Alexander & Rebecca (Royals of Valleria #1)

Chapter 3

The driver had pulled up to Rebecca's building just over two hours after they'd left, and carried her bags up the flight of stairs to her apartment. When she was finally alone, Rebecca walked around her cozy, one-bedroom apartment restless and worried: a dangerous combination.

Ordinarily, her apartment was a refuge for her. It was the first thing that had been truly hers, as much as an apartment could be. Her parents' home was on the palace grounds and, therefore, belonged to king and country. But this, with its wonderful, cheery rooms decorated just as Rebecca had wanted, was all her. Courtesy of her first few paychecks, it was filled with elegant, plush furniture in earthy tones with pops of color, and the kitchen was filled with small appliances to support her baking and cooking habits.

Spending time tottering around in the kitchen often calmed her. Tonight, however, she discarded the thought of food just as swiftly as she had thought of it; she had no appetite. Rebecca had ignored Catharine's messages all afternoon and was now feeling guilty for doing so. More tension knotted in her stomach.

Deciding it was better to be productive than lazy, she grabbed her purse and briefcase and left her apartment not ten minutes after she'd arrived. There were things she could have seen to—bills, grocery shopping, and housework—but none of them appealed to her. If she lost her job tomorrow, then she wouldn't be able to pay the bills or buy groceries anyhow. No, it was best to go into the office and finish up some work, just in case.

Rebecca walked down the stone staircase away from her apartment. It was a small building, only four apartments total with hers on the higher floor, though the street itself boasted rows of quaint houses nestled side-by-side.

Besides the price, the main appeal of the apartment had been its location, where it lay tucked away from the city center and the royal palace, and overlooked a vast array of gardens and woods. Having grown up on the expertly maintained lands and gardens of the palace, she'd needed the trees and scents of earth before she could make a home.

The neighborhood was quiet, even though it was full of families. Parents and grandparents spent lazy summer evenings sitting and chatting on well-worn benches, a bottle of wine or two shared between them, while small children rode bicycles and laughed as they played in the calm streets.

It was how Rebecca imagined a 'normal' childhood would have been like. On the royal grounds, there had been few places for her to play and enjoy youth, but in her own room and the fields near her childhood home. As an only child, she rarely saw other children her age, but for the royal children and some of the other children of palace workers.

Catharine was the closest person to a sister and friend she had, but protocol prevented even that relationship from being fully realized. She had never grown up with a sense of community and so, she supposed, she was trying to make up for it now.

Rebecca waved to her neighbors as she strode towards her car, then slipped inside. Leaving the window down to let the summer breeze through—especially important since her air conditioning was broken again—she drove towards her office and pondered the long night of tasks ahead of her.

When she finally entered the quiet cool of her office, she flipped on the light to fight the darkening day. All the royal offices were located in the palace, though on the opposite end from where the royal family lived in their private royal apartments. The décor, therefore, was plush and antique, though never felt antiquated.

Her office—it still gave her a thrill to think of it as her own—was warm in tones of rich maroon and dark wood, with splashes of color in the bright flowers she always scattered around the room. The flowers, courtesy of her father, made her feel more comfortable in the auspicious space, and reminded her of just how far she'd come.