The Princess Bride

Chapter 29

Several weeks went by and we still didn't know who was behind the attempt on my life. The more time that passed, the more unlikely it was that we would find out. Alex thought that Lord Houghton was a likely guess, but he couldn't be positive. Which was very lucky for Lord Houghton, because with as much as Alex loved me and hated him, he still couldn't condemn him without being sure.

I hope Lord Houghton realized how fortunate he was. If Alex wasn't who he was, he might not wait to be convinced and have him arrested on suspicion alone.

He wasn't sure, but he still thought it was probable and so Lord Houghton was going to be watched very closely for a very long time. Which was pretty satisfying to think about after all the trouble he'd caused.

I didn't really worry about another attempt because as Alex had said, I now had a personal body guard. I had a few actually, since one person couldn't possibly watch over me twenty-four hours a day. Most of the time, it was two men who took turns, Felix and Harrison. As Alex had promised, they weren't intrusive. They were actually very good at being nearly invisible so that I hardly even noticed them much of the time, but one of them was also always close enough to get to me in seconds if need be. Which was pretty comforting.

The rest of the time, I had been thrilled to learn, Aunt Keira acted as my personal guard. It was only here and there, as she had the time, but it was so nice to both feel safe and get to spend more time with her.

"Your mother wanted me to ask if you mind if she keeps that book a while longer," Aunt Keira said as we ate a quiet lunch.

Most of the time, I had lunch in the dining room with the royal family, but whenever Aunt Keira was able to be with me, we had lunch in my parlor since she really wasn't comfortable in the dinning room. Most of the time, Isabelle and Juliette joined us.

I shrugged. "I forgot about it acutally."

"Surprising." She snorted. "It's only been three months," she said sarcastically.

"Three months?" Startled, I glanced up as she took another bite of her soup.

"Okay fine." She rolled her eyes. "Two and a half months. Goodness, you're just like your mother."

It had been that long? I guess it wasn't surprising that I'd forgotten, since that had been the day those men attacked me and the book was a relatively unimportant detail. But still, it had been over two months since then? How had I lost track of time? I never lost track of time. But I guess so many things hadn't seemed important with Alex and everyone trying to find out who was behind the attack, time just flew by unnoticed.

Caught up in my thoughts, I absently reached for another grilled cheese sandwich and took a bite.

"Save some for the rest of the kingdom." Isabelle laughed, making me realize belatedly that it was my third.

I froze and glanced down at the sandwich. I normally didn't even like grilled cheese very much, and I never ate this much food in one sitting!

Stunned I looked up just as Aunt Keira did. She knew both of those details too and she looked just as surprised.

I put the sandwich down, focused on not choking on the bite that was still in my mouth, and thought.

How had I lost track of time? I had a monthly reminder. But I'd forgotten completely!

I looked up again and Aunt Keira was smiling. We stared at each other for a second and I began to match her smile.

Could I be?

"What?" Isabelle asked, catching on that something was going on, but not sure what.

"I..." I couldn't say it. I couldn't even think it.