Page 101 of Trained Royal
“Possibly, but again, because she knows of his antagonistic nature, he might not be the best choice for trying to get in and out quietly. He seems the type of person who would want to cause trouble just for the sake of it.”
“He is.” Patrick pulled back. “Who then?”
“Possibly someone you wouldn’t expect. Maybe turning up unannounced and waving a white flag. Someone behind the scenes.” He shrugged. “I’m just guessing.”
Patrick sighed. “It’s the not knowing that I hate. When I know who it is, I have someone to focus on, but when we don’t know…” He shook his head.
Kieren cupped his jaw and pressed another kiss to his mouth. “I know. We just need to be vigilant, that’s all. Besides, we have a lot of guards here. Everyone should be fine.”
He made himself sound surer than he felt because he wasn’t at all certain they were safe. The predictability of their Christmas routine had never sat well with him, but he refused to make them change something that meant so much to them, especially as this was the first Christmas since Queen Louisa had died. They all needed this time together, even if it was fraught with danger.
What he hadn’t told Patrick—but he would if he asked—was that there were several guards hidden in places around the property, posing as household staff. No one knew except the security team, and they wanted to keep it that way. The fewer people who knew, the better the chance they had of keeping it a secret.
“Come on. Let’s go see everyone,” he said.
They wandered through the hallways with Jade and Nina by their sides. He was slowly getting used to having a guard of his own, but he couldn’t ignore his need to check their surroundings as if it was still his job. He would always do everything in his power to keep Patrick safe, but he was glad there were two other people around to help him. This was only while they were walking the corridors, though. When they were having dinner, the guards would have a break while four guards stayed on duty outside the room.
They greeted everyone and sat at the table, laughter and banter being thrown around as usual. Kieren loved this part. It made him feel like one of them because they didn’t leave him out. Whether it was George making fun of him or Christian joking with him, everyone made him feel welcome.
“Okay!” Andrew called, standing and holding his glass high. “Let’s make a toast. To family, new and old, those who are no longer with us,” he swallowed hard, “those who need our support, those who are too far away. We make family from those you wish to bring into the fold, not only blood relatives. As we can see here, our family is unique, and I wouldn’t wish for anything different. Cheers.”
“Cheers!”
The staff brought out the food and set it in the middle of the table so everyone could reach it. As he met the gaze of a household staff member, a thought niggled at him. When they were alone again, he asked Andrew, “Have all the staff been vetted and checked recently?”
“Yes. The staff here have been with us for a long time, but, earlier this month, I did request that they were all checked again,” Andrew said.
“And they all came back okay?”
Andrew frowned. “I’ve not been told otherwise.” He paused, tilting his head as Kieren had seen some other family members do. “Why?”
“If she used this place as Henry described, she would’ve needed help from people. Are those people still here? Who were they? If they are still here, a phone call could easily persuade them to search for what we mentioned we found. Charlotte wouldn’t need to make the journey at all.”
“Shit,” Freddie said. “How did we not think of this?”
Andrew rubbed a hand over his mouth. “I can give you names of those who I feel were closer to her than others were, but I have no idea if they were part of her scheme or not. I assumed if anyone came back with a mark against them after being vetted, they would no longer be employed, but I’ve not been told if that was the case.”
“Who was in charge of vetting them?”
“I asked Tobias to speak with Brett.” Tobias was one of Andrew’s guards.
“Excuse me.” Kieren stood and pulled out his phone, already dialling when he left the dining hall, noticing how quiet it was. “Brett, where are you?”
“In the security room. Why?”
“Did you recheck everyone who works here?”
“No, why?”
“Fuck! Where’s Tobias?”
“He should be with Aaron, Locke and Eric outside the dining room.”
“I’m standing outside the dining room, Brett. No one’s here.”
“Fuck!” A muffled sound came, then shouting. “Everyone, get to the dining hall! Now!”
Kieren ended the call and studied the quiet corridor. There was no sound apart from the muted conversation coming from the room behind him. He hoped the guards were okay—those that weren’t in Charlotte’s employ, anyway. He stepped back towards the dining room door when he heard footsteps approaching. He had no gun or anything to protect the royal family with.
