Crowns & Courtships Compilation Volume 1

by Carol Moncado

  “That was the solution we came to, though not what names just yet.”

  “I hope the countries are able to celebrate with you when the time comes in a few months.” Edward sipped his coffee. “But I’m not ready for this to become public yet. Maybe not until graduation a year from now.”

  Darius just nodded as he heard voices upstairs. “I think the rest of the family is about to descend.”

  “I agree.”

  Within minutes, everyone gathered in the dining hall for breakfast. His brother had opened up, a little bit. Not much. But he did make a few comments about the quality of the food. That was more than Darius had heard from him that wasn’t strictly business in years.

  While they ate, someone moved all of the gifts under the tree in the great room. He and Esther had wrapped most of them, but the last of the special orders for the males hadn’t arrived until the night before. Someone else had wrapped them.

  As breakfast wrapped up, Darius stood. “It has been wonderful having all of you here with us. I know my family is leaving before lunch so they can be home for Christmas Eve services this evening. If everyone will go into the grand room, we do have something for all of you before you leave.”

  Chairs scraped back and little girls squealed as they ran for the other room. There weren’t enough seats on couches and such for everyone, but the younger dads sat on the floor with their daughters along with Jacqueline Grace and his younger siblings.

  Once they had all taken their seats, Darius enlisted the help of the little girls to pass out the gifts. By now, they knew who everyone was, though they couldn’t keep his twin siblings straight.

  “We didn’t get too creative,” Esther warned from her seat. “All the women get the same thing, and we have extras for the girls as they get older, but they get something else now. All of the men get the same thing as well.”

  “Who opens first?” Darius asked, as he leaned against the chair where his mother sat. “Men or women?”

  “The little ones go first.” Esther’s grandmother took charge.

  With the encouragement of their parents, the three little girls opened their presents. They all squealed as they found hand-carved toys. Each set had ten animal families, Noah and his wife, and an ark that really floated. There was another set for baby David.

  “They’re gorgeous,” his mother whispered.

  “We found them at a local shop a few days ago,” he told her. “That’s where we found all of them.”

  “Gentlemen, go ahead.” Queen Grace motioned toward several of the males sitting together.

  “Oh, no.” Edward spoke up. “Ladies first.”

  Queen Grace chuckled. “Very well. Ladies?”

  With a laugh, the women ripped into the paper of their presents. Exclamations came from around the room as they looked at their necklace and earring sets.

  “Those are made of Mozarkite,” Esther explained as they looked at each other’s sets. “It comes in every color of the rainbow and is found only in the state of Missouri. A local artist created the sets and made the chains as well. The etching on the necklace stone is of Serenity Lake.”

  “These are quite lovely.” Queen Miriam studied hers. “I do believe I’ll wear it tomorrow.”

  Queen Grace waved her hand. “Gentlemen, you may now open your gifts.”

  Each of them found a handcrafted wooden box with his name on it and the same carving of Serenity Lake. Inside was a storage area, suitable for watches or medals given to them by their monarch and worn on formal occasions, along with cuff links and other non-jewelry things that men often wore.

  The younger males expressed their thanks, but Darius got the impression they were a bit disappointed. He could understand that. The San Majorian men were a bit more vocal in their appreciation of the craftsmanship.

  As the group broke up, Darius found his older brother and handed him a gift bag.

  “What’s this?” Benjamin asked.

  “Something else for you.”

  Benjamin pulled a baseball hat out. “What’s this for?”

  “Something I thought about a while back. Esther said she looked right past me twice when she was looking for me after class one day. I was wearing a baseball hat similar to this one. I just thought you might like to get out of the palace occasionally. That’s all.”

  Benjamin stared at the logo on the front. “I see.”

  Darius shrugged and took a step back. “Just thought you might like the option. That’s all.” He started to walk away.

  “Wait,” Benjamin called after him. “There’s something I need to discuss with you.”

  Esther remained in the great room as many of the others dispersed.

  Queen Eliana opened her jewelry case again. “These are really quite lovely. I’ve never seen a lake etched into jewelry before, but if you didn’t know what it was, you’d think it was just an intriguing design.”

  “I’m glad you like it. We have a set for each of the younger girls and a commission for several more so the boys’ wives will all have them someday.”

  “Brilliant.” Queen Eliana smiled softly. “I’m quite glad you and my son have married.”

  “Me, too.”

  “Will you be coming to visit Eyjania anytime soon? Perhaps before your break ends?”

  Esther hesitated, knowing Darius hadn’t told his mother everything. “I don’t know. It might be best for us to wait until our relationship has gone public.”

  “You’ve been to San Majoria twice,” Queen Eliana pointed out. “You stayed at the palace the whole time so no one would see you.”

  Esther stared at the floor. “I know, but my father has asked us not to return to Eyjania for the time being.”

  She glanced up in time to see her mother-in-law swipe at her cheek. “I understand. Perhaps someday.”

  “We would love for you to come visit when the babies are born, maybe even before.” Esther tried to imagine what this must be like for Queen Eliana and failed.

  “Perhaps now that I know the full story, my son will call me more often.”

  “Maybe we can talk sometimes, too. I’d like to get to know you better.”

  Queen Eliana smiled at Esther. “I would like that very much.”

  “What time is your flight?” Esther hadn’t heard the details.

  “Whenever we get there, but it’s a six-hour time difference and a seven-and-a-half hour flight. I know Darius said we were planning to attend Christmas Eve services, but we would have had to leave by six or so this morning to do that. Earlier if we wanted time to go home and change first.”

  “We were never planning on the Christmas Eve service, Mother.” One of the twin sisters walked in. Genevieve, Esther thought. “We were planning to go to the midnight service. We need to be at the palace by eleven to change, which means landing about ten-thirty. With the time difference, that would require landing about four-thirty Serenity Landing time. We would have had to leave about nine to do that. There’s also a sunrise service that will likely be more practical.”

  “Who told you that?” Queen Eliana asked her daughter.

  “Benjamin. Earlier today. He said because we had to open gifts, we wouldn’t be leaving in time for the midnight service, so we would be attending the sunrise service instead. He sounded annoyed.”

  “He’s always annoyed,” the Queen Mother muttered under her breath.

  Esther filed that bit of information away, though it didn’t really surprise her.

  “Evangeline and I made sure everything was packed up in the apartment we shared,” Genevieve went on. “We checked on the other apartment and Alfred’s room, too, because the princes certainly weren’t going to.”

  “Thank you for taking care of it.”

  “My pleasure, Mama.”

  Queen Eliana sipped her tea. “I suppose as long as we leave by noon, we’ll get home in time for some sleep in our own beds before waking early for the sunrise service.”

  “Then home to open presents!” Genevieve ru
bbed her hands together. “I know it’s about much more than getting gifts, but I do love that part.”

  Esther should ask Darius what kind of presents his family did for future reference.

  “What’s your favorite part of living here, Esther?” Genevieve asked the question.

  “Some of the food. The people. We’ve made some friends here. I’ve learned some fun words that aren’t curse words, though I’ve heard a few of those too.”

  “Fun words?”

  Esther laughed. “I think my favorite is fiddlesticks, but I never remember to use it.”

  “What does it mean?” her mother-in-law prompted.

  “I think it’s usually said in frustration. Like ‘oh, fiddlesticks!’ when you accidentally burn dinner or something like that.”

  Queen Eliana laughed. “I love it. I do believe I will have to start using it.”

  “Not in public, I hope, Mama.” Genevieve rolled her eyes. “We’d never hear the end of it.”

  “We’ll see.”

  Members of both families began to pour into the room. The Quatremaines all had their coats with them, though they weren’t supposed to leave for another half hour.

  Esther chose to say goodbye to everyone and return to her room to rest. She’d enjoyed having the families there, but was looking forward to returning to their own home, snuggling with Raja, who’d been staying with Samantha and Vince, and spending a quiet Christmas with Darius. They’d insisted Louis and Vesta take the day off and promised Ian and the rest of the security staff they’d stay home to minimize the amount of work they would need to do.

  It hadn’t been long, but she’d just started to doze off when Darius walked in. The stress was evident on his face and in the set of his shoulders.

  She didn’t sit up, but did prop herself on her elbow to look at him. “What is it?”

  He sat on a chair near the door and leaned forward with his forearms resting on his knees and his hands clasped. “Benjamin says our marriage isn’t legal.”

  30

  Emotions Darius didn’t want to name crossed Esther’s face, too many to name even if he wanted to.

  “What exactly did he say?” Her voice was more subdued than he’d heard it in a while.

  “He didn’t explain, just said the marriage isn’t legal and never can be.” His head throbbed with the implications.

  She stood and went into the bathroom, emerging with her favorite cardigan wrapped around her. “Go get him. Now. I’m going to find my parents. We’ll meet in your mother’s sitting room. I want to know what this is all about, and I want to know now.”

  “They’re getting ready to leave. The cars are already here.” Darius wanted to find out more, but he also knew his brother wasn’t going to say anything else.

  Esther stopped in front of him. “You get him to your mother’s sitting room, or I will make sure everyone in this house knows your brother is a coward who won’t talk to us. Don’t try me on this, Darius.”

  He pushed up out of the chair. “I’ll get him.” His brother would be angry, but Darius would rather make his brother mad than his wife. Maybe he could find Edward and have him summon Benjamin.

  Esther was already halfway down the stairs. Would she just find all of them near the front door?

  No. He heard movement in his brother’s suite. He knocked on Benjamin’s door, but he didn’t answer.

  After knocking louder, he finally called out. “If you don’t answer, I’m coming in, Benjamin.”

  The door finally opened. “What?”

  He still needed to tread somewhat carefully. You didn’t order your older brother around, especially if he was also your king. “Your presence has been requested in Mother’s sitting room.” Mother didn’t know about it, but she would soon enough.

  “Why does Mother want to talk to me?”

  Darius shrugged. “I was told to get you.”

  Benjamin still glared, but he closed the door behind him as he started down the stairs with Darius trailing the mandatory step behind him. By the time they made it to his mother’s room, the rest of them already waited.

  Esther looked furious. She wasn’t even sitting down. She stood, arms over her chest, and foot tapping.

  Darius had never seen her this mad.

  All three parents looked confused.

  “Care to elaborate?” Esther demanded.

  “Elaborate on what?” Benjamin took a seat without Mother offering him one.

  “Why you told Darius our marriage isn’t legal.”

  “What?” Edward shot out of his seat. “You better start explaining.”

  Benjamin must be a better actor than Darius ever thought, or nothing actually affected him. “The marriage isn’t legal.”

  Edward looked both furious and confused. “Why not? You issued the license. I performed the ceremony. We all signed it. It was filed in your safe until a later date. How is it not legal?”

  “First, the license has gone missing. Until it’s filed, legally, it didn’t really happen. Once filed, it’s retroactive to the date of the ceremony or any date chosen thereafter. Any documents signed as a couple, for instance, are still legal. Any child conceived isn’t a bastard.”

  Edward loomed over the younger king. “You better choose your next words very carefully, Benjamin. What happened to that license?”

  Benjamin shrugged. “I honestly have no idea, but without it, there’s no way to make the marriage retroactively legal.”

  “Then we get another license and date it the day of the wedding.” Esther pointed at Benjamin. “You’re a king. You should be a little more careful about what happens to the contents of your safe and who you give access to it.”

  “Who has access?” Edward took a deep breath as though trying to calm himself down.

  “I do.”

  “Who else?”

  “Isaiah.” Everyone turned to look at their mother. “Isaiah has access.”

  “No, he doesn’t,” Benjamin replied. “No one else has access.”

  “You may not want him to, but he does. I’ve seen him getting something out of it.”

  Benjamin leaned forward and stared at her. “When?”

  She stared back. “Any number of times. He’s your second-in-command, Benjamin. You’ve given him access to everything else, why not your safe?”

  “Because it’s illegal for me to give him access. The items in that safe are for the monarch’s eyes only.”

  Mother didn’t back down. “And you don’t think he’s managed to get a hold of it some other way? Have some pretty girl seduce it out of you because she wouldn’t have access to the safe, so why not give her the combination?”

  Benjamin didn’t respond, but the look on his face told Darius what he thought of that accusation.

  “Reissue it. That happens all the time when someone loses paperwork.” Miriam finally entered the conversation. “Fill out a new one, sign it, and date it that day. Call it a reissuance, not a new license.”

  “It’s illegal for me to do that with the special license.”

  Edward put both hands on the arms of Benjamin’s chair and leaned closer. “It’s probably illegal for me to punch you, too, but don’t think I won’t.”

  “Edward.” Miriam’s soft voice caused her husband to back off.

  “I’ll double check when we get back,” Benjamin promised, softening just a bit. “But I’m certain it’s not there.”

  “Then we go public.” Esther finally sat down. “We tell them the license was filled out properly, but, it went missing. You’re looking into who dropped the ball, but you just don’t know. We have a small, but public ceremony, fast before I’m showing too much, and throw ourselves on the mercy of the court of public opinion. We have two kings who can vouch for the timing of the ceremony. We don’t mention the previous pregnancy, and simply tell everyone we chose to live our first couple of years very quietly and privately and ask them to respect that.”

  Benjamin shook his head again. “That won’t work. I
t’s a good idea, but it won’t work.”

  “Why not?” At least three people, including Darius and his wife, said it at the same time.

  “Because Parliament passed a new resolution a few weeks ago. No one in the top twenty names on the lines of succession can marry someone in the top twenty in another line of succession.”

  “But I’m not marrying her.” Darius had never really considered hitting his brother until now. “I’m legalizing something that should have already been legal. I’ll do it somewhere besides Eyjania if I have to.”

  Benjamin looked remorseful before speaking again. “Then I’m required by law to exile you.”

  Esther wanted to cry or scream or hit something and never stop. Benjamin had effectively just ruined her first Christmas as a wife and mother-to-be.

  Darius had stormed out of his mother’s sitting room, leaving her behind with their parents and his brother.

  She turned to Benjamin. “You would really exile your brother over something that’s your fault?”

  He wasn’t fazed. “How is this my fault?”

  “You were the one responsible for the license. It disappeared while under your care. That makes it your fault.”

  His expression didn’t change. “I believe it’s actually your fault. You seduced my brother, claimed to be pregnant to trap him, and forced him into marrying you.”

  Hadn’t she already had this discussion once? Had Benjamin been present for that conversation? If so, had he paid attention? “I didn’t seduce your brother.”

  “Are you saying he seduced you?”

  “I didn’t say that. We were attracted to each other, and we slept together. Together. Neither one of us seduced the other in order to get me pregnant. I was pregnant. I have paperwork from the doctor saying so. I had a miscarriage, something I hope you never have to walk through with your wife.”

  Benjamin just sat there. If he didn’t develop a personality, he’d never get married in the first place.

  Esther tilted her head as she observed him. “Who made you like this?”

  “Like what?”

  “Cold. I remember your father. He was a good man. Your mother is an amazing woman. Your aunt, the one who was your regent, has a reputation for being stern, but fair, and loving toward her family. How did you end up with no feelings whatsoever?”