Page 32 of His Runaway Princess

Amalia stared at his back and blinked several times.

What?

11

Sleeping in one of the rooms set aside for security personnel to crash when needed gave Ryker the chance to avoid thinking too much. As long as he remained in the palace, he could work out or focus on work until he couldn’t keep his eyes open, crash hard, then wake up and do it all over again.

He didn’t see Saddois again for a couple of days.

Ryker’s plan to keep his head down and his nose clean until the investigation finished seemed like a good one. But Saddois decided to get on his last nerve as often as possible.

From finding a slight fault with one of his notations on the Montevaro plans - one that Ryker would have found when he went over it again and again before officially submitting them - to assigning Ryker the busy work normally given to newbies.

But Ryker did it without complaining. He didn’t want to give anyone reason to doubt his loyalty.

If it continued after the investigation concluded, he’d probably go to Merrick.

Collapsing onto the bed, he stared at the ceiling.

How was Amalia? He felt certain she would face repercussions from her adventure, but how bad would they be? Would she be forced to abdicate her role in the family? Or would it be more like a conversation with her parents or grandfather where they would express their disappointment in her choices?

Given how hard he’d worked, even thoughts of Amalia didn’t keep him awake long. He woke after dawn, something that wasn’t too difficult given the time of year and latitude, dressed quickly and returned to his office.

As soon as he walked in the door, something seemed a bit off, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was.

He stopped and scanned the room quickly. Nothing jumped out at him. So he slowed down and looked the room over again.

Something still niggled at the back of his mind, but he still couldn’t be certain what.

His third sweep through the room was done at a much slower pace. His eyes scanned up and down methodically working his way around the office.

One of the chairs across from his desk had been moved. Not much. Just enough that the leg wasn’t quite in the indent of the rug. That alone shouldn’t be enough to set his radar off. It happened. Cleaning staff came in regularly, always accompanied by a member of the security team when they entered secure offices. It wasn’t the first time a chair hadn’t been replaced exactly right.

Continuing his scan, he noticed his desk wasn’t... right.

Nothing he could put his finger on yet. He’d look more closely when he entered the room all the way.

He noticed a couple of other things that could be explained by the cleaning crew.

And yet... that didn’t seem right somehow.

“What is it?”

Ryker didn’t turn at the quiet words.

Thor.

The former head of security for the family became a duke when he married the king’s mother. He was no longer officially a protection officer, but he continued to be a valuable asset when necessary.

“Something’s off,” he told the duke.

Thor didn’t argue with him, likely doing his own sweep as Ryker continued his assessment.

Finally, Ryker spoke again. “It’s nothing I can put my finger on yet. The furniture is off a little bit, but that happens when the cleaners come in.” He moved farther inside, looking around his desk as he did. Because so much of what he did could be considered classified, Ryker rarely left anything unsecured. Going to a meeting in the palace? Maybe, but he always locked his door behind him.

He’d never been one of those people who needed everything lined up just so, but he still kept his desk neat.

He still sensed something off, but had no idea what it could be.

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