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Nope. Eating ice cream with Hans. He wants to know if Teo is still with you.
I knock Teo’s arm with my elbow and show him the screen.
Teo frowns, then his face clears. “Yeah, tell him to come, too.”
I glance at Eduard, but he’s speaking quietly with one of the giant bodyguards from the pub. How did that huge man get in here without me noticing?
Teo makes a shooing motion at my phone. “Tell her to bring Hans. I’ll clear it with His Highness.” While I text Lina, he crosses the room. The three men speak in low voices. Teo’s shoulders tighten, and Eduard frowns and says something abrupt. The big man takes a step back to give them space, but his gaze remains laser focused on Teo. He’s obviously familiar with my friend, but wary at the same time. Does he think Teo is a threat to Eduard?
Illegitimate cousins used to assassinate kings all the time back in the dark ages, but surely that’s not something they worry about now? For one thing, I’m sure there are cameras, so they’d be able to prove who did it if he even tried. And from what Lina said, there are a handful of legitimate cousins in line for the throne behind Eduard. Teo wouldn’t have a chance at ascending, so why bother?
Yes, after our distant brush with royalty at that pub last weekend, Lina tried to teach me all about the royal family. I wasn’t interested, but now I might have to have her give me a refresher course. Or do some googling.
I smother a laugh. As if Teo would attempt a coup. My dad accuses me of an overactive imagination, but that’s ridiculous even for me. It must be the crazy setting getting to me. I still can’t believe I’m in a royal palace, hanging out with the heir to the throne.
Chapter Twelve
TEO
Moritz brings Hans and Lina—and a bag of snacks Hans insisted on picking up—to join us in the formal south parlor. Eddie spots Hans and his jaw tightens, but he continues the tour without comment. I smother a yawn and follow the group through the remaining official rooms and into the private residence. The girls seem to be enthralled with Eddie’s spiel. It sounds well-rehearsed, as if he’s given this tour a hundred times. I wonder how many women he’s brought through here. It’s hard to imagine the Grand Duchess letting him do that, but she’s frequently out of town.
Is she here today? No one’s mentioned her, yet. I’m not exactly afraid of my aunt, but she’s not someone I enjoy running into randomly.
I grind my teeth when my cousin puts his hand on Eva’s back. Eddie has always been jealous of the relative freedom my siblings and I enjoy. He hasn’t had the opportunity for casual relationships that our anonymity in Rotheberg allowed us. As a result, he seems to feel it’s his right to intrude on—and commandeer—any or all of my friends. He tried to steal Hans during his first visit, and I have no doubt he’s targeting Eva for the same reason.
“Did you tell her?” Hans whispers as we trail behind them up the wide stairs. “About your relationship to the Dark Lord?”
“I haven’t had a chance. I was going to, then he showed up.” I thought I’d slipped away when I saw him earlier, but he probably followed me. He must have suspected I was up to something since I rarely come to the palace. But we’ve all known about that route through the storerooms to the tour exit since we were kids.
When we were little, Eduard and I were friends. We used to spy on the tourists and plot our escape. After his father—a very junior noble from Sweden—divorced the Grand Duchess and moved to Bali, his mother took every opportunity to impress upon Eddie the importance of his station in life. As my parents took care to separate us from the royal life, his mother doubled down. Every time we returned from Rotheberg, Eddie was more condescending and haughty.
He also seemed to perfect his ability to charm women. The combination of a romantic royal back story and lots of money makes him irresistible.
I’m obviously biased, but I find him phony and pathetic. I grab Hans’s arm, stopping him on the steps and allowing the others to get well ahead of us. “He called me cousin, and she didn’t seem surprised. Maybe Lina told her.”
Hans looks at my hand on his arm and shakes his head. “If you think she knows, why are you whispering?”
“Because I’m not sure. And I can’t tell her now.” I swing around and head up the steps.
“Why not?” Hans takes the steps two at a time to catch me. “I’ll distract Eddie, and you can tell her.”
“Good luck. He’s kind of monopolizing her.”
“Lina will help me.” He slows as we approach the top. Eddie and the girls have disappeared.
I jerk my head to the right, then head down the hall, Hans at my side. “I don’t want Eddie to know Eva is my?—”
Hans smirks. “Eva is your what?”
I have no claim on her. Eduard knows she’s my friend, obviously, and he probably surmised she’s a close friend since I brought her to the palace, but I have no intention of letting Eddie know how important she is to me. He’d make an even harder run at her if he knew.
I hope I used that phrase correctly.
We find the others in the heir’s suite. Eddie’s personal office, parlor, workout room, bedroom, and gaming room encompass most of the third floor’s west wing. He’s on the opposite side of the palace from the Grand Duchess, and they both seem to prefer it this way. From the windows of the parlor—more of a lounge or family room than the name suggests—the house Victoriana and I live in is barely visible through the trees. When the leaves start to fall next month, the palace will dominate the view from my bedroom. Fortunately, the garage and front door to our house are on the far side so Eduard doesn’t have a clear view of who comes and goes.
Although I’m sure the security team could pull up surveillance video if asked.
Eduard calls down to the kitchen and demands pizza and popcorn. He’s decided—without consulting the rest of us—that we’ll have dinner and a movie night. To be fair, the girls seem quite willing to agree.
