“You already are,” he said, patting my backside. “Now let’s get going.”
I followed him into the hallway just as the door to my parents’ suite opened. Papa eyed Axel and me suspiciously but then turned to me. “Your mother isn’t feeling well. I think she worked a little too hard at the inn today. We’re going to have dinner in our room. Give our regards to the princess.”
“Is she okay?” I asked quickly. “Does she need anything?”
“No, I think she’s just overtired. We’ll see you in the morning.”
“Axel, give me a minute.” I nodded at him and pushed past my father. “Mama, what is it?” I walked into their suite and found my mother wrapped in a silky robe, wearing a pair of high heels, with a glass of champagne in her hand.
“Solange.” She smiled. “Your father and I are having a romantic evening… We don’t have champagne very often. Honestly, don’t be such a mother hen. It’s no wonder you’re still single.”
I shook my head and spun on my heel, slipping out of the room and past my father, calling over my shoulder, “Make sure you take care of her, Papa.”
He gave me a dour look and I just laughed.
“Your mom okay?” Axel asked as we walked.
“Oh, yes. Apparently, they’re spending a romantic evening together.”
“Like I said, everyone canoodles around here. Something in the air, I think.”
“It’s a palace,” I said, waving one arm. “I mean, look at it… Gold and marble and crystal. It screams of romance and sex.”
He shrugged. “I guess. Not really my thing.”
“Romance isn’t your thing?”
“No, but even if it was, I don’t see this place as romantic. I guess to me it represents power and greed. Not the king’s, but all the people who want something from him. People have been trying to kill him since before he took power and I find it baffling that there are people out there trying to eliminate the only person who truly gives a shit about Limaj.”
“So to you, the palace represents the evil in our country, instead of the wonderful history of the family who built it?”
He smiled. “Erik is your king, but he’s my friend. To be a Royal Protector, you have to be willing to die for the royal family, and I wouldn’t do that for any amount of money. I do it for the man, because I respect him as a person and what he’s trying to do for the people.”
“But did you know him when he first hired you?”
“I didn’t. I also was nothing but a garden variety bodyguard then. I became a Royal Protector after we moved to Limaj permanently. And by then, I understood what it meant and what I was signing up for.”
“The Royal Protectors have quite the reputation,” I said thoughtfully. “When King Anwar was in power, they were more like assassins, men to be feared. But historically, they were the most noble, the bravest, handsomest, men to be revered.”
“Sounds like you’re describing the three musketeers,” he said with a faint smile.
“In the stories I grew up with, the Royal Protectors are like a cross between the musketeers and James Bond, so you’re a bit of a rock star here in Limaj.”
He laughed, long and deep, shaking his head. “That is so far from the truth, sweetheart.”
“You took an oath to serve the royal family, with your life. That’s pretty badass.”
“Badass, yes. Rock star? No.”
We walked into what appeared to be a private dining room and Xander immediately lifted a hand, waving. Princess Elen was next to him, smiling, and for a moment I was blinded. She was beautiful, wearing a pretty blue summer dress that showed off her baby bump and matched her eyes.
“Hi, I’m Elen.”
“Your Highness, I’m so honored to meet you.” I inclined my head.
“Please, call me Elen. You called my husband in the middle of the night looking for help, so I feel like we’re already friends. Come, have you met everyone?” She led me around the room.
Natalia came in with a Royal Protector I hadn’t seen before and he was introduced as Jonas Germano. Prince Daniil, another Royal Protector named Marcus, and a man named Ace and his fiancée, Shannon, rounded out the group. I was having trouble keeping up, but as we settled around the table, I felt right at home.
“So what do you think of the inn?” Elen was asking me.
“It’s lovely,” I said, hoping there was sincerity in my voice.
“You don’t have to bullshit these people,” Axel said quietly. He was sitting to my right and gave me a little nudge under the table with his thigh.
“You didn’t like the inn?” Xander looked surprised.
“It’s not the inn itself,” I said cautiously. I trusted Axel but we still owed the royal family everything and I didn’t want to seem ungrateful. “Of course, the physical building is beautiful and the original architecture is stunning. The history itself is fantastic, but running a bed and breakfast, a café, all of that… That’s not, well, it’s not… I’m more into computers and such.”
Xander arched a brow. “Really? In what capacity?”
I shook my head. “Don’t get me wrong, my family is eternally grateful that the royal family is affording us the opportunity to make a living after the café burned. It’s just me that’s a little disenchanted. That’s all. I’m sure once it’s up and running, it’ll be lovely.”
“Have you gone to university, Solange?” Elen asked.
I shook my head sadly. “We couldn’t afford for me to come here to Hiskale. Everything I know about computers, coding and such, I taught myself.”
“Why didn’t I know this?” Axel murmured under his breath.
“Perhaps we could find you a job at the new school,” Elen said thoughtfully. “We need someone to set up the computer system. Jonas is handling most of it but it cuts into his Royal Protector duties. Maybe you could spend a little time with him and—”
“I’m sorry.” I spoke quickly, though it killed me to interrupt. “You’re so very kind and it sounds wonderful, but my parents can’t run a bed and breakfast on their own. They need me. I couldn’t possibly leave them to do it alone.”
Elen chuckled. “It’s going to be weeks before the inn is ready for customers, and Erik has hired a construction crew to handle the work. All your parents have to do is supervise. You’ll have plenty of time to show Jonas what you can do and, frankly, it would be a relief to have someone devoted to the school and not pulled in twenty different directions.”
“Can’t you just hire someone local?” I asked. “I’m sure there are skilled people who’d love the job?”
“We could, but finding people we trust takes time.”
“You don’t know anything about me,” I protested. “How can you trust me?”
Xander chuckled. “We dug up everything there was to learn about you and your family within a few hours of when you called me. You don’t think we sent the king up there without checking you out first?”
I flushed. It had never occurred to me they would do some kind of background search. Was I naïve or what?