Queen Material ( Ace of Queens #1)

CH 8

CH 8

For the rest of the day Xavier stayed in his office with some "Urgent matter." Rye felt irritated. It hasn't even been 24 hours and he already ditched me for work, Rye thought angrily as she roamed the halls in the palace.

But that's a good thing right? What's what she had wanted.

Then why was she hoping to find his office behind one of the many closed doors.

After sometime, when Rye was certain she had lost her way, she spotted Mardick approaching her.

He lowered his head in a bow, "Your grace."

Rye awkwardly bent her body to form some sort of a curtsy but didn't know what to do.

To save her dignity, Mardrick ignored the clumsy movements and kept a straight face, "His grace has asked me to show you the library."

"Of course he has a library," Rye muttered.

"If you would follow me," Mardick said ushering her.

Rye followed the old man into a library straight out of a fairy tale. From floor to ceiling the walls were covered in high bookshelves, all stuffed with hundreds and hundreds of books.

"Wow," Rye said looking around, "He's trying to really impress me, isn't he?"

"The king has asked me to inform you that our library is lacking Young Adult werewolf books," Mardrick said in his crisp English accent.

Rye was sure the old man must have been cracking a joke, but his face had no humor.

"He has asked me to gather the titles of your favorites and to expedite the shipping."

Rye laughed to herself as she took in her surroundings. Was Xavier trying to be funny?

She looked at the old man as an idea hatched into her head, "May I have a piece of paper and a pen? I would like to write down some of those titles."

Mardrick reached into the desk set in the center of the library and produced a notepad and a pen.

Rye quickly scribbled down some "titles" and handed it over to Mardrick. She watched in amusement as the old man's eyes grew ever so slightly in shock. She could have easily missed it if she hadn't been watching him.

When he looked up, she smiled at him sweetly and said, "Can you please run those by the King before placing the order? I want to make sure it wouldn't be any trouble for him to get me those books." She finished innocently.

"I can assure you, it won't be a problem," the man said.

"Please," Rye said with as much politeness as she could muster up, "I insist."

Mardrick bowed again and left Rye to herself. As the doors of the library closed, Rye released the laughter she had been holding.

In the office, Xavier was going over the biopsy reports of the bodies found last week when Mardick entered the room.

He placed a piece of folded paper in front of Xavier and said, "The Queen Luna insists you check over these book titles before I place an order."

Xavier was curious as he picked up the paper. He had only told Mardrick to ask for those titles to poke harmless fun at his mate. He wanted to know what titles she had provided and why she insisted he check them over.

Xavier has sat through countless meetings and hearings, but never in his existence did he have to use so much self control to keep his face straight then that very moment.

He chuckled to his own surprise and folded the paper back into his pocket.

"That will be all Mardrick," Xavier looked at the man. There was no doubt in his mind the poor old man had seen what his firecracker of a mate had sent, "Thank you, I'll place the order myself."

Forgetting the reports on his desk, Xavier set out for the library. He entered silently to find his beautiful mate curled up on the large wing back chair with a book on her lap and chewing on her right thumb nail. She looked radiant.

He pulled out the piece of paper from his back pocket and began reading the titles out loud.

"The Alpha King and his dirty butler. The king's trap house. The wild beast alpha in bed. The alpha's burning passion for his butler."

Rye looked up from the book on her lap and found Xavier lazily leaned against a bookshelf.

"Ah, I see you got my message." She said closing the book.

"You know, I think you almost gave poor Mardrick a heart attack."

"Wouldn't be the first man's heart I stopped."

All traces of humor left Xavier's eyes as the thought of Rye with anyone else popped into his head, "Who were they?"

Rye sat very still with her eyes glued on Xavier as he stalked over to where she sat.

The man was so god damn sexy.

"Is the King feeling jealous?" Rye asked sporting a fake pout.

Xavier leaned down, placing his long arms on each of the armrests and caged her in the chair, "Who were they?" he asked again.

Rye's breathing changed, her eyes dropped to Xavier's lips and back up to his dark eyes, only to find him staring at her lips.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Rye jumped out of the chair, dropping the book and stepped back from Xavier.

Mardrick entered the room, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"Pardon the interruption, your grace. There is a call for you on hold. It's Ambassador Alden."

Rye's head snapped up, "My mother?"

"Thank you Mardrick, I'll take the call here." Xavier said as he walked over to the desk and picked up the phone.

"Good evening Ambassador," Xavier said in a polite voice.

Rye could faintly hear her mother's voice through the receiver, "Good evening, your grace. Please let me start off by saying what an honor it is to have my daughter be your mate. She is an extremely tal-"

Rye's eyes suddenly flooded with tears. She didn't know what brought them on but just hearing her mother talking about her like she was some kind of peace treaty made her insides turn.

Xavier suddenly grew worried as he watched Rye rush out of the room.

"Mrs. Alden, let me call you back," He didn't care if he was being rude. Hanging up before Olivia could respond, Xavier ran out into the halls to find Rye racing down in the complete opposite direction of her room.

Xavier easily caught up to her as she frantically looked around the hall with fat tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Why are all these doors the same!" She complained, "God damn it, you need to start naming the halls like streets and avenues."

Xavier approached her slowly like she was a wounded deer, "Hey, what's the matter?"

"I'm lost!" Rye threw her arms up in frustration, "This place looks all the same! Who was your interior decorator?"

"Rye," Xavier said gently tugging on one of her arms, "Come here."

To his surprise, she complied and walked into his arms. Once his arms were around her, she broke down into tears. Xavier ran a hand over her hair and held her tight.

He didn't know what to say or how to comfort her. Just holding her and staying silent seemed to be the right thing to be doing at the moment.

So that is how they remained. The king and his future queen.