Chapter 26

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Evy continued to stare out of her window as the car sped by she took in the structure on the opposite hill. She could tell just from the outline she could see that this was a massive stone based structure and had multiple levels and large windows adorning the walls.

The car slowed down and turned in to a stone bridge, this bridge joined both the hills and connected the road to the Palace of Roma.

Her car slowly crossed the bridge as the massive roundabout came in to view and in the middle of the roundabout with intricate finely carved statues of men and wolves and some amazing water fountains. Straight ahead from the roundabout one hundred meters away was a massive gate, she assumed was the entrance to the palace. It was grand and magnificent, teasing glance of the splendor waiting inside. But there were vehicle barricades in the path of the gate, preventing any vehicle from going in.

Her car instead of going in to that road straight ahead like she assumed, turned right on to a smaller road which followed the outer wall of the palace. Evy was disappointed, where were they going? She thought they would have been let through the barricade, but obviously not.

On one side was a fifteen feet wall, the outer perimeter of the palace and on the other side of the road was a valley, not sure how deep and the car slowed down further as they came across a narrow gap in the wall, you would miss it unless you knew what you were looking for.

The car crawled in to the narrow passage, there was hardly a couple of feet space on either side and on both sides was a daunting high wall ran along the path, hardly any sunlight made in to that path. As they crawled for about ten feet the car stopped. Up ahead was a gate? If you could call it that, it was a solid iron gate about ten feet high.

She saw the driver side window roll down and there was some kind of reader on the driver side of the wall, which she did not notice before. The driver swiped a card and the reader beeped as a small red light on it turned green. She also just noticed a camera mounted about ten feet high, at a perfect angle to look at the car.

Sound reverberated on the narrow road as the gate rumbled and both half's of the gate opened outwards. It looked like it lead in to some underground tunnel, but was well lit by lights mounted on the top of the passage. The car lurched forward and slowly moved in to the tunnel, she turned and looked back as the gate was closing behind them.

This tunnel twisted and turned but was clearly going down and finally it widened and split in to three lanes. Two lanes headed left and one lane barricaded by an automatic barrier turned right. The car turned in to the right lane and again the driver swiped his card on a device mounted on the side as the barrier rose jerkily.

The car continued to crawl for about five minutes and then the path finally lead to an underground cellar of sorts. There were cars parked in one end and on the other was a glass room? Her car was heading there and she saw there were few people waiting in front of the glass enclosure and inside the glass enclosure were two elevators, old style, the one with collapsible doors a scissor gate style and brass handles.

Her car rolled to stop in front of the glass foyer if she could call it that. The moment the car stopped one of the men waiting swiftly opened the door for her to get out.

She scooted out of the car and Sebastian also stepped out.

A few men waiting walked over to the boot to retrieve the luggage.

"Good morning ma'am!" A well-dressed man smiled at her and gave a small bow "My name is Jonathan, I am head of the butler service at the palace, I shall escort you to your room" He told her and looked at Sebastian "Mr. Knowles" He greeted him politely.

"John" Sebastian nodded back in acknowledgement.

"This way please" he indicated to the elevators. As the approached the elevator enclosure. The automatic glass door slid open, like any automatic doors you would encounter in most malls or supermarkets, the only difference was the glass was a lot thicker and was framed in solid metal on all sides. Bulletproof may be? She also had a feeling the doors would not open just for anyone.

One of the men had the elevator door open and Jonathan guided them in to the elevator car, the man who kept the door open stepped in and closed the doors. Meanwhile Jonathan pulled out a card and swiped it on a reader installed near the buttons and once the reader beeped and turned green he pressed the button four.

As the elevator lurched up lazily he turned to Evy and asked "Have you visited Roma before?" it was not an unusual question. Roma to werewolves was like Vatican or mecca minus the holiness surrounding it... Every werewolf around the world dreamed of visiting the werewolf nation. Tourism was Roma's primary income source both from Werewolves and humans alike.

"No" Evy responded.

"Very well" Jonathan said clasping his hands "Once you settle down, I will be glad to give you a tour of the palace" he offered eagerly.

"Thanks, I would really appreciate that" Evy added with a small smile of her own. She could not wait to explore the palace.

"My pleasure" Jonathan said and added "We have four levels in this palace" he started his crisp introduction of the palace "Level one is what we call public space, this is where the tourists are allowed into, we have the museum, coffee shops, tourist shops in level one. Level two is the staff section. This is where the staff of the palace operate from. We have our offices and also kitchens for the restaurants in level one and for the upper levels running from here, basically the underbelly of the Palace" He said grinning. "Level three we have guest rooms where we host our guests, we also open them up for one month every year for a select few guests from the outside world to experience life in a palace, we are usually booked years in advance even with the steep price we charge" He continued.

"We also have the state rooms in level three, where we can host a banquet for a few hundred to a few thousand guests." He boasted.

"Level four, where we are heading, is the private residence, strictly for family and select staff" and on que the elevator lurched to a stop.

The door was quickly opened.

"This way please" Jonathan stepped out and Evelyn and Sebastian followed out.

"Evelyn, I need to step away but Jonathan will take you to your room. Why don't you settle down, get some rest, sleep for a while if it suits you and we will meet in the afternoon for lunch?" Sebastian asked her.

"Sure" she whispered to him as he gave her a nod, turned and walked away.

Evelyn stared at his retreating back for a moment and turned to Jonathan who was patiently waiting the moment she turned to him "this way please" he guided her in the opposite direction.

As they walked he would not help but admire the hallway...richly carpeted, art prominently displayed on both sides with paintings and other art items on display and immaculately maintained. She walked slowly, widely eyed and taking in everything. The hallway broke in to a huge courtyard with superbly maintained garden and benches. She sighed inwardly, a perfect place for her to sit and be lost in a book for hours together.

"This is called the queens garden, was designed by the Roma founder for his beloved queen" Jonathan broke in to her thoughts.

"From there you can see the city of Roma" he pointed to the open side of the courtyard. The courtyard was surrounded on three sides by the palace but on the open side it overlooked the city of Roma.

She found herself walking to the end of the courtyard to the massive stone railing running across. A gentle breeze blowing through her hair, the chill of the morning biting in to her cheeks, it was a beautiful sight, the city of Roma nestled in the valley surrounded by hills.

The view was breathtaking. She stood there for a while absorbing in the sight and reluctantly turned, she would be back. She knew it already that this would be her favorite spot, she gave the bench on her side a longing look. She definitely would be back here.

Jonathan escorted her across the courtyard in to another hallway and then stopped in front of a double door room. He opened the door and led her in.

"This is the antechamber" he began as he led her in "and this is the living room" it was a spacious room, with traditional layout with fireplace and all, with a huge rug thrown in the middle and massive sofas. There was also an enormous TV on the wall. On the other side of the wall were shelves filled with books.

He moved further inside "to my left is the study room converted in to an office for you and straight ahead is your bedroom" and with that he opened the bedroom door.

She walked in to the bedroom and gasped. It was an enormous room with a comfortable bed, it also had a sofa set on one side and surprisingly the room had a fairly modern look. There was a TV on the wall as well opposite to the bed for comfortable viewing from the bed.

"This door is a connecting door" Jonathan said pointing to the door which was next to the one she entered from. "Leads to your office room" he added.

What office room? She wondered.

"And that" he said pointing to one of the doors on the right side of the room "is the bathroom and closet"

She walked over and opened the door. Holy hell! This was not a closet but a mini room in itself. She opened the doors of the closet and they were empty, except for her bags, someone had delivered her luggage to this room.

Shouldn't Max's clothes be in here? She wondered and went in further and let out a small squeal and was glad that Jonathan was not in here.

The bathroom was bigger that her entire bedroom back home and was equipped with a massive Jacuzzi tub that could comfortably house two people, a large shower stall, a large vanity area stocked with products and a floor length mirror. The whole bathroom flooring and walls were marble and granite. This bathroom was every girl's wet dream.

She came back out in to the bedroom where Jonathan was patiently waiting.

He looked at her and continued his narration "The door next to the one you are standing is a connecting door."

"Connects where?" she asked.

"To the Prince's room of course" He added.

"I see" she frowned not seeing at all. They had separate rooms?

Jonathan proceed not noticing the confusion on her face.

"And finally" he said, moving to the left side of the room and pulling the drapes aside revealing an alcove. She walked over, forgetting her internal turmoil for a moment.

"It was actually a balcony" Jonathan added "But for safety reason we sealed it off, using glass and converted it in to an alcove. The view still is great though." He added.

It sure was, the balcony was facing the surrounding hills and had a fantastic view. A couch set with tea table adorned the alcove. This would definitely be her favorite spot in the room.

She sighed leaning on to a wall and admiring the view.

"I will leave you for now" Jonathan said and added "there is a mini fridge and bar in that closet there" he said pointing to a closet next to the fireplace.

"We have water, soft drinks, some cold snacks and chocolates stocked in the fridge. If you need anything else dial zero from the phone next to your bed and it should connect you to butler service and they should be able to take care of any request you might have" He offered.

"Thank you!" Evy responded, overwhelmed with everything around her.

"If it suits you, I can give you a tour of the palace in the evening today or tomorrow or any other day which is convenient to you, just call the butler service and let them know." He added helpfully.

"Thanks! I will" she promised. She would love to get a tour.

He moved to the door "Anything else I can get you?" he asked.

"No thanks! I am good" she told him smiling.

He gave her a nod and left the room closing the door behind him. She looked around she couldn't wait to explore but she was tired and had a very disturbing sleep in the flight so with that she walked over to the bed and collapsed on to it and moaned in satisfaction at the feel of the bed covers and the comfort of it, she rolled over finding a comfortable position, pulled in a pillow to drape her arm and legs over and promptly fell asleep.

***

Evy got up with a jerk, disoriented and looked around taking in the strange surroundings in alarm noticing that she was not in the comfort of her bedroom until she finally realized where she was. Reassured, she got up with a yawn and stretched looking down she realized she had not even changed. She got up groggily and padded in to the closet, pulled out a t-shirt and a pair of jeans shorts and some fresh underwear from her bags and walked in to the bathroom.

The bathroom was fully stocked, she opened a sealed toothbrush, brushed then took a nice long hot shower. She had been tempted to use the Jacuzzi but figured she would have time for it later. She came out of the bathroom refreshed and walked over to the phone she had dropped on the table next to the bed earlier. It was dead, she walked back in to the closet dug out her charger and plugged it in.

She sighed looking around, her eyes falling on to the closet next to the TV when she remembered Jonatan mentioning about a fridge. She opened the door and at the bottom was a mini fridge, she opened it grabbing a bottle of water and saw an apple in there and grabbed it as well. The fridge was stocked with water, cola, chocolates and some fruits and what looked like a packed cold salad.

She unsealed the bottle had a swig of water and walked over to the alcove. The drapes had been left open and light was streaming in to the room. She walked over and plopped herself in to one of the couches arranged there. She sighed in contention, it was a beautiful sight of the hills, she could stare out for hours together and it was a pity they had to seal the balcony. She could almost feel the fresh air that could have flown through it.

She finished the apple and curiosity got the best of her. She got up donned a pair of flip flops and set out to explore.

She tried opening the connecting door and surprisingly it opened, she walked in to what she assumed was Max's room. While it was clear he had not been here for a while, she could still faintly smell his scent and it hit her in the gut like a punch, the bond twisting in agony of her missing mate.

She hurriedly walked back in to her room and closed the door behind her back. From the quick glimpse she saw, his room was identical to hers in size and layout. She took deep breaths her hands shivering from the intense feeling the bond inflicted on her, she had to get distracted quickly.

She walked out of her room traced back the hallway back in to the courtyard and she spent some time exploring the garden, the sun was up but was pleasant not hot yet as it was just ten in the morning.

She continued her exploration from the courtyard in to one more hallway and continued exploring until she reached its end, she encountered a double door and tried to open it but was firmly locked and was about to give up when she saw a button next to the door. Taking a chance she pushed the button and tried the door again which opened this time without any resistance. She walked in and noticed the immediate change in décor. The walls were bare and were painted in simple white and blue, she assumed it was a service pathway and turned back to return. The door had closed behind her when she came in and she tried to open it but was locked and when she looked for a similar button all she found was a small rectangular box with a red light on it, a card reader and she didn't have an access card.

"Shit!" she muttered pulling at the door in vain.

She had successfully locked herself out.