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So much for her grandmother’s insistence the new monarch would be an improvement on the old. Her ‘informed sources’ had got it wrong.
Heels clicked away and a door closed. Yet it took Annalena a good five minutes to pick up the thread of the report.
She was halfway through it when someone cleared their throat.
It was the burly security guard. Behind him followed a man who deposited a tray on a small table that had appeared beside her. The scent of coffee hit her nostrils and she inhaled appreciatively. Coffee, cream, sugar and cinnamon biscuits.
She beamed at the newcomer, reading his name badge. ‘Thank you, Reiner. I didn’t have time for morning coffee.’ And she’d been too nervous to eat.
He smiled and shook his head, nodding towards the guard before he left. ‘It was Udo’s idea.’
She turned. ‘Udo. That’s very kind. I appreciate it.’
Faint colour crept across the big man’s cheeks and he murmured something non-committal before returning to his post.
It seemed the King’s personal staff were happy to ignore her but other palace employees weren’t.
What did that say about the new King of Prinzenberg? That common courtesy didn’t matter to him?
Now she found it difficult to concentrate on work. She stared at the screen but it wasn’t words she saw. It was Edelforst’s wide valleys, the meadows and vast forests, farmland surrounded by towering mountains. The villages and compact towns. The people who loved their land and had struggled hard for generations to support themselves.
Her vision blurred, eyes glazing.
Everything rode on this. She couldn’t afford to lose.
‘Your Majesty…’
Benedikt shook his head. ‘I told you to ditch the title, Matthias, at least when we’re alone.’ He’d never liked royal pomp. That had been his father’s thing.
Thinking about the old man soured his mood. Even now King Karl cast a long shadow.
‘Of course.’ His private secretary and closest confidant grinned. ‘But I worry one day I’ll forget in public and call you Benno.’ He paused. ‘We need to find a gap in your diary.’
Benedikt laughed and leaned back from his desk. ‘Good luck. I’ve seen the timetable for the next month.’
‘I’m not talking about later in the month. I mean today. There’s a…problem with the schedule.’
Matthias had handled his schedule for years, juggling commitments in Prinzenberg along with Benedikt’s business interests across three continents. He couldn’t remember problems before. Not in that tone of voice. Not with that frown of disapproval.
‘Tell me what happened.’
‘Nothing I can’t handle, but—’
‘Tell me anyway.’
His old friend sighed. ‘The same thing. Staff here take it upon themselves to vet who and what you see. They think they’re doing right but forget to consult me first.’
‘They’re still loyal to my father. Or at least his ways.’
Benedikt’s mouth tightened. He’d been young when he discovered how little he liked his father’s ways. Which was why, from the time he’d had any say in it, he’d spent so much time outside Prinzenberg even though he loved it. He’d only returned full-time following his father’s recent death.
‘They’ll learn. I’ll make sure of it. But it takes time.’ Matthias sighed. ‘Meanwhile, you have a visitor.’
‘If he’s not on the schedule I haven’t got time.’
‘Shewason the schedule. I put her there. But someone decided she didn’t need to see you.’ He let that sink in. ‘She turned up anyway. She’s been in the palace vestibule for almost three hours. I’ve only just found out.’
‘Three hours! In the vestibule?’ He paused, watching Matthias’s expression turn ever more sombre. It seemed worse was to come. ‘Who is she?’