The General's Daughter

Chapter 5

Thankfully, it wasn't expected that I would go to the castle every day or even every week. So I'd been able to avoid Alex after that last alarming encounter.

I wished I could stay away indefinitely, but I knew that wouldn't be allowed. Since I was a child, rarely a month passed when I didn't visit, and usually I went to the castle several times in a month. Of course, that had mostly been due to my desire to see Alex, but even so, Papa was important and I was often expected to accompany him for various reasons.

In the days following the ball, I'd thought of little other than Alex's kiss, and it frustrated me. I didn't want to abandon all common sense because of that particular talent of his.

To say I enjoyed it was an understatement. I'd liked it so much that, in my weaker moments, I found myself day dreaming about him kissing me again. Those sorts of silly fantasies were not something I typically indulged in, and it annoyed me that I couldn't make that claim any longer. And heaven help me if it actually happened again!

Although, I knew from talking to other girls, how rare a decent first kiss was. I hadn't thought I'd wanted anyone to kiss me, so I hadn't given much thought to what it might be like. If I had, I'd have expected it to be awkward and uncomfortable. Possibly disgusting. That seemed to be the norm for most girls.

Even Aunt Charlotte, who loved her husband very much, said that their first kiss had been extremely awkward. My uncle had been a little too enthusiastic and had nearly bruised her lip by leaning in too quickly. He also had no idea what to do with his hands.

Unfortunately for me, Alex's kiss was perfect. And thanks to my reaction that night, he undoubtedly knew it.

In an effort to distract myself, I was headed to the library for a book. My fourth this week, in fact.

The library was down the hall from Papa's office and his door was open, so I didn't even have to try to hear the conversation he and Mr. Hall, his secretary were having. Normally his business discussions bored me, but this one had my attention almost instantly.

"What do you think?" Mr. Hall asked. "Someone couldn't be this foolish, could they? Prince Philip isn't as naive as his father was."

"That's true," Papa agreed. "However, it's common knowledge that the king is going to die soon. Changing of monarchs has a tendency to embolden usurpers to test the waters."

"Is that what we have?" Mr. Hall said. "A usurper?"

Papa made a vague sound. "Possibly. The general assumption is that the ambassador's forces were completely wiped out in the last conflict, but..."

"But do you hold to the general assumption," Mr. Hall guessed.

"That we got every last one of the treasonous weasels?" Papa said. "Not likely. We've been at peace for the last few years, it's true, but that does not mean the threat is eliminated. It would have been relatively easy for many of them to go underground when the tides were turned. Even so, there were any number of sons left alive and it's not out of the realm of possibility that they would have formed some sort of rebellion now that they've had time to come of age. Bitterness and revenge make for formidable enemies, even if they aren't particularly intelligent."

"And Garvan?" Mr. Hall asked.

Papa was quiet for a moment, thinking. "I honestly don't know if the boy's smart enough to have organized the whole thing, but I'd wager a small fortune that he's part of it. He is, after all, next in line for the throne if the princes are done away with. He has no great love for any of them as it is."

I gasped. I knew I wasn't imagining the evil intent in Garvan's eyes that night!

"We'll have to assign extra security to the royal family as soon as possible," Papa said.