Roza had to admit, her new security chief was efficient and single-minded. Despite all the media that had swarmed all over the hospital, she had an easy escape thanks to Major Ravn. Roza had been taken from the building in an armoured car without the press even knowing she had gone.
Her previous team would have followed meekly as Thea led Roza through the clamouring crowds. Thea’d enjoyed the attention Roza’s position gave her. Before she had met Thea, Roza already had her security eating out of her hand, but then Thea stepped in and they followed her lead. They had been seduced by the glamorous lifestyle alongside Thea’s hired bodyguards. But as Roza looked across the state car to the upright and professional Major Ravn, she knew that would never happen with her.
Major Ravn had a strong, steady gaze that appeared incorruptible, and a physique that looked as if she could rip your arm off and beat you with it—and of course that thick gold wedding band on her ring finger.
Gussy had been right. As much as she liked to use her looks to gain an advantage, and as flirtatious as she was, she would never try it with someone who was married. She wasn’t that sort of a person.
Roza sighed. What a shame—she would have had such fun with Major Ravn. She was just her type, an experienced older woman. Just like Thea.
She looked down at the ring Thea had given her, which she still hadn’t taken off. In some deep part of her soul, Thea still had a hold on her, and she wasn’t strong enough to let go, yet. “Ravn? How long till we get back to my apartment?”
“About fifteen minutes, ma’am.”
Roza felt the need to talk, and despite the fact that conversation probably wasn’t her strong suit, Major Ravn would have to do. “Major Ravn—you’re married?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
One-word answers. Great.
“My brother says you have two little children too.”
Ravn looked at her with a hint of suspicion. Prince Augustus had obviously briefed the major on Roza’s penchant for gaining leverage through personal friendships with her staff.
“Don’t worry, Major. I know what my brother probably told you about me, but believe me, I’m only interested to get to know you since we’re going to be together a great deal.”
Ravn hesitated, then said, “Yes, they are ten and five.”
“That’s nice. Are they going to visit you a lot when we go to the UK?”
“My wife and children are coming with me. I’ve rented a house in London for them. I couldn’t be without my family.”
“Wow. Your wife’s very lucky to have you.”
Major Ravn took off her sunglasses and put them in her top suit pocket, before making her position clear in the nicest possible way. “I’m the lucky one. My wife and children are everything to me and there’s nothing in this world that could change that, ma’am.”
Roza’s heart sank. Everyone had such a low opinion of her, and that made her feel sad. No one really knew who she was, not even her brother any more.
She plastered on a smile and said, “That’s nice. You sound like a really loyal person, Major.”
“I am, both personally and professionally. I can assure you that you will be well protected. No one will get through me.”
“Great.” Roza sighed, leaned her head against the car window, and stared out at the passing scenery. Denbourg’s ancient capital of Battendorf was alive with people going to and from work, laughing and having fun, or shopping together. Tears started to roll down her cheeks. They are free.
Freedom was something she would never have, especially after her recent transgressions. This state car might as well be a prison van taking her to her punishment.
Cressida being replaced as lady-in-waiting was the last straw.
They might be keeping me under lock and key, but I’m going to make as much noise as I can, and you’re going to hear it, Father.
*
Timmy’s was a hive of activity after Lex’s earlier call from the Consort. She had passed responsibility for the preparations over to her PA Conrad so that she could continue with real work.
When Lex had first told Conrad that the princess would be joining them, he literally let out a squeal and then jumped into action, organizing teams of cleaners to scour the building with a fine-tooth comb and make every conceivable preparation. Since then word and gossip had spread like wildfire and the whole staff was buzzing with excitement.
They didn’t have to babysit her though, did they. Lex pushed up from her desk with a sense of resignation, walked over to her office fridge, and pulled out one of her protein and vitamin drinks.
As she took a sip, her computer signalled a call.
“Answer.”
“Lex, it’s Mel from PR. I think we need a meeting about Princess Rozala.”
Bloody hell. I’m sick of the girl and she’s not even here yet.
“Why would that concern PR? The palace wishes this to be a useful exercise, not a publicity stunt.”
“Oh, come on, Lex. Bea knows this is going to be huge in the press, no matter what happens, and we have to handle it.”
Lex strode back to her desk and glowered at Mel on the screen. “That would be the Queen Consort to you, Mel.”
She always tried to discourage any sense of overfamiliarity between the Timmy’s staff and Beatrice. She might have once been their colleague, but now their positions had changed and despite the fact that Bea herself was very easy-going about it, the staff had to remember that they were dealing with Queen Georgina’s wife, not their colleague.
Mel looked annoyed. Lex had noticed that her head of PR wasn’t as pleased as the rest of the staff were about Bea’s advantageous marriage. She had been told the two had been like chalk and cheese when they worked together, and it showed.
“Of course. The Consort would be well aware of the press interest and would expect us to use it for Timmy’s benefit.”
“I don’t want it used or hyped up any more than it needs to be, Mel. Prepare a report for me on the likely media intrusion and any recommendations you have. That’s all.”
“But—”
Lex ended the call before she could say anything else. “This place is going nuts.”
She immediately got back to work on the budgets for the overseas Timmy’s medical centres. Only there in the numbers would she find calm in this sea of royal excitement.
A knock on the door was followed by Conrad popping his head in her office. “Lex?”
“Yes?” She was beginning to lose patience with all the interruptions she had been having ever since Bea had called.
“The tech people are here.”
Conrad said it as if she would automatically know what he was talking about.
“What for?”
“To install Princess Rozala’s desk and computer facilities.” He opened the office doors wide and a large group of technicians came in carrying a desk and other equipment.
This was just too much for Lex. She leapt up and said in a menacing voice, “Oh no, her desk is not coming in here. There are plenty of desk cubicles out in the open office.”
Conrad gulped audibly. Lex was a popular boss and well liked, but everyone knew that she had little tolerance for anything that disrupted or slowed down productivity.
“I got orders from Denbourg security, Lex. I emailed you the instructions they sent. They insist that she is situated in a closed office, and in close proximity to you.”
Lex could feel the stress and pressure building up inside her. She was losing control of her surroundings and her job and she didn’t like it. The banging of the tech guys fitting the desk together didn’t help. She took a few deep breaths and tried to calm herself.
Just as her stress started to calm, another call came through—this time from security.
“What?” Lex snapped.
“Lex, we need to have a meeting about the security arrangements for the princess’s arrival. A Major Ravn has been in touch and—”
She was going to blow if she didn’t get away from what was rapidly turning into a circus. “Conrad will give you a time this afternoon.”
Lex shut off her computer and marched out of her office, which now seemed to have an open door policy, and growled in Conrad’s direction, “I’m going upstairs for a while. Make an appointment for me with security for later in the afternoon.” Conrad knew when she said she was going upstairs, that she needed some time alone.
“Yes, Lex.”
Lex got on the lift and pressed the button for the top service floor. The lift doors opened and she walked through a pair of fire doors out into a hidden oasis on the top floor of the office building, the roof garden.
The little garden featured a small variety of well-landscaped shrubs, plants, and flowers, plus benches and the calming sound of running water from the water feature. The roof was her sanctuary when she needed to breathe, and get out of the high-pressured office environment.
Lex walked over to the steel and Perspex railing that surrounded the roof area and looked out over the London skyline, and let out a long breath.
She closed her eyes and concentrated on the sounds around her and her breathing. Serenity wasn’t Lex’s natural state. She was impulsive and didn’t deal with stress well, but these flaws in her character were something she was well-practised in attempting to keep under control.
Lex looked down at the tattooed date on her wrist under her watch and felt the fear of losing that control. Losing control had taken her down a dark road before and she never, ever wanted to go there again. She couldn’t shake the feeling she was on the verge of a storm that was brewing, but Lex promised herself that she would use every tool she had to ride out whatever was coming her way.
*
The Denbourg royal plane was coming in to land at Heathrow. Roza caught her new lady-in-waiting, Lady Linton, gazing at her and said, “Is there something I can help you with? You keep gawking at me like I’m some exotic animal at the zoo.”
Despite the sharpness of her tone, Lady Linton—Perri, as she had instructed everyone to call her—smiled and said, “Forgive me, ma’am, but you look so much like your mother. She was my best friend and I haven’t seen you since you were a baby. It’s a surprise to see so much of her in you.”
Roza shifted uncomfortably in her seat. There it was again, that feeling of inadequacy. Everyone who had known her mother saw a facsimile of Queen Maria, but were then disappointed in Roza’s character.
She had felt her new lady-in-waiting’s eyes on her quite a few times since they had met last night, and it was beginning to annoy her. Lady Linton was an elegantly put together older lady, who had fashionably let her hair go silvery grey but looked remarkably young for her age.
The flight from Denbourg’s capital to London was fast, but Roza’s anger and resentment seemed to grow with every second of the journey. She was being sent into exile by her family, the ones who were supposed to love her the most, and stripped of all her friends.
Her bad mood wasn’t helped by Perri. They had already come into conflict that morning when she had laid out a rather sober looking outfit for traveling in. Roza completely ignored her advice and wore the shortest minidress she had, short enough that eyes, as well as the flashes of photographers, followed her all the way through Battendorf airport.
At the time, she had gotten satisfaction from the thought of her father seeing the pictures on the newspaper sites he read over breakfast, but now she just felt empty and a little silly in a dress more suitable for clubbing than meeting with her cousins.
Major Ravn and her team started to take their places by the exit as the plane taxied into the royal terminal.
Roza stood up and got her handbag from the overhead locker, her resentment growing arms and legs. She looked down at Perri and said, “I’m sure I’m a great disappointment to you, Perri. No one can compare to the perfect Queen Maria, can they?”
She walked towards the plane doors without looking back, and felt shame at what she’d just said. Shame that she resented the woman who’d given her life to give Roza hers. As usual she gulped down the bad feelings and put a fake smile on her face as she walked down the stairs. Ravn and her second in command, Johann, waited at the bottom while the others lined the red carpet up to the terminal.
Years of training kicked in, and Roza politely shook hands with the airport reception committee.
As she walked up the red carpet she spotted Prince Theo waiting for her. Roza hurried the last few steps and threw her arms around one of her favourite cousins.
“Theo! I’m so happy to see you.”
Prince Theo spun her round in a circle and gave her a kiss. “Roza, did you forget to put on part of your dress?”
Roza laughed. “Oh, this is just to annoy Father. How are you, big cousin?”
“I’m very well. All the better, now you’re here.”
She placed her hands on his cheeks and was serious for a moment. “Are you really okay? All recovered?”
A little under a year ago there had been an assassination attempt on Theo and his sister, and Theo got the worst of it.
Theo smiled and took hold of her arms. “I’m quite well. I get enough fussing over me by Georgie, Bea, and Mama, without you as well. Come on, let’s get going.”
Roza and Theo were escorted to their waiting car. Major Ravn held the door open and closed it once they were in.
“Your Major Ravn looks quite scary, Roza. I don’t think anyone would dare try to go through her to you,” Theo joked.
“Yes, she is a little serious. I think she saves up her smiles for her private life. So? Where to first?”
“We’re going for tea with Bea, Granny, and Mama at Buck house—Georgie has a full day of engagements unfortunately.”
“I’ll need to go and get changed first, Theo. I can’t meet them dressed like this.” Roza could almost feel Perri say, I told you so, and it aggravated her.
“Don’t worry. We’ve got time. I’m to take you to your apartments first. Georgie has organized for you to stay next to me in St James’s Palace.”
“Wonderful! We can get up to all sorts of mischief.”
Roza laid her head against his shoulder. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to see out her exile here in Britain. It would be nice to be back with the Buckingham side of the family. They were a real family, unlike her own, and she instantly started to relax. “What club are you taking me to tonight then?” George, Bea, and her aunt might be domestic, but cousin Theo was a kindred spirit and could always be relied upon to organize a wild night out.
Theo sighed. “Unfortunately I can’t take you out tonight. I have a full day of engagements tomorrow.”
Roza sat up and looked at him pointedly. “Since when do you take on so many royal engagements, and when do you not want to go out to a club?”
“Since I realized it was time to grow up,” Theo said seriously.
“Theo, you can still have fun—”
“Roza, I nearly died last year, and even worse, someone tried to kill my sister, all because Julian…”
Roza saw the haunted look in his eyes when he mentioned his treacherous cousin’s name. She took his hand in support.
He continued. “All because someone in my family didn’t know their place, and their responsibilities to the head of our family. When I was lying in hospital, I promised myself that if I recovered, I would throw myself into royal responsibilities and support George and Bea as best I could.”
Roza smiled and gave him a kiss on his cheek. “I can’t fault you for that, Theo.”
Somewhere deep inside, Theo’s heartfelt declaration chimed with her. Was that what she should be doing? Then she pictured the disappointment on her father’s face yesterday, and her defiant anger returned.
“Don’t worry, big cousin.” Roza grinned gleefully. “I’ll have enough fun for both of us.”
“I don’t doubt it.” Theo laughed.