“Are you Prince Edward’s mate?” Rue 31: The quest for moreasked as she passed me the pepper sauce for the roasted beef I stopped to buy on my way home.

I collected the bottle from her hand, but I made no move to add it to the beef before me. “What makes you say that?”

She shrugged. “He has visited a few times in the last three months, and I saw him at the parlour when I came to visit.”

My eyes dropped to the beef, and I sprayed the pepper on it, avoiding her gaze. “The prince is my partner at the parlour. We work together just like you...