Chapter 7
CHAPTER 7
ELENA
E lena frowned as she whipped her robe around her shoulders and yanked the tie tight around her waist. Next to her, Caroline wrung her hands as she shifted her gaze between Elena and her visitor.
“What are you doing here, Isabelle?”
“Well, hello to you, too, Elena.” Isabelle crossed her arms as she cocked a hip.
“I’m being serious. What trouble are you here to cause?”
“None,” her cousin answered. “I’m here to help.”
A laugh escaped Elena’s lips, and she slapped a hand against her thigh.
Isabelle’s features melted into an unimpressed stare. “I am not joking.”
Elena’s chuckled died down, and she sucked in a breath as she sobered. “All right. Then, again, I ask, why are you here?”
“For once, we have a common enemy. ”
“You?” Elena asked, crossing her arms.
Isabelle clicked her tongue. “Honestly, Elena, you make me wish that I hadn’t come.”
“Why did you?” Elena asked, her hands falling to her hips. “I still cannot understand, Isabelle. There is no love lost between us.”
Isabelle glanced to her feet. “You’re right. We have been at odds for most of our lives, though not for the reasons you think.”
“Oh?” Elena asked. “Are you not jealous, then?”
“Of you? Yes. Of your crown? No.”
Elena fluttered her eyelashes. For as long as she could remember, her cousin had done anything she could to make Elena look bad, from ruining her dress with a wine spot, to pushing her into a pond “accidentally”.
“Hard to believe, given our history.”
Isabelle heaved a sigh. “It’s true. I don’t want anything to do with the throne, and I never have. I…resented you because of the way you were. So effortlessly affable, like Alexander.”
Elena wrinkled her brow. “All right, so you aren’t trying to steal my crown. Then what common enemy do we have?”
“Julian and Eric. They are trying to steal your crown.”
Elena lifted her chin. “Yes, they are. But it does not affect you. Never fear, Isabelle, Julian will take the throne. It will never get to you.”
“Yes, I understand that. But I do not wish to see him or Eric win.”
“Really?” Elena pulled her chin back toward her chest. “What has Eric done to earn your ire?”
Isabelle arched an eyebrow as she tightened her arms across her chest. “Rejected me.”
Elena’s lips parted. Isabelle had gone after Eric and been shot down? When had this happened ?
“I’m not proud of it. Quite embarrassed, actually. When he arrived, I…offered myself in your stead. He told me in no uncertain terms, I was useless to him.”
“Useless to him? That is…quite…rude.”
“I know,” Isabelle answered. “I’m not a commodity to be traded. And I suppose it made me realize that…well, neither were you.”
Elena studied her cousin, noting the hint of regret in her eyes. “No, I was not. And I detested that I was given away nearly at birth to this man.”
“I understand. I’ve been unfair to you, Elena. And for that, I am sorry. I cannot take it away, but I can do my best to help you stop this ridiculous battle from stealing your crown.”
Elena narrowed her eyes, searching for any sign of a lie. Was her cousin merely here to infiltrate their camp and feed information back to the enemy? “Thank you, Isabelle. I appreciate that. For now, we have it under control, but if we need you–”
“I can give you information.”
Elena exchanged a glance with Caroline. “What information?”
“Well, I can get information to give you. Julian trusts me. He will tell me things.”
“All right,” Elena answered with a raise of her eyebrows. “When you have any information, pass it along.”
“I have some now, though not from Julian. This is from Eric.”
“What is it?”
“The royal family of Corinthia is on the verge of being removed from rule.” She arched an eyebrow as she passed along the news.
Elena’s eyes went wide, her mind whirling. “What? How close?”
“From what I understand, very,” Isabelle said. “That’s why he is so desperate to marry into a monarchy. He will lose everything if they strip their titles.”
“That explains his interest in me.”
“I’m certain it goes beyond that, but yes, it explains why he went so far to try to convince you to marry him.”
Elena paced the floor, her finger tapping her chin. “This is interesting. I wonder if the Corinthian legislature is very close to a vote.”
“From what I gathered when I looked into this, they may vote within the year, and if not, next year for certain.”
Elena pressed her lips together. “Incredible. I wonder why?”
Isabelle sucked in a breath, her eyebrows arching high. “The royal family has been…spending far more than they are worth. Trips, wardrobes, security…you name it, they have spent on it. They are slowly emptying the Corinthian coffers.”
“Goodness,” Elena said with a sigh, “they’d probably ruin Eldoria, too.”
“I wouldn’t put it past him. He seems desperate to keep his lifestyle.”
“Well, I seem to have dodged that bullet, though with this wrinkle, Eric is hoping to capitalize on it.”
“We cannot let them win,” Isabelle answered.
“No,” Elena said. “Thank you, Isabelle, for that information. I appreciate it, and the sentiments you expressed earlier. I am sorry we weren’t closer.”
“So am I, though it is very much my fault.”
“Not really,” Elena answered. “It’s no one’s fault. Our lives were…difficult given our positions. But I am very hopeful that we will be able to move forward on a new foot.”
Isabelle reached for Elena’s hand with a slight smile. “I am, too. And now, I will leave you sleep. I will attempt to seek information from Julian tomorrow. ”
“Perhaps you shouldn’t,” Elena suggested. “I don’t want you running afoul of any of this.”
“I won’t be in any danger,” Isabelle assured her. “Good night, Elena.”
“Isabelle, wait…”
The woman twisted around, her fingers lingering on the doorknob. “Yes?”
“I was…I had intended to speak to you about this earlier…I had made a decision about my wedding party–”
“And you prefer I not be in given my past behavior.” Isabelle clasped her hands in front of her as she nodded. “I understand.”
“Given that we are turning over a new leaf, I would be so pleased if you were to be my maid of honor.”
Isabelle’s eyebrows shot up at the words. “Are you certain? You seemed to have someone else in mind.”
“And that person will be included in my wedding party, just not as my maid of honor.”
A smile curved her cousin’s lips as her gaze rested on Elena. “I would love to, Elena. Thank you.”
Elena crossed to her cousin, pulling her into a hug. “I am so pleased we had this talk. We’ll speak again soon.”
Isabelle offered her a nod before she left them behind.
Caroline blew out a long breath, her eyes wide. “Oh, my. That was…incredible.”
“On so many levels,” Elena answered with a nod as she plopped onto the edge of the bed.
“It was lovely that you asked her to be your maid of honor. I thought you had decided against it.”
“I had. I hope I am not misplacing my trust in her, but I thought the gesture seemed appropriate given our new strides.”
“I quite agree,” Caroline said with a nod. “What do you make of the rest of it? ”
“Interesting,” Elena said as she stared into space, the details of the conversation running through her mind again. “Very interesting. The Corinthian royals are on the verge of being removed? How fascinating. I feel a tad sorry for them, but it sounds as though they’ve used their country’s funds to create their personal playground rather than govern.”
“Thank heavens you didn’t go forward with announcing your engagement to him.”
“Yes,” Elena said with a nod. “And…wouldn’t I give up my right to rule if I married him, and he is stripped of his royal title?”
Caroline’s jaw dropped open. “That or…oh heavens.”
“What?”
“What if he intends to use Eldoria’s money to prop up Corinthia?”
Elena’s eyes went wide. “I wouldn’t put it past him. Father needs to know all of this.”
“I agree.” Caroline nodded. “Will you wake him to tell him?”
“No, it can keep until morning. I will never be able to sleep, though.”
“Perhaps some hot chocolate? It may help you sleep.”
Elena smiled at her. “Only if I may accompany you to the kitchen for it.”
“I could bring it up.”
Elena shook her head as she rose and crossed to the door. “No. I want to go, too. I could use the walk to help ease my mind.”
Caroline bobbed her head, sliding her arm around Elena’s shoulders. “You will sort it out, Your Highness. I have never known His Majesty to not be able to solve a problem, nor you.”
“I certainly hope we do. It would be a terrible shame for this country to go to Julian. He will ruin it just as the Corinthian royal family seems to have done in their country.”
“I quite agree,” Caroline said as they snaked through the halls.
“I just wonder what tricks Julian has up his sleeve to ensure the vote goes his way.”
“Do you think he has the votes?” Caroline pulled a carton of milk from the refrigerator and added it to a saucepan.
Elena rubbed her lip as she considered it. “I think Julian doesn’t do anything without some assurance he can win.”
Caroline glanced up from whisking in the chocolate bits as they melted. “Surely, the legislature will not go along with this. Your Highness, they know you!”
“Yes, I know,” Elena said with a sigh, “and he may not win in the end, but I believe Julian has enough support to make things incredibly difficult and cast a pall over the engagement announcement and possibly the wedding.”
Caroline shook her head as she poured the steaming chocolate milk into two mugs, added a dollop of whipped cream and passed one to Elena before she fished a tin of cookies from a shelf.
Elena pulled one from the container and bit into it. “Leave it to Julian to find something like this. What luck.”
“It is rather aggravating,” Caroline agreed.
The chiming of Elena’s phone interrupted their conversation. She tugged it from her pocket and checked the display. “Oh, it’s from Nathan.”
“At this time? It must be quite early there.”
“Yes,” Elena answered with a nod. “But he often leaves me a message to find in the morning.”
“That’s sweet.”
Elena’s brows knitted as she read the message. “Yes, but this message is not. ”
“What does it say?” Caroline asked.
“I have some bad news,” Elena read. “Don’t we all. I wonder what his is?”
She tapped the virtual keyboard, returning his message. Oh, no. What is it?
With another sip of her hot chocolate, she drummed her fingers on the counter, awaiting a response.
Her phone chimed, and she snatched it from the countertop.
“What does he say?” Caroline asked.
Elena’s shoulders slumped. “He’s asking why I am up. Why can men never answer the questions posed to them?”
Elena typed her response. I can’t sleep. We’ve had some…less-than-desirable developments on my end, too. What is your news?
Elena heaved a sigh, her thoughts racing. “And now we wait. I wonder what Julian has told the legislators about Nathan? Do you believe he’s badmouthed him?”
Caroline mulled it over, taking another sip of her hot chocolate. “Possibly. Oh, do you think he’s told them of his problem with the drinking?”
“I wonder. Nathan has put those days behind him. This is so unfair.” Elena let her head fall into her palm until her phone chimed again. “Perhaps that is the answer.”
She swiped to read the latest message, her stomach clenching and her eyes going wide. “Oh my!”
“What is it, Your Highness?”
Elena’s phone lit again, her heart skipping a beat as she read Nathan’s next words. Her voice faltered, barely a whisper. “Chloe…she’s been murdered!”
The room seemed to spin around her as she shot a surprised glance at her ladies’ maid.
“Surely, Mr. Kingsley is not a suspect.”
“No, I don’t believe so, but…Stephen is.” Elena’s features fe ll, pinching as she stared at the phone. “We may need to postpone the engagement announcement. They may not be able to get here.”
Her mind swirled at the development. Murder investigations could take months. And if there was a trial…she may never end up married to Nate Kingsley.