The Inherited Series Book 2: The Claimant

by Lily Burlington

  "You're leaving?" I asked, surprised. I thought Phillipa would be the one talking me through the announcement tomorrow.

  "Rose has come to the castle, and I am leaving. I am going to stay with Hugo for a few days until things settle a bit," Phillipa explained. "I don't like being stuck in the castle."

  Well that makes two of us, I thought. My phone vibrated in my pocket, so I quickly pulled it out. There was another event message, this one telling me I was expected in the casual dining room in ten minutes.

  "Well, I will see you Wednesday then," I told Phillipa, stopping just outside the door. "Say hi to Hugo for me."

  I hugged her briefly as the guards pulled the doors open, and then I ran up the stairs as Phillipa and Rose disappeared down the corridor, heading for Phillipa's suite.

  I curtsied briefly as I walked into the dining room. Felip was at the head of the table, papers spread out before him, with Leopold seated at his right. "Hello, Catherine," Felip said, after he put down the sandwich he was eating.

  "How are you doing?" I asked him, sitting on his left. Felip pushed a plate of cut sandwiches towards me. I accepted one gratefully; I had missed lunch due to the flower message lesson. It was clear that this wasn't any kind of formal meeting. Felip's suit jacket was off, hanging over the back of his chair. His shirtsleeves had been pushed up to his elbows, his tie was loose, and his collar was undone. Leopold hadn't even changed out of the jeans and hoodie he had pulled on this morning, and his feet were still bare.

  "We just have a few general questions, Cat," Leopold told me. He was fiddling with the zipper of the hoodie, pulling it up and down its track quickly. I caught glimpses of the bare skin of his chest. He hadn't even bothered to put a shirt on underneath.

  "Alright," I consented.

  "Firstly, we want to be sure that you are prepared for tomorrow," said Felip, picking up one of the papers in front of him.

  Leopold leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. "There is no way out after this, Cat. Not ever."

  "I know," I told them. I knew what this meant. I had weighed all my options and been told again and again what they would mean by a lot of people. I knew what I was getting into.

  Leopold relaxed again, sitting back in his chair. "Good. You should know there has been a change of plans then, which is why I am staying until Tuesday night."

  "It has been decided that you and Leopold will make a brief appearance on the balcony tomorrow morning, to announce your engagement to the people," Felip told me.

  I nodded. It sounded easy enough. All I would have to do is stand and wave. Was this all they were concerned about?

  Felip cleared his throat and grabbed another paper. "I would also like to discuss what happens after, Catherine."

  "After?" I repeated. I was going to need a little more clarification; that was a very open-ended statement.

  "There is a lot that must be done in the coming months," Felip began. "After tomorrow, you will be tied to our family. You will start making regular appearances at public events, council meetings, and formal events. On top of that, once the month is over, your lessons with Phillipa will be coming to an end."

  "Really?" I asked, surprised.

  "You need to begin focusing on the behind-the-scenes work your role will entail. You will start attending lessons with me," said Leopold. "We will be spending our time split between Solis and Arcadis. Richard is expecting us by October."

  "Oh," I said, suddenly nervous. Things were going to get serious then. Princess lessons were being exchanged for queen lessons.

  "You will be called in every once in a while for the wedding planning, or events. We will be in Arcadis for a couple months though," Leopold said and then glanced at his father. "I want to take you back home before the wedding too. To Santa Monica, or Halifax, wherever you like. It may be the last chance you get. We are waiting for clearance though."

  "More pressingly though," interrupted Felip. "We want to discuss school."

  To me school sounded like it was the least of my worries right now. Between the wedding, learning how to run two countries, traveling the world, and going to fancy dinners, I was fairly sure there wasn't going to be any time left for school. Moreover, I was pretty sure that it wouldn't be a good idea for me to just to walk into my old high school.

  "You have one last year of high school to complete," stated Felip. "Hector, Leopold, and Phillipa have all been enrolled in private schools. Phillipa will be returning in a few weeks, but Leopold has optioned to have private tutoring to finish his secondary school degree since it will work better with his schedule. I would suggest the same for you, but we can have you enrolled with Phillipa if you prefer."

  "No, no, that's fine. I will do the same as Leopold," I told him. It definitely sounded like the more flexible of the two options.

  "There is also the matter of university. I do not know what you had been planning on before all of this, but if you would like to pursue a university education, I am sure we could have something arranged for you," Felip added, frowning softly.

  "I wouldn't even know where to begin," I told the king. "Will you be going to school, Leopold?"

  He shook his head. "No, at least not right away. Originally, I planned to finish my education with the Air Force, but now I need to focus on catching up on all my duties."

  "Is it common for people like us to go to university?" I asked. It seemed so strange. I suppose lots of people work while going to school, though our jobs were just a little out of the ordinary.

  Felip nodded. "It depends on your preferences and what is happening during your reign. My grandfather was unable to go to university because he grew up during the wars. His presence was needed constantly at the castle or with troops, so he settled for 'on the job' training. Now that things are more peaceful, it has been easier. I have a medical degree and Hector is studying economics."

  "I'd have to think," I told them honestly. "I guess it depends on how well I do with everything and what happens over the year."

  "Of course," Felip nodded. "We would highly recommend you do something with your time. University is a good option. It is not, however, mandatory. We will be teaching you any subjects that are crucial in your role such as oratory skills, economics, politics. We can even teach you more languages should you desire it."

  "Just think about it," Leopold said. He grabbed a sandwich and turned to Felip. "Is that everything?"

  The king looked down at his papers. "I believe so."

  "I would like to take Catherine then, if that is alright?" Leopold asked him.

  "Of course," Felip said, smiling. "Do you have plans?"

  Leopold swallowed down his sandwich. "I would like to get out one last time." I was surprised he admitted this to Felip. I was pretty sure that we weren't supposed to be going out, especially not tonight.

  Felip nodded, though, raising his eyebrow a fraction. "Just be smart about it."

  "Oh," said Leopold, smiling as he stood up, "I am always smart."

  "We are going to have to get through the tourists," Leopold said, making me smile. I knew exactly where this was heading.

  "We are going into town then," I stated and slipped into my closet. Angelique wasn't around so I was going to have to hunt for what I wanted.

  "Unfortunately, the guards will be joining us, but yes, we are going to town. I will be right back, I just need to get some more casual shoes," he told me.

  "Maybe a shirt too," I called back.

  Leopold laughed, "I think the public would appreciate my shirtless state. I was even contemplating whether I should wear the sweatshirt or not."

  I poked my head around the doorframe to find him rubbing his hand across the muscular ridges of his stomach. "Well, I don't mind, but they might not let you inside anywhere. 'No shirt, no service,' " I teased.

  "On the contrary, I think my nudity would be very well received. Besides, I should really take this opportunity to work on evening out my tan," he said before disappearing down the hall.

/>   I snorted, thinking of the horrible tan lines he had managed to get from his Cannette and military uniforms. His hands, forearms, and face were golden brown, but his upper arms and torso had slowly faded to an icy white. "Too little, too late," I called after him.

  I pulled my dress and heels off, grabbing a folded dark pair of jeans from one of the shelves. Next I threw on a black v-neck t-shirt, followed by a gray cardigan. I stepped into a pair of black flats before heading back into my bedroom and toward the mirror. Leopold came back as I was twisting my hair up on top of my head. "Good to go?" I asked as his reflection appeared next to mine. He had in fact put on a white t-shirt, along with a pair of black Converse and a hat.

  "Oui," he said, handing me a pair of sunglasses. He pulled my door open, indicating for me to go through to the hall.

  "I think I know what I want for my birthday," I told him.

  "Oh really. Have a request, do you?" he asked me. We were going through the back corridors again, down the maid's stairway.

  "Well, if I got my own sunglasses I wouldn't have to borrow yours all the time," I told him.

  Leopold smirked. "You are asking for sunglasses?"

  "Yes," I told him, not finding the humor in it.

  "Here I was, planning a private cruise through the Mediterranean and all I had to do was let you loose in my closet," he said, shaking his head.

  "What?" I gasped. "We are going on a cruise?"

  "Not anymore," he said, and then he rolled his eyes. "Relax, Cat. I was kidding. Now shhh, we are here." He edged the door open, making sound flood into the tiny sterile hall. The security sensor on the wall flashed. Leopold wound his fingers through mine and pulled me into the room. We were in one of the galleries, the one displaying the painting of Leopold and Catherine. There was a young couple staring up at it. The woman was taking a photo as the man stood beside it, trying to imitate Leopold's stance. We stepped in unnoticed, blending into the crowd like common tourists. It was nice to be undetected again; no one looked twice at Leopold and I as we wove through the galleries and halls.

  "There must be an easier way to do this," I said to Leopold. It seemed strange that we were sneaking out of the castle, even for outings that everyone knew about.

  "Well, I wanted to scale down the balcony," Leopold said, slipping easily now into English, "but apparently that would draw too much attention."

  "Should have done that shirtless," I teased. "You would have been front page, overshadowing our engagement announcement."

  We were in the lobby now, passing by the ticket stand that had been set up for the day and the line of docents waiting to help the tourists. Two of the king's guards stood by the entrance door, out on display, dressed in full uniform. They remained motionless the whole time, unmoving while school kids ran around them and people took photos.

  I wondered if the tourists would joke around the guards so much if they knew how dangerous they really were. They looked purely ornamental in their costumes, but every single one of the king's guards was a highly trained soldier who had been specially recommended for the honored position by the Solisian military. In other words, they were very well trained to use the very real and loaded guns that they held, should it become necessary.

  The guards snapped to attention as Leopold and I passed through them on our way down the front steps. They stomped their feet and thrust their rifles forward, presenting their arms. A little boy beside one of them squealed in delight, clapping his hands. More pictures were taken, the tourists thrilled that the guards had moved. None of them seemed to realize that they were saluting a member of the royal family. If the tourists had assessed the whole situation, they may have noticed that Leopold and I didn't seem excited about it, and strangely enough, we didn't turn and look like everyone else. Of course, we were well accustomed to the guards and too busy concentrating on getting out to even think about slowing down. People did take notice of the car at the bottom of the steps though. There was a crowd loosely standing around the black Mercedes, probably waiting to see who was going to get in. M. Lefevre and M. Arsnault were standing stiffly on either side of the car, as usual. We didn't head towards that car, but instead walked right past it towards the front gates, where there was another car just outside the barricade, attracting attention in a non-parking zone.

  "We're going out in the Batmobile, and you didn't think people would notice?" I asked.

  Leopold laughed. "It's a Lamborghini Aventador, actually. I thought it was less conspicuous than a Mercedes. They are always a bit of a tip off."

  "And this isn't suspicious at all," I muttered as Leopold opened my door, which pulled upwards from its hinges. The eyes of a few men, who were admiring the car, grew larger. I looked back towards the castle where the Mercedes was slowly making its way down the driveway without taking out any of the flocking tourists.

  "After nearly two decades, I have learned that when it is impossible to go unseen, it is best to cause as much of a scene as possible," Leopold stated as he sat down beside me. The ignition purred to life and Leopold slid the clutch into gear. "Then people tend to look at the wrong thing, the more conservative, subtle thing." He nodded forward, towards the Mercedes with the Solisian flags waving on its hood. People in the streets were stopping and pointing as it drove by. No one even thought to look at the black car that trailed it, seemingly unable to pass the official vehicle in front of it.

  We made our way slowly through the old town, causing quite a stir. Things moved faster the closer we got to the new city. The modern grid of traffic was easier to navigate than the ancient twisting cobblestone streets that circled the castle.

  The building we pulled up next to was anything but modern. It looked like it had somehow been placed in the wrong half of the city. Its white marble walls and columns were gray and warped with age and the sea air. Heavy cast iron lanterns were hanging on either side of a large wooden door that was meant to be black, but it had been scratched so much that a hundred other different coats of paint veined through it, straight down to the wood underneath. The sign across its front said Taverne Capitaine Garmont in garish gold lettering.

  "Where are we?" I asked, as Leopold helped me out of the car. A shiver of worry ran through me as I thought back to my first few weeks in Solis, when I had been warned about the alcoholic, troublesome prince.

  "A bar," Leopold told me, doing nothing to calm my previous concerns. I glanced over my shoulder towards our guards. They didn't seem worried as they followed us down the steps. Felip had even given his approval for us to come here.

  We stepped inside, and I was instantly surrounded by noise. Loud music was coming from a corner where there was a band set up. People were sitting in large groups around worn wooden tables, barrels, and at the bar. Chandeliers that looked much like the lanterns outside hung from rafters that were made of beams the size of full-grown trees.

  "What is this?" I breathed.

  "It used to be an inn used by the less... wanted visitors of the island," Leopold explained. "Pirates used to use the islands to hide themselves because they were difficult to navigate around, particularly in this region. There were a lot of underwater rock formations and shipwrecks. They weren't welcome in the old town, so they made their own village here. Eventually, most of the buildings were destroyed in a fire, but this one survived."

  We were at the bar now, so Leopold ordered us drinks.

  "There were pirates?" I repeated, curious as I followed him through a crowd to one of the barrel tables. Pirates had never been mentioned in any of my lessons.

  "There were, and a lot of treasure too. My relatives found a lot of it, and people still find it. Gold coins wash up on the beach occasionally. Sometimes spelunkers find a cave filled with jewelry. The museums keep track of most of it." Leopold shrugged, bored. "Mostly it is just university kids and tourists who come here now." He nodded into the room. There were a lot of kids, all around our age.

  "Is the university close by?"

  "It is at the end of the st
reet. The explorer who caught one of the local pirate lords used the reward money and part of the treasure he seized to build the school," Leopold said.

  I frowned. It seemed wrong somehow to have a school built on an old pirate village. "Why here?" I asked Leopold, suddenly suspicious.

  "A few reasons, but it seemed appropriate mainly; the old world and the new one are side by side here. I thought this would be helpful," Leopold replied. "I wanted to show you what you are missing, and I wanted to celebrate."

  "I don't understand," I told him. The band had picked up their tempo, now playing loud rock music instead of folk songs. The students cheered, and I had to yell to be heard over the sound.

  "You will never be able to come here again," Leopold said sadly. "You will never be able to go to school like you would have. You can't go outside in your pajamas or walk your dog around the corner to get milk, and our kids won't be allowed to go to the park. Our grandchildren will probably be married off to royalty all over Europe."

  "It's okay," I told him, taking hold of his hand.

  "But it's also not," Leopold said, "so tonight is to say goodbye to our other lives, the ones where I wasn't me, and you got to be yourself. It is also to celebrate because now that we have left our other selves behind, along with everything we could have been, we are now something else. While our new selves are trapped in ways our other selves never would have been, we can now do so much more than we ever could have before. I plan on taking advantage of that as much as I possibly can."

  I raised my glass, smiling broadly across the table at Leopold. "To our new selves."

  "Cat. Cat." There was light weight hovering over me and something was tickling my throat. "Cat." The voice was deep; I could feel its vibrations running through me. "It is time to wake up. I need to show you something," Leopold murmured softly, his lips brushing against my skin. I could hear contained excitement in his voice but there was also a nervous edge to it. I could feel tension in the muscles of his back as I hugged him to me.