When Clarence finally pulled me away from the media and the gathered crowd, my face hurt from smiling and my wrist ached from waving and shaking so many hands.

"This way, my dear," he said loudly enough for others to hear. "We must be getting to the palace now." Then he turned to the crowd and spoke louder, "We both want to thank you all for your warm welcome."

He put his hand on the small of my back and gently guided me through the crowd to the open door of yet another shiny black limousine. "We go with my father. His request."

"Where's Janet?" I looked around, only just now realizing she wasn't right behind me.

"She will have travelled up already with the other household staff. They have much to do."

He waved to the crowd while I stepped into the car, forgetting the way Janet had taught me in all the commotion. I looked around, but didn't see anyone around, so hopefully no one had noticed my faux pas.

Clarence followed me in, and the door closed behind him. I slid into the corner of the curved back seat to make room, but he climbed over me to sit sideways towards the front of the limo.

"You don't like sitting by the door?" I asked, trying to make conversation.

"No, it's not that, it's-"

He didn't need to finish his sentence, because the limo door opened again and the king's imposing figure filled the doorway.

"My father likes to get in last." He smirked.

When we were all settled into the car and the chauffeur drove away, the king turned to me.

"So, Genevieve..." His cheeks made his eyes scrunch up when he smiled. "Janet has told me all about you. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." I dip my head slightly but quickly return it to normal when Clarence and the king start laughing.

"No need for that formality here." King Richard's laughter came in large, loud bursts. "You can just call me Richard or Sir or Dad." He winked at me. "Whichever you like better."

Dad? I thought this man knew the whole thing was fake. I frantically looked around to Clarence who clearly didn't understand why I was freaking out. This has to be some kind of joke.

I kept my cool and answered him. "All right, Richard, Sir. I'm happy to be here." No way am I calling him Dad.

I made a mental note to ask Clarence or Janet how much the king really knew about my job the second I had the chance, but I didn't have the time to worry amidst the rapid-fire questions about my and Clarence's relationship.

Since our relationship was entirely fake, we had fabricated a story for the media. And I knew it well, so answering the king's questions wasn't overly difficult. But there were a lot of questions, so by the time the gates of the palace came into view, I was exhausted and starting to lose my voice from talking so much.

"Well, I'm glad to finally meet a serious girlfriend of Clarence's." King Richard's eyes twinkled, and he put a hand gently on my shoulder. "We're so glad you've come to stay with us."

I was hardly listening to King Richard because the car was driving through the palace gate and the grounds were opening up before my eyes.

"Wow, it's beautiful," I marvelled at the large expansive grounds that seemed to flow all the way up to a nearby mountain and the enormous lake with a fountain in the middle just past the palace gates.

"Welcome to Rosemont." Clarence smiled and pointed up the hill to the palace proper. "It's my favourite. The summer palace."

"Your summer palace has a mountain?" I gawked at the size of the palace as the trees parted to reveal the whole thing at once. Not that I could see it all through the small windows of the car.

"Just in case we miss the snow too much," he joked. "The mountain isn't actually on the grounds," he explained. "But it is only about a fifteen minute drive from the palace."

By the time we stopped in front of the palace, I didn't know where to look. The palace gate, protected by four guards with dark green uniforms, had closed behind us as we entered, completing the tall golden fence that encircled the largest piece of property I had ever seen.

"You could explore this place for years and still find something new," I sighed.

"Indeed, you could," King Richard smiled and gave one quick nod of his head. "And I hope you do. I am certain you will like it here. Janet told me of your requests and the staff have been instructed to do whatever needs to be done to keep you comfortable."

"Thank you, Sir." My head was still reeling from the sheer size of the place when the door opened and the king stepped out.

I looked out the door of the limo to the massive white staircase leading up to ornate wooden doors painted with gold. Two rows of staff members were lined up on either side of the palace steps, dressed in uniforms of gold and forest green. They looked like a small army waiting to welcome the king.

I don't know how long I sat there, mouth agape, but I do know that Clarence had to nudge me out of the car.

"Come on, Genevieve." He gently pushed my back. "It's time to get out and meet the palace."

His joke pulled me out of my stupor and I looked at him. "You make the palace sound like it's alive."

He shrugged. "It kind of is. You'll see." He pushed on my back again. "Now can we go before my dad gets mad at us for making out in his car?"

I turned to face him, my eyes wide at his accusation.

"A joke!" He pushed on my shoulder. "But I am serious about getting out of this car. Let's go!"

At his insistence, I slid out of the car and stood up into the bright sunshine. The sun was perhaps my favourite part of summer, so I was glad not to have to give that up for a job.

Clarence exited the car mere moments after I did, placing his hand on the small of my back once again to guide me towards the doors of the palace.

"Who are they?" I asked him while we walked towards the steps and the staff all bowed in unison.

"Those are some of the staff," he answered, nonchalant.

"Some of?" There had to be fifty people standing there.

As we climbed the steps, the uniformed staff greeted us. Each person introduced themselves and by the time I stepped through the ornate palace doors, I'd forgotten every single name. I've got to work on that.

When Clarence finally let go of me, we were standing in the largest entrance hall I had ever seen. The room was covered floor to ceiling in opulent gold decorations. No doubt polished to perfection by one of those people whose names I had already forgotten. I'll definitely have to fix that.

"Genevieve." Clarence swept his hand forward towards a woman standing in the centre of the hall. "This is my mother, Adele."

I hesitantly took a few steps forward as the confident woman dressed head to toe in blue stepped towards me.

"Hello, Genevieve." She held out her hand to me as she arrived. "I'm so pleased to meet you at last! Please, call me Adele."

"Hello." I paused to fight the words in my mouth. "Adele. I'm pleased to be here." I made yet another note to talk to Janet about how much Adele knew about the situation.

If I don't find Janet soon, I'm going to have to start keeping a notebook with all these questions.

The next thing I knew, I was swept up by Adele's arms into a hug. "Let's get you a tour of this palace, no?" She smiled and walked towards the staircase. It was clear she expected me to follow, so I did. Clarence trailed after me as we both followed his mother up the grand staircase to the second story.  

A/N: As always, your reading, voting, and commenting are all appreciated. What do you think so far? What are your first impressions of the king and queen?