Heir Untamed - By Danielle Bourdon Page 0,8
arrange the clothing just so, brush off shoulders and fix pieces of hair at the last second.
Queen Helina suddenly glanced to her left when Viia left Mattias's side and strode out into the hallway.
“What is she doing?” Helina inquired.
“Mother, she is not family--” Mattias began to explain, but Helina cut him off.
“She will be shortly. Bring her back in,” she insisted.
“Nothing is set in stone. You should have asked me before you invited her,” Mattias said, a muscle flexing in his jaw.
“Aurora is not technically family and she's in the photo,” Paavo said. “Or is this your subtle way of saying she should go, too?”
“Try not to tax your brain too much, little brother. I care not if your fiance is in this picture. A woman I'm dating is much different.” Mattias exchanged a dark look with Paavo.
After a glance between the Queen and the King, Aksel lifted a hand to gesture. “Bring Viia back in.”
Mattias hissed and stared forward.
Viia re-entered the room with a haughty set to her shoulders. She acted as if this was her due, something she had already rightfully earned.
Chey paused, using the view finder of the camera to stare at the Royals in a way she could not otherwise. The tension in the room rose by leaps instead of fractions. She re-issued instructions to Urmas to fix the seating arrangements and prepared to get the session under way.
Soon, the Royals were situated, spines stiff, shoulders square. Chey wanted to tell them to relax a little, to smile. They wanted to come off as more human, unless she missed her guess, and this wasn't exactly fitting the bill.
Taking the remote shutter in one hand, she straightened to view the group with the naked eye over the top of the camera. Right away her gaze locked onto Mattias's. Ensnared, Chey traded a look with him that left her a little light headed. Tearing her eyes from his face, she got back to business.
“Ready?” she asked the group. There was no way she was going to try and coordinate this part through third parties. The Royals would just have to deal with her personally. “On three, two, one...”
She squeezed the bulb in her palm. Not one of the Royals smiled. They wore stern expressions, thin mouths and an overall tense mantle that would carry over into the photo.
“Once more, please.” Chey repeated the countdown, studiously refusing to meet Mattias's eyes again. She could feel him staring. Was he unhappy with her for putting Viia next to the Queen?
Settling into a routine, Chey organized—via Allar and Urmas—to take singles of the King and Queen, of the King with his two sons, and the Queen with her daughter.
The entire time she avoided making eye contact with Mattias, though she felt the weight of his attention often.
When she'd taken upwards of thirty photos, she knew the Royals were at the limit of their patience and she was thoroughly done with organizing poses through Allar and Urmas.
She took down her equipment as the Royals filed out of the room, busying herself with her task. The security detail followed them out, leaving just a handful of liaisons and staff in their wake.
Relieved to have session one out of the way, Chey carried one bag while Allar carried the rest with Urmas in the lead for her private suite.
She couldn't wait to change, relax and investigate more of the castle on her own.
Chapter Two
Chey stood in the middle of her suite, trying to comprehend what she was seeing. Left alone at last, she turned a slow circle, eyes raking over the pristine walls in a color she could only describe as powder blue. Pale, subtle, offset by ivory colored crown molding. Gold accents—baroque shapes, tassels on pillows, a faint leaf design—added a regal flair to the décor.
This was the living area, separate than that of the bedroom. A collection of divans and wingback chairs, all keeping in the color scheme, bracketed a coffee table that looked direct from the renaissance age. Masterpiece paintings of foxhunts and beautiful landscapes covered the walls. More antique pieces of furniture sat in corners and stunning Persian rugs covered large swathes of floor.
She felt like she shouldn't touch anything. As if this was a space in a museum not made for actual living, just viewing.
Entering an archway, she found herself in the bedroom. The blue, white and gold theme existed here as well. The bed, a monstrosity that took up a good portion of one wall, sported a column