The Royal Romance - The Valtoria Diaries

I would choose you

She'd left His Majesty naked in the royal suite, fully spent after a night of mutual pleasure followed by a further early morning reprise. She'd crept out to her allocated guest bedroom and dressed, and now was making it her mission to find out exactly what was going on.

The invitation had seemed so formal, It wasn't merely a come spend time with me because I need your body type of invitation, although she was quickly getting to know that this was indeed the case, and it did actually give her a sense of satisfaction knowing the power she had over Cordonia's king, especially in his bedroom.

But there was a sense of foreshadowing around the palace. As if an important event was in the planning, like one not seen here since Jen's wedding. She'd heard Madeleine talking about a guest list yesterday; threatening her, although it had been fun, had failed to yield any useful information. Her plan, therefore, was to search for evidence in Rick's study, the nerve centre of Cordonia.

A knowing nod to the security guard was enough to clear her access to the secure wing. Picking the lock effortlessly with a hairpin, she slunk into the room, closing the door behind her. Her first task was to obscure the security cameras. She'd been in here seldom, but often enough to know exactly where they all were. Soon they all had sticking plaster all over them. The camera which had seen her enter had experienced a little accident. She'd get it replaced later today.

Unsure where to start, she poured some whisky into one of the tumblers on the desk. Yes, it was early, but inspiration was needed. She made her way through each of the drawers but found nothing that she wasn't already aware of. Eventually, she found a memory stick which intrigued her. Turning on the PC, she guessed his password at the second attempt (Eleanor2) and slotted it into the USB port.

She began to read. Ugh. What is this ridiculous twaddle? It didn't take her long to realise exactly what it was. Ah, so Beaumont's written a tell-all book. Bully for him. I haven't got time for this. She pulled out the memory stick and threw it back into the drawer in disgust.

A few more drawers were rummaged through. A dossier on current threats. The Unity Core's response to recent events. A large file on Auvernal. Goodness, I'd put those awful people out of my minds. Another dossier on Montevisso. Rick's always had a thing for that Amalas. I need to keep an eye on her now that she's back on the market.

Nothing useful. She turned her attention to the photograph on the desk. Previously, he'd had a photograph of his father there. This had been replaced with a group photograph. Six faces, four smiling widely, two frowning questioningly. She'd remembered Savannah taking the photograph for Rick at the New Year's party at Valtoria. She hated such forced photo opportunities, she'd rather be captured in a portrait, but now she felt a little sense of satisfaction that the King's desk housed an image of her. Amongst others, obviously. But it was a start.

The door opened, carefully. She froze.

"Ah. I did wonder if I might find you here."

She sneered up at him from where she sat at his desk. "That's not the best photograph of me, and you know it."

He wandered closer to her. "It's not noon yet, Olivia, and you're drinking whisky. If I didn't know better, I'd say that was Drake's influence."

"Well what else is there in here? He's the only one you cater for, seemingly."

"I could change that. I'm sure a bottle of Lythikos Nog next to it could complement it nicely."

"I prefer champagne when in the capital. Nog isn't the same in this climate."

He poured himself a whisky and chinked her glass. "Cheers."