Chapter 19

“For how long?”

“Just a couple of weeks. After that, they’re going to slip back into Aragoni as quietly as possible and spend two more weeks in our house on the mountain. The original plan had been to tour Europe, but they finally decided against doing that.”

“Yeah,” Dani said, “and that’s a huge secret. Nobody but us will know they’re back, which will give them some quiet time together—as far as anybody knows, they’re traveling.”

“That’s cool,” Noah said.

“And necessary,” I said. “When Father is in residence in the castle, or for that matter the Duchy, his time is almost never his own—there’s always someone or something demanding his attention.”

“So who runs things in his absence?” Tom said.

“The Council runs things,” I said, “and unfortunately, Father has delegated me to chair it in his absence.”

“Marco’s favorite thing is sitting through long, boring Council sessions,” Dani said.

“Stop talking,” I said, “or I’m gonna eat your tiramisu for you.”