Heart of the Guardians: Adoring Destiny by Adrianna Adore (best big ereader .TXT) 📗

a train and sped along in style east across Europe. They crossed through Switzerland and Lichtenstein, spending a few days in each. They roamed the ancient, cobblestone streets, visited castles and museums, ate sumptuous local foods and indulged themselves with hot stone massages. They had their hair and nails done at a boutique salon, bought expensive sunglasses and didn’t balk at the cost.

“We have to spend it all.” Dana said. “The points don’t transfer back to cash. This card has to be on zero before we go back!”

In Vienna they explored and shopped, sent gift packages home so they wouldn’t have to carry them on the plane and threw away the last of the clothes they had brought with them. Their new wardrobe hadn’t come from Walmart and thrift stores. It was all beautiful designer labels that looked and felt wonderful. They spent a cozy evening watching a quartet in period costumes perform Mozart’s music on his original instruments. Afterwards they were invited to an underground disco complete with mirror balls, live DJ and a flashing dance floor. They danced long into the night, drank a little too much and collapsed into their beds at four in the morning. After only an hours sleep, Dana forced herself up and roused Claire. It was time to implement the devious part of her plan.

“Get up, we can crash out on the train,” she said and hit Claire with a pillow. “I got us a sleeper car.”

The taxi dropped two exhausted women off at the station and Claire stayed with their bags as Dana purchased the tickets.

“Where are we going again?” Claire asked as she slid into her new Dior pajamas, soft as a horse’s nose, she’d giggled when she bought them, then closed the blinds on the private car.

“Budapest.” Dana said as she pulled down her bed. “We’ll get there in time for a festival this weekend. It’ll be fun.”

“Okay.” Claire mumbled and pulled the blankets over her head then let the train rock her to sleep.

Dana waited until the conductor came for the tickets before she let herself lay down.

“Two for Galador,” the man said as he punched their tickets, “going for the king’s coronation?”

“Yes.” she said and looked over her shoulder, hoping Claire hadn’t heard.

“It should be lovely,” he said. “Terrible thing about King Karsten. Terrible. He was a good man.”

As he moved off to the next door, she started having second thoughts about her plan. She really hadn’t thought this part through, she had thought once they were in country they could visit him or maybe run into him at the market. It was ridiculous now that she considered it. He was going to be the new king. Security would be tight, somebody had just murdered the old one. There was no way they’d even get close to him. She sighed and slid into the gently rocking bed. Before she could try to figure out a better plan, she had drifted off into dreamland.

“This isn’t Budapest.” Claire said as she stopped in the middle of a bustling crowd exiting the train station.

They had their suitcases and were on the way to the taxi stand when she’d spotted the “Welcome to Galador” sign over the exit. Dana stopped beside her as the crowd parted to stream around them.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “but you never would have come if I told you. There’s a lot you don’t know, but I’ll come clean if you let me. Please don’t be mad, Claire.”

“Let’s go,” she said and turned towards the ticket booth, “I’m not staying here. We’re taking the first train out, I don’t care where it’s going.”

Tourists jostled them, gave them dirty looks for going against the flow and muttered things in a dozen different languages. The station was packed, unlike anything they’d come across in their travels. People were hurrying, talking into phones, looking harried and rushed.

“Wait, let me explain.” Dana said, trying to catch up to the long-legged Claire as she parted the crowd, her face clouded, her throat tight with emotion and tears threatening to overflow.

“No, no, no!” the station master shouted in his crisp uniform and waved his arms as she tried to go around a turnstile the wrong way.

His hat was slightly askew and he was having a bad day. More people were pouring into his country than ever before. Too many. There was no place to put them. It seemed like everyone in Europe wanted pay their respects to King Karsten and see the new king crowned. They were already overcrowded from all of the people attending the Animalia Festival, all the hotels were at capacity and rude strangers from all over the world kept pouring in. The local residents were renting out sleeping space on their living room floor for hundreds of Euro’s a night. The crowds had been nonstop all day, he had given directions and helped find lost luggage until his voice was hoarse and now these two rich nitwits were messing up the flow of traffic, causing confusion in his otherwise somewhat orderly station. They had designer clothes and designer hair and designer sunglasses that probably cost more than he made all week. Money didn’t give you carte blanche to break the rules and he was going to set them straight; he didn’t care where they came from or what their family name was.

“Madame!” he nearly shouted and cut in front of them, his hand up, his face angry. “Theez iz NOT ze path…”

His words choked off when his eyes fell to the ancient emerald necklace around her neck. The delicate bears head set in gold that had been in the royal family for generations, a gift from the King of Prussia. He looked to her tear-filled eyes and lost whatever words he’d been about to say. He didn’t know who she was, he didn’t recognize her from any of the pictures that had been in the papers recently but she had to be part of the family. A niece, cousin or