’t need much. I’m pretty simple actually.” I sighed. “Okay look, I’m a sucker for a nice pair of shoes. But beyond that, there’s not much I need or want. So I just want this money to go away, and if it’s going to come back and bite me in the ass, I’d rather have pre-emptively told you about it, I guess."

With the story finally told, I realized how silly it sounded. As if the Queen of the Winston Isles would have time for me or care about what I was doing. I sighed. “I’m sorry. I have wasted your time. This is silly. Jinx, let’s go.”

Jinx stared at me. “Are you joking? She can help.”

Queen Penny nodded. “First of all, this could well be connected to Lucas. It’s actually information I want and need to know, so you stay seated, and let’s figure this out.”

I stared at her. “You want to help me?”

She nodded. “Yes, please. Turns out I need intrigue in my life.”

Jinx, unable to help herself as usual, snorted. “Um, don’t you have a hot new husband for that?”

Ariel guffawed and slapped the coffee table. “Oh, I like her.”

Queen Penny laughed as well. “Yes. But, honestly, there’s only so much time you can spend naked. Eventually, I need to use my brain. I do love the charity work, and the art, and I do get to paint. But it’s shocking. I never thought I’d say this, but I miss being a proper Royal Guard. So this gives me something safe to do. Something my husband will let me do.”

I didn’t know what to infer from that statement, but when Ariel got a clouded expression, I guessed it was sore point. “Honestly, I just don’t know what to do. I only wanted back what was mine. But this is so much extra, so it feels like there’s a catch.”

Ariel stood up then. “Okay, give your account numbers to me. I’ll have a look. If you think your parents are screwing with you, that’s one thing. But if it’s part of some plot to get back at Lucas, that’s a much bigger question.”

“I don’t know. Honestly, I wish I had the answer to that. It would make my life a lot easier.”

Penny smiled at me. “Well, you have us now, so you’re not alone. And we will figure this out. To be honest, I’m glad to have some other friends in the palace. Sometimes I feel like everybody is working, not against me, but working for the throne. I would very much like us to be friends.”

I smiled back. “I’d like that too.”

Jinx practically bounced off her seat like a jumping meme.

“Besides, it would give me another approved place I can go besides the palace. And, it would let me work on something. We won’t tell my husband, of course. This will just be between us girls.”

I nodded enthusiastically. “Fine by me. I just want to know what the hell is going on.”

Ariel gave me a nod and a wink. “I’ll figure it out. I always do.”

For the first time since the money had shown up, I started to relax.