Page 40 of Falling for the Queen Mother

Alaina wasn't sure where she wanted them to end up, but breathed an internal sigh of relief when he sat on one of the lounge chairs. She reached for a light blanket and sat next to him.

It wouldn't take much for her to fall asleep in his arms again. She'd quite liked it the first time and had liked waking up in them earlier in the day.

Would that happen again?

Or would they rest here for a bit then get up and go to their suite like none of this happened? Should she find one of the comfortable couches to sleep on in a sitting area? Those wouldn't matter if they had bedding and wouldn't be quite as obvious a repudiation of... whatever this was.

She kept her head resting on his chest as she considered the options. The choice that made the most sense didn't seem obvious to her, so she stayed where she was.

And in doing so, made the choice to sleep in his arms once again.

14

So much for an uninterrupted holiday of some kind.

Nate answered the call from HISTORIANNAME at the palace. "You think you found something?"

"We know we found something. We just haven't determined what exactly what we've found and if it's relevant."

"Can you send me photos?" He wasn't quite certain why he was the expert on Southern Santierian artwork and antiquities, but the skills from Eastern Novigradia were somewhat transferable, just like they had been to some extent in Dellisole. He couldn't authenticate the item itself, but he could determine if there were anomalies based on when it was supposed to have been made and so on.

"No. None of this is to be sent via media of any kind. You'll have to come here." There was an apology in her voice. "I know you're out of town with the Queen Mother, but we really need you to come here and verify independently."

Nate sighed. "I'll be there as soon as I can. I don't know when that will be though. I'll keep you posted."

"Thank you, sir."

Nate disconnected the call and turned around to see Alaina watching him from the lounge where they'd slept.

"Everything all right?"

"I've got to go back to the palace. They found something but need me to verify it." He gave her a small smile. "I don't think it needs both of us, but I don't know how else to get me there without both of us going back to the palace."

She yawned. "It's okay. I'm honestly surprised it took us this long to get called back to the palace. I'll let the captain know..."

Before she could finish her sentence, they started to change direction.

"Or it could be that he already knows," she finished. "I would imagine we'll be back later today. I'm not sure exactly where we are, but there's plenty of open ocean to wander around in without ever being too far from home."

Nate gave a nod. It made sense. Something else occurred to him. "Do we need to decide what things will look like when we're back there? There's no issue with being forced, in one form or another, to share the same suite."

Alaina stared to the side of him. "I don't know. I think I would prefer to deal with that question later rather than right now."

He could understand the desire to just put it off.

They ate a light breakfast brought to them by a member of the crew and were told it would be a few hours before they made it back to the marina.

At least they wouldn't have to pack their own things. Nate had to admit that part was nice. It wouldn't be overly difficult since they'd never really unpacked and there was only limited amounts of clothes and other things to put back, but still. He could easily get used to that part of this life.

They did spend most of the morning inside playing a couple of games rather than out on the deck. With the light cloud cover and breeze coming in off the water, it was a bit too cool for Alaina's liking.

After several rounds of Pinochle, Nate asked if she wanted to play again, but Alaina declined.

"It's because I won all of them isn't it?" He grinned at her. Yes, he'd won, but just barely.

"Not at all. I would simply prefer to play a different game." Her studied nonchalance told Nate she wasn't being completely honest. It had to bother her, at least a little bit, that he'd won every round.

He tipped his head toward the game cupboard. "Go find one. Your choice."