Page 8 of Her Royal Rebellion

“What about…” Her voice trailed off and she glanced back to the door. “Have you spoken to him?”

I swallowed and shook my head knowing she was referring to Logan.

“It’s going to be okay, Isla. We won’t let anything happen that you don’t want.”

She wasn’t really in a position to make that kind of promise but it still helped knowing I had people on my side.

“I’m going to see what I can find out. I’ll see if I can reach Serena and have her keep her ears open for anything.”

She stood and gave me a hug before leaving. Knowing I had my siblings on my side made me feel a little bit better. I’d worried that Aiden would tell me I needed to listen to our father and that he knew best. I should have given him more credit. He knew better than anyone the importance of standing up to our parents and fighting for what we wanted. He never would have been happy taking on his crown responsibilities if he didn’t also pursue his dream of LochEnergy. He changed the economy for the country and developed new energy technology that we’d shared with the world. I couldn’t picture the man he would be now if he didn’t fight to take that path. Hopefully, Cian would be just as supportive.

4

Logan

I met Shane in the hall across from Isla’s doors. “Everything okay?”

He nodded. “Aiden and Charlie stopped by earlier.” It wasn’t proper for us to refer to them so casually, but since we were alone, we didn’t worry about titles or codenames. We only used those when traveling or in more public settings. “The prince left in a hurry. He seemed rather upset. Charlie left a few minutes later and seemed resigned. I’m not sure what’s going on, but Isla hasn’t left the room since this morning.”

“Has Carolyn been by?” It sounded like something was wrong, but I didn’t want to jump to conclusions. I needed more information.

“Yes, just before lunch.”

“And did she seem off?”

He nodded. “Yes, there’s definitely something going on.”

I fought the urge to burst into Isla’s room and ask her for myself. That wasn’t an option with Shane still here. I’d have to wait and use more discretion.

One of the kitchen staff turned the corner carrying a large tray. She paused a few meters from us. “Evening.” She smiled and looked at the door.

I stepped forward and took the tray from her. “Thank you, I will take this to the princess.”

She looked relieved and turned.

“Ma’am?” I wished I knew her name but with over one hundred and fifty staff members on the palace grounds it was a bit hard to remember everyone unless I interacted with them regularly.

She paused and faced me. “Yes, sir?”

“Have you heard anything today?” The housekeeping staff was usually the most up to date on the gossip, but everything made its way to the kitchen eventually.

She looked around as if someone might be watching before stepping closer to me. “Princess Isla retreated to her suite this morning following a meeting with the king and queen. We don’t know anything for certain, but we’ve been told to prepare for regular guests for the foreseeable future.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What kind of guests? How many?”

She shook her head. “We’re guessing other royals, from some of the requests. We were told to plan on a minimum of ten new guests each week until the king says so.”

That didn’t make any sense. There were no events coming up. Independence Day was a celebration that brought in the Lochish elite, but it was held in the capital. They wouldn’t be coming here.

“Thank you.”

She nodded and hurried back the way she came. I turned to Shane. “Does that make any sense to you?”

“No, I haven’t heard any of that.”

That’s what I was expecting. “We need more information so we can plan accordingly. Would you mind working on that? I’ll stay here.”

He nodded and walked down the hall. I waited until he was gone before knocking once on the door.