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Arriving at the palace, the gates opened for the parade of black Mercedes and then closed behind the back to the fifteenth century, and portions of that early fortress res had risen around thethe thehteenth-century palace, and guards and staff filled soo Alexander had clai each floor into rooround floor and an office one floor above that His private library was on the third floor, with access to a guest suite on the fourth The stairwell between the fourth and fifth floors led to the roof and the parapet where antique cannons remained

When he needed to be houest suite, sleeping there to give himself some much-needed privacy No one entered the toithout his permission, and he limited access when he was in residence to his own butler and valet

His butler and valet were on the palace front steps as the motorcade drew to a stop, and they ushered him to his suite of rooms in the palace, where he showered, shaved and dressed

“Are you well, Your Highness?” his valet asked after giving Alexander’s coat a tug, adjusting the fit over his shoulders

“Yes, thank you,” Alexander answered

“You have quite a cut on your head, sir”

“It’s nothing”

“The doctor has seen you?”

“A navy doctor checked me out on the way here”

“Very good, sir”

And then Alexander was off, leaving his suite for that of his parents’ rooms

Thewith his mother and father was brief His father was in a chair, his eyes closed, when Alexander entered the roo in a chair nearby, eo and noas rare to see her in private without a needle and thread in her hands

Seeing that his father was sleeping, he paused at histo kiss her forehead At fifty-five she was slier than her years, but his father’s change of health had unfairly aged her “Hello, Mother”

She reached up to pat his cheek and tears filled her eyes “Alexander,” she said, the quiver in her voice betraying the stress of the past feeeks

He glanced to his father’s chair His father looked shockingly thin, his coray “How is he?”

Her shoulders shrugged “He’s—”

“Tired of worrying about you, you thankless scoundrel,” his father answered, his voice hoarse and thin

Alexander s, either He’d been a disappointment to his father ever since he was a boy and had refused to hunt and shoot anis that athen I’htly

“It crossedour discomfort”

“No, never” He glanced down at his“I’d never want to distress Mother Now, you, you’re a different htlybecause that was how he and his father co disdain

“Ha, I knew it” His father struggled to sit up in his chair and Alexander went to his aid but his father brushed him away “I’m not so frail that I can’t sit up in my own chair”

“Never doubted your strength, sir”

His father cleared his throat and then coughed and coughed And coughed so time before he could speak “Your cousin,” he rasped, eyes watering, voice quavering “He’s been quite anxious about your return Da in a half-dozen times a day”

“Hoping to inherit, I’m sure”

His father looked at him hard from beneath dark brows “He has always respected the crown, unlike you”

“I was a boy when I said those things Don’t you think it’s tiive?”

“I forgave you, but I won’t forget”

Alexander held back the words he wanted to say There was no point in defending hi “I would have it no other way, Father”

“Princess Danielle’s family has also been in touch daily Have you spoken yet with her?” Histhe attention “She’s been frantic”

“Does she do frantic? I’ve only ever known her to be the epitome of calm”

“Not frantic as in frenzied, but concerned,” his mother conceded “Which is e like her so much She won’t embarrass you She won’t embarrass us”

“A perfect wife,” he murmured

And yet his ht you liked her”

“And I do,” Alexander answered “She’s a perfectly lovely princess”

“Faultless,” Serena added