AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Seventeen
“And what’s got you so giddy this morning?” Arne asked as I left the castle and went in search of fresh air and something to do other than sit in my office. It wasn’t like I was getting any work done anyway. What I was doing was sitting there, barely listening to Hildegarde drone on while I stared out the window, almost bursting with excitement.
“My sister is coming to visit with all of her mates.”
Arne cocked his head. I had a feeling he would be at the stables and knew he would also offer me a distraction if my excitement got out of hand. Let’s face it, my excitement was already way out of hand. “I’ve never met or seen your sister, but since she is your twin, I already know she’s stunningly gorgeous. I can’t wait to meet them.”
I thought it over. “I think Leif is the only one who has met her of my mates. Anyway, I think she will come during the summer. I hope to have everything set up by then, the solar and all the systems running. I really hope she realizes what a good investment I’ve made in the kingdom.”
I barely got the last words out of my mouth as Arne took off his shirt and was now brushing my horse with his back facing me. His muscles rippled and moved as he brushed strokes against the horse’s champagne mane.
“Would you like to try? Come brush your own horse. I’m sick of doing everything for you.” His smile told me he was joking, of course. “Get some of that nervous energy out of you, my queen.”
I did as he asked, and before I knew it, the sun had risen into the sky and Leif came walking in quite a hurry toward me. Arne took the brush from my hands and put his shirt back on. Good thing there were no other females around, he might cause someone to faint with those muscles showing.
“Your Majesty, the trucks have arrived. All of them.”
“All of them? What do you mean all of them?” I rushed to take Leif’s hand, and he pulled me along toward the front of the castle. He was right. Trucks, plural, were parked near the front gate, and workers were already unloading box after box after box.
“Gods above, what have I done?”
Ms. Dover was there with a clipboard, checking off things with her hip cocked outward. She smiled as I neared her. We had asked her politely to sign a nondisclosure contract and she did so willingly. She didn’t ask questions, though, just did her job covertly. We’d come a long way from her arrival blindfolded, which had been a security measure taken before we understood just what her role in the world and her industry was.
Our visit to the country far away had been arranged with just as much secrecy, even if we hadn’t been blindfolded. And all her work there had been hush-hush, or at least as much so as a giant solar field lets it be. I thought it must be visible from space. And the NDA each of the workers signed—although, she swore it wasn’t necessary because they were all familiar with the need for secrecy and the privacy wishes of the rich and royal…and us.
“You’ve ordered the state-of-the-art sustainability units that will take this kingdom into the future. You’ve done well, that’s what. I brought champagne.”
Of course she had. She’d probably made a killing off of my purchase. The trucks currently unloading were just a small part of it all. After all, the giant windmills and solar panels coming in on huge flatbed trucks were best left where they would be installed. Champagne was the least she could do.
Except my stomach was sour, and no way in hell I could take alcohol at this point.
I stepped back as one truck replaced the other, unloading so many boxes that some of the pack, the people of the kingdom, were crowding around, already whispering and gossiping about what it could be.
Fear wriggled into my consciousness and threatened to take over. Despite seeing the boxes of all the smaller parts, emblazoned with the manufacturers’ logos, and recognizing all the good it could do for my kingdom, seeing the packages arrive, all large crates and pillow-packed materials, I let the terror swallow me.
“This is a good thing, Janis.” Leif took my hand and with his finger hooked under my chin, forced me to look at him. “Some might not understand at first, but this is an amazing thing you’ve done for the kingdom. An investment in your people.”
He was right and yet, the kingdom wouldn’t understand for quite a while.
Well, I would just have to explain it to them.
“I heard your sister is coming for a visit.”
I nodded, my throat had gone dry and I tried like hell to focus on Leif’s mouth, the only thing distracting me from what could be a huge disaster.
“Breathe, my love. You have to put on a strong posture for your people. They have to see your confidence in your decisions, even if it’s not there. Right now, you look like a child who doesn’t know how to swim, facing the deep end of a lake.”
His words struck my heart. He was right. Hell, he was always right. I squared off my shoulders and walked over to Ms. Dover and pretended I knew what I was looking at.
I sighed. “Tell me again how good of a decision this was?”
She laughed but instead of speaking, scribbled something on the paper.
A wise investment by a wise queen.
