Royal Ruse - Emma Lea Page 0,41

it has been a lengthy journey and you will probably wish to freshen up. I’ll come back for you in an hour. I will also have some food sent up from the kitchens immediately.”

“Thank you, Danika,” I said to her.

She nodded once and then left, leaving me alone with Maddox.

“Would you like a shower?” Maddox asked.

“Yes,” I replied with relief. “That would be wonderful. Um, my luggage?”

“It will be here by the time you have finished showering,” Maddox said briskly.

I nodded and followed him to the bathroom. The suite they assigned me was large and surprisingly comfortably furnished. There was a sitting room with large glass doors leading out onto a stone balcony. The view was breathtaking, and I longed to linger awhile and take it all in. I had hazy memories of living on Kalopsia, but they were a child’s memories and hadn’t registered the beauty we’d been privileged to live with.

Maddox led me through the master bedroom, complete with king-size bed and lush furnishings. The ensuite bathroom was all in stone and slate. The walls were the stone of the castle walls and slate tiles covered the floor. There was a massive free-standing tub and a walk-in shower with a rain fall shower head and what looked to be a waterfall.

“I’ll leave you to it,” Maddox said. “There are toiletries in the vanity and towels in the cubby.”

“Thank you,” I said, barely waiting for him to leave before I began stripping off my clothes.

I stepped into the shower and groaned as the soft, warm rain fell over me. I let my body relax and breathed in the steam, keeping my eyes closed and just letting the shower minister to me. Once I felt more human, I became curious and explored the room with first my eyes and then my hands as I discovered that within the shower there was a sliding partition. I slid it open to reveal a window. A full-length window in the shower cubicle that looked directly out to the Aegean Sea.

It was glorious.

There was no fear of anyone seeing in and it was incredibly exhilarating to stand on the very precipice of a cliff in nothing but my birthday suit with the world laid out below me.

I luxuriated in the shower as long as I thought appropriate. The king was waiting for me and I was starving. Hopefully, there would be food and clean clothes waiting for me.

The towels were thick and soft and there was a charcoal gray robe waiting for me to slip into. I padded out of the bathroom to find an outfit pressed and laid out on the bed for me. I didn’t dress straight away. I wanted to eat first and knowing my luck, I would soil my clean clothes with whatever food had been prepared.

Maddox had set up a table on the balcony and I smelled the coffee before I noticed the food. There was a charcuterie board filled to overflowing with cheeses and meats and fruit, and then another platter piled high with pastries. My stomach growled as I sat and reached for my coffee, not even caring that there was no tea.

“Lucas? Is that you?”

I frowned and looked to the side of the balcony where I could just see the top of Frankie’s head above the stone partition.

“Yes, I’m here,” I replied. “What are you doing?”

“Eating,” she said, and it sounded like she had a mouthful of food.

I chuckled. “Me too,” I replied.

“Do you think we could eat together?” Frankie asked.

“I don’t see why not,” I replied. “Do you want me to come to you?”

I’d barely gotten the words out of my mouth when a passageway opened in the stone and Frankie stood in a matching robe grinning at me.

“Ta da!” she said, striking a pose.

Chapter 11

Lucas

“Do I curtsey?” Frankie hissed at me as we waited to be announced.

“It is customary,” I whispered in reply.

“Crap. I don’t know how to.”

I turned to look at her with my eyebrows raised. “My mother didn’t teach you when she was filling your head with all that other nonsense?”

“Oh, no, she did. I’m just not very good at it.”

I rolled my eyes and grinned.

Frankie backhanded my shoulder. “Don’t you dare laugh at me,” she growled.

“I’m not laughing at you,” I said, turning to her. I cupped her face and made her look me in the eyes. “You’ll be fine. From everything I know about the king, he’s not into all the traditional protocols. Just do the best you can and