I held in a sigh. Oh well. Guess that was the best I was going to get out of my aunt. Hopefully, this lunch wouldn’t be a total disaster.

A knock at the door interrupted us before Nelia could continue. “I’ll get it,” I said, rising from the couch and gesturing for Nelia to sit. There were still some things I wanted to do myself, and answering my own door was one of them. “Who is it?”

“Lanyr Goldrin, Miss. I’m your new bodyguard, here to escort you to dinner.”

“Bodyguard?” I echoed. What the hell? Why were all these new employees being sprung on me out of nowhere? Annoyed, I threw open the door to see a Palace guard, decked out in blue-and-gold livery, standing in the hall. As I had suggested, Iannis had hired locals to guard the Palace, and this one was a handsome, orange-eyed tiger shifter with golden-brown hair and a tall, lean frame.

“It’s me, Sunaya.” Rylan’s voice echoed in my head, and I nearly fell over.

“By Magorah,” I hissed, dragging Rylan inside. “What are you doing, dressed like this?” I slammed the door behind us.

“Well, I am a guard, so I’m dressed in uniform, naturally.” Rylan grinned, giving me an extravagant bow. “Lord Iannis suggested this look. He felt it would be better not to walk around the Palace looking like I normally do, under the circumstances,” Rylan added in mindspeak.

“I see.” So he’d cast a spell on Rylan to make him look and smell like a tiger-shifter, then dressed him up as a guard and assigned him to me. “I hope this means you’re not going to be hovering above me while I sleep.”

“That would be rather improper,” Rylan said dryly. “No, I am to accompany you around the Palace, and around Solantha as well, by Lord Iannis’s orders.”

I bit back the protest rising to my lips—I didn’t need a babysitter. But it occurred to me that I was babysitting Rylan as much as he was me. He couldn’t leave the Palace without an escort, so without me, he would be stuck to the confines of these walls. Besides, Rylan was resourceful and handy in a fight, so I couldn’t say that he would hamper me by tagging along.

“Don’t worry—I’m sure I won’t be shadowing you when your fiancé spirits you off for a romantic evening,” Rylan said dryly in my head. His grin widened as he craned his neck around me and met Nelia’s gaze. “And who is this?”

“This is Miss Nelia Thrase,” I said, turning to see her staring wide-eyed up at Rylan. To my surprise, and discomfort, I caught the fascinated attraction in her dark eyes. “She’s my new social secretary.”