by Emma Lea
“And my father alive,” I said.
He grimaced and nodded. “Yes. We were all led to believe that your father was alive. It has come as a shock to all of us of his passing. But the grief is tempered by the news that the prince lives.”
I ran a hand through my hair and exhaled roughly. I hadn’t expected this homecoming to be so emotional. There was so much anger still inside me with the way my family had been ripped away from me - anger I thought I had long since put behind me.
“So what happens now?” I asked. I needed to focus on the tasks ahead and not let myself dwell on the murky pool of feelings. This was not the time to show my sensitive underbelly. These people needed a strong leader, not a bleeding heart.
“A press conference,” Theodorou said. “We need to announce your return. The people want to see you. They have been lied to for too many years and will not believe you have indeed returned until they see your face.”
I felt every eye on me as the prime minster spoke. He smiled a small, tight smile and shook his head. “You look just like him, you know?”
I knew. Every morning when I looked in the mirror I saw my father looking back at me. It was why I had grown the beard. The last thing I needed was for people to recognise me because of a careless photo while I was guarding the queen. Being Freddie’s groomsman had been the stupidest thing I’d ever agreed to.
“And what about Anastas?” I asked. “Won’t he have something to say about me just turning up here and giving a press conference?”
Theodorou looked over my shoulder at Danika before looking back at me. “The Próedros has disappeared.”
I raised my eyebrows and looked behind me to Danika. “You said he was preparing to run, has he already made his escape?”
“It appears that way,” she said.
“And do we know where he is? For all we know he could just be in hiding, waiting for me to reveal myself so he can do to me what he did to my family.”
“We have reason to believe he has made for Greece,” she said.
“He’s just walking away? I don’t know whether I believe that.”
“He really doesn’t have much choice,” Theodorou said. “The men who bankrolled him are calling in their loans. General Anastas has not exactly been a good steward of the money entrusted to him. He has been defaulting on these loans for years and now that Greece is suffering their own financial crisis, they need the money owed them.”
I shrugged. “It’s not like they can do anything—”
“That’s where you are wrong,” Theodorou said. “The Greek government didn’t officially support Anastas. Prominent men in high places did and they did it through questionable means. They are now being pressured and are in turn pressuring Anastas.”
I tilted my head to the ceiling and clenched my jaw. What was I walking into? My country was broke and the government appeared to be in shambles. I had known it wasn’t going to be easy, but it sounded like I had nothing to work with. I wished for the millionth time that Meredith was here with me. I needed someone who I knew was loyal to me. Someone I had known longer than five minutes who I could talk to. I couldn’t even pick up the phone and call Freddie because there was too much chance that I would draw Merveille into a fight that wasn’t theirs. I needed to do this on my own with people I didn’t completely trust. Talk about going from the frying pan and into the fire.
Meredith
I knocked on the door of Benjamin’s office.
“Come in,” he called.
I took a deep breath and pushed through the door, keeping my emotions in check.
“Have a seat, Meredith,” he said.
I nodded and sat in the chair opposite his desk. He leaned back in his chair and looked at me. I tried not to fidget. I had known this day was coming. It was time for me to leave the guard and as much as I had protested against it, now I just wanted it over with.
“I suppose you know why you’re here,” he said.
“Because it’s time,” I replied flatly.
“You know I wish this didn’t have to happen.”
I shrugged. It didn’t matter what Benjamin wanted or what I wanted. It was bigger than both of us and it was past time I understood that.
He sighed and looked down at a document on his desk. “So, the plan is to transition you out. We are already short-staffed. Although the new transfers are slotting in well, it’s not the same as having people like you.”
And Jamie. His name hung in the air between us, unsaid, but we both knew that his leaving had created a hole.
“If it’s alright with you, I’d rather just go. Alyssa’s schedule is clear and there really isn’t any need for me to stay.”
“Go where?”
“I’ll move back into Château de Monterey. There is no need for me to stay.”
“You’re still a lady in waiting, Meredith. You don’t need to leave the palace.”
“I am taking the title of my grandmother, Countess of Bellemere. I need to spend time learning the role. I think it would be best if I did that at Monterey.”
Benjamin was silent as he looked at me. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but it didn’t matter. I had made my decision and I knew my mother would make sure I got what I wanted - especially because it was what she wanted too. I hadn’t told her I was moving home. I knew she would be ecstatic when she found out. My leaving the guard and taking up the title was a dream come true for my mother and I was sure that as soon as I announced it, she would be all over it. She would employ a stylist and new lady’s maids and have me tricked up in no time. Oh joy.
“Are you sure there’s nothing you need to tell me?” Benjamin asked and my gaze snapped to his.
“Pardon?”
He leaned back in his chair again and steepled his fingers under his chin. Benjamin was shrewd and he had the best poker face I’d seen on anyone. He looked at me now like he could see every single secret I’d ever kept hidden and I couldn’t stop myself from shifting in my seat.
“The night in Le Beau when you disappeared,” he said, “I sent Jamie after you.”
I nodded but didn’t trust myself to speak.
“What happened?”
I swallowed and looked at a spot over his shoulder. “We got drunk.”
“And?”
My eyes snapped back to his. “And nothing. I was upset and so was Jamie, although at the time I didn’t know why. We had a few drinks together. Rode around in the limo for a bit and then went back to the hotel.”
Benjamin didn’t say anything and I held myself as still as I could, trying not to give myself away. He couldn’t know, could he? We had used a random car company and we hadn’t told anyone. There was no way he would know, not unless he’d followed us. I was pretty sure he hadn’t done that, surely I would know if I was being followed.
“I need to get back to my packing,” I said, standing. If I stayed much longer, I was likely to give myself away.
“Meredith.”
I stopped, but didn’t look at him. Benjamin had always been a good leader. He had trained me and we had been together for a long time. There was a bond that grew between people who worked in such close quarters as the royal guard had. Unfortunately, finding out that he had been lying to me for all this time had damaged that bond. My trust in him had been battered. I knew he had his reasons, and that Jamie’s life had been at risk, but still, I was hurt. It hadn’t seemed to faze the other members of the team, so maybe it was because I was a woman. Or because I had fallen in love with Jamie. Prince Christophe. Whatever. It didn’t matter. The fact was, I was still angry and upset and I wanted to just put the whole sordid mess behind me and move on.
He sighed. “You still remain a part of the guard for the next six months, even if you aren’t on the rotation. It’s part of your contract that I can call you up at any time for any mission until the six months is complete. At the end of that six months we can decide to extend it for another six months.”
I laughed. It was humourless a
nd rough. “Good luck explaining that to my mother.”
“The duchess really has no say in the matter. The crown spent an awful lot of money training you and your contract was for fifteen years. It is only because the circumstances have changed and you have become a person of interest that we are terminating your contract early.”
“Because I became a liability, don’t you mean?”
“Yes. But part of your transition out of the guard is that you remain available for recall for the next six months. At that time, we will review.”
“Fine,” I said with a sigh. I was tired and I was done with all of this. “Can I go now?”
“There’s nothing you want to say to me?” he asked and I finally looked over at him.
“It’s been real.”
I turned and walked away, closing the door behind me and refusing to look back. Onward and upward. Looking back was for chumps.
“What the hell, Mer?”
I looked up from the book I wasn’t reading and squinted at Freddie. He stood in the doorway of my suite, arms and legs akimbo and a scowl on his face.
“And hello to you too, brother. Please, come in. Make yourself at home.”
He rolled his eyes and stepped across the threshold. I had been back in Château de Monterey for a week and a half and was just about to kill my mother. I knew how to do it and make it look like an accident too. I could probably get away with it except that too many people knew of my skills. Matricide was frowned upon these days. Pity.
“What are you doing here?” Freddie said, falling into an overstuffed armchair opposite me.
I held up the book that I had been trying to read. “Reading,” I said, although I used the term loosely. I had been on the same page for an hour or more.
“I don’t mean here in this room, but here in the castle. Seriously? You moved home?”
I closed the book and put it on the seat beside me. Freddie had only just returned from his honeymoon and I hadn’t yet had a chance to talk to him about Jamie.
“I was kicked out of the guard,” I said primly. “Where else was I supposed to go?”
“You stay at the palace with all the other ladies in waiting,” he said, his exasperation clear. “Why come back to the viper’s nest?”
“I’m to be the Countess of Bellemere,” I said as if it answered all his questions.
“So?”
“Well, I -ah, that is, Mother needs me here.”
“Rubbish.”
I nodded, warming to my theme. “Of course she does. How else am I to learn all about my new title and estate if not at her knee? She needs to teach me everything she knows. Our mother is one of the most well-respected peers in the country. I am privileged to have her tutelage.”
“Balderdash!”
I slumped back in my seat. It was no use trying to convince Freddie that I was here because I wanted to be. The fact was, I was hiding. I was hiding from my friends and especially from the queen.
“Alyssa is worried about you,” he said as if he could read my thoughts.
“I don’t care,” I said.
“Oh come on, Mer. You’re going to turn your back on a life-long friendship because she had to keep state secrets from you?”
“Yes.”
“So what about me? Are you going to cut me out of your life too because I knew?”
“Yes!” I jumped to my feet and pointed my finger at him. “You should have told me!”
“Sit down and stop being so melodramatic. Of course I knew. Jamie and I were friends from the start. Have you forgotten that he lived with us for a while? He was a scared boy who had just lost his entire family and we were friends. He told me everything.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“Why would I?”
“Because…because…” Because I am his wife! But I couldn’t say that. I couldn’t tell Freddie that I had fallen in love with Jamie either. As far as he was concerned, we were only colleagues. “Because you’re my brother,” I finished lamely and then sat back down on my chair.
Freddie snorted. “Yeah, because I tell you everything. Come on, Mer, what’s this really about?”
“I feel betrayed,” I said. “Everybody was lying to me.”
“More an omission than a lie and it was to protect Jamie. Have you even seen the media storm that has come out of the debacle in Barcelona? The poor guy is being eaten alive by the press.”
I shook my head. I had purposely stayed ignorant of any and all mentions of Jamie in the press. I didn’t read the newspaper and I didn’t watch the television. I had made the mistake once and had spent the next two days crying myself hoarse. I had told my mother I was sick and had stayed in bed, sulking. I couldn’t risk another meltdown like that, so I stayed away from anything that might inadvertently mention Jamie and his country of Kalopsia.
Freddie sat forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “Talk to me Mer. What’s really going on?”
I bit my lip as I looked at my brother. I loved Freddie but more than that I looked up to him and respected him. If I was going to confide in anyone, it would be him. I opened my mouth to say the words and then snapped it shut. I couldn’t say it. How could I tell my brother that I had snuck off and gotten married to a guy who was soon to be the king of his own country? How could I tell Freddie that I had fallen in love with his best friend?
I sighed and closed my eyes, leaning back against the chaise. “Nothing,” I said. “Nothing is going on. I’m just tired and grumpy. I’ve been kicked out of the guard and forced to become a countess. I have to endure endless criticism from Mother as she points out all of my flaws and tells me constantly how much work she still needs to do before she will even entertain the idea of presenting me to the rest of the peers. My whole life has been upended and I don’t know which way is up.” My voice had risen as I spoke. “So I’m sorry if I’m not the fun-loving, joy-filled bundle of sunshine that you expected to find when you returned from your blissfully perfect honeymoon. I’m sorry that I am maybe a little upset that my whole life and everything I’ve known to be true has fallen down around my ears like a house of cards while you get to marry the woman of your dreams and live happily ever after like some sappy romance hero.” I was standing now and I didn’t even remember getting out of my chair. I was breathing heavily and my throat was tight. Tears filled my eyes but I refused to let them fall and I glared at Freddie with hurt and anger. He looked back at me with shock, which would have been funny if my world didn’t feel like it was crumbling around me.
“Mer,” he said, standing and wrapping his arms around me.
It was too much. I clung to him and the sobs I had been holding back burst out of me, wracking my body.
“It’s going to be okay, Mer,” he murmured as he stroked my back.
I wished that I could believe him, but from where I was standing, nothing would be okay again.
Chapter 18
Jamie
I stood in the entrance hall of the palace I once called home. It was empty and I was alone. The tapestries and paintings that had hung on the walls for generations were gone. As I turned slowly, my movements echoed in the cavernous space making me feel more alone than I ever had in my life.
I had been back in Kalopsia for a month now. There had been political wrangling in Parliament to reinstate the monarchy. It wasn’t a done deal yet, but the signs were positive. General Anastas had disappeared. Danika had set someone on his trail to hopefully find him and bring him back to face a trial of treason. Those of his cronies who had stayed in Kalopsia had been rounded up and even now were facing similar charges. We weren’t through the woods yet, but there were definitely positive signs. Meanwhile, the island of Kalopsia held its collective breath to see what type of man I had become and what kind of king I would be.
It didn’t feel how I imagined it to feel. I didn’t feel victorious, I just felt sad and empty. My family was gone. Buried in unmarked graves. The people surrounding me were still wary of me and I, them. I had k
nown most of them less than a month, and the ones I had known longer…well, I had only known them two months at the most. Danika was the only person I had known longer and I still had reservations about her. I didn’t like the way she forced my hand and I had issues with the way she tried to come between Meredith and me.
Meredith.
It had been six weeks since I’d seen her. Six weeks since we’d argued. Six weeks since I had felt her in my arms. I missed her. I missed seeing her, talking to her, sparring with her. I had been required to sever all contact with Merveille until my government was stable. I pulled out my phone and looked at it. Today was the day. Parliament was letting me move into the palace and I had been encouraged to reach out to any country that might be friendly. I knew I could count on Alyssa, but she wasn’t the person I wanted to speak to. I dialled the number and waited. It rang several times before a recorded voice informed me that the person I was calling was unavailable and asked if I would like to leave a message. I pulled the phone away from my ear and disconnected the call.
“Everything alright?’ Danika asked as she walked through the front doors.
“Of course,” I replied. “I was just wondering what happened to all the artwork.”
Danika looked around. “I had never been in here before, when your family was on the throne, but I have seen pictures.”
“I assume he sold off what he could to finance his lavish lifestyle but there was no way he would have been able to get their true worth. Some of those vases were priceless.”
With one last look around, I headed further in to the palace. It was a surreal feeling to be walking these halls again. My memories were overlaid on the present with unexpected clarity. It was like stepping back in time… almost.
Before I knew it I was standing before the door of my father’s office. I stopped and leaned my head against the wood for a moment, wishing for my father to be seated behind his desk like he had been all the times before when I was a child. But I knew he wouldn’t be there, just as my mother wouldn’t be in the drawing room with my sisters trying to teach them how to needlepoint or instructing them on the finer points of etiquette and deportment. They had been precocious little girls who had much preferred to be outside than sitting inside and learning to be little princesses.