Chapter 24

Philip Barber Duval ushered Henry and Danielle into the hallway closing the door behind him.

"Here, Your Highness," Phil said, pushing out an antique three cornered chair. He motioned for her to sit.

"No, no, that's okay, Philip," she said to him, but looked up at Henry instead, who was staring back at her with an angry scowl.

"Henry, please," she whispered, reaching out to touch his cheek, "I was going to tell you."

"Oh, were you?" Henry answered, pushing her arm away. "And in what century were planning on it?

"And where did you get the idea that she was a servant?" Philip asked, looking at his nephew.

"She told me that, Phil," Henry said, looking at him. "She lied to me."

Danielle nodded. "It's true, Philip. I did tell him that, but that was only because he thought I was a spoiled little baby."

"A what?" Philip looked from Danielle to Henry. "And what gave you that idea?"

"Isn't that how royalty behaves? I mean, just look at her mother, the Queen." He turned to face her. "You know how that makes me feel, Ms. Princess? All you had to do was tell me the truth and I would've…"

Danielle frowned and stared back at him. "Would've what, Mr. Caterer? Given me some excuse why you couldn't see me? Told me that you didn't want to have anything to do with me because I was a silly stuck up little brat, to quote you." She stood up and looked in his dark brown eyes. "You should listen to yourself, you arrogant little man; you sound worse than I do."

She opened the door to the office, attempting to run back to the palace, but she never got that far. She hadn't realized that the crowd had followed her across the street. She stared out at the crowd for one moment before the door slammed shut in their faces. She turned around and Phil was standing behind her.

"Sit down, Danielle, no arguments this time. I brought you here for a purpose and since Henry's here, it might change his mind about a few things."

He herded the two of them down the hall to the other end of the building where he opened a small door. Henry was getting a weird feeling, sort of déjà vu like. He was here before, there was no getting around that, but the strangest thing was that it was just about an hour ago. As soon as his uncle opened the office door, he knew he was right.

Everything was the same, the desk, the couch, the exact same pictures on the wall. There were two things different. There was a laptop computer on the desk and there was an older man sitting in the same chair that he sat in while he talked to Geoff. Not only that, but he looked vaguely familiar.

The man stood as the three entered. Phil smiled and motioned for the man to sit, but he didn't listen and continued to stand.

"Henry, Danielle, this is Prince Ennis from the tiny province of Water's Edge. Your Highness, this is the Princess Danielle and my nephew Henry Duval."

Danielle stared. She turned to Phil. "Water's Edge? But that's on the other end of the world."

"How many men do you know, Your Highness?" Henry asked, narrowing his eyes. "What happened to Prince Rupert? Get rid of him too? What do you do with men anyway? Get them all excited then drop them as if they were all hot potatoes."

Danielle rolled her eyes and turned to face Henry. "Didn't I just say that Water's Edge was on the other side of the world?"

Henry shrugged. "And? Is that supposed to mean something?"

Danielle shook her head. "Henry, let me explain what's going on here. You see…"

Henry shook his head. "No, no more explanations and I'm really tired of all your lies. I'm very confused right now and I can't take much more of this. I mean, you really expect me to believe anything you're going to tell me right now? You really think I can trust you?"

The Prince looked from Phil to Henry to Danielle. Then back to Phil. "What going on here, Mr. Director? I thought that…?"

Henry's eyes opened wide. He turned his attention to his uncle. "YOU'RE THE PALACE DIRECTOR? What happened to Geoffrey?"

All conversation stopped as the three turned their attention to Henry. "Geoffrey?" they all said in unison.

Henry looked at the three of them. He started to feel a little nauseous and wiped his sweating forehead with the back of his hand.

"I've got to get out of here," he said, staring down at his hand. "I think I'm going to be sick."

And with that, Henry ran down the hallway and out of the building.

"Henry, wait," Danielle called out after him, but Phil stopped her. "No, don't go after him. Let him be; he'll be back."