The Hero and the Hidden Royal - Renae Kaye Page 0,14
being next-to-useless as a supo, Sam seemed to like him. Derek grinned to himself as he pulled on cotton gloves and took out the ancient text that was the journal of a Royal valet from nearly six hundred years ago. It was not exactly scintillating reading, but Derek was deciphering the text to preserve the words written inside and to hopefully get more insight into the life of Royals before the country split into North and South Abarra. The actual cause of the split had been lost and many texts burned. Derek was slowly discovering many facts and details through other channels that Sylvie hoped one day would be used to piece together the ancient feud. Already the valet’s journal had given him an interesting fact—the King of Abarra had a sister who didn’t appear on any official paperwork. It was a delicious mystery.
There was no sign of Alesander, Duke of Roses, by the end of the working day, and putting the worry to the back of his mind, Derek headed home. He was excited—Sam was coming to dinner. Or rather, Sam was coming to Derek’s apartment, bringing dinner which they would share, and then they would….
Quickly Derek focused on the woman across the street with impossible red hair, trying to ascertain whether that color was real or from a bottle. It wasn’t the hardest task to work out that it was extremely fake, because Derek had never seen a person with nearly highlighter-orange hair before, but it stopped him dwelling on what would come after dinner, and thus stopped him getting nervous and disappearing.
Literally.
Back at his apartment he took a quick look around to make sure it was guest-ready—he scrubbed the toilet and took the kitchen bin downstairs and disposed of the garbage. His mother had gifted him with a tablecloth and matching place settings when he moved in, so he pulled them out. Then he shoved them back in the cupboard. Setting the table made it look like Derek had gone to too much effort. He wanted to impress Sam, not scare him off by being too serious too quickly. Then he pulled them out again. He also didn’t want Sam to think he was a peasant who didn’t know not to eat his potatoes with a knife.
He didn’t drink wine very often, but he’d bought a bottle from the Municipal charity store—sometimes Municipal clients gave the organization gifts. Those gifts were put up for sale in the charity store, and all proceeds were given to those in need. Since both royal families owned extensive vineyards, it was common for a crate of wine to arrive on the Municipal’s doorstep. The Municipal’s store was one of the stores Derek used with confidence, because a walking, talking shirt and trousers didn’t cause chaos there. Now a nice bottle of white wine was sitting in the fridge chilling. Derek hoped it would go with dinner as he pulled out some wine glasses.
When his phone rang, he jumped and vanished. Jeez. He needed to get his nerves under control because his phone was in his pocket and had turned invisible along with the clothes on his body. He fumbled for the device, going by touch because he couldn’t see it. It also meant he couldn’t see the screen, so he had no idea who was calling.
“Hello?” he answered cautiously.
“Hi, sweetheart.” He let out a heartfelt but silent sigh. It was his mother, and she didn’t need to know he’d turned invisible. His clothes shimmered back into view.
“Hi, Mom. Burnt any toast lately?”
It was a weak joke. But it was an old one in their family and it made him feel better. Once his mother had been upset over an argument with his dad and had accidentally cooked the sandwich she was holding. Not only cooked it, but burnt it so much that the fire alarm went off. As a teen he appreciated this story because it showed him that not everyone was in control of their powers, not even his mother. He grinned and his body reappeared.
“No, but I have two days left in this week and so it might still happen.” Derek heard the laughter in Peggy’s voice. “Menopause is not working for me. I want a refund.”
“So Dad’s planning a fishing trip, is he?” Derek was laughing along with her. His parents were the greatest.
“I did hear him on the phone enquiring about cruises for one person only. I’m not sure if he’s planning the cruise, or if he’s