Secrets of a Prince (The Princes of New Sargasso #3) - Carol Moncado Page 0,19

his car, he drove to the palace, entering a back way into the garrison so the youngest prince of New Sargasso wouldn’t be seen driving such an old car. If his secret ever got out, the bit of freedom it afforded him would disappear.

His thoughts got the better of him while he met with his mother and brothers for their final fittings. His older brothers would wear their military uniforms.

He and Caleb had served, albeit briefly. Because of their short stint and the abrupt end to their service, neither one of them felt comfortable wearing a uniform they hadn’t truly earned.

Military service had never been the calling for Joshua like it was for David. When men under his command were killed on a rescue mission, he’d made it his life’s work to bring those responsible to justice. When David disappeared, Joshua and Caleb were recalled to the palace and their service suspended indefinitely.

Technically, they were never discharged, but even with David’s reemergence in San Majoria a bit over two years earlier, their father was in no rush to see them back in the service. While he hadn’t come right out and said they’d never return, he’d strongly implied it.

Gideon, the groom, David - a newlywed since just before Christmas - and Caleb, now a secret newlywed himself after eloping with Rosie in a palace garden ceremony, spent the fitting laughing and joking with each other.

It was rare for Joss to find himself on the outside of that, but common for his eldest brother, Ezekiel - at least since Zeke was about sixteen and something happened to change his gregarious brother into a more silent, brooding type.

When they finally finished, Joss quickly retired to his apartment for the rest of the night.

This time, he made sure to lock the door.

He didn’t want to talk to Caleb, or anyone else, until he sorted out what was going on in his own mind.

8

It would be nice to log into an account and not have to be in a private window and never need to worry about logging out or letting the browser remember her password.

Minnie opened the tablet and logged herself into the TriluniMunity website. She hadn’t visited much in weeks. With everything going on, she hadn’t felt like it.

This time she read new parts to stories she’d started before. The one downside of reading on message boards was that stories were posted in pieces - a chapter or a scene at a time, over the course of weeks or even months.

The fun part was that sometimes you got to help shape the story if the author wasn’t finished yet.

RealJ1955, or at least his story-posting username - hadn’t posted any of his most recent story in weeks. He had posted a note that real life had gotten in the way of his writing time. She hadn’t seen him in chat the few times she popped in either.

He wrote some of the best stories on the site, at least in Minnie’s opinion. She wondered idly what could be going on in his life. They rarely discussed anything personal. She knew he had at least one brother and one sister, and traveled overseas for business on occasion, but that’s it.

After about an hour, she was completely caught up. Another glance in the chat room didn’t show anyone she wanted to talk to. Instead of actually logging out, she simply closed the window.

It felt freeing in a way she wouldn’t have imagined.

Just knowing her father wasn’t watching over her shoulder lifted a weight she hadn’t fully realized she carried.

Her clothes were delivered the next day, at least that’s what the text from Joss said, but he wasn’t able to stop by after all. He promised that if he couldn’t come the next day, he’d send someone to bring the package up.

Since she didn’t have a key to the mailbox to get the key to the larger box, Minnie had no choice but to wait.

She washed the clothes she’d been wearing and did get the sauce stain out of Joss’s shirt. She borrowed some more of his clothes to sleep in.

Grocery delivery had gone well enough. She’d requested the food be left outside the door and the delivery person had complied. She upped the tip when the service asked for a review.

There had been far too much chocolate in the order and not enough vegetables, but Minnie didn’t care at this point. She’d do better next time.

She’d also ordered too many frozen meals but then she wouldn’t