Royal Mistake #5

by Renna Peak

  His nostrils flare, and he turns away from me, watching the arrivals come through the door on the other side of the large waiting area.

  The train from Montovia isn’t scheduled to arrive for almost another half-hour. And it has the makings of being the longest half-hour of my life.

  I stand. “You know, Andrew, I think I’m going to go for a walk.”

  “I’ll join you.”

  I shake my head. “You should wait for your brother. I’ll be back by the time he gets here.”

  I turn and start to walk out of the station, but Andrew follows me.

  I glance behind me. “I said you didn’t need to come.”

  “I want to.”

  I stop and turn to him. “There’s not much else for you to say. Your feelings about me have been made perfectly clear.”

  “Good. I’m glad you’ve finally accepted the fact that I love you. That isn’t something I’m about to change—”

  “Not that. And you don’t love me, Andrew. Not in that way. You said so yourself…” I sigh in exasperation, throwing my hands in the air. “I’m not going to have this conversation with you again. And I told you, I wasn’t talking about what you said on the train—the love thing. I was talking about what you said about me just now. About my profession.”

  His brow furrows. “I was not talking about you at all, Victoria. I was talking about the disgusting gutter trash who would dare to publish a story like that without asking for my side.”

  I tilt my head at him. “Did you ask the women you brought to the palace for their side when you decided to put on your little show? And were you up front with everyone about what your real intentions were?”

  “Of course I was up front. Why else would I have continued it for as long as I did? I was perfectly honest with every last one of those women…”

  The way I’m staring at him must make him think twice about what he’s saying.

  He shakes his head. “My relationship with you had nothing to do with what happened with those women. It had only to do with you and with me. I never intended—”

  “That’s the problem, though, isn’t it? You never intended.” I press my lips together and shake my head. “I think there’s a part of you—it might be a lot smaller now than it was, but it’s still there. There’s a part of you who still thinks I am gutter trash for writing those kinds of stories every single day. And no, they might not have been about you. But I’ve written plenty about Leopold. More than plenty.”

  He rolls his eyes.

  “Oh, go ahead and roll your eyes, Andrew. You know I’m right. And how could there possibly ever be anything between the two of us when you lack a fundamental respect for what I do for a living? Is that how you would introduce me to people? ‘Here’s my date, Victoria—don’t mind her, she’s just another piece of gutter filth. She might be wearing the fancy clothes my family bought for her, but underneath she’s just like all of them. Trashy and worthless.’”

  “You’re being entirely ridiculous, Victoria. Of course I would never do that to you. I would never say those things aloud if we were in the company of others.”

  “But you would be thinking them. And that’s enough, isn’t it?”

  “No, it’s not enough—”

  “It’s enough for me, though. Enough for me to know I need to get home. I need to forget every single thing that happened between the two of us so I can move on with my life.”

  He frowns and his eyes blink closed a few times like he’s counting to ten before he lets his rage flag fly.

  “Victoria.” His voice is more even now, at least. “You seem determined to find a way to keep the two of us apart. Though I’ve done everything in my power to get you to see that you belong with me—”

  “I think we’ve already established why our being together in any permanent way would be a terrible idea, Andrew.”

  “I need your help.” He presses his lips together. “There. I’ve said it. Are you happy?”

  My brows draw together. “No, I’m not happy. Why would you think I would be happy—?”

  “I asked for help. Isn’t that what you were trying to get me to do?”

  “No, Andrew, that was not what I was trying to get you to do. I was trying to get you to see that the press did not cause your problems—”

  “They most certainly have caused my problems, Victoria. If they would mind their own business—or at least the business they are invited to mind—I would not be having this problem right now.”

  I shake my head and glare at him intently. “Can I ask you a question?”

  “You may ask me anything—you know that.”

  “Good.” I narrow my gaze. “Was the press there that night? When you went gambling with Leopold?”

  “What does that have to do with anything, Victoria—?”

  “I’m just trying to determine if some member of the press twisted your arm behind your back and forced you to gamble away your family’s most beloved possession.”

  “Of course not. I made the mistake of my own accord. I have no one to blame for that night but myself…” His eyes widen when he hears his own words. “But that is not to say…” He shakes his head. “I…I know the press is not to blame for my behavior. And perhaps you are right. Perhaps I am going though—what did you call it? A rough patch?”

  “As your friend, I’m going to give you some advice, Andrew.”

  He gives me the smallest of smiles before he pulls my hands into his. “I would welcome anything you have to say to me, Victoria.”

  My brows draw together again and I stare down at our clasped hands for a moment before returning my gaze to his. “Do whatever your press secretary tells you to do.”

  He shakes his head. “Our press secretary, if you can call him that, is old enough to be my grandfather. He—”

  “I’m sure he knows how to handle the media, or he wouldn’t be your press secretary.”

  “On the contrary, there is so little press for him to deal with in Montovia I don’t believe he does know what he’s doing. Besides, he spends most of his time trying to undo the damage Leopold has done to himself. He has no idea—”

  “It sounds like he has plenty of ideas when it comes to princes behaving badly. That’s what you need to own, Andrew. Your role in all of this. You need to accept responsibility, apologize for your actions and tell the world you’re sorry. You’re probably going to have to publicly acknowledge how sorry you are to King Maximilian, too. Grovel at his feet if you have to—”

  “I’ll never grovel at the feet of anyone. Except you, perhaps.”

  “Okay, you have to stop doing that.”

  He squeezes my hands. “Doing what?”

  “You know exactly what. Stop talking as if we’re anything more than what we talked about on the train. You know that’s where this has to end.” I let out an exasperated sigh. “Please just do whatever they tell you to do. Beg for mercy if you have to—”

  “I’m begging for your mercy, and it hasn’t helped me.”

  “My mercy is not the mercy you need right now. You need help from your citizens. You need to do whatever it takes to get them back on your side. And the best way for a celebrity to do that is to get on his knees and admit his mistakes in front of anyone who will listen.”

  Andrew drops my hands and glares behind me.

  It isn’t until William drapes his arm across my shoulder that I realize what Andrew is so upset about.

  He grins at Andrew. “Our friend Victoria is right, Brother. It’s time for you to get on your knees and grovel.”

  Andrew

  Even though I was the one who asked him to come, the sight of William is rather unwelcome at the moment. And frankly, the idea of groveling in front of him—in front of anyone—turns my stomach.

  William looks at me expectantly, still grinning.

  “Thank you for coming here,” I say stiffly.

  “Your groveling needs some work,” he says.

  “As do your manners,” I re
ply, my jaw tight. “I’d appreciate it if you took your hands off Victoria.”

  “Good God, you’re cranky today,” he says, lifting his arm from her shoulders. “At least you were stranded somewhere pleasant.” He looks over at Victoria. “Has he been like this all day? I hope he hasn’t ruined your opinion of Salzburg. Lovely city—at least when you don’t have to endure a grump like my brother.”

  “It is beautiful,” she says, but she doesn’t smile.

  “William,” I say, trying to draw his eyes back to me. “Did you bring money for us?”

  “Of course,” he says. “But I’m not sure I’m going to give you any until you ask for it nicely.”

  I don’t have the patience for William’s antics, not today.

  “This isn’t a game,” I say. “If you have no intention of giving us the money, then I’ll find another way to handle this.”

  The smile falls from William’s face. “God, you’re even worse than usual.” He looks at Victoria again. “How do you stand him when he’s like this?”

  Her gaze is still on me when she answers him. “He just saw the newspapers.”

  “And?” William looks at me, then back at her. “What happened?”

  “I’m surprised you haven’t heard,” I say. “I can’t imagine our father would have suffered the news quietly.”

  He frowns. “There was something going on when I left. Father called a bunch of people to his office—that’s how I was able to slip out without anyone noticing. But I just assumed it was some matter of state. Are you telling me it has to do with you?” He glances around, his eyes finally settling on the newsstand just behind us. He strides over and scans the papers.

  Victoria is still standing in front of me, watching me closely.

  “I’m sure your father will have a solution,” she says.

  I give a bitter laugh. “You’ve seen firsthand the sort of solutions my father suggests.” I shake my head. “No—as much as I hate to admit it, I think you might be right. I have to lay myself at the feet of the people of Montovia. Publicly acknowledge what I have done.” Even saying it out loud to her makes my chest tighten. My whole life, I’ve lectured my brothers—especially Leopold—about taking responsibility for their actions. But it was easy for me to do so because I always did what was right, what was expected of me. This is the first time in my life that I’ve had to take public responsibility for a mistake of this scale.

  I glance over my shoulder at William. He’s still reading the newspaper article about me, so I take the chance to step a little closer to Victoria.

  “Come back to Montovia with me,” I ask her again. “Be by my side as I face this.”

  She shakes her head. “Your press secretary—”

  “Not as a member of the press. As a friend.”

  I can see the uncertainty in her eyes.

  Before she can answer, though, William is beside me again, the paper in his hand.

  “Fuck,” he says. “How much of this is true?”

  I don’t let myself glance down at the paper. “Enough.” I haven’t even read the article yet, but I know that much.

  William curses under his breath. “So this is what happened in Prague? I knew you and Leo got into some shit, but…fuck.”

  “We need to get back to Montovia as soon as possible,” I say.

  William nods. “Though I don’t envy the meeting you’re going to have with Father upon your return.”

  Neither do I. I’m certain by now that Father has also heard about my outright refusal to marry Lady Clarissa. I’ll be lucky if I’m even allowed in the palace.

  But it’s my only choice. I must make this right. The look in Tobias’s mother’s eyes is burned into my mind. I don’t think I can bear for someone else to look at me like that. I need the people of Montovia to know I am sorry. That I am ready to lay myself down and ask for forgiveness.

  “I need to get to the American consulate,” Victoria says. “I need to get a new passport.”

  “I’ve already had your luggage located,” William says. “And made arrangements for it to be sent back to the palace as soon as possible. With some luck, it might be there as early as this afternoon. In the meantime, rest assured that my brother and I can get you into Montovia without a passport.”

  Victoria frowns, but relief rushes through me. Now she has no choice but to return with me—at least for a few hours.

  “There’s a train leaving in fifteen minutes,” William adds. “We can be on it, if you’d like.”

  “Yes,” I say. “I think that would be best.”

  Victoria looks less certain.

  “Come back to Montovia,” I say softly to her. “Just one more night.”

  She glances down at her feet. “It’s always just one more night.”

  “Because sometimes we’re not ready for the bigger decisions just yet,” I say. “We have to take everything piece by piece.”

  “Your father’s not going to like me being there.”

  “Frankly, my father can go fuck himself.”

  Victoria’s eyes widen, but she doesn’t say anything.

  “My mother will be on your side,” I add. “She’ll defend your right to be there.”

  William nods. “Our mother will talk some sense into our father. She always does eventually.”

  She closes her eyes. “It’s not like I have any choice. Unless one of you is volunteering to take me to Vienna to the consulate.”

  “You still owe me a match, remember?” William says cheerfully. “I’m not letting you return to America until we’ve dueled each other again.”

  She almost laughs. When she opens her eyes again, though, her gaze finds me, not William.

  “I would be honored if you returned for one more night,” I tell her plainly. “As a friend, of course.”

  She stares at me for a long moment, saying nothing. Finally, she lets out a long sigh.

  “All right. I’ll go back to Montovia for one more night. On one condition.”

  “Anything,” I say.

  “You buy me some lunch first. I’m fucking starving.”

  I surprise myself by laughing out loud. “Of course.”

  We end up buying some pastries from a little stand on the platform, and we make it to the train just before the last call. Not that it matters, of course—they would have held the train for my brother and me. I wonder if they are aware that I am now the most-hated man in Montovia.

  It will take a few days for the news to fully spread, I know, but we’re already too late to stop the worst of it. This is more than just a PR disaster—it is a matter of national pride and international politics. In a matter of a few short weeks, I went from being a well-respected prince to a symbol of shame.

  The only bright spot in my life is Victoria. I want to pull her into my arms and hold her close—just hold her—but I know I must continue to play it carefully with her. She may have agreed to return to Montovia for a little longer, but as she said herself, she had little choice.

  Another reason I can’t hold her is because William is in the compartment with us. There was only one private compartment available upon such short notice, so even though he fell asleep about five minutes after we left the Salzburg station, there will be no repeating what happened on the way to Salzburg, no matter how much either Victoria or I want or need it.

  And I need it. I need to lose myself in her again, to drown in her sweetness, to give myself over to the feelings that course through me when I am near her. I cannot get enough of her.

  I try to distract myself with other things—like the speech I’m going to have to make for the citizens of Montovia—but every time she moves on the bench next to me, I find myself distracted again. All she has to do is move her leg or let out a sigh or tap her fingers against the leather seat, and my full attention is drawn back to her again.

  Maybe I should try and sleep like William, I tell myself. Victoria hasn’t said a word to me since we boarded, just stared at the scenery passing outside th
e window, and I don’t wish to disturb her. But I know I won’t ever be able to quiet my mind enough to sleep.

  Finally, I can’t take the distance between Victoria and me any longer. Slowly, I reach across the space between us and place my hand over hers.

  She jumps at my touch, but she doesn’t pull away. She doesn’t say anything, either, so I allow my fingers to curl over hers. That’s as far as I go—just holding her hand.

  I love you, I think. I know you don’t want to hear it, but I do. Nothing will change that. If there was a moment when I could have turned back, when I could have written this story a different way, I passed it long ago.

  We don’t say a word for the rest of the trip, but neither of us moves our hands, either. By the time we arrive in Montovia, I find myself feeling something akin to hope.

  At least until I remember I still have to face my father.

  The ride from the train station to the palace is a silent one. William is still a little groggy from his nap, and Victoria and I seem to have found a sort of uneasy peace—as long as we don’t think too hard or talk too much, as long as we just let things be between us, we are all right. She isn’t frightened.

  Unsurprisingly, Stephan, my father’s steward, is waiting at the door.

  “His Majesty wishes to speak with you at once,” he says to me. His beady little eyes snap to Victoria. “I do not think it wise to allow that woman into this palace again.”

  “Unfortunately for you, I outrank you, and I say she stays,” I tell the man. “She is my guest, and I will have her treated with respect.”

  Stephan’s nose twitches. “I suggest you go see his majesty immediately. He does not like to be kept waiting.”

  Stephan doesn’t have to tell me that. And as much as I’d like to ignore my father’s demands, I know it will not help matters.

  I turn to Victoria. “I’ll should go speak with him,” I tell her.

  “I’ll escort her to her room,” William offers. “Or if you prefer, Victoria, we might have our fencing match. I’m feeling rather energetic after that train ride, and I suspect you might need to work off some steam.”