the rules to heart as strongly as you, but I’m not a fool. I knew she would eventually come because she cares about him. And he cares about her. Having her here will help him.”
“This is the reason why you could not become a guard. It is not our place to assume the emotions or desires of the crown. We serve. We protect. That is it,” he snapped, shaking.
“That is it for you! For me, I must anticipate the needs of the royal family and make sure they are met!”
“No, you must anticipate the needs of Princess Eliza. Not the king, not the Adelaar or the queen. You have been given a place—stay there. Everyone seems to have forgotten the order of things. The Adelaar did not call for her. Nor did he ask you to do anything in regards to her. It does not matter what you believe, what you know, what you want or feel. You have orders, and you have a duty, so stick to it. That is what it means.”
“He’s needs—”
“That is not your call!”
“Will it be mine?”
We both turned to see Princess Eliza holding the royal dog, Persephone, in her hands. Her blue eyes shifting between us.
“Your Highness.” We both bowed our heads.
“Iskandar, why are you berating my secretary?” she asked him softly.
Iskandar stood straighter if that were possible. “I merely thought he was neglecting his duties, Your Highness.”
“That is my call, isn’t it, Persephone?” she asked, scratching the dog’s ear before she looked at me. “Wolfgang, why does Iskandar think you are neglecting your duties? If it were anyone else, I would just say it was nitpicking because you have never let me down. But that isn’t Iskandar’s personality, so what is going on? Why are you two, of all people, having hushed arguments in foyers?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the corner of his lips turn downward. He did not want me to tell her. But he had made it clear that was not my place, nor did I have the power to interfere. But she did.
I stepped forward. “Your Highness, it has recently come to my attention that Miss Odette Wyntor has arrived here, in Ersovia, this morning.”
“In the capital?”
I nodded.
A grin slowly spread across her lips as she looked back down at the dog in her hands. “What did I tell you, Persephone? Spring would come eventually.”
Chapter 3
“Bless the person who invented showers.” I sighed, pulling the shower cap off my head and shaking out all of my curls. When I came to my room the first thing I did was take a much-needed shower, and now I felt much better.
Buzz.
Buzz.
Who in the world? Grabbing the robe, I slid open the doors to the bathroom and walked into the living room.
“Who is it?” I asked before reaching the door.
“Room service,” a woman said.
Checking the pinhole, I saw the cart in front of her. Food? Oh, right, the lunch the manager promised.
Opening the door, I took a step to the side.
“Thank you. You can just put it on the dining table,” I directed, moving back toward my room when all of a sudden, someone poked their head out from under the white cloth of the cart.
“What the hell?” I screamed, backing up.
“Don’t panic, miss. It’s me!” the man said, coming out while taking off his glasses and hat. It was only then I recognized his freckled face.
“Wolfgang?”
“Long time, no see, miss.” He grinned, fixing his shirt.
“Sorry, he had, uh, a badge.” The server struggled with her English, looking even more terrified than I did. Her gaze shifted between Wolfgang and me worriedly.
“It’s fine.” I nodded at her. I started walking to the bedroom to get my wallet to tip her, but she quickly left the suite before I could even say another word, leaving me with the ever-happy Wolfgang just standing there.
“Can you explain to me what mission impossible stunt you are pulling right now?”
“I will, but please get dressed. We need to go quickly.”
“Go? What do you mean, go? I’m not going anywhere until you start explaining. How did you even know I was here?”
“You wrote it on your immigration form. I have a friend from the academy who works at EIM—oh, you don’t know what that is. It’s the Ersovian Immigration Ministry. Anyway, I asked him to let me know if you ever entered the country. I knew you would come eventually.”
He was barely making sense, and I was too tired to keep trying to think. “Okay,