“What is the Stewards name?” I grabbed the grocery notepad off of the counter and looked in a drawer for a pen.

“Stanley Wessex.” Sarah looked over her notes. “He is in his late fifties and has been in charge of the estate for the last twenty years. I’m sure he will be an extraordinary help when you take over.”

“Or he’ll hate me for taking his job,” I muttered under my breath while scribbling down his name.

“I’ve also set up a secure e-mail for you and arranged for a new cell phone.” She reached into the bag next to her and pulled out a white phone. She rattled off the new number while I quickly copied it down in my notes. “I’ve set it up so the monthly payments will be deducted from your primary account.”

“Will I be able to use this worldwide?” I looked at the iPhone and frowned. I’d been an Android user for years.

“Yes, ma’am. It’s a Lilarian number, so you will have to use the country code when calling a number in the States.” Sarah pulled out some more paperwork. “I e-mailed you the press release we sent out this morning—have you seen it yet?”

“Yeah… That would be a no.” I frowned at her. Apparently I was going to have to start getting up at the butt crack of dawn to keep up with these people.

“Well, here is a copy for you to look over. I also went ahead and sent a contingent to your father’s house. It’s likely there will be some reporters sniffing around for a story.” Sarah looked at me carefully. “Once they realize your father has cancer, I fear it will be a bigger story.”

“I see.” And I did. The Cinderella comment from yesterday would be blown out of proportion when they found out my stepfather was sick. “How do I go about hiring people to stay with him?”

“I’ll take care of that. How many do you think would be appropriate?” Sarah held her pen ready over her pad of paper and looked at me expectantly.

“Um, two?” I swallowed. “So they can take turns and stuff, I guess?”

“That sounds like a good plan. While he will likely have to deal with some of the media, it won’t be as much as you. Not to mention it should calm down once you leave the country.”

“Heh.” I didn’t know what else to say, so looked over the press release. The queen had announced that after a long, thorough search, they had located one of the missing royal families in America. There was a quick bit about me, my schooling, and that I was returning to Lilaria to accept my title. It was brief and to the point. I approved.

“Samantha, I think you’re going to have to leave the packing to me and Bert.” Jess crossed her legs in her chair and propped her chin on her hand.

“What? I have to get this stuff over to Dad’s today. I leave tomorrow.”

“Exactly. And you need to go shopping.”

“What on Earth for? Toiletries? Travel soaps?”

“Clothes, Sam. Clothes. You can’t meet the Queen of Lilaria in blue jeans.” She turned to look at Sarah. “Am I right? There has to be a dress code of some sort for that type of stuff.”

“Yes. The reception at the palace will be black-tie formal. Your reinstatement will be white tie. And I’m sure that there will be other things that would require dresses or skirts.” Sarah didn’t look up from her notebook.

I stared at both of them. “Black tie? White tie?”

Jess sighed. “Black tie—you can get away with a fancy cocktail dress. White tie requires a long gown, gloves, jewels.”

“Yes, for white-tie affairs you would need to wear one of your family diadems.” Sarah was still scribbling in her notebook.

“Diadems. You mean tiaras? Crowns?” I shook my head. “My family has diadems.”

“Diadems, never crowns.” Sarah looked up at me. “And yes. I believe you have several. I recall a painting of one with gorgeous emeralds.”

“Emeralds.” I shook my head. I needed to stop repeating everything that was said to me. “Okay. So, shopping. And packing.” I started to think about how much money I could spend on a dress and then realized I had three other accounts to consider. “What time are we leaving in the morning?”

“I’ll send a car for you at four.” Sarah closed her notebook. “There are several shops downtown that would have appropriate attire. When would you like to go?”

“I guess now.” I looked around the kitchen, feeling lost.

“Wear some comfortable shoes—we’re going to be busy.” Jess hopped out of her chair and scurried down the hall. I guess that meant she was going with me. Thank God for stylish roommates.

Chapter Thirteen

How to Pick a Dress for the Ball

—The Jolene Waters Show

After the third store I was ready to kill Jess and hide her body under a mountain of snow. Sarah seemed amused by Jess’s way of talking to me. Then again, it probably looked funny to everyone that saw me standing in front of a mirror in a giant monstrosity of a pink dress.

“I will not wear this.” I glared at her. “I wouldn’t bury an enemy in this dress.”

Someone sniffed beside me and I realized the store owner was watching us. Apparently she didn’t think much of my style choices, either. The fact was that I was incredibly nervous about meeting a queen, parliament, and a bunch of royals. The thought of trying to walk in this dress while meeting a queen, parliament, and a bunch of royals made me hyperventilate.