The Royal Contract

"The duke had finally summoned for your presence. It would seem that you found your golden ticket to the palace again." Her secretary announced to her as soon as she entered her office.

She walked straight to her table, moving around it until she stood by her side. She dropped several files on top of the desk. Then, she placed a note in front of her.

"What do you mean?" She asked, looking at her assistant as if she had grown some horns, confused by her statement. 

As far as her morning went, it had been unproductive. She could not get any information nor find someone willing to share a bit of news. So, why would the duke suddenly accept her invitation for an interview?

She grabbed the note and read its content. She raised her brow to her assistant, asking silently if this was a joke. But her assistant only shrugged her shoulders.

It just did not make sense unless her aunt had something to do with it. She was the only one who knew her desperation to see the duke. Besides, her auntie might have done something to convince him to see her.

"The duke is expecting to see you in an hour. So, I suggest you move your ass before he changes his mind." Her assistant winked at her before leaving her alone with her thoughts.

When the news finally sunk in, she rose from her chair and jumped excitedly. Finally, she would be seeing the duke. She had not lost hope yet.

She had already thought of several options if talking to the duke was not on the table. But she still preferred talking to him first. She believed the information she possessed might interest the duke more than sharing it with the world.

"You know where I will be." She spoke in a low voice to her assistant, who was busy talking on the phone.

She waved at her without waiting for her to finish with her conversation. The elevator doors were already closing by the time her assistant hung up the phone.

She knew she still had several meetings to attend, including meeting with the network producer. But as her secretary had pointed out, she had to leave before Duke Frederick decided not to push through with her appointment with her.

"Eida Harlowe." Introducing herself. She held out her hand by the window of her car and showed the guards her identification card. 

She looked at the guards as they inspected her name and face. Another guard roamed around her car with a dog, sniffing if she had any bomb or illegal contraband inside her trunk.

She did not find anything odd with the situation since it was standard procedure every time she would come here for a press briefing. 

"What is the purpose of your visit?" The guard near her asked, still looking directly at her face.

She suddenly felt something odd about the way he was questioning her. The seriousness on his face was different from the other times she was here.

Then, she observed how they seemed to be acting out of the ordinary as if they were on high alert. She could tell they were guarding the palace on high alert from the heavy armors hanging on their uniformed body. 

"I am here to see, Duke Frederick. He is expecting me." She confidently stated, knowing that she had a go signal to see the Council head.

Under normal circumstances, nobody could enter the premises without an invitation. But if the king or the other royal family wished to entertain, they sometimes indulged a few unexpected visitors.

However, she doubted that anybody who had no prior appointment would get in with the tight security the guards were implementing. She also noticed that the guards were more today that roamed the grounds inside.

It only heightened her suspicion that something might be going on. Her mind wondered if the royal family had received a death threat. It would explain the high security in the location where the couple was taking their honeymoon.

"You may proceed to the main entrance." The guard explained to her before returning her card to her hands.

The other guard signaled her to proceed to the path that would lead her straight to the main door of the palace. She drove slowly, observing the atmosphere around the grounds.

She was immediately escorted to a large room by uniformed staff. It looked like an old library with massive shelves with hardbound books aligning its surface.

She did not wait long as the sounds of the heels of the shoes hitting the floor reached her ears, followed by voices that filled the room.

"Hello, Ms. Harlowe." The duke entered the room and greeted her instantly as soon as she was in sight. "I hope that I did not keep you waiting too long."

He would have been earlier if not for some urgent call that he had to take. It took a while before he was able to settle things. But he immediately went to see the reporter as soon as it was through.

"Not at all, Sir Frederick." She would have called him his highness, but he always insisted that he preferred by his name. She decided to add Sir as something more appropriate for his title.

Besides, she respected the man for everything he did for their country. The kingdom had contributed a lot to the welfare of its citizen. The Council had provided support to their government to develop their entire state.

"Shall we sit down?" He offered her to sit down again and joined him for a cup of tea. 

A staff of the palace, just on cue, walked into the room, carrying a tray with a hot pot of tea, two small cups, and some other assortments of flavorings. There were also several assorted slices of English cake that she loved to eat whenever she visited her auntie.

"Oh! Did Auntie Grace bake this?" She could not help to ask since it looked like what her auntie loved to make for her.

She suddenly felt at ease in the presence of the duke. Not that she got spooked easily around people, but her instinct told her to keep her guard up.

"Yes, my wife just could never get enough of her cakes," Fred answered, hoping that his strategy would make her at ease around him. "Anyway, I heard that you wanted to see me."

He needed the information she had collected and an honest answer to all his questions. His intuitions dictated that she might have something valuable for her to make all this effort to see him.

He took a sip of his tea as he waited for her to compose herself. He watched her face as it changed from its relaxed stance to a more guarded one. Whatever was in her head seemed to bother her tremendously, he concluded.

"Well, I wanted to show you something. In my head, it seems to be a good story to explore, but something just did not add up." She began as she placed the cup of tea back on the table and grabbed the bag that she had with her.

She pulled out two folders containing several papers inside. It was the investigation she was doing on two different projects. She handed them over to the duke, hoping that he had some answers. 

Two stories that she had been working on. They initially appeared to have nothing in relation. But after careful evaluation, they seemed to be intertwined.. Now, she just had no idea how to connect the dots.