Page 28 of House of Blood and Roses: Vol. 2
I take a moment to recover before going to the private room. Even before I try to open it, I know Linc isn't here because of the lack of a bodyguard outside the door. If Linc was inside, then Eric would be out here making sure that nothing bad happened to him. I lean back against the door and let out a shaky breath, trying to ignore the sting of tears.
What am I supposed to do now? I can hardly go back to House Rothorne while Bastian is in the mood he's in, and that's without taking into account my own frustration at him. I'm not convinced I wouldn't end up saying something bad to my twin brother in a confrontation with how angry I am at him right now.
I try to think back over all of the conversations I've had with Linc to try and work out where he might have gone now, but the only place I can think of is the royal apartments.
Even though there's a part of me questioning my sanity in even thinking about going there, I find my feet moving and my destination stuck in my head. I don't even know if they'll let me into the royal apartments, or if Linc is going to be there, but I have to try. I need to talk to him and make sure that everything between us is normal. I don't want to lose him over Bastian's outburst.
It doesn't take me long to get to the grand double doors that lead into the home of the most important family in the castle. Despite having been betrothed to Linc for a while, and being from the same House as the Queen, I've never actually been here before, and I don't know what to do.
With nothing else for it, I knock on the door and wait. The worst that can happen is that no one answers, and then I'm no worse off than I was before.
To my surprise, the door swings open, and a young man in the livery of House Soveguine answers. He bows immediately to me. "Lady Beatrice."
"Oh, erm, hello. I was wondering if Prince Lincoln was available," I say, my voice shaking as I do. I'm already taken a little off-guard by the fact he knows who I am without me telling him.
"I'm not sure if the Prince is available at the moment, My Lady, but I'll check," the man responds.
"He is."
I look past the servant to find Eric in his normal outfit.
"My Lady," the bodyguard says. "I can take you to him."
"Thank you, Eric. I appreciate that."
The servant at the door barely responds and steps aside for me to enter the royal rooms. I smooth out my dress as I step inside, wishing that I was wearing something more suitable for visiting royalty. But it's too late for me to worry about that. I'm here now.
"This way, My Lady," Eric says, leading me through the House Soveguine rooms. There are servants everywhere, but not one of them gives me a second look.
"Are you certain it's all right for me to be here?" I ask Eric.
"No one's told me you can't be," he points out. "And this will be your home soon enough."
I blink a couple of times. With everything that's gone on tonight and the urge to find Linc, I didn't even think about the fact that this is my future home. It makes me look at it a little differently.
Even from the small amount I've seen so far, the apartments are much better than those belonging to House Rothorne, though there are a lot of similarities. I find myself looking at each of the doors and trying to work out what lies beyond them.
It's certainly more intimidating than I expected it to be, and only more so because of the reminder that this is going to be my home.
I push those thoughts aside and focus on what I'm going to say to Linc instead. I want to make sure everything is all right between us, and that's worth all of the potential discomfort of having to be in the royal apartments for the first time.
FOURTEEN
I stand outside the door Eric has brought me to and take a deep breath, trying not to worry too much about how this is going to go. This is Linc, I can trust him and know he isn't going to hurt me or hold anything my brother said against me.
I knock a couple of times on the door and wait in tense silence for the response.
"Come in," Linc calls.
I take a deep breath and step inside.
"You can put the drinks on the table," he says, waving over to it.
"Linc."
He jumps to his feet, his eyes widening. "Beatrice. It's not what you think."
"What do you mean?"
