Chapter 24
Iris
'Okay, so, the Sons of Earth go all the way back to…' Drake fell silent as his eyes widened. 'Twenty-seven years ago.' Emma looked up and stared at Jimmy. 'Isn't that… Leo's age?' Jimmy nodded surprised and looked inside the book Drake was holding. 'Sons of Earth were founded to keep a tab on the crown. There were several deals the crown had made with Sons of Earth,' I read, feeling my breath hitch as I looked up. 'Does it say what kind of deals were made?' Jimmy asked surprised. I scanned the page quickly, then shook my head. As Jimmy and Emma continued searching, I caught Drake's eyes. His colour had darkened, and he looked worried. I frowned, and for some reason, I felt extremely exposed in that library, as if we were sitting ducks. I shivered slightly, which Drake noticed. He sat closer to me and looked into my eyes, cupping my cheek. 'What's up?' I shook my head, feeling my breath hitch again, but this time it was because of his sudden closeness.
'I feel like we're being watched. If the Sons of Earth have spied on the crown for twenty-seven years… they know everything.' Drake's eyes scanned mine, waiting for me to continue. 'I'm afraid of the fact, that the attacks started once Emma was about to become Queen. What if there's a deal the Sons of Earth made with the crown, all those years ago, that no commoners are allowed… and Leo was actually supposed to be the one to become King, and that's why the deal was made twenty-seven years ago?' He nodded slightly, and the worry in his eyes grew more dire. 'If that's correct… the threat is worse than we thought.' His voice was low, and he pulled me closer, also suddenly feeling very aware of his surroundings. 'We need to find out what the deals were,' Emma stated, as she closed the book, and looked at us, a fierce look in her eyes. 'We can't wait around for my father to wake up from the medically induced coma he's being held in. That could take weeks, months! Way past our weddings, that's for sure,' Jimmy said with a frown.
I bit on the inside of my cheek and fiddled my fingers, something I always did when thinking of a plan. Suddenly, I jumped up and grabbed my phone. 'Hold on, I need to check something.' I dialled a number, and thankfully, he picked up.
'Hey, Iris,' he said happily. 'Man, dat is echt een eeuwigheid geleden!' 'Hey, Ron,' I smiled. Ron and two other guys named Danny and Jake were Tim's and my best friends when we were living in the Netherlands. We'd always stayed in touch, but it had been harder since becoming a Duchess. 'Het spijt me dat ik je na zolang weer bel met een reden, maar we hebben een probleem. Een dodelijk probleem.'
Emma was translating my words in the meantime, telling Drake and Jimmy that I'd just apologised to Ron for calling him for a deadly reason instead of for fun. 'Zeg het maar,' Ron said, noticing the direness in my voice. 'Ron's willing to hear her out,' Emma said with a nod. I explained the entire story to Ron, and he was slightly shocked.
'Is er een mogelijkheid dat jij een laptop kan hacken van die afstand?' I asked. Ron, and also Danny and Jake were really smart. Ron was an IT guy, secretly knowing more than what he was paid for. I'd never seen anything he couldn't do… and maybe Ron was able to hack into Constantine's laptop, searching for evidence. 'She's asking whether Ron is able to hack into Constantine's computer from where he is,' Emma translated. Jimmy's eyes lit up. 'Good idea!' 'Eh, ik denk wel dat dat moet lukken, Iris, maar dat gaat wel langer duren dan als ik de laptop in handen heb,' Ron said. 'Hoe lang?' I asked. 'Zeker… twee weken langer, ik moet daar wel behoorlijk wat geheime apparaten voor laten draaien.'
I stood up and started pacing. Ron said that he would be able to take the laptop down in two weeks, that would be too long. /spanspan lang="NL"'En wat nou als ik het koninklijke vliegtuig naar je toe stuur om je hier naartoe te brengen, wanneer kun je er dan zijn?' I asked, nervously. If I'd send the royal plane to pick him up and take him here… maybe he would be done in time before we'd leave the palace. 'Ligt eraan, hoe lang duurt een vlucht tussen Nederland en Cordonië?' He asked. Jeez, how long was the flight? I cracked my brain until I realised Emma had only recently flown here from the Netherlands. 'How long was the flight, Em?' I asked Emma. 'Eh, about four and a half hours,' she answered. 'Vier en een half uur, Ron,' I answered. 'Oké, dan ben ik er over zo'n… elf uur?' He said, yelled goodbye, and quickly hung up to get his stuff. 'Ron will be here in about eleven hours!' I said happily, as I looked at Jimmy, Drake and Emma.
Emma cheered. 'Great, Ron is the best!' Jimmy and Drake looked slightly confused, so I explained about Ron's field of expertise. 'Iris, that's amazing!' Jimmy said happily, and twirled me around. I laughed and shook my head. 'Don't get excited yet, Jimmy, we don't know if there's anything to be found on that laptop.' Emma frowned. 'I bet your father used coded files, but I'm pretty sure Ron could pass the security. I've seen him do it once, it's astonishing.' 'Okay, one step closer,' I said happily. I sat down next to Drake again, who was smiling at me. 'Smart move, Valentine.' I smiled big, and pecked his lips.
We spent the rest of the day mapping out which route to take across the country, and calling the Dukes, Duchesses, Counts and Countesses when we would be arriving. A lot of them weren't happy about the announcement, and didn't feel like supporting the crown at all. Jimmy and I had to talk like crazy to get everyone to agree, but we managed in the end, and mapped out a route. My parents, being the Duke and Duchess of Bellatio, were thrilled to have us over, but I hadn't expected otherwise anyway. They were over the moon by the news of me and Drake being pregnant, and they couldn't wait to see us again… which was why we scheduled them last in the tour, to make sure we'd end on a high note.
'We're starting off with Lythikos, giving Cordonia the message that Olivia supports us… and from there on, things will get tricky,' Jimmy said, later that night when everyone had returned to the kitchen. Tim and I were cooking up an Italian meal, and were listening to the others as they were discussing the upcoming period. Olivia agreed to Jimmy's words. 'Damn straight.' 'After that, we'll visit Penelope, then Kiara… who will be quite difficult to get on our side, as she was stabbed and is probably scared,' Emma said, looking at the list intently. 'Then, we'll visit Madeleine, House Beaumont and finally House Valentine,' Maxwell finished. 'HOUSE VALENTINE, WOO!' Tim and I yelled and high fived. The others chuckled and shook their heads.
'Less wooing, more cooking, Valentwins. I'm starving,' Emma said, glaring jokingly. 'Don't make me drag you over here, Woodbury,' Tim warned, pointing his spatula at her, making the sauce fly through the room… right onto Maxwell's face. Everyone fell silent for a while, as Maxwell slowly wiped the sauce off his face. 'TIM!' He yelled, and jumped up. Tim shrieked, and ran away. Maxwell ran after him, and followed him through the kitchen. I burst into laughter, and continued slicing vegetables with a grin on my face.
Suddenly, I felt a body heat behind me, and a hand on my hip. 'I know I'm not a Valentine, but can I take Tim's place?' I heard my favourite sexy low voice ask. My stomach tingled immensely, and I put my hand on Drake's, pinching it softly before I turned around and saw my handsome man, standing close to me with a smile on his face. 'Are you sure, it must not be easy for your arm,' I started, but he leaned into me with a slight grin that made my knees tremble. 'You know I'd do anything for you baby.' He closed the gap between our lips, and dug his fingers in my skin. I bit my lip once he pulled back, because I recognised the mischievous, teasing sparkle in his eyes. 'I'm starting to think you didn't come up here to help me cook, Drake Walker,' I said, my voice soft and seductive. 'You're right, I want other things,' he said, grinning slightly. 'Desperately.'
My stomach tingled as his fingers gripped my waist somewhat tighter. 'Even though I'd want nothing more,' I said softly, letting my hand slide over his chest slowly, 'Ron will arrive in about two hours.' He leaned in, his lips close to mine and I noticed a certain fire in his eyes… which made my entire body ache to be touched. 'Seems like plenty of time,' he whispered. I bit my lip, feeling a blush rise to my cheeks. 'Meet me in my room after dinner,' I whispered, winked and turned around slowly. The look on his face changed to almost dire longing, before he smiled and shook his head. I continued chopping, and he took the place next to me, taking over Tim's job.
The others were still watching Tim and Maxwell run, when… Tim tripped. 'Had to happen sometime, I mean… Bree Carmichael's genetics are really strong,' I chuckled. Maxwell stood still, and frowned. 'Well sure, just lie there. Be afraid of the great Maxwell Beaumont!' Drake rolled his eyes. 'No one could ever be afraid of Maxwell.' I giggled and shook my head. I put the chopped vegetables into the sauce Drake was stirring, and looked at him. 'Have you heard from Savannah lately?' He nodded and wiped his hands on a wash cloth. 'Yeah.' He looked over at Maxwell and pointed at him. 'Maxwell had heard from Bertrand, who'd flown over to the ranch to win Savannah back. She'd made him promise that he'd go back to being the old Bertrand around her and Bartie, and if he didn't, she wouldn't give him another chance.' I nodded impressed. 'From the looks of it, you're not glaring… and you don't seem as grumpy as usual…' he raised his eyebrows at me, making me chuckle, 'I guess Bertrand managed?' Drake nodded and smiled slightly. 'They're now living at the Beaumont manor, so we'll see them in a couple of weeks.' I smiled happily. 'Good! I'm so happy for them.' Now he smiled for real. 'One of the reasons why I love you, Valentine.' I blushed, and slapped his stomach softly. 'Oh stop it, Drake Walker.'
Two hours later, when Ron was supposed to arrive, we were all nervously waiting in Jimmy's chambers, when finally… 'My phone!' Tim grabbed his phone out of his pocket, and answered the videocall. I bent closer to Drake to translate Tim's words. 'Hey, Ron! Know where to go?' Tim asked as he saw Ron walking through the hallways. 'Well, I would have been sooner, but I found some crazy fella's along the way.' I frowned at Ron's words, and caught Tim's eyes when I translated it to English. Ron grinned, and zoomed out, not only showing his face, but also… 'DANNY, JAKE!' I called happily and jumped up from the couch. I glanced at the video call and recognised the hallway they were in. I ran over to the door, and ran through the hallways, when I heard their voices. 'GUYS!' I called happily, and flew up to my Dutch best friends. 'Iris!' They all called in unison. First I hugged Ron, then Danny and then Jake. 'I'm so happy to see you, thank you for coming!' 'We wouldn't miss it. A secret mission? Is anything cooler than that?' Jake said, his eyebrows raised. I laughed and shook my head. 'I guess not.'
Drake
Tim was holding the phone in such a way, that all of us could see what was happening. I saw Iris hugging the guys, and they started speaking in Dutch. She led them back to Jimmy's chambers, and Tim disconnected the call, running over to the door and hugging his friends as they came in. 'TIMO!' They yelled. Iris, Tim and Emma laughed. The guys hugged Emma too, quite happy to see her again as well. From then on, Ron, Danny and Jake started speaking English. I realised that Jake and Danny were pretty good, yet Ron seemed to experience difficulties. 'Ron took Danny and me, because we were being pains in the butt. His words, not ours,' Jake said, glaring at Ron who shrugged. 'Always.'
At first we introduced, and once they came down to me, I stuck out my hand. 'Drake, Iris' fiancé.' Danny and Jake shook my hand happily, and Ron looked at Iris first, before shaking my hand with a grin on his face. 'My sympathies, man.' Everyone laughed, including Iris and I, and she rolled her eyes. She said something in Dutch… which my simple Dutch lessons translated into '…. Something something… fiancé… you have no one.' So I was guessing she simply replied that at least she had a fiancé. 'Oh snap,' Jake said, grinning. Danny nodded and looked proudly. 'Good to have you back, Iris. Ron's ego was getting too big.' Iris shook her head. 'guys, I told you before I left… let it deflate gently… often.' 'Yeah yeah,' Ron chuckled, and grinned. 'Now, where's that laptop?'
Ron figured out quite soon that it would be taking a while to decode everything and get through that laptop. 'I'm guessing this will take me about a week,' he said. 'Okay, that means we'll be taking you with us on tour,' Jimmy said, shaking his head. 'We're not leaving anyone here unattended. Emma nodded agreeingly. 'But then we should find a suiting place for Danny and Jake as well,' she said. Iris and Tim looked at each other. 'What if Danny and Jake are going to be our press secretaries?' Iris suggested. 'What do you mean?' Emma asked surprised. 'Well, if they start catching up on all the houses we're going to visit, we can focus on Sons of Earth, Liberation-Core and the Nevrakis family,' Tim said, nodding at his sister. 'That might be a good idea,' Olivia said, from the doorway, as she was holding an enormous book. Everyone looked up. 'It'll take Hana and me a while to get through this.'
Danny and Jake pointed at Olivia's hair and nudged Ron. 'Hey look, another red.' Ron had red hair and blue eyes, just like Olivia. Hers was fiercely red though, his… was more orange. 'Don't even,' Olivia snapped with a glare. I chuckled, poor guys, they had no idea who this whirlwind called Olivia was. 'Duly noted,' Danny said with a grin, and looked at Iris. 'So, if I'm not mistaken, you want Jake and me to read up on every House we're going to visit, make sure you know everything there is to know… and that's our job?' Iris nodded. 'If you're up for it?' Jake and Danny exchanged looks, and nodded happily. 'This is so much better than going to college,' Jake said. We all chuckled. 'Okay, I'm thinking that Jake should be Emma's press secretary, and Danny should be Iris'. You guys speak the same language,' Tim said, then chuckled. 'And I'm not talking about Dutch.' Danny and Iris pretended to be hurt, putting their hands on their hearts. 'Just because we have ADD and we can never finish a conversation?' Tim nodded. 'That's the thing!' 'And you paired us up, just because we're both nerds and like books and Pokémon?!' Emma said, frowning at Tim, who nodded again, happily. 'That's cold, Tim,' Jake feigned hurt.
Everyone laughed, except for Jimmy and me. We glanced at each other, and seemed to think the same thing. Which actually frightened me.
How compatible were the four of them, exactly?