The Royal Romance - The Valtoria Diaries

Reinforcements

It was well after midnight, and the lights in the palace corridors were dimmed as she stealthily made her way down the staircase that led from the royal quarters and back onto the floor where most of the guest bedrooms were housed. She caught sight of herself in an ornamental mirror on the corridor; her red hair was dishevelled, and her make-up no longer perfect. Still, small price to pay. She smirked at her reflection.

"Who's that?"

Oh, for pity's sake. "Your worst nightmare," she hissed at Drake Walker as he approached her.

"Don't flatter yourself, Olivia."

"What are you doing skulking around the palace at this hour?"

"I could ask you the same question." He stood close to her, so close that she could smell the whisky on his breath.

"You could, but I wouldn't answer it." It was none of his business that she'd decided to call in on Rick this evening, feeling he could do with an ally and a sounding board in the wake of his brave testimony earlier. Though most of her ire was directed at Anton this week, she still felt powerless and frustrated when it came to making it all alright for her oldest friend. But she had a feeling the passionate kiss they had just shared in his private quarters might have helped boost his spirits. It had certainly boosted hers. "However, you're going to answer me. I want to know."

He glared at her, defeat in his eyes. "Couldn't sleep. Of all the bedrooms in this goddamn palace, Rick had to put Jones and Maxwell in the one next to mine."

"Oh. Well. Clearly if that's a problem for you, they've worked things out."

"Yeah.." He scratched his head. "They certainly seemed to be.. getting along just great..."

"Well, I'm pleased to hear it. Not.. pleased to hear.. it.. obviously. Ew. But pleased they're back on track."

He looked surprised. "Really?"

"Really. I know I'm not Maxwell's biggest fan, but I wouldn't want Anton to have the satisfaction of having split them up. Besides, I don't want Rick to start sniffing around Jen again." That would not be conducive to her current strategy. "Anyway, I was just heading to my room. There's some whisky in my minibar, if you want some."

He shrugged his shoulders, and followed her. She opened the door, and he slid inside.

"Help yourself." She kicked off her heels, and sat down on the bed, watching him going through the contents of the minibar.

"Ah. Come to papa."

She handed him two tumblers from the sideboard. "We drink to Anton's inevitable fate."

"Yeah." He poured, and handed one of the tumblers to her. "Poisonous piece of crap."

"You didn't see him at his worst yesterday," she sighed. Drake had made a point of not wanting to listen to Anton's lies, but it hadn't stopped them. They'd got worse. "Some of the stuff he said about me."

"I must've missed that bit. Rick told me about the whole Jones and Maxwell thing."

She nodded. "He was vile to Maxwell." Seeing Jen's normally jovial, carefree husband in bits last night had been a sobering experience. "But, he wasn't exactly nice to me either. He made out like I was a privileged entitled brat, born into an uncontended title, spoilt by the royal family."

"And your point is?"

She glared at him. "Do you want to know how many different ways I could kill you in this room right now?"

"I'm guessing it's more than six, and probably less than eleven."

Scowling, she took a big gulp of her whisky. "Whatever, it's just a shame he won't hang for what he's done to this country."

"What was your take on Rick's testimony?"

She sighed. "I don't think it needed saying. But I can see that it helped."

"Yeah. He was brave." He gazed off into the distance. "I mean, I knew it had happened to him. Hell, I tried to talk him out of asking her, because I knew what was going on. But how it must have felt..."

"You're just bitter it wasn't you she gave as the reason she couldn't marry him."

He shook his head, swishing his whisky around the glass. "Like we said, Olivia, Rick's my best friend. He's going through a difficult time right now. He needs someone here with him. He never thought he'd be this alone."

"And you're proposing.."

"Not to go back to Lythikos with you."

This was a proposal she was not going to accept. "You know I didn't want you there in the first place, Drake. But I've got used to you being around now. You come in handy. And if Anton does go down this week, there'll be a high risk of reprisals in Lythikos. I could do with the reinforcements." And the eye candy.

"Then stay here for a few weeks."

She shook her head. "My people expect their Duchess. I've spent a lot of time away in recent months." She had some morale boosting to do. Cordonia's impression of Lythikos was poor now, and its inhabitants would be feeling the brunt of this.

He sighed. "You going to stay for Jones's party on Friday?"

"What sort of party?"

"Last I heard, it was going to be some sort of murder mystery? I think Hana's organising that part of things."

A smirk lit up her face. "I hope I get to be the murderer. I've got a few people I wouldn't mind killing."

"Then you'll stay?"

"Only if you come back to Lythikos with me. Just for a couple of weeks while things blow over."

He drained the last of his whisky, banged the tumbler down on the bedside table, and stood up. "I'll think about it." He headed to the door. "Hopefully, my noisy neighbours will have passed out by now."

"Not like you to be so optimistic."

He rolled his eyes, and left her room.