Page 8 of Falling for the Queen Mother

"Nothing, I suppose, except someone would have noticed if most of the paintings on display were replaced. Maybe not some of the other artifacts, but surely someone would have picked up on the paintings." Wouldn't they?

"It's very possible," he conceded. "But I think it's just as possible that no one did."

"Do we need to have a team inspecting them starting tomorrow as well?" Alaina couldn't keep the frown off her face. "Frederick said he'll make sure you have as many people as you need, but I also got the impression he'd like to keep that number fairly low."

She wouldn't tell him about the impression she really got from her son - that he seemed skeptical that this conspiracy had reached this far.

If there even was a conspiracy.

He hadn't said as much, but she was his mother. She knew him and his tones of voice. He wasn't convinced and likely wouldn't be unless they found something incriminating.

Nathaniel gave a nod. "We'll do our best to work as quickly as possible without compromising the integrity of the work." He hesitated then went on. "Would there be problem..." Instead of continuing, he turned something over in his head. "Is there a way I could start looking surreptitiously? Maybe wander around in the evening after we're done working for the day?"

Alaina tried to think of the best way to make that happen. "I'm sure we can arrange it. I'll let you know the best way to do so tomorrow." Maybe by then she would have come up with something that sounded plausible rather than just a foreign visitor wandering around unsupervised.

"Thank you." He looked around. "I can start in here, I suppose, unless the guest rooms don't have original work in them."

"As far as I know they do, but you'd likely be a better judge of that than I am." She turned for the door. "Someone will be here in about three hours to take you to meet Frederick. I've been asked to ask you not to wander around without an escort for the time being, in part because you don't know your way around and could inadvertently end up somewhere restricted." Alaina suspected there was more to it than that, but Frederick had been clear in his instructions.

"Of course." He bowed his head her direction. "I would have been surprised if I was allowed to."

When he looked back up, his dark eyes stared straight into hers. Remembering the sensation she'd felt the last time he'd done so made her want to leave as quickly as possible.

"Thank you for your cooperation." She managed to keep her escape to a walk and closed the door quickly behind her.

Otherwise she might have wanted to go back and finish what had started the day before.

And kiss him.

She couldn't do that. Even if he also wanted to - and there was no guarantee he did; in fact he probably didn't - a Queen Mother couldn't go around kissing men, especially foreign ones staying in the palace.

Ones where there could be no future.

Given the timing, she should probably return to her office, but that didn't sound appealing in the slightest. Instead she chose to go directly to her quarters. Grateful she kept the things she needed on hand in her own kitchen, Alaina made herself a snack and found herself sitting in her favorite chair near a large window. Thoroughly modern, the chair was far more comfortable than many of the furnishings found even in the private quarters around the palace. As the queen consort, she'd been given significant freedom to decorate areas of the palace not seen by the public. She'd always favored comfort over fashion, though it was nice when she could get both. Having been raised by relatively frugal parents, she couldn't quite bring herself to have furniture recovered just for aesthetics.

From her seat, Alaina could see the hustle and bustle of the pier and marina, albeit from quite a distance. She could make out individuals, but couldn't tell much more than their hair color and length and a few general details about their clothing. Watching them move around often led her to making up stories about what they were doing. It was a popular place for dates. How many of those wandering around were on a date? A first date even. She'd been on a couple of first dates at the pier, but hadn't been down there at all in many years.

Maybe that was something Nathaniel would like to do. She wasn't so well-known anymore that she couldn't sneak around some. Big sunglasses, baggy clothes, and a sun hat would got a long way toward obscuring her identity. No one knew Nathaniel so they would enjoy the environment without being bothered by those simply seeking photographs or otherwise dogging their steps.

It wasn't that Alaina didn't love the people of her homeland, but there were times she simply wanted to enjoy the same things everyone else did in the same way everyone else did.

No matter. It wasn't going to happen.

She was the Queen Mother.

Queen Mothers simply didn't date - or do anything that could even be misconstrued as a date.

It had happened, of course, but those instances were few and far between - and often not well received.

Alaina gave a shake of her head. She wasn't interested in dating Nathaniel, even if her title and position weren't an issue. She wasn't interested in dating anyone.

Even as the thought crossed her mind, she knew it wasn't entirely accurate. She didn't want to spend however many years she had left as the mother to adult children and a grandmother. All of those were things she wanted to be, but she wanted more than that.

The idea of spending time with someone closer to her own age, someone to make a life with outside of being mother of the king...

That sounded more appealing than anything had in a very long time.

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