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“You didn’t have to do that,” Ingrid said softly as she both heard and felt the engine of the plane begin to roar.
“Like I said, I just remembered you telling me you liked them.”
“Ma’am, can we talk about something else for a moment?” Ingrid asked, thinking part of the reason Elin was bringing her on this trip and offering her private, reserved time in the popular hot springs of St. Rais was that they wouldn’t be working together much longer.
“Of course,” Elin said.
“Steven informed me that I would soon be working with Her Royal Highness, Princess Lillian.”
“Oh,” Elin uttered before she sighed. “Yes, I was informed of that as well.”
“I know there will be a transitional period. I just wanted you to know that I’ll be here to support you through this, and I will give my best to Princess Lillian.”
Elin tilted her head to the side and said, “I know that. I’d never doubt that. You give your best to everything you do.”
“Thank you, Ma’am.”
“You should know that I’d prefer you,” Elin told her.
“You would?” Ingrid asked.
Elin swallowed and said, “I… Yes, I’d… I prefer the continuity.”
“Oh, of course,” Ingrid said, lowering her head a bit.
“And I’ve–” Elin cleared her throat. “I’ve enjoyed our time working together as well. I…”
“Your Royal Highness, may I offer you coffee or tea?” their stewardess on board asked as she approached.
“Tea, Ingrid?” Elin asked her.
“Coffee, please,” Ingrid replied.
“Two sugars,” Elin told the stewardess.
“In your tea or your coffee, Ma’am?”
“No, I meant Ingrid takes her coffee with two sugars. I’ll have tea with milk, please,” she replied.
“Of course, Ma’am,” the stewardess said, bowing her head slightly as she walked off.
“Thank you,” Ingrid said to Elin.
Elin nodded and said, “I just want you to know that this isn’t my choice.”
“I understand. I am junior to Markus, Ma’am,” Ingrid replied.
“Markus is nearly as old as Steven,” Elin said with a smile. “He’s not that far off from retirement himself.”
“So, there might be a chance we’d get to work together again someday, assuming I stay on at the palace,” Ingrid replied.
“Assuming–” Elin stopped. “You’d leave? You–”
Elin opened her arms up a bit in a motion Ingrid didn’t understand, just as their stewardess was walking down the aisle carrying their coffee and tea. Ingrid reached forward to prevent the catastrophe, taking Elin’s hand and moving it back to the small table that separated them. Elin didn’t understand what was happening until she saw the stewardess, who was now attempting to place their cups on that same table. Ingrid quickly released the Princess’s hand and nodded at her.
“Thank you,” Elin told her. “That would have been a disaster.”
“Might I suggest you keep your hands out of the aisle when expecting the delivery of a hot beverage, Ma’am?”
