Crowns & Courtships Compilation Volume 1

by Carol Moncado

  He gathered her close, and she wept away the stress and loneliness of the last week in her husband’s arms.

  32

  After Esther spent her tears, Darius kissed her softly. “Why don’t you go take a shower or bath, and I’ll make us dinner? We can watch a movie or find a TV show to binge watch and ring in the New Year together for the first time.”

  She took his offered Kleenex and blew her nose. “Thanks.”

  “We’ll trust your father and his legal team to come up with a solution. If he’s determined enough, he’ll find a way.”

  “It might not keep you from being exiled.” She blew her nose again.

  That was the part that nauseated him. “I know. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

  He watched as she left the room, heading for the room they’d shared since September. When the door closed behind her, he went down to the kitchen to see what they had the ingredients to make. With Christmas at another house and both of them out of town, there wasn’t much. He heard the water start to run in the tub.

  Standing with the doors to the pantry open, Darius thought about heading out to the store to get some food, but decided to go with what he could find. He’d learned that, in the States, comfort food on a cold night included tomato soup and grilled cheese.

  Vesta generally turned up her nose at canned soup, but she hadn’t taught Darius how to make soups yet. The canned stuff in the cabinet would have to do.

  She had taught him how to make excellent grilled cheese. He mixed garlic, Parmesan and Romano cheese with melted butter, and brushed it on the bread before toasting it with slices of Colby Jack in between the pieces of sliced Hawaiian bread.

  Since none of it would take long to make, Darius spent the next few minutes building a fire, something else he’d learned to do in the last few months.

  He rearranged the living room a little bit so they could sit by the fire and see the television better at the same time. After a bit of inspiration, he set the table in the breakfast nook for a romantic dinner for two. He didn’t have flowers, but candles would do. No wine, not for Esther at least, and Darius didn’t want to have any when she couldn’t. He wasn’t even certain they had any in the house because of that. Besides, what wine went with canned tomato soup and grilled cheese?

  They did have some sparkling grape juice for later.

  When he heard the water begin to drain, he started dinner.

  A few minutes later, as he stirred the soup, Esther walked in wearing her favorite pajamas and fluffy socks. She’d piled her hair up on top of her head, so only the edges at the back of her neck were wet.

  “What are we having?”

  Darius put the lid back on the pot and slid his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. “Soup and sandwiches. Easy American comfort food.” He gave her a quick kiss. “Why don’t you go sit down? I’ll let you know when this is ready.”

  “Thanks.”

  It didn’t take long before they were sitting at the table, candles lit, with dinner in front of them. Holding Esther’s hand in his, Darius said a quick prayer, thanking God for the food, for being back together, and asking that her father find a way to make this legal - and fast.

  While they ate, she told him about her conversation with his mother, which didn’t really include anything surprising - she just told his mother the whole story, including the bit about the Treaty of 1702.

  “I also had a thought.” She seemed hesitant, so he waited for her to go on. “Remember that money from my great-grandmother?

  Darius nodded.

  “What if we put that in a trust for the children? Not just these girls, but any others we have. They’ll be far enough away from the thrones that they’ll need it more than we ever will.”

  Darius squeezed her hand. “I love that idea, if that’s what you really want to do. It’s your money.”

  “It is.”

  “Then let’s do it.” After taking a bite of his sandwich, he asked about her time in San Majoria for the last few days.

  She dipped a bit of the sourdough bread boule into her soup. “It was pretty boring. I spent some time with my nieces, which was fun, but I couldn’t really go anywhere or do anything outside the palace so no one would recognize me. A pregnant, allegedly, unmarried princess is a scandal no one wants. Until we figure this out, it’s best if I stay out of sight. Even after we do, we’re going to have to figure out how to tell the public that we’ve been married for a year and have two babies on the way.”

  Darius took a bite of his sandwich as he tried to make the ideas floating around his head coalesce into something more concrete. “I have thought about that. Before you came into my brother’s office, your father hinted at suspecting my uncle is up to no good. Not just a jerk, but more than that. Possibly criminal activity of some kind. Was it just empty threats or does he actually know something?”

  “I still don’t know for sure what all happened last summer, but I got more hints while I was at home.” She hesitated. “I felt like they held some of the information back, both this time and when we went for a visit. I don’t know for sure, but I think part of it is that I’m married to a Quatremaine. They don’t know whose side you would land on if they couldn’t find ironclad evidence of your uncle’s guilt of more than just being Gracie’s biological father. Suspicion might not be enough.”

  They ate in silence for several minutes while Darius thought it over. “First, you might be surprised. Second, I have an idea that we should discuss with your father once he figures out how to make our marriage legal, retroactive to last March.”

  She kept eating, but watched to see what he would say.

  “My thought is that we keep us, the babies even, under wraps until my uncle is no longer a threat, whatever that looks like. Maybe he makes the wrong person mad like Anabelle’s grandfather did...”

  “I think they think the person he made mad was your uncle.”

  He nodded. “I thought about that. But once he no longer has power, then we go public, and tell everyone we’re sorry they weren’t aware of the marriage and babies, but that the relevant security teams believed there could be a threat. We needed to stay undercover until the threat no longer existed. Hopefully, that’s sooner rather than later. Then we decide whether to do it right away or wait until we finish our schooling next December.”

  Esther put her hand on her stomach then grinned at him. “I think that’s a good idea, but right now, would you like to feel the babies move?”

  It took a few seconds for her words to register. Darius shifted in his seat until he could reach toward her. “May I?”

  She grinned and took his hands, situating them on her stomach. “Just wait,” she whispered.

  A minute later Darius was rewarded with a subtle shift of her stomach. His smile matched hers as he whispered back. “That’s amazing.”

  Snuggled into Darius’s side was where Esther wished she’d been for the last week. He’d given her a present that immediately became her favorite - the t-shirt she loved to steal. As the movie ended, she yawned and clicked the power button.

  “Do you want to stay up until midnight?” Darius’s voice sounded louder than it should.

  The room was quiet except for the crackling of the fire, which was the only light since the television turned off. “What time is it?”

  “We have about an hour.”

  “It’s already next year back home for both of us.” She pulled the blanket more tightly around them.

  “If we had a choice, would you rather live in Eyjania or San Majoria?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t really spent enough time in Eyjania to know if I’d want to live there or not. So, for now at least, by default, I’d say San Majoria, but I’m open to changing my mind, or even living somewhere else, whether you’re ever asked to be an ambassador or not.”

  “Huh.”

  That made her twist around to see a thoughtful look on his face. “What?”

  “I never thought
about that. It never occurred to me that I could live anywhere but Eyjania. After we got married, and your father said I couldn’t return without his approval, I figured San Majoria. I’ve never even thought about anywhere else unless it was on my brother’s behalf.”

  “If you could live anywhere you wanted, where would it be?”

  “I’m kind of like you. I’ve never considered it. I will now though.”

  Before Esther could ask him anything else, her phone buzzed. She had to maneuver away from him to get it out of her pocket. “My father wants to know if we’re still up.”

  A few seconds after she replied, the phone rang. “Hello, Papa.”

  “My little star, I’m surprised you’re still awake.”

  “We just finished a movie. I almost fell asleep near the end,” she admitted. “But the fire popped and woke me up.”

  “Darius is with you? Put me on speaker?”

  She did as he asked. “Did you figure out how to make this legal?”

  His voice sounded smaller than normal over the speaker. “Yes. We can make the marriage legal in San Majoria as long as we do it soon. It may not be recognized in Eyjania as legal without the paperwork from there turning up, but because I was the officiant, it will be legal everywhere else. The best course of action my legal team came up with is to file the paperwork quietly in the next few days. We’ll list Darius as Darius Quatremaine and you as Esther Turmannes. Hopefully, no one will make the connection.”

  “If it’s not considered legal in Eyjania, will Darius still be exiled?”

  She heard his sigh over the phone. “The way the law is written, I think so, but I can’t say for sure that your brother will enforce it. I think Isaiah would encourage him to, though.”

  Darius leaned closer to the phone. “Sir, I know you may question where my loyalties lie, but rest assured, when it comes to my uncle, I have no loyalty left. Unfortunately, that also means I don’t have much for my brother at this point either. If he ever gets out from under Isaiah’s influence, that could change, but not at the moment.”

  “And the rest of your family?”

  At that, he hesitated. “I suppose it would have to be on a case by case basis, dependent on the circumstances. However, you can trust me not to say anything I shouldn’t to my mother or brother, in particular.”

  “I’ll take that under advisement.”

  Esther sensed it was time to change the subject. “Do you need us to sign the license?”

  “Yes. I’ll have it flown out to you this week, have you sign it, and once it gets back, we’ll file it.”

  “Thank you, Papa.”

  A minute later, they said goodbye and hung up.

  “Why would you use Esther Turmannes?” Darius asked as she settled back in next to him.

  “It’s one of my titles. Duchess Esther of Turmannes. I’ve used it as a last name occasionally when I want to be a bit more incognito, like that week in Sargasso. Legally, I can, so that’s what matters.”

  “Would it be better if I did the same?”

  “Used one of your titles?” Esther shrugged. “I’m sure Papa would have suggested it if he thought it was necessary. It’s possible that since you’re not San Majorian, it wouldn’t be considered legal like it is for me.”

  “And now we only have a few more minutes until midnight.” Darius twisted and pulled his phone out of his pocket. After a few taps, music started to play. “How about we dance in the New Year?”

  He’d also changed into his favorite pajama pants and his second favorite t-shirt. His arm slid around her waist, holding her close, though not quite as close as he had the last time they danced. Her stomach was just a bit bigger than it had been.

  Her fingers played with the beginnings of hair regrowth at the nape of his neck as they did little more than sway to the music.

  “I missed you this week,” he told her, his voice soft. “I hate that I missed our first Christmas together. I’m sorry.”

  “I know you are. I understand why you were frustrated. I was - I am - too. But we can face things together better than we can apart.”

  “I learned my lesson.”

  He kissed her. Soft and slow at first. Esther used the hand already at his neck to hold him closer, to kiss him back the way she’d wished she could for the last week.

  Darius wrapped both of his arms around her, pulling her onto her tiptoes so he could kiss her more fully.

  The music faded.

  The fire disappeared.

  The only thing with her in the world was Darius.

  Until he stopped kissing her. “Star,” he whispered.

  She closed her eyes, knowing what he planned to say. “I know.”

  “A few days, and it’ll be legal again.”

  Yep. That was what he was going to say.

  A boom outside told her 2017 had come to an end.

  “I guess it’s midnight.” Darius took a half-step away from her until he could rest his forehead on hers. “Happy New Year, love.”

  “Happy New Year.” Esther leaned up and gave him a soft kiss. “Here’s to many more.”

  “Here’s to a better year than the last one. To spending all our New Years together.”

  Darius kissed her again. “I love you, Star. You. The babies. No matter what happens with my brother and uncle, whether I ever get to return to Eyjania or not, I’m so glad I found you.”

  “This year’s been hard,” she admitted. “But I wouldn’t change it.”

  He raised an eyebrow.

  She rolled her eyes. “Okay. Maybe I’d change a little bit, but I’m glad we’re here, together.”

  Darius started moving to the music again. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

  Starting the year together, dancing in her husband’s arms, was where Esther wanted to spent all her New Years.

  Epilogue

  February 2018

  Darius grinned as he walked into the kitchen and saw Esther making a sandwich, her knitting or crocheting or whatever it was laying on the bar not too far away. She’d taken it up again after the marriage became legal. She thought he hadn’t noticed when she put down the blues and greens of her original blanket, but he had. This one was pink and cream. He didn’t know if they would both be.

  He walked up behind her, then wrapped his arms around her, kissing the side of her neck.

  “Don’t do that.” There was no real censure in her voice. “I’m hungry.”

  His hands rested on her stomach, and he was rewarded with a kick from one of the girls. They still hadn’t agreed on names for either one of them, though it seemed likely their mothers would be in there somewhere. “You can still eat.”

  She licked peanut butter off her finger. “I talked to my father.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He wants us to come for Easter.”

  “Has he forgiven me for taking off at Christmas?”

  “I think so, but we probably need to stay under the radar. He’s given your idea about staying discreet until after your uncle no longer holds any power a lot of thought. He said he was hoping to have found something by now to convince your brother to force him out, but he hasn’t.”

  “Which means we stay out of the limelight for a while longer.” Darius talked to his mother occasionally. Not as much as he wished, but none of his family knew the marriage had been legalized either. His mother likely suspected, but after she apologized for not being able to find the license, she hadn’t mentioned it again. It was safer that way. If no one knew they were legally married, Darius wouldn’t be officially exiled.

  One thing that had changed in the last six weeks was his relationship with his older brother. Though it still left a lot to be desired, they spoke regularly. The first call had been a week into the new year when Benjamin expressed his regret over the resolution. He promised to revoke it as soon as he could, but was legally required to wait at least a year before presenting Parliament with a motion to rescind it. Darius had shared what he learned ab
out public opinion while he visited Eyjania. Benjamin promised to do his own research, which had revealed the same thing a few weeks later.

  But beyond that, they started to just talk. To shoot the breeze. Not much, just a fifteen- or twenty-minute conversation each week about what was going on in their lives. It was a start, though Darius hadn’t told him the marriage was legalized either. As long as Benjamin didn’t know, he didn’t have to take any action. It was an unspoken rule between them not to mention it beyond what they already had.

  Reading between the lines, Darius had begun to wonder if his brother was coming out from under Isaiah’s thumb, but the process wasn’t complete.

  Darius tightened his hold on Esther, bringing his mind back to the present. “You know what today is?”

  She looked up from where she was putting two slices of bread together. “Tuesday?”

  He chuckled. “Well, yes. It’s Tuesday, but it’s also a year since we met.”

  Esther went still. “Oh.”

  His eyes closed, and his shoulders slumped. “We’ve talked about this, Star.” They’d talked about so many things the last few months. “Focus on the good. We know what happened when we met was wrong. We’ve apologized to each other. Talked to God and asked His forgiveness. But it’s still the anniversary of the day we met. The day something beautiful began, even if we did get it a bit out of order.”

  “I know.” She leaned her head back against his chest. “I’m working on it still, but the end result is an example of making something beautiful from the mess we created.”

  That made him chuckle. “Not just any mess, a royal mess.”

  Esther spun in his arms and grinned up at him. “A royally beautiful mess.”

  Darius let out a half-groan/half-chuckle. “And it’s all ours.”

  Thank you for joining Darius and Esther! If you wouldn’t mind taking a minute to write a review, I’d appreciate it!

  And we’re finally to King Benjamin’s story! Available July 10, 2018 - you can grab The Indentured Queen here!