“Tell me another story.” I hear Vicky request. Apparently, there is a guest inside my room. Uninvited and completely unwanted. I stop in front of the door. I want to hear what she will say. 

“Hmm, I guess this happened when we were eight. He decided that it would be a good idea to sneak into his father's room. The guards heard him and thought that there was an assassin in the room.” Elizabeth recalls. Please don’t, that wasn’t one of my bright ideas. I’d rather not remember that. In truth however I was just organizing the room since it was a disaster. I went crazy just from a glance of it. I accidentally dropped some books and the next thing I knew the guards were running in. I must say these guards need to get better at guarding.  

“Knowing him he probably was just doing some paperwork.” Vicky says. I must say that I am insulted. I am not a workaholic. 

“Oh, he hated to work as a kid. Always complained that the effort wasn’t worth it. In fact, he regularly avoided his fencing lessons. I’m surprised he knows what a hilt is.” She replies. I know what a hilt is, I think it’s the handle. Or maybe a part of the handle. I’m not an expert on swords. Though of course I know what a hilt is. 

“I can see the sword training, but I just cannot see how he wasn’t a workaholic. He spends 10 hours a day pent up in that stupid office.”  Have I been neglecting Vicky too much lately? She has been asking for a lot of attention lately. Or is it worse, is she in her rebellious phase. I had hoped when she turned 12, I could avoid this. Perhaps I was wrong. 

“Yes well, he became like that after his mother died. William stopped running the empire so James took it upon himself to pull everything together. I’m surprised they listened to a thirteen-year-old boy.” She remarks. That is true. I spent a lot of time staring them down, yelling, threatening, and many other things just to get them to do their jobs properly. Thankfully father got back together after a month. For some reason I was still stuck with all the paperwork. 

“What was James like when he was my age?” Oh no. Please don’t open the forbidden doors. 

“Well, when I turned 13 my father started grooming me using the old Goldwell family teaching methods. So, I can only talk about him a bit. I do however remember him pulling my hair in the October that we were 12.” Forgive me. I was a spoiled brat that couldn’t be honest. Pulling your hair was the only solution I could think of at the time. It was dumb and not very well-planned out. 

“How barbaric of him. I always thought that he was the perfect gentleman.” Vicky says with a gasp. I thank you for your high opinion of me. That is not even close to being correct. 

“Yes... quite barbaric.” She says. I have no excuses for my behavior. “However, I see him as more of a child always acting out for attention.” 

I was about to refute her but then I remember that I'm hiding in the hallway snooping in on their conversation. Still I disagree with her statement on principal. I do not act like a child. Also, I am charming and endearing. Though that does bring up a good point. Why am I hiding behind a door? With that thought I am about to walk into the room. 

“I’ve always thought of you as my older sister.” Vicky confesses. Not only does she beat me at the position of tutor I'm also relegated to the sideline as a sibling. 

“I’ve always wanted a younger sister too. I’m happy that you see me as your older sister.” Elizabeth responds. If the two of them want to spend more time together who am I to get in between the two of them. I’ll just go sleep on the couch in the office. It’s much nicer than the bed anyway. Also, I always sleep there as well. I turn to the assassin guarding the door. 

“Henry, I want you to find someone else to guard the door for tonight. Go and spend the night however you want.” Henry turns to look at me. 

“Yes, your majesty.” He practically falls over running to find his replacement. I then begin walking toward the cold office room. At least I have a blanket inside the room. 

A/N: This is the first chapter with Henry. He'll be playing a major role further into the book so we will be seeing the development of his character. Also if you want to know how James knows how many assassins are inside the palace, lets just say that he does an extensive investigation when they are hired.