Page 149 of Tall, Royal and Grumpy

“Hmm, okay.” He flicked a glare at Mariyah then picked his laptop up and made his way to the door on the left opposite us, disappearing through it.

I caught Mariyah staring at the closed door with something that wasn’t hatred, but she played it off as if her pale cheeks weren’t brushed with a guilty pink tinge.

“What?” she harrumphed. “He started it.”

I clenched my teeth.

One of them had better end it. Before I ended them.

* * *

Prince Arsh was at the airport to pick us up when we landed in Touma just after nine-forty in the morning. I ended up in one car with him while Mariyah and Shehryar rode the other, but I was less worried about them killing each other than I was about getting to Kai as quickly as possible.

An hour later, Shehryar, Mariyah and I were being smuggled into Chaukham Palace through the staff doors on the side where Mama Katiya, Pierre, Fay, and Adam were waiting for us.

On a mission of speed, stealth, and silence, Prince Arsh led us quickly through the palace down to the kitchen. Familiar faces popped up everywhere, beaming as they saw us and followed behind.

“Why does it seem like everyone was expecting us—I mean, Esmeralda?” Mariyah whispered.

“Because they were,” Prince Arsh replied, throwing a smirk over his shoulder from beside Mama Katiya and Shehryar walking with their arms linked. “Everyone except Kai had to know so preparations could be made.”

“And no one let it slip? Even by accident?”

“Nah, none of us would. We’re good at keeping secrets,” Pierre said from behind me and Mariyah.

“Everyone except Michael,” Adam added. He seemed even taller than the last time I saw him two months back.

“Well, yeah. Everyone except Michael. But we only told him this morning.”

“His Highness didn’t pick up on anything either?” Mariyah asked in disbelief.

Fay grunted, walking between Adam and Pierre. “Kai is absolutely oblivious to these things. And with him moping around, I doubt he would have noticed if the world exploded around him.”

I was beginning to feel nervous, but as we turned into the corridor, the number of staff gathered outside the kitchen shocked my nerves into non-existence but trebled them all the same.

Michael, Kai’s equerry. Raj, the nightguard. Jorge, the stablemaster. Nearly everyone was there.

“Woah,” Mariyah mumbled next to me.

As they spotted us, half the staff chirped, “They’re here,” “They’re here,” like a flock of seagulls, before the other half went, “Shh,” “He’ll hear us,” “Shh.” They all quickly bowed their heads and moved aside to make a path for us.

“Are you sure Prince Kai has no idea?” Mariyah questioned as Prince Arsh turned around.

He chuckled, his hazel eyes crinkling. “I’m sure.” He settled his gaze on me. “Are you ready?”

Emotion stirred and solidified in my throat. I gulped around it. “Yes.”

Feeling the pressure with everyone’s eyes on me, I headed for the silver double doors of the kitchen. My heart slammed against my ribcage when I saw the back of Kai through the circular windows on each door, and my eyes began to prickle.

One month, four weeks and four days. That was how long it had been since I last saw him. I’d missed him every second of every day. Now, he was right there. On the other side of the doors.

Michael beamed at me as he slowly and silently pulled one long doorhandle. “We’ll be right behind you, Your Highness.”

“You mean…the light fittings?” Kai’s deep voice was the first thing I heard as I stepped through the slither of space between the doors into the kitchen.

“Yes, the light fittings,” King Rami said cheerfully, staring up at the tube lights on the ceiling. “Now that you’re the Crown Prince, your mother and I would like to delegate palace maintenance work to you, and the first task at hand is the kitchen light fittings. We’ve been wanting to change them for years, haven’t we, honey?”

“Yes, we have,” Queen Leila played along with an earnest expression. “We can’t delay changing them any further, and Nur was very much on board with having your input, sweetie.”

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