Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Margot
If this is the palace’s attempt to impress me by introducing me to the glitzy, glamorous side of royalty…
I have to say, it’s working. I glance around the palace’s garden, taking in everything: men in dark tuxedos, women in light-colored ballgowns, servants swooping by the guests with silver platters full of champagne.
Everything else is a bright, vibrant green that speaks of how many hours the palace gardeners put into their upkeep.
The high hedges in the distance are immaculately maintained.
The sun is just beginning to set and a million little fairy lights twinkle from where they have been hidden amongst the leaves.
As I move around, the topiaries and fountains sprinkled here and there hide and reveal different groups of people.
I produce my notepad out of the secret pocket of my dress, jotting a few notes to myself.
At least three hundred people here that I can see; I wonder how many more are walking around, ducking behind the hedges, out of my line of sight.
I pause, my pen poised. Then I sigh and put my notepad away.
Ever-present, rising high in the background, is the palace. The tan brick facades and squat dark roofs look austere in comparison to the lively party fanning out in the palace’s wake.
I feel more than a little out of place, even though I’m in a rented ballgown just the color of my hair. Feeling like a huge piece of salt-water taffy, I look down at my carefully beaded taffeta gown. I stand out from the crowd. Normally that’s a good thing, but here…
Here I feel like even more of an outsider than usual.
A young woman in servant dress comes up to me with a tray of drinks, smiling a bit. “Champagne?”
“Ja, thanks.” I pick up a flute off of the tray. The servant smiles and swishes off to the next group of people she sees. I sip the wine, wrinkling my nose at the tiny bubbles that burst on my tongue. It tastes awfully sweet.
I look around for a friendly face. Someone to talk to. Pippa assured me that she would be here, but as I sweep my gaze around the hedges and fountains, she’s nowhere to be seen.
I do see someone I know, though. My mouth turns down at the corners. Standing on the far side of the party, chatting to a bunch of other guests in tuxes and ballgowns, is Anna. She glances my way and shoots me a wry grin.
Oh god. I have to move. Whirling away before she gets the idea to come over and bother me, I look around, lost. A large group of people catches my eye. I stalk toward them, spying a lovely statue of what appears to be a nymph playing a lyre.
As soon as I get close, I see Stellan standing apart from the large group, a slight frown on his handsome face. As I approach, he loosens his bowtie and pulls it off, stuffing it in his black tuxedo pocket. When he notices me, he smirks.
Something about that light blue gaze of his makes me blush and squirm. I hesitate.
Should I keep going? Or should I pretend that I didn’t see him and just go somewhere else? Before I can make up my mind, he makes it up for me.
“Margot!” he calls. “Come here.”
Making a face, I sigh and continue walking until I’m about two feet away. Then I stop; this is close enough. If I get closer, he might think that I am inviting his attentions again.
And I’m definitely not.
…right?
No, definitely not.
He gestures to the garden around us. “Welcome to our little soiree.”
I chew on my lower lip and scan the garden. “Shouldn’t you be talking to… well… everyone? I’m sure that almost everybody here wants some alone time with the heir to the throne.”
He looks over to the big group, then shrugs. “They do. And I’ve given them what they wanted for the past hour. Now it’s time for me to do what I want.” He tilts his head. “Do you want to go on an adventure?”
I step closer, looking at him with a mixture of curiosity and skepticism. “I thought I was supposed to be here, swooning over how glamorous this whole party is?”
Stellan grins, sweeping his gaze over the garden area. “Are you impressed by this little get together? This is just a regular Thursday night.”
My lips curl up at the corners. “Even if that’s true, I’m not exactly dressed for an adventure.”
He arches a brow, his gaze wandering down to my dress. He gives me a knowing smirk. “We’ll be all right.” He jerks his head toward the tall hedges. “Come.”
I huff out a laugh as he turns away toward the maze. He just expects me to follow him. Then again, if I were born into royalty, wouldn’t I expect the same?
I trail after him, picking up my pace when he disappears behind a tall hedge. Grabbing my dress, I jog after Stellan as best I can. As soon as I turn the corner, I stumble right into him.
My hands land on his hard abs. My eyes widen. I look up at him, my breath constricting. From this close, his ice blue eyes crackle. He bites his bottom lip, smirking a little as he grabs my upper arms to steady me.
“Careful,” he says, righting me. “We wouldn’t want a repeat of yesterday, would we?”
My brow wrinkles. I take step back, shaking my head. “What, when you randomly kissed me out of the blue? I had nothing to do with that, honestly.”
He smiles ruefully. “You didn’t exactly resist though, did you?”
I take a step back, smoothing my hands down the length of my dress.
“I don’t understand what’s happening here.
You have been cold and distant to me since I got here.
Now you have done a complete one eighty and you want to talk about how we kissed yesterday?
” I fold my arms across my chest. “You have to stop. You’re giving me whiplash. ”
He turns away quickly, before I can see his expression. “I’m not trying to, Margot. Honestly.” He starts moving away, deeper into the maze formed by the hedges. He glances back, but doesn’t quite stop. “Are you coming?”
I swallow, then start after him. On my short legs, catching up to him actually proves quite a challenge. When I finally pull even with him, I glance up into his face. “Can I ask you some questions for my article?”
Stellan’s lips thin. “Must you?”
My lips quirk. “Yes.”
He slides me a look, slowing his pace. “All right.”
I pull out my notepad, flipping through a couple of pages until I find the list of questions I came up with while I was doing research. Skimming the list, I choose a light topic to start.
“Your mother and father seem to be fairly busy people. Obviously.” I blush. “What I mean to ask is, who did you grow up around while they were running the country?”
He frowns. “I had a whole swarm of educators and caretakers. And my grandmother was around, making a lot of the day to day decisions regarding my care. She still is, actually. Just yesterday she was here, pressing me about my private life.” His lips lift at the corners.
“She’s bossy, but I don’t mind. I think I inherited that from her. ”
I scrunch my face up. “That still sounds kind of lonely. Didn’t you go to school?”
He sighs. “No. I was tutored privately. But once Erik was around, I never wanted for a friend.”
My lips curl. “Yes, I can see that. You two are inseparable.”
He stops, turning to face me. “What about you? Tell me about your childhood living in the Big Apple. Or… did you move to New York later in life?”
I give him an annoyed look. “We made it through one question about you. One. How am I supposed to write this article if you won’t cooperate?”
He shrugs a shoulder. “You’re not supposed to bore me to death, I’m pretty sure.
My whole life has been documented. Photos were taken to mark each little milestone of my life.
It’s a part of the public record.” He gives me a hard look.
“I’m just trying to keep things interesting.
I regurgitate sound bites about my life.
You give me some of your story in return. ”
“What if I said that I wasn’t interested in the same sound bites that you’ve been giving for your entire life?” I cock my head, challenging him. “I want the truth. Besides, if I write anything that is too sensitive, it will no doubt be caught by the press office.”
A genuine smile plays across his mouth. “Fair enough. What I need to know is, will you be as honest in your answers as you are encouraging me to be?”
I roll my eyes. “Of course. I have nothing worth hiding.”
A wrinkle of concern appears on his forehead. “So you say.”
“Yes. So, to summarize: if I answer your questions, you’ll answer mine.”
He examines me for a moment, his eyes searching my face. “It’s a deal.”
Stellan holds out his hand. And I take it, shaking it firmly.
“Stellan!” a woman calls from the other side of the hedge. “Stellan, come tell everyone about your trip to Okinawa!”
He lets go of my hand and shakes his head. “I don’t even know who that is.” His lips curl down into a frown. “Tomorrow, we’ll go somewhere private and try to get most of your questions out of the way.”
My eyebrows lift. “Okay…”
But he’s heading away, already turning around a corner in the hedge maze. I frown after him. What am I supposed to make of our agreement? I have absolutely no idea.
But I do know that this is entirely new territory for me. I’m in a foreign land, at a freaking palace, trying to puzzle out a tall, dark, handsome enigma.
Nothing is familiar here, not anymore.
My office mandated cell phone buzzes in my pocket. It’s a brand new iPhone, so new that I haven’t even taken the plastic film off the screen yet. I slip it out of my pocket, frowning at the unknown number.
INTERNATIONAL NUMBER is splashed across the screen.
That could be anyone. An old colleague. A friend from New York. Or it could be a member of the American press. I haven’t given anyone this number yet, but that doesn’t mean anything in this day and age.
I let it go to voicemail, biting my lower lip. Then as soon as I get a notification of a new voice message, I press play and put it to my ear. I’m only half listening as I turn and head back to the party.
Mostly, I’m really hoping that Pippa is around. I spent an hour and a half getting myself ready for this event… I’d hate to just go back to the party and skulk around, wasting all my efforts.
When the voice mail finally plays, I almost drop my phone in surprise.
“Hi. It’s your mother calling.” There is a sound on the line, like the crinkling of a bag of potato chips.
“I just found out that not only did you move out of the state, you frigging moved all the way across the ocean. I thought you said the last time we talked that we were going to keep in better touch with each other. Guess that doesn’t matter to you though, does it? ”
I break into a sweat. My mom always makes me so nervous. Even though I’m well past the age of having to worry about when and if she would ever show her face at home… it’s hard to overcome a lifetime of that.
“Anyway,” she continues. “Your little friend called me. What’s her name? Abby? No… Something with an A. She said she had a lot of questions about you.”
I pale. About me? An uneasy feeling slithers through my gut.
“I said I’d have to talk to you first.” Mom smacks her lips. “I think you and me should talk, baby girl. Give me a call back quick, else I think I’m going to have to talk to that nice lady.” She hangs up.
As I lower the phone, I realize that my hands are shaking. I haven’t actually heard from my mom in almost a year. The last time we talked, she hit me up for money. Again.
And now some idiot reporter has unearthed her somehow?
Pippa’s face appears around the corner of the hedge maze. “Hey! I have looked everywhere for you. Come on, there are people that I want you to meet.”
Scrunching my face up, I nod. “Okay…”
I head back toward the party, but my mother looms large in the back of my mind, a specter of ill omens.