“I’ll pick you up at your room when I get back.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, but I’d better get going. I have a lot to do in the next hour.” They walked back into the hall, and Levi asked, “What’s the fastest way to the grand ballroom?”

“Do you want me to show you where it is?”

“No. I want you to stay out of sight for as long as possible.”

“It’s so strange to hear you say that in my own home.”

“I know.”

Cassie gave him directions, and he squeezed her hand. “I’ll see you in an hour.”

“Don’t be late.”

“I won’t.”

* * *

Cassie paced her sitting room and watched the grandmother clock as the minutes ticked by. Levi was going to be late.

Cassie had ridden with him plenty of times when he’d checked the perimeter of the chateau. He didn’t rush when it came to security, and she suspected evaluating the coastline alone would take him the better part of an hour.

The clock chimed the quarter hour. Seven fifteen. Did Levi know that when her father demanded an audience with someone, he expected that person to be early? Levi had lived among royals long enough to understand that a king should never wait. Or a queen, for that matter.

Cassie swallowed hard. She had been born Her Royal Highness, Princess Cassandra of Sereno. She wasn’t ready for her name to change, both because she didn’t want to imagine a life without her father and because of her extensive inadequacies when it came to ruling a country. Ready or not, though, she would soon be Her Royal Majesty, Queen Cassandra.

Five more minutes passed. She retrieved her cell phone from her bedroom, struck by the oddity of having it in her hand again after three weeks without it. She set it back down. Even though she had memorized Levi’s number, she doubted he would approve of her using her personal phone to call him. She hoped that changed soon.

Frustrated that she had no safe way to contact Levi, she walked back into the sitting room, her anxiety rising with each passing minute.

At seven twenty-four, Cassie decided she couldn’t wait anymore. She would go to her father’s suite and have Theo tell Levi where to meet them.

She opened the door to find Levi on the other side, his hand lifted to knock.

“Ready?”

“I didn’t think you were going to be back in time.”

“Never keep a royal waiting,” Levi said matter-of-factly. He offered his arm. “Shall we?”

“Yes.” She tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow, and they crossed the hall to her father’s door. She knocked, this time waiting for it to be answered.

The door swung open, and one of her father’s butlers was standing inside.

“Your Highness.” The butler bowed his head. “His Majesty is in the living room.”

“Thank you.” Cassie released Levi’s arm and led the way inside.

Her father sat on the couch, a sheath of papers in his hand, an open file folder on the cushion beside him. He looked up and glanced at the clock before his gaze settled on her and Levi.