Winter Blockbuster 2012 (46 page)

Kayla and Pellea were both staring at him with wide-eyed wonder. Both sets of eyes contained the same horrified expression. It was pretty clear that they both thought that anything that couldn’t be explained right here, right now, in simple language, had to be pretty darn bad. He looked at them both and shrugged, hating to feel defensive this way. Why should he have to explain himself?

But he was trapped. Sooner or later, they would probably know everything about his life—even things he didn’t know. Still, why make it easy for them?

“I haven’t led a perfect life. I’ve done things I’m not proud of. Things I wouldn’t want to tell you about.”

Pellea nodded as though she’d thought as much, but Kayla appeared surprised and troubled. He regretted that. But he still wasn’t going to tell her everything he’d ever done wrong in his life. He wasn’t going to tell anyone.

“I’m sorry,” he said simply. “But I’m going to find out what they are accusing me of before I start spilling my guts and go admitting to every crime known to have happened in the last ten years. You understand?”

He looked at them. They looked back, and it was clear they didn’t understand. It was obvious neither one of them had ever done anything to be ashamed of in their lives. Or not much, anyway. They stared at him with huge eyes and didn’t say a thing. He groaned.

Suddenly, he was a little angry. “You know what? I didn’t ask for this gig. I don’t know much yet about what it means to be a prince. And I’m starting to feel like it’s going to crowd me a bit. I live my life pretty free and easy.” He shook his head, looking from one to the other of them. “I don’t know, maybe that sort of living is incompatible with royal structure. What do you think?”

They just stared and he began to feel uncomfortable. In his experience, women talked over everything. They never quit. What was with the silent treatment? Did they really think he’d done something so awful it couldn’t be talked about at all?

He was about to ask about that when Pellea made a move toward him. As he watched, she walked up and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, pulling his face down inches from hers.

“Promise me you won’t run away,” she said fiercely.

That was a tough one. “Um … for how long?”

There was a pause while she seemed to digest his attitude
and realize he was close to an edge she didn’t want to reach. She closed her eyes for a second, then opened them again. “Promise me you will give this a month.”

A month. Could he take a month of this constant royal oversight?

He shook his head. “How can I do that?” he said, his tone almost sarcastic. “I may have to go serve time in East Slobovia here.” He gestured toward the poster, then pulled back and used his most disarming smile. “How about a week?”

She winced and made a concession to reality. “Two weeks.”

He glanced at Kayla. She looked like she was holding her breath. He drew in a long breath himself and nodded as he looked back at the queen.

“Okay. I can give you that.”

She let go and gave him a pat where she’d been grabbing his shirt. “Come to me tomorrow and be ready to tell me everything,” she said as she headed for the door.

“I’ll tell you what I feel you need to know,” he countered as she opened it.

She whirled and glared at him. “Listen, Max. I hope you understand that you must take this seriously. So far, I’ve been able to keep this nonsense out of the king’s notice. But if things get more dicey, I’m going to have to go to him with it.”

Kayla bit her lip, wanting to stop Pellea. Didn’t she see how he resented being talked to like this? Didn’t she notice the sarcastic twist to the corner of his mouth, the veiled anger in his deep blue eyes?

She was actually surprised he hadn’t said anything. He was used to talking back and walking out. It wasn’t going to be easy for him to learn to hold his tongue and take honest criticism. Was he going to be able to handle it?

“Tomorrow,” Pellea said. “And you will tell me all.”

“Or at least as much of it as I know myself.”

She threw back an exasperated look, but this time she didn’t stop. In a few seconds, the door was closing and he and Kayla were alone again.

She turned to him, her eyes huge and dark in the lamplight.

“Max, what did you do?”

He took a deep breath and faced her. This was almost funny. Maybe someday they would look back and laugh. But not today.

“You know what? I don’t have a clue.” He saw the skepticism in her eyes and he looked away, swearing softly. “I’ve done a lot of things, Kayla. Nothing ever seemed bad enough to deserve jail time. Or death.” He turned back and looked at her. “But you never know. People take things more seriously than you think at the time.”

She shook her head slowly, almost in wonder. “Mercuria. It’s a simple little country. You never even think of it. It’s smaller than Ambria. What can they be so upset about?”

He shrugged, a little annoyed that no one seemed to have any faith in him. But he knew that wasn’t fair. He’d given no one any reason to trust him. When you lived on the edge of a knife blade, like he had, you had to know that people were going to back away in horror now and then. It came with the territory.

“I’d have to see more than a picture on a Wanted poster to know that for sure.”

He gave her a long, slow look, then shrugged again and headed for the door.

“I’d like to see a full description of my crime,” he said, managing to sound lighthearted and carefree again. Free and easy. That was the way he wanted to live. “You’ve got to see what you’re charged with before you can mount any sort of defense. Basic legal advice.”

He turned and gave her a wink, then made it out the door and into the castle hallways.

Kayla watched the door swing shut and she drew air deep into her lungs. Secrets. He had secrets.

Well, funny thing. So did she.

The following morning when she got to work, Kayla found the queen involved in a dispute between a kitchen prep assistant and the royal chef. She was claiming the older man had promised to advance her and now he seemed to be spending all his time giving extra training to the pretty new pastry chef.

“Who knew my fabulously exciting days as queen would be filled with this sort of relationship management?” she complained to Kayla. “I might as well be working for the local department store.” She sighed. “But I do feel sorry for her. He has been leading her on.”

“Call the chef in for a nice chat, tell him that his grilled rosemary scallops are to-die-for and mention that reports of favoritism will be noted on his permanent record,” Kayla advised. “And just to be safe, make sure he knows canoodling in the broom closet will be frowned upon.”

Pellea shook her head. “You see it all so clearly, my dear. I know exactly why I hired you.”

Kayla gave her a quizzical smile. “No regrets?”

Pellea pursed her lips and slid down into the chair opposite from where Kayla sat at her desk. “Okay. Let’s get into it.” She fixed her with a steady look. “Do I have anything to worry about?”

Kayla managed to look completely innocent. “In what way?”

Pellea gave her a look. “I think you know what I’m talking about. I have plans for Max, so it would be best if we put
all our cards on the table, don’t you agree?” She thought of something and her eyes narrowed. “By the way, where was your baby last night? I didn’t see any evidence that he was with you.”

Kayla’s heart began to beat a bit harder. “He was nearby. He was staying down the hall with my sister.”

“Oh.” Pellea still looked skeptical.

Kayla leaned forward earnestly, determined not to let Pellea go down the road she obviously had been moving toward.

“No, it’s not like that. Teddy often stays with Caroline when I work late. She watches him during the day, and her little one is the same age. He was already asleep …”

She stopped, realizing she was giving too much information. That was always the perfect way to sound absolutely guilty as charged. Taking a deep breath, she added simply, “I had no idea that Max was going to drop by.”

Pellea blinked rapidly. “Just how close were you and Max in the old days?”

“We were good friends. Very good friends.” She sighed and looked directly into the queen’s eyes. “What you saw when you came in was a result of us both remembering Eddie and comforting each other over losing him that way.”

Pellea held her gaze steady and slightly shook her head. “It looked like more than that to me.”

Her heart rate made another lurch. “Pellea, I adored my husband,” she said forcefully. “He was my life.” She shook her head, hair flying about her shoulders. “Max loved him, too. Everybody did. He was a wonderful man.” Reaching out, she took Pellea’s hands in hers. “Please understand. Max and I were never …”

She stopped short, turning red. She couldn’t really say that, could she? To her horror, she realized it was a lie. And she
couldn’t lie to Pellea of all people. She stared, wide-eyed, not sure how to get out of this trap she’d wandered into.

But Pellea didn’t seem to notice. She nodded, searching her eyes with a sense of sympathy and compassion that didn’t leave any more room for suspicion. “Okay. Oh, Kayla, I understand, and I’m sorry if it seemed I was implying anything more.” She smiled with a sweetness that had once been her trademark, but wasn’t often seen of late. “I won’t do it again.”

“Thanks.” She smiled back, feeling a sense of relief that her friend and employer cared enough to make that pledge. And yet, in the pit of her stomach there lurked an aching tangle of guilt.

As of now, it seemed she was the only one who remembered what had happened that last night in Trialta. She had to keep it that way. But how could she do that when temptation was always lurking?

Somehow, she had to work at distancing herself from Max. She had to be unavailable when he was around. It shouldn’t be too hard. He was going to be very busy getting to know the rest of the royals and learning what his duties and responsibilities would be here in the castle. She would try to stay just as busy somewhere else. She might even ask for another assignment on the continent, one where she could take Teddy with her.

Yes, that was a good idea. She would leave the castle for a while. She would do something. She had to fix this. And she would.

“Did he tell you why Mercuria wants him to come back and stand trial?” Pellea asked.

“No. He didn’t seem to know why.”

“Hmmph.” Pellea didn’t sound convinced. “It’s a real problem, you know. We owe that country a lot. They helped us during the war. Without their help, we might not have succeeded.
And now that we’ve got a sort of truce going, they are the ones who act as go-between, our line of communication to the Granvillis. They’re strong allies. I can’t turn my back on a solid request like this. I can’t ignore our friends. They won’t be there for us next time if I do.”

The worry in her voice sent Kayla’s nerves quivering. They couldn’t possibly be considering giving him up to the Mercurian royals—could they? Impossible.

“Send out the diplomats,” she suggested, only half joking.

“Oh, definitely. Droves of them.” She smiled, but it faded quickly. “I’ve got to admit, it worries me quite a bit. I’m going to have to make a call to them soon. I’ve got to tell them something. Max is going to have to level with me. And regardless, we’ll have to find some way to either meet their demands or placate them.”

“Meet their demands?” Kayla repeated, her dread growing.

Pellea gave her a reassuring pat. “Placating is probably safer,” she noted. Then she made a face. “If we sent him back to them, lord only knows what he might do.”

Kayla was beginning to rebel. After all, he wasn’t all that bad. A bit nonconformist, of course, but all in all, he was definitely a good guy, at least in her experience with him.

But Pellea was still thinking of examples. She shook her head. “Last night at the ball, when he was presented to the old duchess, my Great-Aunt Judis, I was afraid he was going to say something like, ‘Hey, Toots, could you get me a refill on this drink while you’re up?’”

Kayla’s eyes widened. “He didn’t!”

“No, he didn’t.” She raised a significant eyebrow. “But there’s something about him that keeps making me scared he will.”

Despite her regard for him as a man, Kayla knew exactly
what she meant. She frowned, trying to key in to the heart of the matter.

“He just doesn’t have the proper instincts.”

“Exactly.”

She looked up hopefully. “He’ll learn.”

Pellea sighed. “Of course he will. But can we wait around for that to develop on its own? I think not.” She drew in a deep breath. “So I’m getting him a superior teacher.”

“Really?” Kayla’s heart fell but she fought against it. This was just what had to happen. He had to learn his place in the scheme of things and she had to keep her distance from the entire process. It was all for the best and she knew it. “Who is that?”

Pellea stared at her, lips pursed as though she were annoyed with her somehow.

“A wonderful woman. She’s perfect for this assignment. Her only flaw is that she is rather slow on the uptake at times.” She gave a sound of exasperation. “It’s someone he already respects and has a great affection for.”

“Really?” She was still frowning. She hadn’t realized he knew that many women here. But what was she thinking? He always knew women, wherever he happened to be. “Do I know her?”

Pellea threw up her hands. “It’s you, silly. And you have exactly one week to perform a magical transformation.”

Max arrived at Pellea’s office in a somewhat surly mood. He’d spent the morning thinking about what he was going to say to her and nothing very good had come to mind. He decided to go for the basics—to tell her why he’d been in Mercuria and how his work there went. Then maybe she could weave some sort of conspiracy out of it all.

“Good morning, Your Majesty,” he said cheerfully as she rose to greet him. He kissed both cheeks and smiled at her.

“You just missed Kayla,” she told him. “I sent her on an errand.” She gave him a sharp look. “But that will give us a chance to talk openly, won’t it?”

He frowned, not sure he appreciated her implications that there might be things he could tell her that he wouldn’t tell Kayla. Still, he followed her lead and sat across from her at her desk.