glanced nonchalantly
towards the gem room; a royal guardsman was standing at the entrance —
something she had definitely not seen in the days leading up to her
burglary attempt. Outwardly, she made sure to give no reaction but inwardly,
she freaked.
A
guard?! Prince Guillermo, you sneaky bastard!
As
Armand and Juliette completed the circle of the first floor and reached the
foyer once again, Armand looked at his watch. “Oh, would you look at that? I’m
afraid our 30 minutes are up, miss. It went by so fast.”
“No
problem, Armand. I actually enjoyed it.”
“As
did I, miss. I do apologize but I have a meeting to attend. I believe your
next meeting is in Conference Room B. Do you think you can find it on your
own?”
“I
think so. Thank you, Armand.”
“My
pleasure, miss.” Armand rushed away towards the west wing.
Juliette
frowned.
The
wedding was in 10 days; that meant she had 9 days to get into the gem room and
grab the necklace. She had not planned for a guard on the door. She might
have to wait for a few days; the chaos was sure to get more intense as the
wedding approached and she could use that chaos as a distraction.
Or,
I could always manufacture some chaos of my own …
Juliette
smiled a secret smile.
The
remainder of her morning was taken up by classes in diction, etiquette, and
Latin. At noon, Emilia brought her a simple lunch; then at 12:30, she was back
in class — this time, the history of the monarchy and the castle, dating all
the way back to the 13th century.
Finally,
it was 3PM. Time for dance rehearsal.
As
she entered the ballroom, she paused at the doorway and stretched. The hall
had been returned to its normal, everyday state. The flowers that she and her
3 teenage helpers had arranged for the royal ball were nowhere to be seen. On
the stage, the musicians had been replaced by 2 large stereo speakers. A
simple stereo system had been set up on a folding table.
“Hello?”
Juliette called, her voice echoing around the room. “I’m here for my dance
lesson?”
A
tall, thin man in sweat pants and a black sleeveless t-shirt emerged from
offstage, then smiled with delight when he saw her. “Ah! You must
be Juliette!” The man jumped off the stage and clasped her hand. “I am
Alejandro Echeverría. I will be your dance instructor.”
“Pleased
to meet you.”
“Now,
all we need is the other half of your duo…” he trailed off, looking over her
shoulder.
“Don’t
tell me-” Juliette said.
“Señor
Echeverría! It’s nice to see you again.”
That
voice.
She
turned to see Guillermo smiling at them.
“Prince
Guillermo! It has been too long.” Guillermo and Echeverría shook hands. “Too
long, indeed.”
“I
see you’ve met my fiancée,” Guillermo continued.
“Yes,
we’ve only just introduced ourselves.”
“Very
good. Well, Señor Echeverría, what do you have planned for us today?”
“Well,
first, I thought I would just go over the ground rules.” Echeverría pulled a
pair of reading glasses from his pocket and flipped open the small yellow
notebook he was carrying. “Now, tradition dictates that the royal couple —
that is, you two — will need to participate in at least 4 dances at your
wedding reception. One of those dances — the first dance of the night, in fact
— you will dance solo, just the pair of you.
“Under
normal circumstances, we would have months to work out the choreography. But,
in your case, since we only have 10 days until the wedding including today, I’m
going to cheat a bit. I’m going to play a series of pieces and ask you to
dance to them, then see which four are the most natural for you. We’ll make
those four your dances. From there, we can pull out one piece and work on that
as your solo. Does that sound acceptable?”
Both
Juliette and Guillermo agreed.
“Good.”
Echeverría hopped back up onto the stage. “So — no
towards the gem room; a royal guardsman was standing at the entrance —
something she had definitely not seen in the days leading up to her
burglary attempt. Outwardly, she made sure to give no reaction but inwardly,
she freaked.
A
guard?! Prince Guillermo, you sneaky bastard!
As
Armand and Juliette completed the circle of the first floor and reached the
foyer once again, Armand looked at his watch. “Oh, would you look at that? I’m
afraid our 30 minutes are up, miss. It went by so fast.”
“No
problem, Armand. I actually enjoyed it.”
“As
did I, miss. I do apologize but I have a meeting to attend. I believe your
next meeting is in Conference Room B. Do you think you can find it on your
own?”
“I
think so. Thank you, Armand.”
“My
pleasure, miss.” Armand rushed away towards the west wing.
Juliette
frowned.
The
wedding was in 10 days; that meant she had 9 days to get into the gem room and
grab the necklace. She had not planned for a guard on the door. She might
have to wait for a few days; the chaos was sure to get more intense as the
wedding approached and she could use that chaos as a distraction.
Or,
I could always manufacture some chaos of my own …
Juliette
smiled a secret smile.
The
remainder of her morning was taken up by classes in diction, etiquette, and
Latin. At noon, Emilia brought her a simple lunch; then at 12:30, she was back
in class — this time, the history of the monarchy and the castle, dating all
the way back to the 13th century.
Finally,
it was 3PM. Time for dance rehearsal.
As
she entered the ballroom, she paused at the doorway and stretched. The hall
had been returned to its normal, everyday state. The flowers that she and her
3 teenage helpers had arranged for the royal ball were nowhere to be seen. On
the stage, the musicians had been replaced by 2 large stereo speakers. A
simple stereo system had been set up on a folding table.
“Hello?”
Juliette called, her voice echoing around the room. “I’m here for my dance
lesson?”
A
tall, thin man in sweat pants and a black sleeveless t-shirt emerged from
offstage, then smiled with delight when he saw her. “Ah! You must
be Juliette!” The man jumped off the stage and clasped her hand. “I am
Alejandro Echeverría. I will be your dance instructor.”
“Pleased
to meet you.”
“Now,
all we need is the other half of your duo…” he trailed off, looking over her
shoulder.
“Don’t
tell me-” Juliette said.
“Señor
Echeverría! It’s nice to see you again.”
That
voice.
She
turned to see Guillermo smiling at them.
“Prince
Guillermo! It has been too long.” Guillermo and Echeverría shook hands. “Too
long, indeed.”
“I
see you’ve met my fiancée,” Guillermo continued.
“Yes,
we’ve only just introduced ourselves.”
“Very
good. Well, Señor Echeverría, what do you have planned for us today?”
“Well,
first, I thought I would just go over the ground rules.” Echeverría pulled a
pair of reading glasses from his pocket and flipped open the small yellow
notebook he was carrying. “Now, tradition dictates that the royal couple —
that is, you two — will need to participate in at least 4 dances at your
wedding reception. One of those dances — the first dance of the night, in fact
— you will dance solo, just the pair of you.
“Under
normal circumstances, we would have months to work out the choreography. But,
in your case, since we only have 10 days until the wedding including today, I’m
going to cheat a bit. I’m going to play a series of pieces and ask you to
dance to them, then see which four are the most natural for you. We’ll make
those four your dances. From there, we can pull out one piece and work on that
as your solo. Does that sound acceptable?”
Both
Juliette and Guillermo agreed.
“Good.”
Echeverría hopped back up onto the stage. “So — no
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