Royal Holiday by Emma Lea

Author:Emma Lea [Lea, Emma]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Emma Lea

Evan

I said goodbye to the final reporter and sat back in my seat, taking a long sip of water. Speaking with the press hadn’t been as excruciating as I’d expected, but it was tiring. There had been the odd curly question, but the dossier had done its job, and most people were open to accepting what was written within it. I would have to wait and see if that’s what they actually published, but no one had outright challenged the information. I supposed that most people wanted to believe that good had triumphed over evil, even if bad news sold more copies.

“Should I get Brooklyn?” Jonas asked.

“In a minute,” I replied, rolling my shoulders. I was glad I’d left her until last, but at the same time, I needed to be on my game. I couldn’t let the weariness make me sloppy and let my guard down.

“I don’t think she has a minute,” Jonas replied.

I frowned and turned to look at where Brooklyn was sitting. I’d avoided looking at her as much as I could throughout the meet-and-greet, but I hadn’t been able to evade looking at her altogether. My eyes were drawn to her constantly. But in the quick glances I’d thrown her way I had not noticed anything amiss. Now that I looked at her properly, I could see there was something awfully wrong.

“Is she okay?” I asked, alarmed. “Is she sick? Food poisoning?”

I was halfway out of my seat before I knew it.

Jonas snorted and pushed me back into my seat.

“Wine flu,” he replied.

“What?”

“She’s drunk,” he explained. “She drank four bottles of wine, by my count.”

“How is she still conscious?”

“It’s been a few hours,” Jonas replied.

I looked at my watch, surprised by just how much time had passed.

Brooklyn turned our way, feeling our eyes upon her. She frowned and then pushed herself up to a somewhat standing position. She swayed alarmingly, catching herself on the chair before she could topple to the ground.

A smile twitched around the corners of my mouth. A genuine smile, not one of the fake, polite smiles I’d been using all day. Why was it those fake smiles made my cheeks ache, but looking at Brooklyn and feeling my mouth curve was a relief?

Having recovered her equilibrium, Brooklyn started marching toward us. I supposed she was trying to march, but it was more like a weave. Her brow was pulled down and her mouth was a straight line as she determinedly put one foot sort of in front of the other.

Reaching my table, she attempted a curtsey. Others had also tried to curtsey and bow with varying degrees of success. They didn’t need to curtsey to me, but they did anyway. Brooklyn outdid them all. And by outdid, I mean, it was so spectacularly bad that it rivalled even Frankie’s infamously atrocious form. The first time Frankie came to the palace with Lucas, the queen ordered her to never attempt a curtsey again because of just how bad it was. I would bet the queen would consider Frankie’s attempt a ten next to Brooklyn’s.

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