So.
Many.
Meetings.
One of the meetings had to do with finalizing the next rounds of knighthoods and damehoods. He'd never been a part of one of those before. He looked forward to the opportunity to bestow that honor on various members of Dellisolian society for the very first time.
His desk phone rang. The screen told him the call originated in the archives. He'd told his aides to put any call from themright through as long as he wasn't in the middle of another meeting. "Yes?" He never quite knew how to answer the phone in a situation like this.
"Sir, is the queen with you?" The voice sounded like Jeanette's, though she didn't identify herself.
He leaned forward, concern flooding through him, though he tried to tamp it down until he knew if there was actually something to be concerned about. "No. Is she not in the archives?"
"No, sir. The duchess and I haven't seen her since we were in the observation room with you earlier." She sounded more worried than he felt.
For now.
"She left the room at the same time I did, but we went different directions. I presumed she was going to find the two of you." He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and sent a text to Cap, asking the Director of Security to come to his office as soon as possible.
"No, sir. We haven't seen or spoken with her. We tried her office and mobile phone, but no answer."
For a few seconds, he pondered what to do. "Keep at your work." That was the most important thing for Jeanette and Madeleine to do. "I'll make sure someone informs you when we've discovered her location."
"Thank you, sir."
As the call disconnected, Cap entered from one of the side doors. "How may I assist you, sir?"
Using as few words as possible, Enzo explained the situation.
"She hasn't left the premises." The Director of Security seemed quite certain, though he didn't check any data. "Did you try reaching out to her?"
"Not yet," Enzo admitted, trying to hide his embarrassment over not doing such a simple thing first. "Jeanette said she wasn't in her office or answering her mobile."
"It's possible she will answer for you when she wouldn't answer for them, for whatever reason." Cap kept his face impassive, but didn't seem to be admonishing Enzo.
"That's true, but why wouldn't she answer them in the first place? Why would she leave the archives without telling someone?" That concerned him more than almost anything else, especially since it seemed unlikely that she'd left the building.
Cap shook his head. "You'll have to ask her, sir. Would you like me to have my teams discretely search the palace?"
After considering that for a few seconds, Enzo rejected the idea. "I'll see if I can get ahold of her. If I haven't found or heard from her soon, I'll have you do that."
"Yes, sir." After bowing his head toward Enzo, the other man left the office.
The first thing Enzo did was try to call Victoria. When she didn't answer, he sent a text. When he didn't hear back in a few moments, it was time to take more drastic measures.
He sent a message to Cap as he left his own office. He didn't know if Victoria had a favorite hiding place yet, but he'd start looking in his favorites.
Hopefully, he'd find her and she'd tell him why she'd disappeared.
16
Hiding wasn’t in her plan, but did end up being part of it.
Victoria had done a little bit of exploring in the time she’d lived in Dellisole’s palace. One of the places she’d discovered was a nook, hidden off an out of the way corridor that didn’t seem to lead to anywhere in particular. It made her wonder if there was a secret door leading to a hidden passage. Her own home had a few, but not many and not extensive by any stretch of the imagination. She should ask Enzo if there were any she needed to know about.
The nook had been unfurnished except for a single chair - but not just any chair. It was one of the zero gravity type outdoor chairs popular in parts of the world. It wasn’t as comfortable as a true cozy chair would be but definitely better than not having anything to sit on. A few days earlier, she’d brought a blanket with her.
Now she snuggled under it and tried to focus on reading a book on her ereader. She’d abandoned the Sudoku puzzle for the time being, but would come back to it later. Instead, she wanted to immerse herself in the Xerus Galaxy Saga by American author E. A. Hendryx. Part Young Adult romance, part space circus, and part romp through the galaxy, she’d found herself pulled in fromthe first page a few days earlier. She hadn’t been able to devote nearly as much time to reading as she would have liked, but since there wasn’t anything else for her to do...
