Crowns & Courtships Compilation Volume 1

by Carol Moncado

  The line moved slowly until they were next to order. Darius pulled out his now-working card and paid for both of theirs. Ian would buy his own as part of at least sort of looking less bodyguard-like.

  With desserts in hand, they turned to look for a seat. All of the benches in the area were filled with teenagers and families enjoying a post-game treat.

  “Weren’t there some tables over by the bagel place?” Esther asked before taking her first bite.

  “I think so.” He turned to Ian and tilted his head. The security man nodded.

  The metal tables had nearly filled up since they left the car and didn’t look very comfortable anyway. Maybe they should just go home.

  “You can join us.” A man in a Patriots t-shirt stood and moved to the chair next to the woman he was with. “There’s never enough seats on a night like this. Sharing is the name of the game.”

  “The game is football,” the woman mumbled around a mouthful of food.

  The man, a few years older than Darius and Esther, rolled his eyes.

  Darius glanced at Esther who shrugged, so they took the other two seats at the table. “I’m Darius. This is my wife, Esther. Thanks for sharing.”

  “Our pleasure,” he replied. “I’m Vince. This is my wife, Sam.”

  “Samantha,” she corrected him.

  “Only when she’s being formal.” Vince grinned as he scooped another bite of frozen custard.

  “Where are you from?” Samantha asked them. “I can’t place your accent.”

  “A small country in the Atlantic,” Darius answered for both of them. “I doubt you’ve heard of it.”

  Before she could ask another question, Esther jumped in. “Are you both from here?”

  “Born and raised,” Vince confirmed. “Or close enough. We went to school together at SLHS.”

  “So high school sweethearts?” she asked.

  The look on Vince’s face softened as he reached out and cupped his wife’s shoulder with one hand. “Not exactly. It took us a few years, but we’re where we want to be.”

  Samantha shrugged. “What can I say? I had a crush on another guy. Vince was my friend.”

  Vince chuckled. “I’ll say you did.”

  Darius exchanged a glance with Esther, glad the couple seemed to be amused with each other rather than on the verge of fighting.

  “So what if Charlie married an actual princess?” Samantha winked at Esther. “It’s far better to marry your very own Prince Charming, isn’t it?”

  Darius blinked a couple of times. Charlie? Princess? Did she mean Prince Charlemagne? The Serenity Landing single father who married now-Queen Adeline?

  Esther laughed with Samantha, though Darius thought he detected a bit of an undercurrent to it. “You’re right,” his wife told them. “Darius is far better than any prince from my country. I wouldn’t want to marry any of them.”

  The implications made Darius nearly snort frozen custard out his nose.

  The other three laughed as Darius coughed and wiped his mouth on his napkin.

  “You all right?” Vince asked.

  Darius coughed again then nodded. “Just caught me off-guard. Yeah. The princes seem nice enough, but I can’t imagine Esther ever marrying any of them.”

  Samantha leaned forward. “Have you met any of them? I mean, we met Addie, that is Queen Adeline, a few times, but I’ve known Charlie since elementary, so it doesn’t really seem like he’s royalty now.”

  Darius shook his head. “I’ve never met any of the princes.” Not from San Majoria anyway, until he had to correct himself. “Except maybe in passing when I was young. I think we were at the same events or fundraisers a few times.”

  Samantha pointed a spoon at them. “So how long have you two been married? Do you not wear rings in your country?”

  13

  With a blink, Esther wasn’t sure what to say. She’d nearly forgotten they didn’t wear rings.

  Vince shushed his wife.

  Esther turned on her best grin. “Oh, it’s fine. We eloped. In fact, Darius’s brother was the only one there, except my father who officiated. It was so sudden, we didn’t get rings. Just never got around to it I suppose.”

  She didn’t think about it often, but now that she was, Esther wondered if Darius would ever get her one. Maybe she should grab a band for each of them next time she was at the store. Nothing fancy or expensive, but they could figure out whether or not to use a family ring from either family or have a new one made - or not - later.

  “How romantic.” Samantha sighed as she leaned her head against Vince’s shoulder. “We eloped, too. Christmas Eve a couple years ago. I’m surprised we remembered rings, though we actually bought the bands right after the wedding because we were on a time crunch before the courthouse closed.”

  Vince laughed. “There was no way I wanted to go back to school without them.” He turned back to Esther and Darius. “We both teach at one of the elementary schools here in town. There was no way I wanted Miss Dean going back after break. She was Mrs. Roberts by then.”

  The conversation moved to different topics, with the Robertses telling Esther and Darius about some of the things to do locally, like Pumpkinfest in October.

  When they had all finished, they stood and said good-bye.

  As they sat in the back of the car, Esther noticed Darius seemed quieter than usual. Leaning forward, she asked Ian to stop at the superstore for a moment.

  “What are we getting?” Darius asked.

  She wouldn’t tell him. Traffic had cleared out so the drive didn’t take as long this time, even though it was further.

  Inside, she took Darius’s hand and marched over to the jewelry case. The most expensive ring available would be laughed at in her circles back home, but right now she didn’t care.

  “We just need two gold bands, please,” she told the saleswoman.

  Darius gave her a curious look, but acquiesced and tried on several before choosing one. Esther did the same. She just left it on as the woman entered the information into the register. After paying for both of them, Esther started for the car.

  “Nope.” Darius dragged her toward the food section. “We need to celebrate more than that.”

  Esther wasn’t quite sure what to think, but followed him, laughing as he chose his favorite snack food and told her to pick something out. She decided on tortilla chips.

  “Those aren’t a snack food,” Darius scoffed. “They’re real food. You need something chocolate or candy.”

  She raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m going to eat them when I want a snack. That makes them a snack.”

  He shrugged. “Fine. We have wine at home, don’t we?”

  “I’m sure we do, but I don’t know what to pick to go with tortilla chips and caramels.” She couldn’t have wine anyway, but she wasn’t ready to share that bit of information with him. “Maybe some milk and chocolate chip cookies. That would hit the spot.”

  His grin said he agreed. They grabbed a gallon of milk and then worked their way back to the snack aisle where Esther scanned the chocolate chip cookies.

  “How about these?” she asked, grabbing a bag of something called Soft Batch cookies. “Unless they’re real food.”

  Darius laughed. “Real food it is.”

  They checked out then walked to the car with Ian wandering out behind them.

  When they reached the house, they said good night to Ian who would hand security over to someone else.

  With the door to their room closed and locked behind them, Darius framed her face with his hands, kissing her unlike any kiss they’d shared. Intense and more forceful than he’d ever kissed her before, though responsive to Esther’s desire to slow down.

  “What is it?” she whispered as he trailed kisses down her neck.

  His grip on her waist tightened. “I’ve been looking forward to having you to myself all night.”

  She smiled as he pressed a kiss into the crook of her neck. “I don’t generally do this sort of t
hing on the first date.” How long ago had it been since they left for So Cheeeezzy?

  Darius kissed her again, taking her breath away. He moved back, his lips millimeters from hers. “Then it’s a good thing I’m your husband.”

  He kissed her again and everything else fled from her mind.

  It was Esther and Darius, the two of them, alone in their world.

  Later, she wore his shirt again as they sat cross-legged on their bed with a tray of milk and cookies between them.

  “When I can get back to Eyjania, I’ll get you a better ring.” Darius dipped his cookie into a glass of milk. “That’s how you eat milk and cookies, right?”

  Esther shrugged. “It’s how they do it in the commercials.” She watched as he dipped his again, leaving bits of cookie behind. “I think I’ll just eat and drink separately. Don’t think I’d like crumbs in my milk.” After eating one cookie, she knew she wouldn’t be able to eat much more, not after frozen custard earlier, though she only had a small concrete instead of a larger one.

  He swallowed. “Or is there a ring in San Majoria already set aside for your use?”

  “I have no idea. I know there’s a vault. I know Kensington found a ring in it for Anabelle. I know Astrid has an heirloom ring. I’m not sure if there’s specific ones though. Is there one for you?”

  “I always kind of figured there was, but I don’t really know. I’m pretty sure my mother is holding onto hers for Benjamin or Alfred to use.”

  “Why Alfred?”

  “Because he’s my father’s namesake. Benjamin because he’s the oldest, but I don’t think they’d planned to name a child after my father like that, not until he passed, then my mother prayed for a boy for that reason, I think.”

  “That would be hard.” She stared at the cookie in her hands. “Do you miss her?”

  His head snapped up, but she didn’t meet Darius’s eyes, focusing instead on breaking the cookie in two.

  “My mother?” he asked.

  She nodded.

  “Of course I miss her. She’s my mother.”

  “I know, but not everyone is close to their parents. You don’t talk about her often.”

  “Until the last couple weeks, you and I didn’t talk about much of anything, ever,” he pointed out, trying to remain gentle.

  She lifted one shoulder in acknowledgment. “So you miss her? Have you even talked to her since we moved?”

  “A few times. Not for very long. She doesn’t know where I am or the real reason I’m gone, unless Benjamin or Isaiah, or even your father, has told her.”

  “What did you tell her?”

  “That I decided to attend University out of the country, and I’d be in touch when I could. I might have insinuated that I didn’t have the best cell phone service and wouldn’t be able to get calls often.”

  She nibbled on one of the cookies. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault. The decisions that led to our marriage and moving here were ones we made together.”

  “Not entirely. I mean, in Sargasso, yeah, but my father basically forced you into it in Akushla, in your brother’s office.”

  He took a drink of his milk and thought Esther had the right idea. The bits of cookie in there were off-putting. “Yes and no. I think we would have made the same decision anyway, but I don’t know that it would have happened in fifteen minutes. Maybe at least had our families there.”

  “And somewhere besides your brother’s office?”

  “There’s a chapel in the palace. Maybe in there. It’s got some gorgeous stained-glass windows. I think Evangeline is hoping she can get married there. It only seats a few hundred at most, probably less. She never wanted a big fancy thing.”

  “Just a medium fancy thing?” He could see the smirk on her face. “Low key for a royal?”

  “Something like that. It’ll still be an event. I doubt anyone will be as low key as ours.”

  “Probably not.” She ate another bit of cookie. “Do you miss any of them, besides your mother?”

  “Yes and no. Genevieve and Evangeline are only about eighteen months older than I am, but we were never overly close. We didn’t have the same interests, and they had each other. There’s three boys after me, but it’s over two-and-a-half years between me and my next brother and four to the twins.”

  “So which sibling are you closest to then? Relationally speaking?”

  He took another drink of his milk. “I guess Genevieve. I’m not really close to any of them, which is sad. My next three brothers always looked up to me. When Papa died, Benjamin became king. We didn’t really see him nearly as much after that. He was doing his king-y thing. We were all tutored at home, but he was no longer tutored with us. That left me as the biggest brother around.”

  “You didn’t go to school?”

  “No. But, starting with secondary school, the rest of my younger siblings did or do attend a private school. The twins are about to graduate.”

  “Did you have any friends?” She finally looked up, her brows pulled together in a worried look.

  “Some. Mostly children of friends of my parents and my cousins. Aunt Louise’s children were tutored with us for a while once she became Benjamin’s regent.”

  “But you and Benjamin are only about three years apart, aren’t you? Were you ever close?”

  Darius closed the flap of the cookies and stood, busying himself with cleaning up to avoid answering the question. He didn’t know how to.

  “You don’t have to answer that.” The compassion in her voice made him look up.

  “It’s okay. I’m just not sure how to.” He sat back down on the bed. “We were closer before my father died, obviously, but he was always a bit set apart. We shared a room for a time.”

  “In that giant palace, you had to share a room?”

  “My parents lived in the monarch’s quarters. There are several bedrooms in the apartment. It’s attached to the consort’s quarters, though my mother never lived in it. As we got older, the children moved over, so we were all in the two apartments. When we lived in the monarch’s quarters, Benjamin and I shared a room as did Genevieve and Evangeline. After Benjamin and the girls moved to the consort’s quarters, I shared with my younger brother for a while, but I’m the only one who’s ever shared with Benjamin.”

  “So you’re as close to him as anyone?”

  “I used to be, I guess.”

  “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a palace having actual consort quarters. Separate bedrooms maybe, but not actual official separate apartments.”

  Darius shrugged. “My parents never used them as such. I don’t think my grandparents did either. I’m sure it goes back several hundred years when the alliances were purely political, and there were no qualms about mistresses or whatever either.”

  “That makes sense.”

  “Do you miss him?”

  He looked over at her again. “My father? Of course I do. He was an amazing man, a great king, and a wonderful father.”

  She gave a half-smile. “I mean Benjamin. Do you ever look at relationships like say Princes William and Harry and wish you could be like that with your brother? Do you wish it could change?”

  “Yeah. I mean, I wish I could know my brother. I wish I could help him. He shoulders everything alone, except for Uncle Isaiah, and I don’t trust him. I don’t think anyone does, except maybe Benjamin, and he shouldn’t.”

  “So how do we fix that?”

  14

  The next morning, Esther was awake earlier than normal on a Saturday, but Louis and his sister, Vesta, would be moved in next door. During the game, they’d been told their lessons in adulthood would begin Saturday not Monday, though Darius slept later than she did.

  An incoming text from her father had interrupted their conversation the night before. By the time she finished a quick conversation with him via text, Darius was in the shower.

  Though she knew she’d lived a sheltered life, it saddened Esther that Darius wasn’t
close to any of his siblings. He didn’t seem to have any other real friends either. She’d clearly been too hard on him for the last six months.

  They needed to find friends locally, even if they didn’t tell them the whole truth anytime soon. Maybe they would go to another football game or run into Samantha and Vince somewhere else. They were nice and being friends with Prince Charlemagne meant they could probably be trusted. They hadn’t shared anything that wasn’t publicly available.

  She sipped her cup of coffee in the living room as Darius wandered downstairs in his pajama pants.

  “What time are they supposed to be over?” he asked with a yawn as he ran his hand through already messy hair.

  “I’m not sure. Hour or so maybe. I have no idea what we’re supposed to learn today.”

  “Maybe they just want to find out how truly inept we are.”

  “You are not inept.”

  They both turned at the sound of a woman’s voice. Louis stood behind her as she glared at them. Esther could see the family resemblance around their eyes but that was about it.

  Where Louis was stout, his sister was thin as a rail. Where Louis was tall, she was short, even shorter than Esther’s grandmother. Esther had no doubt they were both a force to be reckoned with.

  She set her bag on the counter. “You are not inept.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, you could be, but you don’t know that yet. What you are is ignorant. Uninformed. That’s why we’re here. We’re going to fix that. After you learn what to do, if you are still incapable, then you may declare yourself inept.”

  Louis chuckled. “My sister will always be inept at getting things off the top shelf without some sort of assistance.”

  She glared at him. “Now, Princess Esther, Prince Darius, neither of you are a monarch, and we are not in your home country. I will not be curtsying to you every morning, using your honorifics regularly, or refer to either of you as Your Royal Highness and I will not pull punches if you are being morons.”