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Elena wanted to kick herself for thinking first of the political impact, and not of the people attached to this man. The king might be beloved. Pip clearly seemed to like the Prince. No wonder he wasn’t here.

“The poor prince,” Elena said softly, “to be so far away from home during this time. When my mother was ill, I knew she was dying. I never wanted to be more than a few feet from the house, in case I missed saying goodbye.”

Pip stiffened.

“Pip? Are you all right?”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “That… that must have been a very hard time for you.”

“It was,” she said. “And thank you.”

“Did you say goodbye?”

Elena swallowed. “I was there, at the end, but there were no last words. Death like that… it is long and lingering. To this day, I am not sure what her last words to me were. Was it, ‘take care?’ ‘speak later?’ ‘love you,mija?’ It was something like that. Perhaps that is enough. To know that whatever she said to me, they were good words.”

Pip’s hand had found hers again, but his gaze was misted and far away. For a long while, neither of them spoke.

“I’m sorry,” Elena whispered. “That was very personal. If it made you uncomfortable—”

“No,” said Pip, clutching even more tightly to her fingers. “It isn’t that. I’m just… I’m very sorry for your mother. How old were you?”

“Twelve.Things were never the same after that. Nothing can be.”

“Of course not.”

Elena paused for a moment. “My father went more quickly,” she said. “Coal sickness. He seemed almost fine one day, and the next… the next we were calling the dread doctors to take him. He could barely breathe. I don’t… I don’t remember what his last words were.”

Pip’s arm circled around her, hugging her tightly. Elena leaned into that touch, into that gentle heat. “I didn’t know about your parents,” he said. “Are you alone now?”

“My father remarried before he died,” she said, voice barely more than a whisper. “I live with my stepmother and two stepsisters.” She paused. “Yes. I am alone now.”

Pip’s hold on her tightened, and they both sat there for a long while in a silence that could not be shattered.

“So,youlearnednothingduring your little tour of the palace?Nothing?”Snowdrop stared at Elena from the garage door, listening to her report with abject disappointment.

“Well, other than the king’s ill health…”

Snowdrop waved it away, dropping into a seat nearby and groaning at the force it exerted on her leg. Her bots whirred around her ankles. “It’s not your fault,” she said. “And thatisa useful point, I suppose. Offers motivation for the target, which we didn’t have before, although if it’s information everyone knows…” She sighed, leaning back against the wall and staring at the corrugated ceiling, looking much older than she was. “It’s at times like this I wish I could just waltz into the palace myself…”

“You’re welcome to don my ID card and a convincing disguise.”

“No,” said Snowdrop sharply. “I can’t go in there. Not… not yet.”

Elena shrugged. “I’m sorry my spy skills aren’t up to scratch, but I’m very new at this, and—”

“Like I said, not your fault. We’re just… on a tight schedule here and I feel so damnuseless.”She scrambled her fingers through her hair and sighed again, just as loudly. “Tell me more about this chap of yours—”

“He isn’t my—”

Snowdrop raised an eyebrow.

“Pip,” said Elena softly. “His name is Pip.”

“Pip.” Snowdrop snipped, adopted the stiff, clipped accent of the Toulousian royals. “A ridiculously common name. Half the Toulousians I’ve ever met were called Ed or Edwarde or Phillippe—”

“I think it’s a sweet name. It suits him.”

“Have you, er…” Snowdrop made a vulgar gesture that made Elena blush.