Joshua listened to his brother and the princess walk away from the classroom, then turned to his desk, deep in thought. Princess Larkspur would need to become a better actress. She wouldn’t make a very good queen if everything she thought appeared on her face. Then again, he was a sharper observer than most people. Still, it had been blatantly obvious why the princess was so interested in time travel. She practically bubbled over with enthusiasm. He had also noticed her determined gaze after he warned of the dangers.

He had debated telling Princess Larkspur how to find the Wright Particles. But he was curious about what she would do with the information he gave her.

Everyone knew about the dead princes. King Avi had been so excited when he announced the adoption of the three siblings. He was equally devastated when their research brought up their obituaries.

There was no doubt he cared about them. But Joshua had begun to suspect the king had a secret agenda for adopting the Bei siblings. He was awfully insistent on an heir he only really knew for a couple weeks.

He wasn’t sure what to make of the crown princess yet.

I wonder how far she’ll go for her brothers.

Lark followed Conan down the hallway. They all looked the same: soft white walls, purple trim, the occasional picture to break up the monotony. She wondered if it was for uniformity or to help unwanted intruders get lost.

The palace was huge, with a five-story main building and four-story east and west wings. They descended from the main building’s fourth-floor offices to meet Shamira in the grand lobby. The shiny marble floor stretched from the ornate front door to a grand, sweeping staircase leading to a second-floor balcony. A huge chandelier cast a soft glow over the whole area.

“Thanks for showing me around!” Lark said as she and Conan joined Shamira at the foot of the stairs.

Conan’s arm was still in a sling and his bruised eye was still discolored, but his head bandage was gone. Since they were all off duty, everyone wore casual clothes, which looked out of place in the opulent lobby.

“Of course,” Conan said.

“No problem.” Shamira grinned.

“I love your hair!” Lark almost reached out to touch Shamira’s head without thinking.

“Thank you.” Shamira tossed the end of her inside-out French braid over her shoulder. “I have younger sisters, and we play with each other’s hair all the time.”

“I’ve always been too lazy to do much more than throwing it in a bun or ponytail.” Lark reached up to her bunned dark tresses self-consciously.

“I’d be happy to teach you,” Shamira offered.

“I’d love that!”

They followed Conan through a door to the left of the lobby.

“This is the press room,” Conan said.

The room had about fifty chairs, all pointed toward a small stage at the back of the room. That wall was covered with a huge, colored version of the Kynaston family crest.

“This is where you’ll first be introduced to Lothar,” Shamira announced, sending Lark’s knees knocking.

She gulped, thinking about being the center of all that attention.

This is for Alex and Sterling. This is for Alex and Sterling.

Becoming crown princess of Lothar was in large part so she could have access to the knowledge and technology needed to save her brothers. Lark cringed inwardly. Even to her that sounded like a terribly selfish reason to lead a country. She vowed then and there to be the best leader she could be to make it up to her new home and friends.

It’ll be worth it. Just keep your eyes on the prize.

She enjoyed the tour, although they couldn’t even get through the whole palace, much less any of the grounds. After the press room, they entered the east wing. They ignored the top floors that were filled with empty guest rooms and instead explored the entertainment-dedicated ground floor. Lark oohed and aahed at the large, personal theater room large enough to seat one hundred and fifty people.

“Oh, this is going to be fun! I’ve got two thousand years of movies to catch up on!” Lark only half joked.

When she asked about the absence of staff, Conan explained most of the cleaning and mundane chores were done by robots. There were hired humans for the kitchen staff, stables, and driving. She was avoiding the kitchen until she was officially announced, and no one besides the Wysteria and Spur Corps were allowed in the west wing where the family rooms were located. She hadn’t been anywhere else besides the fourth floor for class and tests until today.

The giant ballroom and dining hall took up the second floor of the main building. Dark wood floors and molding complemented the ornate, jewel-toned decorations. Small chandeliers added to the sparkling, festive feel of the rooms.

Shamira bid farewell when they descended to the first floor again, citing a previous dinner engagement.

Lark followed Conan to the private dining hall next to the first floor kitchen, where they found Harold and Joshua waiting for them over a steaming dinner of roasted quail, seasonal vegetables, and some sort of pink pasta dish with a creamy, sky-blue sauce.

Lark’s mouth watered.

They dug in, casual conversation tossed around between bites. With Franklin’s funeral the next day, the discussion naturally turned to him.

“I’m sorry I can’t come to the service,” Lark said. Sometimes, having a secret existence could be a real problem.

“I set up cameras today so you can watch on your tablet,” Joshua said, nonchalantly spearing a piece of meat.

She looked up at him from her plate. That was part of his preparations? “Thank you,” she said, her heart warming. She wasn’t as close with Franklin as the Cynbels were, but she did remember him fondly. It meant a lot that she could still be part of his memorial service.

“And you can always visit his mausoleum after everyone is gone,” Harold said.

“Grandpa Franklin would probably complain about the statue being made for the front of the Science Department building,” Conan chuckled.

“True,” Joshua laughed. “He’d want the money going to experiments.”

Lark had to do a double take. This was Joshua. Distant, serious Joshua, actually laughing! He had never even cracked a smile in front of her before.

As the evening wore on, she was even more shocked as Joshua remained loose and talkative. She had never seen him this relaxed. She smiled softly, suddenly reminded of Alex. He too was very serious and stern when it came to anything but his family. Hmm. Maybe she had been too harsh in her judgement of Joshua.

Lark slowly opened her eyes the next morning. It felt nice not waking up to an alarm clock. But since there were going to be tons of strangers in the palace for Franklin’s memorial service, she had been instructed to stay in her suite of rooms. They were located on the west wing’s third floor and included a bedroom with walk-in closet, study, sitting room, small kitchenette, and several rooms that didn’t have a specific function.

She sat up on her king-size bed, careful not to disturb Snowy curled up on the pillow beside her. The cat had a cushion in the corner, but they were both happier at night when they slept curled up together.

Very little light peeked through the blackout curtains, but Lark could still see fine. There were perks to having enhanced vision. Still, she had been inside so much the last few days, she missed the sun. Pushing her silk sheets aside, she padded across the thick beige carpet to the window and threw the curtains open.

Sunshine flooded her spacious room, revealing a couple bookshelves, a large vanity dresser, and the doors to her bathroom and closet.

She took a couple minutes to admire the view from her room. Below her was a huge garden filled with sections of herbs, vegetables, vines, bushes, and flowers. Beyond that lay the hospital building she first woke up in. In the near distance, the palace grounds nestled into a heavily wooded mountain.

She’d been impressed while looking over a map of the expansive palace grounds. Whoever designed it knew how to outlast a siege. It was practically a tiny town in and of itself. It could be closed off from the world for years on end and still function fine.

There were people milling about in the garden, but she wasn’t worried about being seen. All her windows were tinted so no one could look inside. Apparently, you could adjust the amount of tint, allowing someone a glance inside if you wanted, but she had no intention of changing the windows to her private quarters.

Deciding to continue lounging in her pajamas, Lark grabbed her tablet and went through her bedroom door into the sitting room. All of her rooms but the bedroom connected out into the hallway, but they also had doors in the sides leading to another room. The same generic beige carpet, cream walls, and light purple trim continued through all the rooms, but she had been told she could change whatever and decorate any way she wanted. She was a little busy these days, but that was definitely going to happen when things slowed down. Right now, her rooms felt too much like the maze of hallways outside.

Her sitting room had a large sofa underneath another window looking out over the garden, a dark wood coffee table, and a couple chairs scattered around. She continued on through the study, with its desk, bookshelves, fireplace, and chairs into the kitchenette. There was a small countertop stove that, with a push of a button, you could add walls and a roof to, making it a tiny oven. A small but deep sink took up one corner, and a refrigerator sat next to an empty counter. Cupboards and drawers were full of utensils, place settings, and preserved foods.

After grabbing a bottle of juice from the fridge and a package of cookies from a cupboard, Lark made her way back to the sitting room sofa. She got comfortable and watched Franklin’s memorial service. There were lots of dignitaries crowded in the ballroom, only a couple of which Lark remembered from her lessons with Joshua. A small stage was set up on one side of the room, holding ornate bouquets of jewel-like arrangements, and a beautiful, golden urn sat in the middle. Hundreds of chairs faced the stage. The Cynbels sat next to Avi in the front row. Speeches were given honoring Franklin’s memory, anecdotes were shared praising his wisdom and genius, and many tears were shed.

Lark stretched and finally went to get dressed as people began slowly filing out. Snowy was still napping on the bed.

Now was the perfect time for her plan.

She opened the hallway door and peeked out. The guard on duty was someone she recognized from the rescue mission, but she couldn’t remember her name.

“Is everyone leaving?” Lark asked brightly.

“Yes, your highness.” The Spur Corps member nodded.

“Great. I need to run to the classroom real quick.” Lark started down the hall.

“But–”

“No one is allowed above the second floor,” Lark reassured her. “I’ll be quick.”

“I could get whatever it is you need,” the guard offered, keeping step with her.

“You can’t get in the room.”

The classroom had biometric locks only Joshua, Harold, Conan, and the royal family were programmed into. At first, Lark thought that seemed a little paranoid, but now it played in her favor.

Her bodyguard wasn’t happy, but she didn’t object anymore and simply followed Lark up a back staircase to the fourth floor.

“I’ll be as quick as I can,” Lark said, unlocking the classroom door and slipping inside.

After softly closing the door behind her, she went straight to Joshua’s desk. Notebooks and stacks of papers covered the edges of the desk, but those weren’t what she was looking for. Quickly glancing through the drawers, she began to worry Joshua hadn’t left his tablet here. After a fruitless search, she wanted to punch something. How was she supposed to look at the particle search program if she couldn’t get access to it?

She began to root through all the papers, hoping to find any information about time travel. Unfortunately, the parts she could understand seemed to be about history and etiquette. She placed her right hand on the glass desktop and leaned forward to put the handful of papers she currently had back. The desk lit up, and a revolving hologram of the Kynaston family crest hovered in front of her face. Startled, she succeeded in suppressing a yelp, but managed to trip over her own foot as she jerked back. She fell into Joshua’s chair and lost her grip on the papers, sending them flying every which way.

I forgot computers are in the desks now. She clutched at her chest for a moment, willing her heartbeat to slow down.

Then an automated voice made her jump. “Password needed to resume program.”

“Your highness?” Lark’s bodyguard called through the door. “Are you all right?”

“Ah, yes, um–” Lark leaped out of the chair, waving her hands wildly through the hologram–which of course did nothing. “Sorry, I just accidentally hit something.”

“Password needed to resume program,” said the desk again.

“Hush!” she hissed at the desk. “Off! Shut down!”

To her relief, the hologram disappeared, and the desk went back to being a desk.

Feeling guilty, Lark scowled as she tried to set things back the way they were before she went on her search rampage.

She grabbed a stack of books from her own desk so her bodyguard wouldn’t get too suspicious and trudged back to her rooms.