Page 48 of Alpha's Magic

“You’ve had a bit of a shock, and so has this lady. Sit here and rest. Drink more coffee if you can, while I go speak to her.”

He nodded and I went back over to the two servants, who had their heads together as they whispered frantically to each other.

“My name is Lord Asher, madam,” I said, giving her a brief bow. “And I represent the king. Leo is my omega.”

“Pleased to meet you, sir. He is Leo, then. I knew it. Even though it’s been so long since I’ve seen him. He looks very much like his father, Prince Ludwig.”

“Yes, I believe there is a resemblance. I’ve seen Ludwig’s portrait in the Royal Gallery.”

“He was a handsome man when he was younger. Not as much as this boy, but still. I was his wife’s nurse when she was small, back in Sudfarma. Lady Rowena and I came here to Morovia, when she married Prince Ludwig.”

“Did you? And the late queen Rozamond—were you her nurse too?”

She glanced up at me uneasily. “No, not Rozamond. She was a bit older. Though she came to visit Rowena from time to time. Even after Rowena’s marriage to Prince Ludwig when we came to Morovia, Rozamond would come to visit her sister.” She pulled her arm away from the caretaker then and straightened up. “But you must want to see the house. Please come up to the manor and I’ll see about preparing something for you to eat or drink. Perhaps some tea?”

“We’ll come to the house,” I replied. “But there’s no need to trouble yourself. You go ahead, and we’ll be there soon. I’d like to look around the interior of the hall.”

She glanced at both of us uneasily and then gave me a wan smile. “Of course. Come with me, John, and help me get fires going in the fireplaces. The old place can be pretty drafty and cold, though the parlor by the library is still quite nice. I can get you settled there.”

“Leo would like to see his father’s old study too, I believe. Along with any family records left.”

She darted a quick look at him. “Oh yes, of course, whatever he wants. Everything belongs to him now, I suppose. I’m not sure about records. I believe the prince’s papers were put in a crate and stored years ago, but I can look.”

“Thank you.”

She curtsied to me, rather painfully, it seemed, holding onto Trask’s arm again. I could see that she was a bit older than I’d first thought. Trask walked her back out to the little wagon and helped her up onto the seat. I still needed to interview her and see what she might know, but I had to take care of Leo first.

I went over to sit beside him. “Are you all right?”

“Of course,” he said, his voice brittle and pitched a little high.

“Again, I can do this by myself. You don’t have to go in there.”

“No, I want to see it.”

I held out a hand to him. “All right, then. Let’s go, if you feel ready.”

We walked up to the house to give the servants a bit more time to get things in order, though I didn’t expect much from an old, abandoned manor house with only one elderly servant and a groundskeeper. The front door had been left ajar for us, so we walked in, calling out a hello to whoever was still inside.

Amalinia came out of a back room as we went inside the foyer and smiled nervously at Leo. “It’s good to see you again, Leo. May I still call you Leo?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

She blushed and smiled again, though she seemed to be nervous. As I suppose I would be too, if the last time I’d seen him, I’d beaten him with a broom.

I took a deep breath, trying for patience. I would at least hear her out. As for Leo, he turned slowly around in the main foyer, looking at everything, his eyes bright.

As manor houses went, it was a relatively small one. The interior rooms hadn’t seen any paint or repairs in over ten years, but they didn’t look too bad—a little plaster missing here and there, some scuff marks on the baseboards and faded spots on the walls where paintings had once hung. But the floors were in surprisingly good shape, though the carpet was threadbare in places. It was clean enough and well-aired.

“My mother’s room was down that hallway,” Leo said, standing closer to me. “And that was my father’s study over there. He was inside there having his supper, when my mother brought him the potion she’d made for him.”

If Amalinia heard what he said, she gave no sign of it. I wondered if she were a little hard of hearing or if she simply had a good poker face.

“I’ve been sent here by the king to inspect the house,” I told her.

“Oh? Is His Majesty planning on using the manor again?”

“I have no idea,” I said, trying to sound bored with it all. “But can you show me around please? Starting with the upstairs.”

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