Page 6 of Falling for the Queen Mother

"I heard there are a number of countries doing a full inventory. Eastern Novigradia and Dellisole I know are, or were anyway. They may be done by now." Kathleen took a seat at one of the other chairs and turned to Nathaniel. "What do you need to know?"

The two of them started talking about numbers and words that Alaina didn't quite understand from the context. Rather than trying to keep up with them, she opened a word puzzle on her digital tablet and started a new page. It wasn't as easy as the ones before, but maybe she'd moved onto a more challenging section of the book.

A buzz on her phone drew her attention away from the puzzle. The message from her assistant told her she was needed back in her office. Nathaniel and Kathleen acknowledged her farewell, but just barely before going back to their discussion about the archives.

She considered stopping to see Frederick and ask him about assistance for Nathaniel and Kathleen, but decided she didn't want to risk being turned away if he was unavailable. Once in her office, she sent his aide a message that she'd like to speak with him at his earliest convenience.

Her assistant had followed her in and sat across the desk.

Time to get to work.

3

How long had he and Kathleen been working?

Nathaniel glanced at his watch. Several hours. How long had the Queen Mother been gone?

He remembered her leaving, but had no idea when she had done so. In that time, they had come up with a plan for doing a quick inventory of the pieces in the archives. It would be similar to what they'd been doing in Dellisole. Two historians or archivists would work as a team with one other staff member who was there to help with documentation.

"Is there anything else we need to do now?" Kathleen closed the cover of her notebook. "When do we want to call a staff meeting to discuss the plan with them?"

Nate pulled himself out of his thoughts about the Queen Mother. "I think we've covered everything for now. I will leave when to have the meeting to your discretion, although I do believe it should be sooner rather than later."

"Agreed," she answered with a nod and a glance at her watch. "First thing tomorrow morning?"

He slipped his pen into the holder then closed his own padfolio. "Let me know what time I need to be here and I will be." He'd be at least fifteen minutes earlier than whatever time she told him. They'd already exchanged numbers so with confirmation that she'd text him anything he needed to know, he walked back out into the main display gallery.

Was this on the public tours? He knew it was in some countries, but not in others.

His question was answered when the door at the far end of the gallery opened to a tour guide and a small group, comprised mostly of adults but also a few older children entered. Were younger children not allowed? Or were there simply no young ones on this tour?

The guide stumbled a bit over his words when he saw Nathaniel, but recovered quickly. His shock was likely due to someone unknown being there unaccompanied.

A woman, one who dressed and acted like she belonged in the palace, entered behind the visitors. She glanced around then made her way straight to Nathaniel. "Sir, if you could come with me please..."

It wasn't phrased as a request. He had no doubt she could force him to comply if he didn't do so voluntarily.

In a few seconds, they were out of the gallery and on their way to another part of the palace. He'd presumed it would be time for him to leave, but instead Nathaniel found himself back near the executive offices. The woman motioned to a chair next to the wall in a corridor. It seemed like a waiting area, though not what he would have expected. She then continued to the office door when the man sitting at the desk gave a slight nod.

There wasn't really anything for him to do but take a seat.

It didn't look like the Queen Mother's office, but it was possible she had more than one entrance. This one seemed a bit oddly located, though he had no idea why he'd be brought through a side door. As much as he wanted to get his phone out and do some mindless scrolling to pass the time, it felt disrespectful to do so. Instead, he opened his padfolio, pulled out the pen and proceeded to make a couple of notes that had nothing to do with anything, but made him look like he had something to keep his mind occupied.

It only took a couple of minutes for the man at the desk to answer the buzz of his phone. As soon as he put the receiver down, he looked at Nathaniel. "You can enter now, sir."

He quickly put his pen away and closed the padfolio. "Thank you." But he still had no idea who he would find on the other side of the door.

As soon as he walked in, he recognized the office as belonging to the Queen Mother, but it did confirm that he'd come in a side door.

Queen Mother Alaina motioned for him to have a seat then held up a finger. She spoke into the phone in... was that Italian? It surprised him, but it probably shouldn't have. He understood a couple of words here and there, but not the whole thing. She didn't seem upset so that was a good thing.

She smiled again. "Ciao."

As she placed the receiver back in the cradle, she also swiveled her chair just a bit to look more directly at him. "Sorry about that. The call came in as soon as they told me you were waiting. We'd already rescheduled a couple of times, and I knew it wouldn't take long."

"It's no trouble at all, Your Majesty." He probably needed to brush up on his etiquette, but a widowed Queen Consort retained that title, didn't she?

A fleeting look of... something crossed her face. Was it sadness? The reminder of her late husband?