The Royal Heir - The Valtoria Diaries 2

Things are great

It was still only mid-morning in Cordonia when they touched down after that long, painful flight. Today was going to be a long day.

Drake had hoped to get back to his little room at the palace and sleep all the travelling off ready for tomorrow's Council meeting, but now said meeting had been brought forward, it was happening pretty much as soon as they stepped off the plane. He knew this turn of events would make for a grumpy version of himself, and he wasn't going to apologise for that. And that was without his thoughts on the pantomime going on around him as they all arrived at Valtoria.

Jones was too quiet. Normally she thrived on attention, especially when she was sharing the spotlight with Maxwell. But while Maxwell and Rick were excitedly updating Mara and Madeleine and Christopher and the other Council members who had already arrived for the meeting with the news, Jones was just sitting alone on the bottom steps of the staircase, making a understated fuss of Chance who was running up and down the same few steps with excitement at seeing his human again.

Hana sidled up to him, also looking in Jones's direction.

"She okay?" Drake asked Hana.

"I think so," Hana said.

"She's quiet," Drake commented.

"She's tired," Hana sighed. "She's just got home from a two-week holiday, and she has to go straight into a Council meeting, then an obstetrician's appointment.."

"A what?" Drake wondered if he'd misheard, but that was a bit of an odd thing to get wrong.

"An obstetrician's appointment." Hana pulled Drake away from the others. "Rick's arranged for them both to go and see the Royal doctor this afternoon for a healthcheck. Make sure all's well on both counts.. to check that Jen's likely to be able to conceive..."

Drake cringed. "And that Maxwell's not firing blanks."

"Exactly. It would be embarrassing if they announced this plan of action and then one or other of them had an issue. You can understand it really."

"Hell," sighed Drake. "This really is happening, isn't it?"

Hana nodded. "Subject to Council approval, yes."

Drake groaned. "So Kiara, Landon and Godfrey are all gonna put their dollars-worth in over whether they think Jones and Maxwell should start getting busy in the name of Cordonia?"

Hana's smile was sweet and appreciative. "Things are... a little odd, aren't they?"

And for a minute there, he thought she was talking about the two of them. Because she was right. Since that night he'd spent here, last week, which had been such a lovely night, with a lovely woman and a lovely friend, it had felt like neither of them had known what to say or do next when it came to their relationship.

He could tell she'd enjoyed their evening as much as he had. And although nothing romantic had happened between them, well nothing in the physical sense anyway, he felt that they'd connected that night in a way, that he'd never really connected with a woman, well, not one that he hadn't slept with yet. And it was a bit alien to him. But it had been.. great.

"I think things are great," he said, looking carefully at her.

She looked a little confused to start with, but then she must have realised. "That's good. Maybe they are."

With that, the front door was thrown open with a crash, and they all turned to see Olivia standing at it, looking devastatingly hot and extremely angry.