The Royal and the Rebel (Royally Pitched 2)

“This your doing?” Jules asked as she practically ran for the goodies.

“Thought you might need some sustenance.”

Jules peered into the mugs and was relieved to see one of them was filled with steaming coffee. She moaned her appreciation as she reached for it. Bringing it to her lips, she blew tentatively across the top of the cup before she took her first glorious sip. She dropped elegantly onto the settee and sighed her contentment.

“You’re a star, Ele.”

Ele poured some tea and sat across from her. “Thank you for agreeing to come with me today,” Ele said as she reached for a crusty croissant. She placed it on a small plate.

Jules inhaled half of her coffee before she plucked a pastry from the display and delicately tore a piece from it. She tentatively ate the flaky pastry. When the first bite settled rather than startled her stomach, she wolfed down the remaining food. She glanced up and saw Ele smirking at her.

“Hungry?”

Jules sighed, content. “Yes. And starting to feel more human now.”

Ele took another sip of her tea before she placed it on the tray. She rubbed her hands down her legs and shifted. Jules paused, watching her sister. Ele’s nervous tics were fully engaged, and Jules wondered what had her sister rattled.

Tilting her head in question, Jules asked, “Is everything okay?”

Ele crossed her ankles and met Jules’s curious stare. “They’re calling it the marriage mart,” Ele blurted.

Juliana’s brow furrowed. Maybe she was still drunk, as Ele’s words meant nothing to her. “Marriage mart? What are you talking about?”

Ele reached for her tea, holding the mug in her hand. “At the Barrington estate.”

Jules’s body snapped upright, energy coursing through her. “How do you know …” She paused, throwing her hand up. “What do you think you know?”

Ele took another sip and placed the cup down. She licked her lips. “You must understand that the queen shares most things with Jamie.”

“And Jamie shares them with you.”

Ele shrugged.

“You two are the biggest gossips in the kingdom,” Jules snapped.

“Only with each other,” she said as her shoulders lifted in another elegant shrug.

Jules scoffed, but she wasn’t really mad. Ele and Jamie were twins, and they definitely had twin telepathy. It was hard sometimes, being around them without feeling like an outsider or an intruder. Until recently, she hadn’t really shared a tight bond with Ele. But their time in America and the aftermath of Ele’s very public panic attack had forged a closeness between them. They were learning to be confidants. Jamie, though, possessed a gift for making people feel special—to him, to the world. His ease prompted confidences and secret sharing. It was impossible to be around Jamie and not feel like you were important. Over the years, Jules had gotten better at not begrudging Jamie and Ele their little world.

So, Jules’s top-secret infiltration of the Barrington family wasn’t really secret. She wanted to do this. And perhaps she would have appreciated the veil of secrecy, so she could succeed or fail without the eyes of her siblings cast in her direction. But if the queen could talk, Jules could also.

She was surprised by the sharp pang of relief. She hadn’t thought she was worried about what she was undertaking, but she could only feel the lightening of some unknown weight.

“Tell me what you know,” Jules instructed.

Ele’s tentativeness fled. Before Ele’s association with Tristan Davenport, she had been a caterpillar, burrowed in her cocoon, around but wrapped up in her own spectacular transformation. Things had happened outside of her chrysalis, but she had been too inwardly focused. Now that she had emerged a beautiful butterfly, she engaged much more.

She leaned forward. “From what we know, you will not be the only guest at the Barringtons’. They have invited other women with royal ties to come for Carnival.”

In Nava, Carnival began with Fat Thursday and ran seven days to Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Much of the country shut down for the seven-day span. It was a unique experience for their country, and anyone joining any influential family would be expected to be familiar with the traditions.

“With the galas and parades and church, I am sure whoever is vetting a potential bride for Frederik Barrington will have plenty of opportunity to be discerning.”

Jules pondered Ele’s statement. Although Ele had minimized her participation in castle politics, she had been raised to rule if anything happened to their brother. Her perceptions of royal machinations were always astute, informed, and spot-on.

“Basically, I have signed on for The Bachelor: A Royal Edition?”

“Yes,” Ele said simply.

Jules shrugged. “Game on!”