Page 50 of Royal Caleva: Luis

Grace slipped her hand in the crook of his elbow, and he laid his other hand over it, leading her away from Eve. But he kept his voice at a volume she could easily hear as he said, “Querida, you will be my daughter no matter how you choose to be known to the outside world. Never doubt that I will cherish you in every way you will allow.”

Grace nodded but said nothing. She was probably too choked up.

As they reached the secret panel, Luis turned to face his daughter, running his hands up to her shoulders to hold her as he placed a tender kiss on her forehead. “Buenas noches, hija mía. Que sueñes con los angelitos. I wish you sweet dreams.”

Grace slid her arms under Luis’s to hug him. “Muchas gracias! The same to you.”

Luis smiled. “You are learning Spanish after all. Bien hecho! Well done!”

He released her and disappeared through the panel.

Grace turned and choked out a sob. Eve practically sprinted across the room to put her arms around her daughter. “Sweetheart, we’ll figure this out.”

Grace buried her face against Eve’s shoulder, taking a couple of shuddering breaths before she lifted it again. “Why does he have to be a king? Why couldn’t he just be a normal person?”

Eve had been asking herself that every day since she had met him.

CHAPTER 13

Eve pushed the button to bring the SUV’s luxurious leather seat back to an upright position. She had caught a short nap as they drove because last night she and Grace had stayed up late, talking about her daughter’s future.

Now they were headed to Luis’s private home, whose name meant House in the Clouds. Bridget was driving, and Ivan rode shotgun. Eve winced at the term since he undoubtedly really had a gun. She was pretty sure that the SUV they seemed to be following was part of their security. There was probably one behind them as well. Was all the security because of Grace or because they were going to a house known to be owned by the king? Or both?

The other students and vets had been swept off to their respective guest homes in SUVs, too, so nothing about Eve and Grace’s departure had seemed unusual. Their escort hadn’t joined them until they were out of sight of the palace.

This morning, their Iowa delegation had met with several architects who specialized in medical facilities. They had brought some preliminary drafts of a veterinary school layout. Eve smiled at how they all felt like kids in a candy shop, since the architects added every item on their personal wish lists to the plans. Her smile faded as she remembered that the school was nothing but an elaborate ruse. No wonder there could be space for every fancy piece of equipment they wanted. It was all a pie in the sky. Still, it had been fun.

Afterward, they had been given a tour of the region of Caleva originally settled by French pirates, starting in St. Christophe and ending on one of the stunning beaches where the white sand literally glittered in the sunlight. Eve had fallen asleep on her lounge chair while the kids frolicked in the surf.

Now Grace would get to meet her half brother, the prince. Eve sucked in and blew out a long breath, reminding herself that Luis had raised Raul, so his son should have a strong loyalty to family. Still, sibling rivalry was real, and Grace was something of an interloper.

“Oh my God, Mom, look at this view!” Grace was staring out the window on her side of the car.

Eve leaned across to see that they were driving uphill along the edge of a cliff beyond which lay the endless ocean, a deep turquoise close to the island that shaded darker and darker as it reached the horizon. Below them, the surf crashed against glistening black boulders, throwing up wild sprays of water to sparkle in the sunlight. Being from landlocked Iowa, she found the sight mesmerizing. A glance at Grace’s wide eyes and half-open mouth indicated that her daughter felt the same way.

Straightening, Eve looked out her window to see flat land covered with some sort of low-growing, pale green grass or moss dotted with pinpoint yellow flowers. An occasional small, wind-sculpted evergreen tree thrust up from what must be rocky soil. Far off in the distance, she could see the silhouette of Castillo Draconago rising from its own cliff above San Ignacio. A thrill ran through her because Luis was somewhere within those stone walls.

She needed to get a grip.

The SUV slowed and stopped. Peering through the windshield, Eve saw tall steel gates set in a high stone wall that extended away to either side of the road. A guard was speaking with the driver of the SUV in front of them, and the massive gates began to swing inward. Bridget opened her window to speak with the guard, and they were waved through.

They drove for another fifteen minutes before the SUVs swept through an archway into an enclosed courtyard, centered by an abstract bronze fountain and edged with beds of flowering trees and plants in a riot of colors.

Ivan leaped out of the car to open Eve’s door while Bridget did the same for Grace. “Welcome to the House in the Clouds,” Ivan said.

“Thank you,” Eve said, but she was looking at the house with astonishment. It was boldly contemporary, constructed of vast sheets of glass, steel girders, and smooth basalt blocks.

“This is not what I expected,” Grace said.

“Not a turret or gargoyle in sight,” Eve agreed.

The front door flew open, and a short woman wearing a black dress appeared with outflung arms. Glints of silver shone in her dark hair. “Bienvenido, señora, señorita,” she cried. “Come in, come in! You must be exhausted from your day.”

Eve and Grace exchanged a glance before going up the three wide steps to the door.

“I am Annamaria, la mayordoma of Casa en las Nubes,” the woman said with obvious pride in her smile. “Anything that you need, I will provide for you. El rey and el principe will be arriving in an hour and a half, so I imagine you will want to freshen up. After that, I will be happy to take you on a tour of the house, if you wish.”

“Muchas gracias,” Grace said.

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