Page 54 of The Heart of the King

“I’ve met Edward a couple of times.” She nodded at Astrid. “You too, in passing. I grew up not far from Lani. Her sister-in-law, Tessa, and I have been good friends for years.”

Astrid tilted her head. “At the wedding?”

“No. I was out of town and couldn’t get back in time. It was at Christmas last year, I think.” She looked back at Katrín. “I think your family had already been there or hadn’t arrived yet.” Then back to Astrid. “I think we said hello and something polite about the food and that was it. There’s no reason for you to remember it, especially in such a different context.”

Astrid narrowed her eyes. “Did you have neon green streaks in your hair?”

Jazz nodded. “Probably. I don’t remember. I change it pretty regularly.”

Katrín grinned as she tried to get comfortable. “I bet your stylist had a field day when she realized you had multicolored hair.”

“And a nose ring,” Jazz confirmed. “She was scandalized by the Converse with my coronation gown.”

The other women tried to stifle their laughs but weren’t fully successful.

“She’s all right, though. We came to an understanding. She advises. Mrs. Sneedly is officially my stylist, but for some reason, she really took to Hazel, so she’s acting as Zellie’s nanny or tutor or whatever for the moment. It’s been really good for both of them.” Jazz didn’t want them to walk away thinking the worst of Mrs. Sneedly.

Astrid sighed dramatically. “I wish I was brave enough to do something like that. I just wear the clip in hair colors from time to time. Nothing permanent or even semi-permanent.”

“If I wasn’t already dyed I probably wouldn’t now either. I don’t know if I still will when it’s time to change again,” Jazz admitted to them. “I might end up resorting to the clip ins, even though it’s not the same. The nose ring stays though.”

Astrid leaned closer to examine it. “Can you change it? It’s very subtle the way you have it.”

“It’s a whole process to change it, so I don’t very often. I changed it today to match the dress, but I probably won’t change it again for a while, unless I need to. When I don’t need it to match something, I’ll probably go with a diamond stud for now. That’s nice and generic.”

“Is David going to give you an engagement ring?” Katrín’s question was an innocent one, but it bothered Jazz. She didn’t particularly care about the ring, but the public sure seemed to, and wondered if it was a sign that David wasn’t truly committed to her.

“The vault has to have a bunch of options,” Katrín told her, spinning her own ring on her finger. “This one was my mother-in-law’s. My father-in-law passed when Benji was thirteen. She insisted I take it.”

Astrid held up her finger. “Mine was my grandmother’s. One of her favorite rings, though not an engagement ring. My mother’s is being held for Sofia if she wants it.”

“I’m not sure I’d want a family engagement ring,” Jazz mused. She still hadn’t met either of her in-laws or her grandparents-in-law, but from what she’d learned of the couples, she wasn’t sure she wanted anything to do with them or their jewelry if at all possible.

Katrín turned to Astrid. “How are you doing? You okay on a yacht?”

Astrid took a deep breath and nodded. “I don’t live on the island of San Majoria. Jordan and I live on one of the other islands. Helicoptering from one to the other works sometimes when we don’t have enough time to get there any other way, but really, we have to travel by sea most of the time.” She glanced at the table where the monarchs sat. “My father hasn’t been back out on the water until today, though. Not that I know of.”

Jazz didn’t know the details about what happened, just that there had been a yachting accident the year before.

“We’re continuing to pray for you,” Katrín told the princess, reaching over to squeeze her hand.

“Thank you. We appreciate it.”

Before they could say anything else, Gabe slammed his way through the door. “Is Zellie up here?” He looked around, realizing she wasn’t but asking anyway.

Everyone stood except Katrín, for whom it would have been a struggle.

“Where’s Sofia?” Astrid demanded.

Gabe shook his head. “They both snuck off while I was on the phone and Mrs. Sneedly was getting them a snack.”

Members of all four security teams flooded into the room. “They’re here somewhere,” Daniel assured them. “We’re beginning a deck by deck, methodical search, but they’re here.”

Was he trying to reassure him they hadn’t gone overboard, either accidentally or on purpose? Or was he trying to reassure them that the girls hadn’t been kidnapped?

Either way, the knot that formed in her gut wasn’t going away anytime soon.

The moodin the room had shifted considerably the moment Gabe barged in. At least they’d already signed the treaty, something that took a few minutes total, then were discussing other matters while the two queens and Astrid talked on the other side of the room.

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