Page 56 of The Forsaken Heir
Her hesitance was not necessary. She basically chose every course herself and worked with me and the house chefs like she did this every day. Over the next couple weeks, she proved an incredible assistant for me, my father, and Titus. As good as Titus was, everything definitely benefited from Elle’s input. It also helped to keep her mind off what would happen at the gala. The more I worked with her, the more enchanted I became with her, and I’d already been intrigued beyond words.
“Do you really think that’s the best choice?” Elle asked.
She and I were sitting in my office to go over the final preparations for the gala. I frowned at her. “What do you mean?”
She lifted a piece of paper, and shook it slightly, giving me a pained expression. “Folk music? Really?”
“It’s traditional,” I said with a shrug.
“I know, but maybe we can do something a bit more updated? You’re going to have a lot of guests, and it might be good to give them some better entertainment.”
I grinned and took the paper from her, reading the description of the shifter band we’d been about to hire.
Elle pointed at it. “This list of instruments they use? I don’t even know what the hell a zither is.”
“It’s this sort of stringed instrument like a…oh, never mind,” I said, waving away my comment. “You’re right. But what else is there to choose from at the last minute? We’ve waited a bit long to book the band.”
“There are three other shifter bands. I like this one,” she said, sliding another sheet of paper toward me.
I arched an eyebrow. “Jazz?”
She shrugged. “It’s still a bit old-fashioned without being ancient, but also classy, you know?”
I continued smiling at her, holding her gaze until her face went red and she looked away, which only made me smile even wider.
“You’re really good at this,” I said. “I’m glad you’re here to help me with planning. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
She looked uncomfortable with the praise, but I was delighted to see her smiling back at me. “Thanks. It’s… been nice. I enjoy being able to help.” She shrugged one shoulder. “I like being part of a team. Other than at work, I never feel that way.”
“Well, Brielle Laurent,” I said. “Welcome to my team.”
She beamed at me, and my heart nearly melted. During the last few days, I’d come up with a myriad excuses to spend even just a few seconds with her. I took every chance I could to thank her, help her, to give her confidence all the boosts it might need, and tried to keep her mind off her family. All in all, the past two weeks had been much more pleasant than it would have been otherwise.
Now that the day had finally come, my own stress had begun to build. I was worried that something would go wrong, or that some part of the planning would fall apart at the last second. Tonight was the night, and we wanted to make sure it all played out without a hitch. One mistake, and Elle could be in danger. Iwouldn’tallow that.
“What about the entrances and exits?” I asked my father on the day of the gala.
“All covered. As usual, there will be agents from both shifter races running security,” Dad said, sweeping a hand over the documents laid out on the table. “I’ve double-checked. House Beaumont has been assigned to security for the wolves. They’re friendly with the Laurents, but whoisn’tin their world?” he said with a snort of disgust. “They might as well be royalty among the wolves if they did things as we do, but the Beaumonts are not as aggressive as the Laurents are. They typically keep a low profile and do not agitate much. I think they’ll do the right thing, but I’ve added additional security measures. Undercover men who’lltake action if anything seems off. All are already in place and ready for the arrivals.”
I sighed, letting the breath out in a slow stream.
“What about the foreign delegation?” I asked. “Did they make it from overseas? I know we booked some luxury hotel rooms in the area for them.”
Titus, sitting on the other side of the room, cleared his throat.
“Prince Aurelius, I’ve been in contact with many of our European, Asiatic, and Australian counterparts. All have expressed excitement for the gala this evening and have all arrived within the last two or three days. Those we are closest to have been given a very basic rundown on what is going on. No details yet—we’ve just expressed our statement that if anythinghappened to the Lady Brielle, it was not done by House Decimus. As you and His Majesty have said, we want it her appearance to be a surprise to all,” Titus explained.
With the shrinking of our numbers, Titus had taken on far more roles over the last several decades. Once he’d only been the managing butler, but now he even helped Father with some duties that, in years and ages past, would have been handled by a royal vizier or even prime minister. Well, maybe notthatextensive, but the man was a godsend.
“Very well,” I said.
“Speaking of Lady Brielle,” Dad said. “How is she and her lady-in-waiting, Delphine, enjoying the estate?”
It had been nearly two weeks since the Laurents had declared war on us for “murdering” their dear eldest daughter. To keep her safe, as well as try to maintain an air of secrecy, it had beendecided—with Brielle’s agreement, of course—that she and her friend Delphine would stay here at the mansion until after the gala.
“Seems to be fine,” I admitted. “The mansion and attached castle, along with the grounds, are large enough that she says she doesn’t feel like she’s in jail. She told me that she actually enjoyed searching out all the hidden areas and old, unused rooms.”
“Very good,” Dad said. His face looked even more lined than usual. This situation with the Laurents had drained him as much as it had me.
