Page 10

CHAPTER 10

AMELIA

I love when Tristan and I take his bike down the coast. It’s the one time where I don’t feel as if we’re on display. We both wear helmets, and while most everyone knows it’s us, they don’t take pictures and sell them to magazines or websites. We’re allowed to be free and just who we are.

Grabbing my phone, I scroll so I can find what the weather is supposed to be today. It makes a big difference on what I’ll be wearing. Sooner or later, I feel as if we’ll move from these freezing temps to spring, but winter wants to hold on with its icy cold hands. When I see that it’s cooler than I would like, I head over to my dresser and dig through it until I can find my favorite fleece-lined leggings.

“Is there anything I can do for you?”

I smile before turning around and facing Shannon. No matter how we started out together, she has morphed into the best personal assistant I could have ever asked for. Not to mention she’s become a great friend. “Which pair of boots should I wear with my black fleece leggings?”

Her eyes brighten. The stylist in her misses those days where that’s all she had to do, I’m sure. There’s nothing she enjoys more than helping to dress me. “The moto ones that we bought a few months ago, when you explained to me how much you love riding the bike. Didn’t you finally bring them up here a couple of weeks ago?”

“I did. They’re in my closet.”

Before I can make a move, Shannon is already heading to where I said they would be. I’m so used to being around her that I don’t think anything about taking my pajama pants off and changing in front of her. Within a few minutes I have the leggings on, as well as a long sweater. She brings the boots over, along with a pair of thick socks.

“So, what are you and Tristan planning on doing today?” She makes the small talk, as I continue getting dressed.

“We’re going up and down the coast, obviously. I’m hoping we can stop at the fish and chips place that I love and have a pint.”

She laughs as she has a seat next to me. “If the country knew how normal the two of you are, they wouldn’t believe it. It amazes me. Did I ever tell you I’d worked for another member of a monarchy before?”

“No, it’s never come up, I don’t guess.” Now I’m interested as to why she didn’t tell me. Shannon is not the kind of person to keep secrets, so there must be a reason.

She nods, rolling her lips together. A sigh works its way out of her chest, and she turns to face the window. It looks out over the same ocean that can be seen from most of the house. Although the rolling waves are in chaos, they calm down whoever is looking out at them. It’s one of the things I love most about this house, well other than the fact not everyone can get here. “I worked for the Calder family.”

I shiver when she mentions that name. The Calders of Crona are the mortal enemies of Haldonia. Over the last century they have tried to invade no less than five times. “You worked for them?” I’m shocked. This isn’t something we’ve ever discussed.

“It’s where I was born and raised, but when it came to staying there indefinitely, I couldn’t do it.”

“How long did you work for them?” I take a seat on the bed and put the boots on.

“Four months. That was as long as I could handle it. There were so many things I saw that I know I would never see here, in Haldonia.”

I’ve always been curious as to what happens in the country to our east, but I’ve never been able to ask. It’s been forbidden. “Like what? How bad are they, really?”

She swallows, her throat moving up and down with the force of it. The normally bright eyes are shadowed and dull. This isn’t who I’m used to seeing, and it worries the hell out of me. “They’re some of the worst I’ve ever seen. I’ve lived my life in fear that they’ll interrupt the peaceful existence I’ve managed to build.”

I’m quiet as I watch, waiting for her to confide in me. We’ve grown close since she became my stylist and then my personal assistant. There’s nothing she hasn’t seen in the last few months when it comes to us. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so open, but I needed at least one person I could trust unconditionally besides my husband. My heart pounds against my chest as I wait for her to speak. I’ve never been this nervous before, not even when I first met Tristan.

What if she’s about to confide that she’s screwed me over? It takes everything I have not to speak before she does, but I wait it out.

“For a while it seemed as if they were nice. Not like the two of you, but slightly comparable. It wasn’t until I had been there for a few weeks, before I started to notice things seemed off.”

She looks as if she needs a little prompting, so I give her a little. “Like what?”

“When I first started, they introduced me to their daughter. She was four and the cutest little girl I’d seen. There was nothing that didn’t put a smile on her face. Happiness was contagious when she was around. One day, she stopped smiling, her eyes were dark, and she withdrew into herself. Sometimes I saw bruises, and I asked her about it. She refused to speak about it, but I kept on.”

I reach out, grabbing her hand with mine. “Of course you did. You’re a great person, and you were obviously worried about her. Did she ever confide in you?”

Shannon nods, tears pooling in her eyes. “Five days before I left, she came running to my bedroom, quietly knocking on the door. At first, I wasn’t sure I’d actually heard the sound or not. Then I heard it again. So, I went investigating.”

I’m terrified of what she’s going to tell me. “This is going to break my heart, isn’t it?”

She nods, her nose and eyes red as she tries to fight back her emotions. “I pulled her into my room and drug her over to the bed. When I sat her down, there was blood on her hands and arms. I kept looking for where it was coming from, and when I couldn’t find it, I asked her.”

“Please tell me she wasn’t sexually assaulted.”

“She wasn’t, but she took my hand and lead me down the hallway to her mom’s room. Her mom and dad didn’t share, which I always thought was odd, especially since I’ve seen how close you and Tristan are. We went to the bathroom, and that’s where she was. She’d been beaten.” Shannon wipes under her eyes. “Badly.”

“Oh, I hate this for you and her. How do you trust someone after they’ve done this to you?”

“You don’t,” Shannon cries. “Or you don’t, if you’re allowed to. I kneeled down and asked if I could help her. She shook her head, holding her lips so firm, her chin so strong. I told her a few times that it was okay, she could break down if she needed to, no one would think bad of her. Not me, not her daughter, but she refused.”

It hits me hard that she was used to this. “Because it’s normal for her, and she knew she’d have to be standing next to her husband at whatever event they had after this.” I’m broken up about this too, because I’d been so worried about who Tristan would be. The type of man he was, and how he would treat me. I was prepared for whatever would come my way, but there was a part of me that knew I wouldn’t be able to take someone controlling me lying down.

“Exactly. It happened again twice in the next week, and then I saw a woman I’d never seen running from her husband’s room with tears streaming down her face. I tried to stop her, but she wasn’t ready for it. That’s when I started paying attention to everything that was happening around them.” Her shaking fingers run through her hair. “Most everyone who was around them? It was as if they were walking around in some sort of stupor, as if they weren’t aware of what was going on in their lives.”

“Like they were drugged?” This is sounding worse and worse.

“I wasn’t sure. Still not, really.” She sighs, blowing out a breath. “All I knew was I had to tell someone, and I did.”

Now I’m invested in this. “What did they do? Who did you tell?”

“I told the head of security, because I was worried something was happening to the royal family, not within it, necessarily. After I told them, I approached it as an outsider, of course, because that’s who I was. I watched and waited, sure that there would be changes within the organization, but there wasn’t.” She rolls her lips together before pulling the bottom one between her teeth.

“As if they knew what was going on and that there was no reason to be concerned?” I supply for her, thinking about why that would be.

“Exactly. When I realized they weren’t going to do anything, and I’d potentially put myself in danger by basically blowing my own cover, I left. For a while I drifted, and then my boss came to me and asked if I’d be willing to help you. I wasn’t sure at first.”

Can’t blame her for that. “I’m glad you took a chance, Shannon, but I need you to be completely honest with me. Why did you mention this?”

She leans in, dropping her voice an octave. “Because I feel like I’m being watched. At first it didn’t seem weird, because the entire world’s eyes are on you. But…” Her eyes dart back and forth in the room. “It seems stronger lately.”

This is where I should tell her the same. “I know what you mean, but I haven’t wanted to bring attention to it.”

“So it’s not just me?”

I shake my head. “I’ve felt it too. Promise me if you see something, you’ll say something.”

She reaches out, hugging me tightly. “I will if you promise, too.”

“All right.” I sigh, wiping at the surprising tears under my eyes. “I need to get dressed and go meet Tristan. He’s going to wonder where I’ve been.”

We share shaky smiles, and I tell myself that I’m going to have fun today. Not worry about what tomorrow might bring.