The Royal Heir - The Valtoria Diaries 2

Boatier McBoatface

The night before the ridiculous and frankly unnecessary tour began, Rick had suggested that he and Olivia should eat at his favourite restaurant in the city, somewhere they'd eaten together a few times before. Perhaps he could sense her dissatisfaction over the whole stupid charade and wanted to appease her. Or maybe he just hoped a grand gesture would secure him some time with her later that evening. He wouldn't, and it wouldn't. But Olivia wasn't going to turn down the opportunity to eat at Bello's.

Bello's was a rustic, authentic Italian restaurant, with an open kitchen so its patrons could watch their food being prepared. Of course, whenever Rick ate there, it was closed to the public so its royal customer could dine privately and discuss whatever he needed to with his guests without confidentiality concerns. Years ago, Bello's had been Queen Eleanor's favourite restaurant; in fact Olivia remembered going along with the family for meals on several instances in the past before Eleanor's death. Her memories of those times were vague, but precious. She'd loved the food then, and she still loved it now. But she never told Rick that.

"Ugh, pasta again," she grumbled, as she watched the chef in action. "Do these people have no imagination?"

Rick smiled across at her. "They know it's my favourite."

"They could've asked me what my favourite Is," she huffed, picking up her knife and spinning it around, the point at her finger. It's completely irrelevant that it's my favourite too.

"Well, I'm sure if we went to talk to Mira, she would be happy to prepare you something separate," Rick said. "She might even allow you to help prepare it. I've got involved with my own meal preparation here on a number of occasions...."

"Don't be ridiculous," she sighed, as she continued to fidget with her knife, and rapped the knuckles of her other hand on the table. "You're the king. You're not a fucking chef."

He reached over to place his hand on her knife-free one. "Olivia. Please, relax. Talk to me."

She glared at him instead, waiting for him to initiate the conversation.

"I know you're not looking forward to this tour. But it is a time-honoured tradition for the monarch to tour Cordonia with the new heir. It just so happens to serve a dual purpose this time."

Olivia had her own suspicions over who might have been involved in Eleanor's death. What she knew about it seemed to fit a familiar pattern. As far as she was concerned, Godfrey was a pawn. There were more sinister forces at play. And her concern was the more Rick pushed this investigation, the more likely he'd attract the attention of those forces. But, she could not tell him what she knew.

"Are you familiar with the itinerary?"

She shook her head. "I know you're in Lythikos on Wednesday and Thursday."

"Yes. We travel to Castelsarreillan tomorrow morning for one night. I believe there will be a tour of Stormholt Castle involved. Then in Portavira on Tuesday, we will attend a naval event. We then spend much of Wednesday travelling up to Lythikos, where I believe a flower festival awaits us on Thursday." He craned an eyebrow at her.

Ugh. He so knows. I hate him. "And Friday?"

"We will travel back to Ramsford on Friday, where a grand ceremony will take place on Saturday evening. On Sunday morning we will make the short journey to Krona." He began to look distant, Olivia knew he was hoping to get answers there more than anywhere. "And back to our separate bases on Monday morning, to begin preparations for the anointment the following weekend. A full week."

Olivia couldn't help but think that this was a lot for Jen and Maxwell to cope with while looking after a two-month-old infant. "Well. I admire your desire to prove your endurance."