A Royal Engagement: The Young Royals Book 1 (29 page)

When I finally calmed down enough to form a coherent thought, I turned to Jeanette and asked the obvious question.

"How do I respond to this?"

"Before I can tell you that," she said carefully, "I need to know what happened."

"Nothing!" I cried, "Nothing happened.
 
He took liberties which I rebuked.
 
That photo shows him pinning me down and not letting me up even though I told him no and demanded he set me free." I looked helplessly at Benjamin.
 
"What can we do about this?"

"Do you want to press charges?" he asked and in his eyes I saw him say something different.
 
He would do what I asked, but he wanted his own brand of justice on Jordan.
 
I couldn't say I blamed him.

I sat down and took a breath to think about things logically.
 
This had to be another ploy of Jordan's.
 
I had shut him out since the incident and this was his warning to me.
 
He would not be denied.
 
If the palace was to come out and say that Jordan had acted inappropriately, Jordan would no doubt have his response already prepared.
 
There was enough evidence already in the media to show that we had been in a relationship and it would look like the palace was just trying to save face and use Jordan as a scape goat.
 
The last thing I needed was to give the public any reason to doubt me.
 
But if we didn't respond at all, people would make up there own minds.

"I should probably tell you about some information that I discovered yesterday about Jordan," I said and took a breath, "You know that he tried a similar thing with Lady Darkly, but there is more to the story.
 
Jordan has a gambling problem and I have reason to believe that he is the one Jacob was investigating."

Von Bartham and Benjamin exchanged a look.

"What does that have to do with this?" Benjamin asked carefully.

"I think Jordan wants my crown," I said simply, "I think he wants the treasury to bankroll his gambling and I think he wants the power that comes with marrying me.
 
This is how he thinks he can get it."

"By disgracing you in the media?" Jeanette asked, incredulous.

I shook my head, "It wouldn't be a disgrace if we were engaged to be married.
 
This is his way of forcing my hand.
 
If I turn him down now, I will ruin my chances to win the appeal."

Jeanette sat down with a plop onto a chair beside me.

"So what do you want us to do?" Benjamin growled.

"I want you to look into Mr Wicks.
 
I want you to dig up every little dirty secret he has.
 
Maybe start with where he got that blasted stallion from.
 
I also want you to see if you can link him or his father to the hunting accident."

The room got very quiet as they all thought on the implications of the bombshell I had just dropped.
 
Jordan was no longer playing games, he was in all out attack mode and I needed to know how deep his deception went.
 
Even if that meant finding out that he and his father had instigated the plan to kill my father and brother.
 
I had to take the blinders off and start seeing the world how it really was, warts and all.

"And in the meantime?"
 
Benjamin asked.

"I think I need to have a meeting with him.
 
If I can get him to state what it is he wants, maybe we have a better chance of nailing him.
 
He is guilty of something, I'm just not sure what that something is yet.
 
I intend to find out."

I shooed everyone out so that I could shower and dress.
 
I would spend some time in my brother's office going through every little thing I could find to see if there was any concrete evidence that I could level against Jordan.
 
I needed leverage, something to give me the upper hand.
 
I just prayed that Jacob had left something for me to find.

Chapter Twenty

I buried myself in Jacob's office.
 
I systematically went through every drawer, every cupboard, every hidey-hole I could find.
 
I skimmed every piece of paper for clues, I crawled under the desk to check for secret compartments and I checked the drawers again, this time for false bottoms.
 
I pulled every book off his book shelf to check behind them for a hidden safe or false back or a big arrow that would point me to something he wanted me to find.
 
Where was the big 'x' to mark the spot?

I took my time putting the books back.
 
Jacob had loved books, he collected them.
 
Many of his personal collection were first editions and some were not even in print anymore.
 
Whenever I walked past a used book store, I would always flick through the hardcovers looking for titles that he didn't have.
 
It became a big of a game between us.
 
He would send me cryptic clues about a book he was looking for and I would try and find it for him.

He was a big Hardy Boys fan and had painstakingly collected the entire series.
 
I flicked through them, breathing in the musky smell of old paper and ink.
 
I missed my brother in so many ways and being surrounded by his most loved treasures bought it into stark relief.

My laptop dinged with an incoming message and I put down the book I was holding and stood.
 
I looked around and stared at the office, I had made an awful mess.
 
It looked like it had been ransacked again, which I suppose, it had been.
 
I sighed and flopped down in the chair behind the desk, tapping the the keyboard to wake it up.

I clicked on the new email notification and smiled as the email opened.
 
It was from Will and it gave me a warm fuzzy feeling to see his reply.
 
It also made me nervous about what he might say to my late night declarations.

My very dear Lys,

There are so many things that I wished I had done differently and I feared that we may never get past those first few halting steps.

I don't know if you realise this, but the reason I was so dreadful to you when we were younger was because I had a boyhood crush on you and I didn't know how to deal with it.
 
You were my best friend's little sister who followed us around like a bad smell, but I liked that you did and was too cowardly to acknowledge it.
 
I'm blushing as I write this, but I agree that there are so many unsaid things between us and I have a deep desire to bare my heart to you in the hopes that we can start again, on the right foot this time.

I like you too, Lys, so very much.
 
I can't stop thinking about those few moments we shared that night.
 
I hope that is not too forward to say.
 
I regret leaving the way I did and letting Jordan get to me.
 
I should have stayed and fought for you.

I hate knowing that Jordan has hurt you and that I am not there to protect you.
 
I know that you are surrounded by men and women trained to protect your person, but I wish I was there to protect your heart, to tell you that everything will be okay.
 
Know that, even though I am not there in person, my heart is with you always.

My business is almost concluded and I will be returning to Merveille in the next day or two.
 
I would really like to ask you out on a date...how does one ask the next Queen of Merveille on a date?
 
If you are amenable to the idea of us...going out?
 
Dating? Then I'm sure we will be able to make the necessary arrangements to satisfy Benjamin's safety concerns.
 
If not, then maybe we can be friends at the very least.

As I sit here and think about the past, about my childhood spent with Jacob and with you, I am reminded of the very large tree that we would play in.
 
I believe your brother demanded a treehouse be built in the tree and I remember so many wonderful times climbing and playing in that tree.
 
Is it still there?
 
Is the treehouse still standing?
 
Maybe we could investigate it together when I return.

With love,

Will

Oh.
 
He likes me.
 
HE LIKES ME!
 
My face split in a grin and I clasped my hands to my chest feeling like a giddy school girl.
 
I hadn't realised how much I had been hoping that he returned my feelings and seeing them there in black and white was such a relief to me.
 
I spun the chair in a circle and smiled like an idiot as I day dreamed about his return.

And then I remembered the photo in the paper.
 
I didn't know if the photo would go international, but what if Will saw it?
 
I had to let him know about it, let him know the circumstances of the photograph.
 
I turned back to my laptop and hit reply.

There was a tap on my door and I looked up to see Meredith standing there with a perplexed look on her face.

"What happened in here?" she asked.

I blinked up at her and then took in the room realising what it must look like.

"Oh, that was me, I thought I should do another search of the office to see if I could find a clue that could help us."

She stepped into the room and picked up a red covered book, turning it over in her hands.

"Wow, this looks really old."

I stood and walked over to her, taking the book from her and reading the cover.

"The Magic Faraway Tree," I read and smiled.
 
"This was one of our favourite books when we were kids.
 
Our nanny used to read it to us every night."
 
I flicked the cover open and checked the editor's plate.
 
"Look," I said pointing to the type, "It's a first edition."
 
I turned another page and stopped short.
 
There was a hole cut out in the middle of the pages and sitting in the hole was an old fashioned iron key.
 
I dug it out and held it up so Meredith could see, "What's this?"

She took it from me and turned it over in her hands, "It's not for any door here in the palace," she said, "All the locks have been updated to key codes or biometrics."

I took the key back from her and examined it.
 
It was old with a large scrolled top.
 
It seemed familiar to me, but I couldn't place it.
 
I slipped it into the pocket of my pants to look at later.

"So, did you come in here for something in particular or just checking up on me?"

"Oh, right," Meredith said, shaking her head, "Benjamin wants to see you in your new suites.
 
They need your fingerprints and retina scan for the security in the room."

I took one more look around the room and shrugged, "Okay, I suppose now is as good a time as any.
 
I'll clean this up when I get back."

I spent an hour with Benjamin setting up the security in my new suite.
 
The rooms looked so different to how my father had decorated them.
 
Gone were the dark wood paneling and navy blue wall and window coverings and in their place were white and beige and the odd pop of pale pink and blue.
 
The rooms that had been oppressive and heavy before, now felt light and airy.
 
Gauzy curtains hung in place of heavy velvet and the carpets underfoot had been stripped back to reveal pale wood which had been refinished and shone with a high gloss.
 
Textured and patterned rugs gave the rooms interest and the art on the walls were from a local artist who specialised in watercolour landscapes.

I had worried that the rooms would always remind me of my father and that the grief would be too much to bear, but the transformation was so complete that there were no lingering ghosts to haunt me.

"You should be right to sleep in here tonight," Benjamin said as he tapped away on his tablet, "The decorators have finished, all the security is in place.
 
I'm sure your maids can organise to move your clothes and other personal effects in today."
 
He looked up at me.
 
"How does that sound?"

I walked around the living area and ran my hand over the plush sofa.
 
The room felt good, like a new beginning.
 
I turned and smiled at Benjamin.

"That sounds great," I replied.

Meredith, who had been standing nearby nodded and made a note on her tablet to alert the maids to the move.
 
I wandered over to one of the casement windows and looked out over the grounds.
 
This wing of the Palace had a different view than the suite I had grown up in and it overlooked the gardens and maze.
 
On the edge of the rolling lawn I spied the tree that Will had spoken about in his email and I smiled.