Midnight in the Desert Collection. Оливия Гейтс

who was it was. Dark brown hair, sloped shoulders, knees bent and held tightly against his body.

      Prince Constantine.

      “Tinny?” she whispered, not wanting to startle him.

      He scrubbed his face with his forearm and looked at her hopefully. “Mama, home?”

      For a moment Hannah couldn’t breathe and her eyes burned with tears. She slowly crouched down in the doorway. “No, my love, your mama isn’t home.” And suddenly her heart felt as if it would break. Mothers needed their children. Children needed their mothers. But it didn’t always work out that way. “Do you want to find Zale? I bet he’d like to see you.”

      “Zale,” Tinny said. “My brother.”

      “That’s right. Let’s find Zale, shall we?”

      Hannah called for a footman, and the footman summoned Mrs. Sivka since His Majesty couldn’t be located.

      Hannah was sitting with Tinny on the love seat in her living room looking at pictures in a magazine with him when a knock sounded on her door.

      Hannah opened the door to a short, round woman in her late seventies. “Forgive me for intruding, Your Royal Highness, but I understand my missing boy is here.”

      “Yes, I found Prince Constantine in my bedroom.” Hannah opened the door wider, inviting the woman in. “Although I don’t know why he was there.”

      “These are the Queen’s Chambers, Your Highness.”

      Hannah stared blankly at the elderly woman before it hit her. This was his mother’s room. The prince came here looking for her. “He still misses her.”

      The woman smiled sadly. “He doesn’t understand why she hasn’t come back.”

      “He knows Zale, though—” Hannah broke off, corrected herself. “His Majesty. We talked about him.”

      “Prince Constantine adores his big brother.” The elderly woman looked at Hannah closely. “And I’m sure you hear this often, Your Highness, but you’re the spitting image of your mother.”

      Hannah’s breath caught in her throat. “How do you know?”

      “I knew her.” She frowned. “My goodness, I don’t think I even introduced myself. I am Mrs. Sivka. I’m His Majesty’s nanny.”

      “His Majesty? Zale Patek?”

      “The very same. I took care of all the Patek princes as babies, and am back again taking care of Prince Constantine now that his parents are gone.”

      Hannah gestured toward the couch. “Please, sit. I’d love to hear more about the royal family, about His Majesty as a boy. What was he like? Did he get into trouble?”

      Mrs. Sivka’s round face creased with a broad smile. “Yes, he did, but then all boys get into trouble, and Prince Stephen and Prince Zale were no exception. They were bright, energetic, mischievous children, eager for adventures and busy planning pranks. Prince Stephen was not as sly as Prince Zale and would get caught red-handed, but His Majesty was small and fast and far more sneaky.”

      “Small, fast and sneaky, Mrs. Sivka?” It was Zale, and he’d entered the room so quietly that neither Hannah nor the nanny had heard him come in. “That hardly sounds flattering.”

      Mrs. Sivka’s round face was wreathed in smiles. “You were a scamp, Your Majesty, but a very, dear, sweet one.”

      Zale rolled his eyes and moved to crouch before his brother, Zale’s powerful thighs corded with muscles, his evening jacket stretched tight across his back. “Tinny,” he said sternly, hands on his brother’s knees. “You can’t run away from Mrs. Daum. You gave her quite a scare. She’s very upset.”

      Tinny pressed a hand to his mouth, eyes wide. “Playing, Zale. Tinny playing.”

      “I know you like to play, but you can’t just leave her like that. She’s crying.”

      “Tinny love Mmm Daum.”

      “I know you do. So you can’t just go on your own. You must take Mrs. Daum or Mrs. Sivka with you when you want to go for a walk or come see me.”

      Tinny’s dark brown eyes filled with tears. “Tinny see Mama. Tinny miss Mama.”

      Zale swallowed hard. His voice dropped, deepening. “I know you do, Tinny. I miss Mama, too.”

      Tinny wiped tears away with the back of his wrist. “Bed now. Story.”

      Zale nodded and patted his brother’s knee. “Yes, let’s get you to bed and we’ll read you a story. Okay?”

      Mrs. Sivka held Tinny’s hand as they walked back to his suite. Zale and Hannah followed. Tinny was babbling to himself, and rocking back and forth as he walked.

      “It takes him a while to calm down once he’s upset,” Zale said to Hannah.

      “He still misses your mother.”

      Zale’s expression was troubled. “It’s hard, because there’s nothing I can do. There’s no way I can fix this. He was so attached to my mother, and she was very devoted to him. She spent nearly all of her time with him.”

      “How did he get to my room?”

      “He slipped away from Mrs. Daum while they were out walking after dinner. There are hundreds of hidden doors and secret passage ways in the palace and when he disappeared, Mrs. Daum went one way, my brother went another and panic ensued.”

      “Does he go to the Queen’s Chambers often?”

      “He used to, but hasn’t in almost a year. That’s why no one went there first.”

      They’d reached Tinny’s suite and Zale offered to help get his brother changed into his pajamas, but Mrs. Sivka refused, saying she thought His Majesty and Her Highness should spend the time together. “Once all the guests arrive for the wedding, you won’t have time to be alone, so take advantage of the time now.”

      Hannah hugged Prince Constantine. “Good night, Tinny,” she said in Raguvian, kissing his cheek. “Sleep tight,” she added in English.

      Tinny squeezed her hard. “Night, Em-mie.”

      Emmie. Such a sweet nickname for Princess Emmeline. Hannah fought the lump in her throat.

      Zale was saying good-night to his brother now, and Hannah turned to Mrs. Sivka, her emotions raw. “You’re absolutely wonderful, Mrs. Sivka,” she said huskily, tears not far off. “I’m so glad I got to meet you tonight, and I think His Majesty was very lucky to have you as his nanny.”

      “I still think of him as mine,” the nanny answered quietly. “They are my boys, even if they are now men.” She hesitated, her gaze searching Hannah’s. “Are you settling in all right, Your Highness? Is everything to your liking?”

      “Everything is wonderful, thank you.”

      “I understand you visited His Majesty’s island today. It was a good day to go to the beach.”

      “It was. A beautiful day. But then everything has been lovely here, and everyone has been so kind.”

      “Do you think you could be happy here?”

      “I do.”

      “And His Majesty? Is he being good to you?”

      Hannah shot Zale a swift glance. She couldn’t help but notice he was listening. Of course he’d listen now. “He’s trying,” she said, lips twitching.

      “I think it’s time to separate the two of you,” he interjected, taking Hannah’s hand in his. “Come, Emmeline. And good night, Mrs. Sivka, I’ll see you in the morning.”

      Still holding hands, Zale and Hannah walked back to the grand staircase and across to the other wing. Hannah loved the feel