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He turns and clutches his chest in fright. “Oh good gods, Your Highness. You startled me.”
“I startled you!? Do you know how high my wife jumped just now, thinking we had a prowler outside?”
He seems to understand he scared the piss out of both myself and my wife and instantly lowers his head. “Apologies, Your Highness. Her Majesty The Queen has requested your presence at Haart Castle at once,” he says.
“My mother?”
Rolf nods. “Yes, Your Majesty. It seems there is a matter to be discussed with the palace publicist.”
“What about?” I ask. I know that both Mother and Father feel more than a little out of the loop after Kala and I reappeared back home in Gravenland after Father had tried and failed to keep us under lock and key. He loves to wield his power like that. I shudder to think about his reasons for keeping us secluded on our honeymoon. If my wife and I want time alone, it will be on our own terms. That’s all I plan to discuss with the family’s publicists.
“She didn’t say,” Rolf says meekly.
“Rolf. It’s 7 a.m. on a Sunday. When did you last see me awake and sober at this hour?”
“Well, I would not presume to keep account of your activities.”
“Of course you wouldn’t. You’re a good man,” I say. “Who deserves a raise. If you come to work for Kala and me, I promise to pay you more.”
“Your Highness?”
“We can shake on it right now. And then, you can tell me what this meeting with Mother and the publicists is about.”
He hesitates. The man is actually thinking over my offer.
“Well? What does the old man pay you?”
When Rolf tells me the number, I know I have no shot at changing his loyalty.
“It was worth a shot,” I say.
Rolf smiles and says, “You didn’t hear it from me, but the Queen plans to release a statement explaining why the two of you returned from your honeymoon early.”
“To attend a funeral. Tell her that,” I say.
“Page Six is already crowing that your marriage is on the rocks, and…well…you’ll have to see for yourself.”
“Hello, Rolf.” The scent of fresh coffee fills my lungs as my bride, looking like a vision in her fluffy, pale pink robe, opens the creaky garden gate carrying a tray of mugs. “Care for some coffee?”
Rolf jumps, then turns to my wife. “Oh dear. Here, let me take that for you, Your Highness."
“You see, Rolf, the princess wouldn’t have to carry around trays of hot beverages if we had a house staff such as yourself,” I tease.
Kala clucks at me. “Oh stop it, you. I’m perfectly capable of making coffee and serving my guests. Please, take some.”
“I couldn’t,” Rolf chuckles.
“Because he’s not a guest; he’s on my father’s staff,” I mutter.
Kala shoots me a warning look that has the opposite of the intended effect. Her reproof only reminds me that I’m married, and to a proper lady. I return her admonishing gaze with my own heated one.
She shakes her head and turns her attention back to Rolf, but I see a hint of rosiness in her cheeks.
* * *
While Kala and I ride in the back of Rolf’s nondescript Audi to the palace, she receives a text from someone that puts a frown on her lovely face.
“What is it?”
