Royal Court

by Jenny Frame

  “Or she can’t remember.” Lali laughed.

  “Maybe, but I think it’s the former. Have you noticed how annoyed Holls gets at Quincy? She tries to goad her to talking or arguing all the time.”

  “I suppose you’ve got to retain your crown as our group’s matchmaker. First Greta and Riley, and don’t think I didn’t realize how much you encouraged me to give Cammy a chance.”

  Greta’s partner Riley had been in one of their lecture groups at university, but Riley would have stared at Greta with puppy eyes and done nothing about it if Bea hadn’t pushed her.

  “Well, after their three kids and a long and happy marriage, I think I was right to, and don’t tell me you’re not happy.”

  Lali gave her a hug. “I couldn’t be happier. So who was your little bird who gave you this information?”

  “Clay,” Bea said. “It was the talk of the protection squad this morning.”

  Lali sighed. “Clay…she’s so sweet. If I was ten years younger and not engaged—”

  “Lali!” Bea play hit her friend then said, “I know what you mean. So good looking, and so sweet.”

  “A bit like Captain Quincy,” Lali added.

  “Exactly.”

  The door to the suite opened and George walked in with Teddy on her shoulders. Lali immediately stood up and curtsied.

  George looked at them both through half-shut eyes and said to her daughter, “I think we’ve missed something, Teddy bear.”

  Bea and Lali smiled at each other, and Lali excused herself.

  George lifted Teddy down and she toddled to her mummy. “What did I miss, my darling?”

  Bea captured her daughter in her arms and gave her a big kiss. “Nothing for you to worry about, Bully.”

  ***

  Holly finished with Bea’s clothes and went to her new room. She didn’t even have the energy to open her own suitcases, instead opting to lie on the top of her bed and try to take a nap. Try was the operative word—every time she shut her eyes, she thought about her argument with Quincy. She thought about all the things she should have said and didn’t, but Quincy’s open show of anger had flummoxed her.

  Holly had been angry. She hadn’t done anything wrong. All she did was get a second opinion from Inspector Lang on her ideas. It was a very casual, quick word, and Holly had no idea it would cause so much aggravation.

  Then Clay had told her that the gossip amongst the protection squad was that Quincy got a bit of a dressing down, and Holly began to feel guilty. She realized what an embarrassment that would be for an officer like Quincy. Someone who followed the rules to the letter.

  Holly threw her arm across her face and tried to clear her mind, but Quincy’s face kept running through it. Especially Quincy and her scars, which she suspected were both physical and mental.

  She sat up quickly. “I can’t take this.”

  Holly rung Clay and asked what room Quincy was in. She was astonished to find out she was in the room across from her.

  She got up and walked across the hall, really nervous all of a sudden. “I never thought I’d be apologizing to Stompy.”

  Holly knocked. She heard shuffling and low voices, but no one replied. Quincy wasn’t in there with a woman, was she? The thought didn’t make her feel any better. In fact she felt a little anger and she didn’t know why.

  She was determined not to be ignored, so she thumped the door harder. “Quincy, I want to talk to you—”

  The door suddenly opened, and there stood a puzzled looking Quincy. Holly spotted a face on the computer pad behind her. A beautiful blonde.

  “Can I help you, Holly?” Quincy said.

  Holly wished she’d never come. Why she’d worried or cared if she’d hurt Quin’s feelings, she’d never know.

  “It doesn’t matter. You’re busy.” Holly turned and hurried back to her room.

  ***

  That evening was the calm before the storm of engagements ahead, and all the staff were taking advantage of the fact.

  The designated rec room here was as old-fashioned as the hotel—no gaming terminals or banks of computer interfaces—but there was an ancient table tennis table, and so competition ensued.

  Holly had played table tennis a lot as she grew up and was so far beating all comers. Some of the security and other staff were gathered around, cheering on the participants, while others sat at tables reading and relaxing.

  She was now playing Clay and beating her soundly. Clay hit the ball over the net and Holly smashed it back, winning the point. She jumped for joy and twirled around as the rest clapped.

  Clay groaned. “You’re beating me to a pulp, Holly.”

  “Yes, and I thought you were supposed to be an expert marksman, Clay?” Holly winked at her friend.

  “Supposed to be,” Garrett chimed in from the side.

  Holly narrowed her eyes at Garrett. She never said anything if it wasn’t negative, it seemed. She had a huge chip on her shoulder.

  “Okay, match point. Let’s go, Clay,” Holly said.

  Clay served, and a rally began between them. It was one of their longer ones, but just as Clay was starting to smile, perhaps thinking she had a chance, Holly smashed the ball clear of the table.

  Everyone clapped, and Clay came around the table to shake Holly’s hand. “Well played, Holly. You were too strong for me.”

  Holly gave her a quick hug. “We all have our strengths. Luckily for Bea and Teddy, yours isn’t table tennis. It’s the business of protecting that you are the expert at.”

  A voice from the other end of the table said, “My turn.”

  She looked and saw Garrett with the bat. Holly didn’t want to play her—she could imagine that Garrett wouldn’t take losing well.

  “No, thanks. I think I’ll finish while I still have my table tennis crown intact.”

  Holly walked away from the table and noticed Quincy sitting at one of the tables. She’d never even noticed her coming in.

  She should take the opportunity to apologize like she’d wanted to earlier, but she felt awkward after interrupting Quincy’s phone call. It had been such a strange sensation seeing Quincy engaged in an intimate conversation with an absolutely gorgeous woman. Funny—before, she couldn’t picture Quincy in an intimate relationship, because she was so emotionally closed off.

  But then, Holly reminded herself, she had seen hints of passion in Quincy, so perhaps some other woman had persuaded her to open up. It would be worth the effort, Quincy was—

  “Oh no.” Holly remembered another thing she had said last night. She had told Quincy she was an Adonis. She was, but you didn’t just go and tell someone that. So embarrassing.

  She decided just to apologize quickly and go to her room. She approached the table, and Quincy stood up politely. Quincy was every inch the well-mannered and handsome officer. She couldn’t forget that.

  “Hello,” Quincy said.

  “Hi.” Holly leaned on the back of one of the upright chairs that circled the table and said, “When I came to your door earlier, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

  “Of course. Sit down.” Quincy indicated to the chair.

  So much for her quick getaway. Quincy had all her soldiers out on the table and her paints and brushes. One half-painted soldier was set off to the side.

  “What’s wrong with him?” Holly asked.

  “He’s the one you were working on. I kept him apart in case you wanted to complete him,” Quincy said.

  Holly was slightly taken aback. Despite their cross words, Quincy had still thought of her. Quincy being considerate was beginning to become a pattern.

  “Um…thank you,” Holly said.

  Quin picked up a brush and handed it to her. She took it, and just like the first time, their fingertips lingered together. Why did such an apparently boring, stony-faced security officer have such magnetism?

  Holly felt it strongly. She pulled her fingers away and picked up her soldier. When she began the paint strokes she got the sam
e calm feeling as she did the last time.

  This must be why she does it. It calms her mind.

  “You wanted to talk to me about something?” Quincy reminded her.

  “Oh yes, I wanted to apologize for earlier. I really didn’t mean for what I said to Inspector Lang to cause such a big thing. After I spoke to you on the plane, I thought, maybe I’m wrong, maybe the places they visit should be closed off from the public. I only asked for his opinion, and he said no. I really didn’t mean to go over your head, and I’m sorry if it caused you any embarrassment within the squad.”

  Holly looked up from her soldier and Quincy was gazing at her.

  “That’s all right. I’m sorry I was…so forceful about it,” Quincy said.

  There was a silence as they gazed at each other, and then Holly looked back down to her task.

  After a while she couldn’t help but ask, “Did I interrupt you and your girlfriend?”

  “Girlfriend?” Quincy said. “Oh no, that was Helen. The wife of my friend from the marines.”

  Holly was waiting on more information, but as usual Quincy’s conversation was stunted. “Helen is beautiful.” She pretended to concentrate on her task but watched Quincy out of the corner of her eye. Quincy had gulped and flexed her fists when she’d mentioned her friend. “Do Queen Georgina and Cammy know your friend?” Holly asked.

  “No, I commanded Jacob’s unit after I’d left the Queen’s ship,” Quincy said.

  Again she didn’t elaborate. It was such hard work having a conversation with her. “It’s nice that you keep in touch with his wife—” Then Holly realized what might have happened. She reached out and covered Quincy’s hand. “Oh God, he didn’t pass away on duty with you, did he? I’m so sorry I’ve brought it up.”

  Holly could feel Quincy’s hand trembling under hers. Quincy snatched her hand away.

  “No, he didn’t.” Quincy started to quickly pack her paints, brushes, and soldiers away. “I think I’ll head off to bed, Holly. I’m very tired.”

  God, she really had struck a nerve. “Listen, I’m sorry, Quin, if I—”

  “No, no, it’s fine. I’m just tired.” Quincy took Holly’s brush and washed it out. “You can finish your model another night. You’re always welcome.”

  Holly was certain Quincy was not going to her room because she was tired. Every night they had been on tour, Quin had been the last one up, as if she didn’t want to go to bed.

  Quin gathered her things together and said, “Goodnight Holly. Sleep well.”

  As Quin walked away, Holly thought, Well, that was a conversation stopper.

  ***

  That night Holly was awakened from her sleep by a loud noise. She gasped when she woke, as the noise gave her quite a scare.

  “Bloody hell. What was that?” She sat up quickly and realized she’d fallen asleep with her computer pad on her chest.

  She looked at the time. “Three thirty? I have to be up in a few hours.”

  Then she heard the noise again. It was like a muffled shout, but she couldn’t quite make it out. It was coming from outside her room, so she got up and put on her dressing gown.

  Holly opened the door a crack and peeped along the corridor. Luckily her room was at the end of the corridor and not near any entrances or exits, so there were no security personnel to see her in a state of undress. Just then she heard a whole series of shouts—shouts of pain, she was sure—and they were coming from the room across the hall. Captain Quincy’s room.

  “Quin.” Holly hurried across the hall and put her ear to the door.

  She heard heavy breathing from Quincy, then shouts of, “Jacob! I’ll find you, I’ll find you. Jacob, no, no!”

  Holly’s heart was thudding. She wanted to get in there and hold Quincy. She shouldn’t go through nightmares like this herself. These dreams must be connected to the mission Quin got the medal for, that her friend Jacob had obviously been really hurt in.

  She wished she could get Quincy to talk about this. Someone like her, who kept everything so locked up tight, must find it so hard to deal with these emotions. Holly took a step back and thought of the torrent of emotion she had seen in Quincy’s eyes.

  Quincy’s words floated across her mind. I don’t let myself feel anything.

  But quite clearly, she did. It was all there, all this pain, tragedy, and emotion were just simmering under the surface. If Garrett was right, and Quincy had gotten involved in a fight, these were the emotions that were driving her anger.

  Then she heard more screams of pain. “It’s burning, burning!”

  Holly closed her eyes and felt such an urge to soothe her pain. Should she knock and try to wake her up? It might make Quin feel worse knowing that Holly heard her. She was such a private person.

  She was about to knock when she heard shuffling in the room. Quin was awake. Holly hurried back to her room. When she shut her door, she decided in that moment that she was going to help Quincy, whether she liked it or not.

  Chapter Eleven

  The next morning Holly desperately wanted to say something to Quincy, but she knew Quin would shut down if her team would be able to overhear them.

  When she walked up to Bea’s suite, she noticed that Quincy wasn’t standing guard with Clay. Someone else was in her place.

  “Clay, where’s Quin?” Holly said.

  “Morning, Holly. Queen Georgina wanted to speak to her.”

  “Oh, okay then.” Holly had been so worried when Quincy wasn’t there. Her mind had started racing, especially after last night. Quin had sounded so distressed.

  Holly knocked and was told to come in. She curtsied when she saw Queen Georgina on the floor playing with Teddy.

  “Morning, ma’am,” Holly said.

  “Good morning, Holly. What do you think of Teddy?”

  Holly put her hand to her mouth and gasped. Teddy was wearing little white trousers, a polo jersey, and the tiniest pair of riding boots.

  “Teddy!” Holly put her make-up case down on the table and dropped to her knees. “Teddy, you look so cute.”

  Teddy clapped her hands and said excitedly, “New boots.”

  “Come show me your boots then,” Holly said.

  Teddy toddled over to her slowly. Holly was sometimes struck by the enormity of what this little toddler had in front of her in her life. She would be Queen and travel the world just like they were doing now, with her own family, just as George’s mother and father had done. A long, ever-stretching line of continuity.

  George was dressed in her polo riding gear, and Teddy matched her, making the cuteness level ten.

  They were visiting a city riding stable, set up for children with difficult home lives and children with certain challenges. The stables were founded by a US sister charity to the Queen Consort’s own UK city farm charity. Queen Georgina was clearly looking forward to this engagement. Anything with horses, and she generally was happy.

  Leaving Teddy and George to play, Holly walked into Bea’s bedroom and found Bea ready and waiting, sitting at the dressing table. Bea was simply dressed in jeans and a jumper today.

  “Morning, Your Maj,” Holly said.

  Bea chuckled. “Morning. I’m all ready for my war paint.”

  Holly put her make-up case down and said, “How cute is Teddy in her riding outfit? Just adorable.”

  “Oh, I know,” Bea said. “She’s so cute I could eat her all up, and she matches her mum too. I love George in her polo gear.”

  Holly knew that. She’d seen Bea mentally tear George’s riding clothes off with her teeth.

  “She is dishy,” Holly said.

  She’d started to apply Bea’s make-up, when Bea said, “I hear you were ripping up the table tennis table last night, then painting some toy soldiers.”

  Holly stopped her dabbing into the powder. “You have very good sources don’t you, Your Maj.”

  “Maybe.” Bea grinned.

  “Well, maybe you can use your sources to find out who’s leaving my favo
urite coffee outside my door every morning.”

  “Really? I’ll try to find out. So why were you helping Quin?”

  “Uh, we had clashed a little bit over the plans I had for your days off, and I wanted to apologize. I was a bit…” Holly searched her brain for the right word. “I was a bit forceful in my argument.”

  “You? Never,” Bea joked.

  She was well known amongst her group of friends for being very fiery. “Okay, okay, do you want your make-up like Koko the Clown?” Holly gave her friend a mock glare.

  “You win,” Bea said. “Have you heard from Story again?”

  “Yeah, she texted to apologize for the story in the media about girls’ night. She said she just mentioned it to one of her friends. I need to be even more careful about what I say to people. I never want to expose your private life to the world.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I know how hard it is. So are you looking forward to meeting Story again in LA?”

  “Of course,” Holly said quickly.

  Their date had been so much fun, well, apart from feeling like Story wasn’t present with her. It felt like every touch, every dance was set up by her to look good on her social media, but she was so much fun, and she talked and told her all about her life. Being with her wasn’t hard work.

  Holly said, “If she remembers. I’m sure she’ll have some gorgeous actress to go out with by then.”

  “I’m sure she’ll remember,” Bea said.

  As Holly rummaged in her make-up case, Bea said, “Regardless of Story St. John, do you think you’ll explore a relationship with a woman?”

  Holly stopped and turned to smile at her friend. “Yes, I think I will. I think it’s a woman I’m meant to love. I don’t mind saying I’m a bit scared.”

  Bea took her hand. “You can’t go through life worried about getting your heart broken. You have to take some chances. Look at the chance I took. I stepped into the gilded cage for George, but she is so worth it.”