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Suddenly the king smiled “Vladimir, old friend,” he coaxed “You have known me all my life I learned court protocol at your knee And many times you shielded Mara froet that?” His smile faded “But this is important to me You cannot kno important I realize it is a breach of state protocol, but do not failQueen Eleonora in the film I wish her to be treated as such, and not just in this way In every way She will be housed in the Queen’s Suite”
Andre turned sharply and strode away before he betrayed himself any further He’d worked tirelessly for this day for almost three years, ever since he ascended the throne Noould risk his future on one roll of the dice But he wanted everything perfect beforehand Everything that could be done to set the stage would be done Thenif he lostif he failedhe would have no one to blame except himself
He’d been up since dawn, unable to sleep, knowing that inthat somewhere in the skies over the Atlantic Ocean, then over Europe, his e—the one woman for whom this entire endeavor had been undertaken The wo’s ransom to ensure she would finally return to Zakhar
Juliana
Even her naht for years Her memory burned white hot in his mind and his body How e his constant nature? How many times had he wished he was not a Marianescu? And how ued in his mind with the first Andre Alexei, only to hear the inevitable answer he did not want to hear, the saiven to the church, to his Privy Council, to his subjects—it is heror no one
Forever and a day
Most of the cast and crew of King’s Ranso exterior shots, scoping out the palace—especially the older wings—planning ca all the thousand and one things that went intoa blockbuster feature film But the leads, the actor and actress ould portray the first King Andre Alexei and his beloved Queen Eleonora—Dirk DeWinter and Juliana Richardson—were arriving later this rand, forht in the Great Hall
Restless energy pulsed through his body, and Andre strode into the iany pillars, three-story arched ceiling festooned with a grandiose display of gold inlay, and thick red-and-gold rug so immense it covered nearly the entire expanse of the floor
Maids, foot the rooht Banks of flowers and potted trees were being installed around the rooardens but fro the sweet freshness of the outdoors inside The dust covers swathing the chandeliers had been relittered, casting rainbow hues around the roo
Satisfied at the progress, Andre passed through the Great Hall to the Grand Staircase that led into it He ignored the gilded, ornate railing and took the wide marble stairs to the second floor of the palace two at a ti no sound on the criuard on duty today, followed hi to keep up
His father had chosen his bodyguards when he was the Crown Prince But once he ascended the throne he’d recruited his cousin Zax to head up the security force protecting hiuards himself, men from his own unit in the Zakharian National Forces, men he’d trained with Men he could trust with his life, ere also discreet
Captains Damon Kostya and Lukas Branko were two of those uarding hiht during the reception They were nearly fanatical in their devotion to hi him alive, sworn to protect hiuard detail And they’d done a dah two assassination attempts in the past three years
Noruards, careful to make no sudden, unexpected moves that would take whomever was on duty by surprise It wasn’t his habit tohih the door to his suite of rooms, then turned abruptly “Wait outside, Damon”