Invitation to the Prince's Palace

by Jennie Adams

  Rik increased his pace.

  ‘Th-thank you for the beautiful choice of ring, Rik,’ Mel said softly as they stepped out of doors and started along an outside pathway that led between vast stretches of snow-covered grounds.

  On her finger, the ring felt light and comfortable. It fitted perfectly and maybe that was what disturbed Mel so much. That and the fact that Rik had chosen it out of a dazzling array of royal jewellery. Rik had wanted her to wear this ring, and then he’d kissed her. It was the second time they’d sealed their agreement with a kiss, and each time became more difficult to treat as just a meeting of lips against lips.

  What kind of state would she be in by the time he kissed her on the wedding day?

  ‘I should not have kissed you like that.’ His glance meshed momentarily with hers.

  Had he read her mind? Considering the messy confused state of the thoughts in there, she hoped not!

  Rik went on. ‘Our arrangement is not for…that kind of purpose and I should have remembered.’

  ‘Well, it was probably because we’d just been with your father and working so hard to make sure that all went well.’ She gave a laugh that sounded just a bit forced. ‘We got a little too carried away in our roles but it was only for a moment. It probably barely left an impression, really.’

  Her words were just making this worse! She bit her lip. Mel glanced about them and her gaze fell on a small piece of machinery ahead. ‘That’s an interesting-looking vehicle.’

  Rik followed Melanie’s gaze.

  She was wise to change the topic. He was more than happy to work with her in that respect, though his glance did drop again to her hand where the ring sat as though it belonged there, and then to her soft lips, which had yielded so beautifully beneath his just moments ago. He wanted to kiss her again. Kiss and so much more.

  Not happening, Rik.

  And yet his instincts told him that the kisses they’d shared had been far more than instantly forgettable to her.

  To him, too, if he were honest.

  ‘This is an all-weather buggy.’ He explained that Winnow had taken the vehicle out of storage and made sure it was in working order. ‘In first gear it doesn’t drive any faster than a person can walk. It’s easy to handle. All you need to do is steer and make it stop and start. It will drive on snow and it can handle rough terrain but there are plenty of paths here to drive it on. Our appointment with the wedding planner is not for another hour. I thought I might show you how to work this while we wait.’

  Her gaze flew to his. ‘You want me to drive it?’

  ‘I thought it might be a good way for you to start to be able to get around more while you’re here.’ In truth there were a dozen ways he could ensure that Melanie could move around the area, and for the most part Rik expected to be with her anyway. Even so…

  ‘I don’t drive cars.’ She said it quickly, and then tipped her head to the side and looked at the buggy, and back at Rik. ‘I’ve never really had any interest in learning.’

  ‘This is not a car.’ He watched her face, and took a gamble. ‘But if you don’t feel that you can try it—’

  Her chin went up. ‘Of course I’ll try it. That would be like saying I didn’t want to try riding a skateboard or making some new dish in the kitchen.’

  She was a plucky girl, his Melanie, Rik thought. Before he could pull himself up on the possessive manner of wording that thought, Melanie stepped forward and did an at least passable job of feigning delight at the idea of learning all about the buggy.

  ‘First I will demonstrate.’ Rik sat in the driving seat with Melanie beside him and showed her the controls. They were on castle grounds in an area where the worst that could happen was they ended up off the path. He got the buggy moving, explaining as he drove, and then, when he felt Mel was ready, Rik simply got out of the seat and started walking beside her. ‘Slide into the driver’s seat.’

  Mel slid over and gripped the wheel. A moment later she was steering the buggy grimly.

  He guided her along, helping her to master steering around corners and stopping and starting. After a few minutes Mel didn’t need his help, and even asked if he would get back in with her so she could increase speed to a higher gear.

  Finally her hands unclenched and she gave the first hint of a smile before she stopped the buggy and turned to look at him.

  ‘Well done,’ he praised. ‘I am glad you have been able to do this, Mel.’

  ‘It was fun. It’s such a long time since I’ve completely enjoyed anything that resembled vehicle travel. All the way back to when my parents used to take me every Sunday and we’d go…’ Her expression sobered and she frowned as though trying to remember something.

  Though she tried to conceal it, sadness touched her face. She climbed out of the buggy. ‘I don’t remember what we used to do. They…died in a car crash.’

  His hand wrapped around her fingers, enclosing her. He wished he could warm her heart from that chill. He wanted to do that for her so much. ‘I am sorry—’

  ‘It’s all right. It was a long time ago.’ Her words relegated her pain to the past. But her fingers wrapped around his…

  A member of the palace staff approached to let Rik know that the wedding planner had arrived. The moment ended, but the tenderness Rik felt for Melanie grew inside him.

  Duty. He had to attend to his duty.

  Rik dipped his head. ‘Please tell the planner we will be with her shortly.’

  ‘Yes, Prince Rikardo.’ The man walked away.

  Melanie turned her gaze towards Rik and drew a deep breath. ‘This is the next phase, isn’t it? We have to convince this planner that we’re doing this for real, even if we do want a simple, quick, trouble-free arrangement.’ She seemed to think about what she’d just said, and a thoughtful expression came over her face. ‘You must have chosen a great planner, if the woman believes she can achieve that, in a month, for a royal wedding of any description.’

  Rik drew a slow breath as his gaze examined her face, flushed with the success of learning to drive the buggy, and her expressive eyes that had clouded when the topic of her parents had come up.

  Perhaps he should ask Dominico for a proper look at that report after all. It might tell Rik more about Melanie’s background.

  Only to help understand her, he justified, and then frowned because, of all reasons he might read the report, wasn’t that the most personal and therefore to him, at least, the most unacceptable? ‘Dominico seems to believe this planner will be up to the task. Let us go see how she fares with our requests.’

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  ‘YOU have made very rapid plans, Rik.’

  ‘Are you sure you want to marry so quickly? Our father might still have given us what we wanted if we all became engaged and then spoke to him again about the arrangement. That way you could have held off from actually marrying until closer to the six-months mark. Things might have changed by then.’

  The words came to Melanie in two different male voices as she went in search of Rik. It was four days later and she’d woken to find her breakfast waiting for her, and Rik already gone to the palace grounds to oversee the harvesting of the first of the special truffles.

  ‘It won’t make any difference whether I marry soon, or marry after many months. You know this. Our father will not change his mind or soften his expectations.’

  Rik didn’t explain the reason for his statement—the brief nature of the intended marriage—and Mel didn’t know if he’d told his brothers the truth about it as yet or not. But did his voice sound oddly flat because he knew this fact?

  She must be imagining it.

  You and your over-inflated ego are imagining it together, Mel.

  ‘Good—good morning, Rikardo.’ Mel spoke to make her presence known. Not because she minded her impending marriage to Rik being discussed, but because it wasn’t right to eavesdrop, even if she hadn’t meant to.

  ‘Melanie. I am glad you’re awake and have found us.’ Rik stepped
forward. He touched her hand and gestured to the two men standing to their left. ‘These are my brothers, Marcelo and Anrai.’

  ‘Hello. I’m pleased to meet you both.’ The words emerged in a calm tone before Mel stopped to remember that she was being introduced to two more princes.

  Rabbit hole. Sparkly shoes. Do I look good enough for this occasion, and why didn’t I address him as Prince Rikardo or Your Highness?

  She drew a breath.

  ‘It is a delight to meet you, Melanie. Our brother has told us about you.’ The older man bowed over her hand and managed to make the gesture seem relaxed and European rather than princely and…royal. ‘I am Marcelo.’

  The first in line to the throne. The brother who would most of all be expected to marry and stay married, whether he wanted to or not. He was dark like Rik, a little taller, and his eyes were such a deep inky blue, they were almost black.

  ‘I am Anrai.’ The second brother smiled a killer smile, shook her hand, and stepped back as though content to observe proceedings from this point. His hair was a lighter brown, thick and with a slight wave. It flopped over his forehead and drew attention to

  sparkling pale blue eyes.

  Mel had dismissed him as not as handsome as Rik. She could now see that he would actually be a quite stunning lady-killer, but he still didn’t appeal to her. She only had eyes for—

  ‘Hello.’ Mel tried to smile naturally and not feel overwhelmed by being surrounded by these three very royal men. It wasn’t until she glanced at Rik’s face that she realised she’d placed herself so close to his side that they were almost touching. Not because she felt intimidated but because…

  Well, she couldn’t explain it, actually. What she did realise was that she’d been allowing herself to think of Rik more as a man, and less as a prince. At least this meeting had given her that reality check. And it was nice to meet his brothers. ‘Have any of the truffles been dug out yet?’

  A snort from behind them drew Mel’s attention. She turned her head and there was Rufusina. The pig had a quilted coat on and a keen look in her eyes, as though she was sitting in apparent obedience waiting for something.

  ‘Rufusina’s obviously champing at the snout,’ Mel observed. ‘What’s the hold-up?’

  ‘There’s no hold-up—’ Rik started.

  ‘We were just deciding how best to go about the extraction,’ Anrai added.

  Marcelo’s brows formed a vee. ‘It is the most stupid thing to wait for a sign from—’

  Rufusina lifted her snout, sniffed the air once, and then again.

  Rik said under his breath, ‘Wait for it.’

  Anrai’s shoulders stiffened.

  The truffle hog sniffed the air a third time and trotted to a group of trees.

  ‘Now I will go in there.’ Anrai followed Rufusina’s rapidly receding form. ‘But only because I think she knows where the best truffles are. It has nothing to do with anything else.’

  ‘Marcelo?’ Rik turned to his older brother.

  ‘I was not concerned in the first instance.’ The oldest brother followed Anrai. ‘All the truffles on the palace grounds are exceptional, as has been proved in years past. That is all that matters.’

  Rik turned to Mel. ‘Would you care to be present while Rufusina does her work and finds us the

  choicest truffles?’

  ‘I would love to be there.’ Mel’s curiosity was tweaked. Just what had that “rite of passage” been about? And to be present while such wonderful foods were lifted from their resting places? Imagine tasting such a wonderful, rare indulgence!

  Rik took her arm and started towards a grove of trees that looked very old. ‘It is an exciting moment.’

  ‘Apologies, Melanie, for walking away.’ Anrai rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. ‘Once the pig sniffs the air three times—’

  ‘It will guide the prince to truffles that are the choicest, and that are possessed of the power to make his deepest hopes come true.’ Marcelo said the words with a dismissive twist of his lips. ‘You must forgive us, Melanie. We are being foolish this morning, but Rikardo—’

  ‘Asked nicely if you would both like to be present for this event.’ Rik jumped in with the words that were almost defensive.

  Mel thought about her rabbit hole and the sparkly shoes and how out of place she’d felt when she arrived here, and how different this world was from anything she had ever known. And she looked at three big, brave men who had hovered at the edge of a grove of trees and refused to shift until…

  ‘A magic truffle hog unlocks the key to safe passage, and perhaps to the granting of your wishes?’ The words came with the start of a smile that spread until it almost cracked her face in half.

  She could have laughed aloud. Mel could have done a lot of things. But then she looked properly at the grove of trees and thought about age and history. Three princes had all come to participate in this ritual. Rufusina had lifted her nose and sniffed three times and then trotted over here with purpose. Mel sobered. ‘How old is the legend? Are there bad aspects attached if you don’t do things the right way?’

  ‘Centuries. None of us have ever come near the harvesting of these truffles until now. It’s usually left to our staff, but I wanted to oversee it this time.’ Rik didn’t seem offended by her initial amusement. He did seem a little uncomfortable having to explain the situation. ‘The legend is more to do with prosperous lives, and making the right choice of marriages and so on. But I am only concerned with getting good truffles for my overseas buyers.’

  ‘Yes. That is no doubt the priority.’ Mel bit back any further smiles. She turned to the others and said to all three of them, ‘I’m grateful to have the chance to see this, and I hope to get a good look at the truffles themselves when they’re harvested.’

  Winnow approached as Mel made this statement.

  The three princes were all about business after that. It was strange to stand back and watch these three privileged men go about digging bits of fungus out from beneath beds of rotting leaves. Rufusina did her thing, and Rik praised her for being a good hog, at which the pig sort of…preened, Mel thought fancifully, and checked her own feet to make sure they hadn’t sprouted those sparkly shoes while she was daydreaming.

  ‘This one looks good, brother. And smell the pungent odour.’ Anrai handed a truffle to Rik.

  Rik examined the truffle. ‘It is good. Take a look at it, Melanie.’

  Before Mel could blink, the truffle had been dumped into her hands. She didn’t know much about truffles. Not in this state, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to cook with them, to discover if they were indeed as fine as it was claimed, to revere the opportunity to hold this piece of life and privilege and history. ‘Will they be enough for your marketing plans, Rik?’

  She didn’t notice the softness in her tone, didn’t see the look exchanged between Rik’s brothers as Rik bent his shoulders to protect her from the wind that had sprung up as he answered her question.

  ‘I hope so, Mel. I very much hope so.’

  They gathered the truffles. Some were sent with Winnow to be prepared for travel. Rik placed the others in a basket, thanked his brothers for their presence and saw them on their way, and then turned to Mel. ‘Shall we have that peek at the kitchen that you mentioned?’

  ‘Y-yes. I’d like that.’ Mel liked it even more that Rik had remembered that small comment of hers from days ago.

  They made their way to the kitchens. Rik introduced Mel to the staff and somehow, even though she’d always been on the other side of things in this environment, he made it comfortable and easy. Enough that when he had to excuse himself to attend to other matters, Mel accepted the invitation to remain behind and observe as the staff prepared the midday meals.

  * * *

  ‘I’m almost afraid to taste,’ Melanie murmured as Rik removed the cover from the last dish.

  They were in his suite. He’d asked for their meal to be sent here, and wasn’t that what people would expect o
f a newly engaged couple—to want every moment alone? Yet Rik knew that he’d chosen to dine with Melanie here because he wanted to keep her to himself more than he perhaps should.

  The legend talked of sharing the first meal prepared with the truffles, that the prince must share the tasting process…

  He pushed the fanciful thoughts aside. This was a matter of practicality. And perhaps of giving Melanie a moment that she might not otherwise experience. ‘Each of the dishes have been enhanced with the addition of the truffles.’

  ‘The kitchen staff said there are different opinions about actually cooking the truffles.’ Mel had listened with interest to the discussion about that in the kitchens earlier. She’d learned so much! ‘The risotto and the duck dishes both smell divine.’

  ‘Before we start on those, I would like to give you the chance to sample the first truffle in very simple form.’ Rik lifted a single truffle from a salver. His fingers shook slightly. He steadied them and lifted his gaze to hers.

  It was just a legend. Foolish stuff.

  The prince prepares the truffle and offers it to his bride.

  Mel drew a shaky breath as though she perhaps, too, felt the air change around them, almost as though it filled with anticipation as she yielded her palate to his ministration…

  He shaved transparent slices of truffle onto the pristine white plate. The butter knife slid through creamy butter. Just the right smear on each sliver, a sprinkle of salt crystals.

  Rik held the first slice out to her. Soft pink lips closed over it, just touched the tips of his fingers as her eyelids drifted closed and she experience her first taste of…a legend.

  ‘It’s almost intoxicating.’ Her words whispered through her lips. ‘The permeation of the scent, the beautiful texture. I can’t even describe how amazing…I feel as though I’ve tasted something sacred.’

  She couldn’t have rehearsed those words if she’d tried. Rik took his own slice of truffle, unbelievably pleased in the face of her pleasure.