by J. J. McAvoy
“This is the reason why you could not become a guard. It is not our place to assume the emotions or desires of the crown. We serve. We protect. That is it,” he snapped, shaking.
“That is it for you! For me, I must anticipate the needs of the royal family and make sure they are met!”
“No, you must anticipate the needs of Princess Eliza. Not the king, not the Adelaar or the queen. You have been given a place—stay there. Everyone seems to have forgotten the order of things. The Adelaar did not call for her. Nor did he ask you to do anything in regards to her. It does not matter what you believe, what you know, what you want or feel. You have orders, and you have a duty, so stick to it. That is what it means.”
“He’s needs—”
“That is not your call!”
“Will it be mine?”
We both turned to see Princess Eliza holding the royal dog, Persephone, in her hands. Her blue eyes shifting between us.
“Your Highness.” We both bowed our heads.
“Iskandar, why are you berating my secretary?” she asked him softly.
Iskandar stood straighter if that were possible. “I merely thought he was neglecting his duties, Your Highness.”
“That is my call, isn’t it, Persephone?” she asked, scratching the dog’s ear before she looked at me. “Wolfgang, why does Iskandar think you are neglecting your duties? If it were anyone else, I would just say it was nitpicking because you have never let me down. But that isn’t Iskandar’s personality, so what is going on? Why are you two, of all people, having hushed arguments in foyers?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the corner of his lips turn downward. He did not want me to tell her. But he had made it clear that was not my place, nor did I have the power to interfere. But she did.
I stepped forward. “Your Highness, it has recently come to my attention that Miss Odette Wyntor has arrived here, in Ersovia, this morning.”
“In the capital?”
I nodded.
A grin slowly spread across her lips as she looked back down at the dog in her hands. “What did I tell you, Persephone? Spring would come eventually.”
Chapter 3
“Bless the person who invented showers.” I sighed, pulling the shower cap off my head and shaking out all of my curls. When I came to my room the first thing I did was take a much-needed shower, and now I felt much better.
Buzz.
Buzz.
Who in the world? Grabbing the robe, I slid open the doors to the bathroom and walked into the living room.
“Who is it?” I asked before reaching the door.
“Room service,” a woman said.
Checking the pinhole, I saw the cart in front of her. Food? Oh, right, the lunch the manager promised.
Opening the door, I took a step to the side.
“Thank you. You can just put it on the dining table,” I directed, moving back toward my room when all of a sudden, someone poked their head out from under the white cloth of the cart.
“What the hell?” I screamed, backing up.
“Don’t panic, miss. It’s me!” the man said, coming out while taking off his glasses and hat. It was only then I recognized his freckled face.
“Wolfgang?”
“Long time, no see, miss.” He grinned, fixing his shirt.
“Sorry, he had, uh, a badge.” The server struggled with her English, looking even more terrified than I did. Her gaze shifted between Wolfgang and me worriedly.
“It’s fine.” I nodded at her. I started walking to the bedroom to get my wallet to tip her, but she quickly left the suite before I could even say another word, leaving me with the ever-happy Wolfgang just standing there.
“Can you explain to me what mission impossible stunt you are pulling right now?”
“I will, but please get dressed. We need to go quickly.”
“Go? What do you mean, go? I’m not going anywhere until you start explaining. How did you even know I was here?”
“You wrote it on your immigration form. I have a friend from the academy who works at EIM—oh, you don’t know what that is. It’s the Ersovian Immigration Ministry. Anyway, I asked him to let me know if you ever entered the country. I knew you would come eventually.”
He was barely making sense, and I was too tired to keep trying to think. “Okay, whatever, it’s good you are here anyway. I need to get in contact with Gale.”
“That’s what I’m here to do! The princess is waiting in the car, and we will be going to the palace. She said not to worry if you do not have the appropriate attire, she will handle everything. Truthfully, she was the one who wanted to come up, but we couldn’t allow that, so she is waiting in the car with Iskandar—”
“Wolfgang.”
“We are running a little behind. It took too much for me—”
“Wolfgang!” I called out. “I have no idea what you are talking about!”
Buzz.
Buzz.
“What now?” I exclaimed, turning to the door.
“No, miss, let me.” Wolfgang rushed forward, and I just let him. Because honestly, I was still so confused.
When he opened it, I saw Iskandar, dressed in all black except for an embroidered emblem stitched onto his jacket pocket—the eagle with three swords in its claws and a rose. Above the eagle was a crown, and below were two digits, 01, followed by Iskandar’s last name, Ruegg. However, it was written, Sir Ruegg.
“You are here too?”
“Odette!” A voice exclaimed behind him, and it was only a second before I saw her. Her red hair stuck out from under her hat, and when she took off her sunglasses, I could see her blue eyes. She dashed around Iskandar and entered the suite, invading my personal space. “I have wanted to meet you for so long. Now that you are here, I could not possibly keep waiting in the car. I told Iskandar if he did not come with me, I was going to run out on my own.”
I just stared at her.
I just stared at all of them.
They were all on the same page while I was on the moon—because no one was explaining what was going on.
I looked over at Iskandar, hoping he, of all people, would help me make sense of this. “What is happening?” I asked him.
“Wolfgang informed Princess Eliza you were here. Princess Eliza demanded to see you immediately. So, we came, but I did not want to draw any more attention than necessary. Thus, I sent Wolfgang ahead. The princess did not wish to wait anymore, so here she is,” he stated dully, but he was the only one who had explained what was happening clearly, so I was grateful.
“Forgive me. I was so excited that I forgot proper etiquette,” the princess said quickly. “Hello, I am Princess Elizarosa, your biggest fan!”
“Odette Wyntor,” I said, my eyes slowly shifting over the three of them. “I would say it was nice to meet you, but I would have preferred not to have met you in my bathrobe. I’m a little startled.”
“Forgive me for that,” Eliza said and reached out to take my hand. “But you don’t know how excited I am to see you. Not just for me but also for my brother. He needs some good news right now. Having you come here and be with him will make him relax again. Wolfgang told me all about your time together in America.”
“He did?” I did not say that. It was Iskandar, who glared at Wolfgang tiredly.
“I think you all are mistaken as to why I am here,” I said, gently taking my hand back. “I’m not trying to make Gale feel anything. I just need his signature so we can get a divorce.”
“Divorce?” all three of questioned.
“You two are married?” Eliza gasped.
“But why?” Wolfgang whispered.
I looked over at Iskandar, waiting for him to say something, but he said nothing at all.
“Apparently, Wolfgang did not tell you everything,” I said gently to Eliza. “I’m going to get dressed, and then we can all calm down and talk this out. Okay?”
No one said anything, and I took that as cue enough to leave. We all need
ed a moment to collect our thoughts, or, at the very least, I did.
When I came back, they were all sitting with grave looks on their faces. Before I could even take a seat, Eliza walked up to me, her eyes unflinching and determined.
“You cannot divorce him,” she all but ordered me.
“What?”
“My brother. You can’t divorce him. How could you fly all this way just to hurt him?”
My mouth nearly dropped fully open. “Hurt him? I haven’t heard from him in half a year! Not a text or call or even a smoke signal!”
“Our brother died!” she yelled back at me.
“I know.” I bit back from yelling at her. “I know, and I am so sorry for the pain that has caused you all. I truly am. But I can’t stop living because of that. I have no idea what your brother is thinking or wants or will do because he hasn’t talked to me. And I can’t sit by the phone, waiting for God knows how long until he tells me!”
“Then come talk to him. It’s not like he was just ignoring you! Truly! Come and see him—”
“To what end?” I questioned, and she paused, turning her head to the side.
“What do you mean to what end? So you both will be together.”
“Your brother is the future king here. Do I look like a future queen? Will your people accept me as their queen? Just before you arrived, the clerks at reception didn’t even think I was worthy of staying in this room. Your brother and me? That was a brief moment in the past. I’m sure he’s forgotten about me—”
“Gale barely eats!” she cut me off, and I saw her fists clenched. “He barely sleeps. He doesn’t talk to anyone about anything except work anymore. I have been living down the hall from him, and I barely see him myself! No one can talk him out of punishing himself! Not our mother, not me or his old friends, not anyone! And so I thought you—the woman I not only admired but heard he cared about—would be able to do something. I thought you came here because you cared about Gale, but you only care about saving yourself.”
“Yes!” I nodded. “Is that wrong? Who else is going to save me if not myself? I waited! I tried to think positively. I wanted to believe, but with each passing day, reality hit. The world hit. I never asked to be anyone’s hero. I never asked to be a queen. All I want—all I want is to be happy. Is that wrong? You are all asking me to set myself on fire to keep him warm and mad at me for not burning! No!”
She stared me down before she turned and marched to the door. Wolfgang followed after her quickly.
Slam.
I flinched, not because of the door, though. But because of the feelings I was trying to push down.
“This evening, there will be a state dinner for the prime minister of Austria. If it is what you wish, I will have a car bring you to see the Adelaar. I will arrange for you to present him the documents after dinner, and you may return home. Simply call this number,” Iskandar said, placing a card onto the table beside the couch before walking past me toward the door.
“Iskandar.” My voice broke, and I wrapped my arms around myself; unable to look at him, I hung my head. “Is he really that bad? I mean, is he still suffering?”
“Yes.”
“I did not know.” I knew he wouldn’t be all right, but I did not know he would be so depressed.
“Goodbye—”
“Why do I feel like you are mad at me as well, Iskandar? This is not my fault! If I hadn’t come, what would you all be doing?”
“It is not my place to give my opinion. But we would be standing by him,” Iskandar answered. “Even if he did not listen to us. Even if he ignored us, we would stand by him, waiting, believing he would overcome this. Even if he did not call or write or send a smoke signal, we would not leave. That is what loyalty is. That is what I thought husbands and wives did, no matter how terrifying that may be. I see I was mistaken. So, enjoy the rest of your afternoon, ma’am.” He bowed his head, and as suddenly as they had come, they were gone.
This was not how my plan was supposed to go! It was my first day here, for Christ's sake! Sighing, I walked to the side table, picking up the card to see if it had the same emblem as the one on his jacket. On it was what I assumed to be his cell phone number. All this was—not fair. They only cared about their Adelaar. But what about me?
What about how I had felt the last few months, reading headlines of him with women the press thought he was dating? Or watching him be a future king from the sidelines? What about me, the woman who let herself start to fall for a guy, only to have him disappear! What about all the hate that would be thrown at me if I held on to the silly belief that I could be with him, that somehow, we could make it work. This wasn’t a long-distance relationship! It was complicated and messy, and I didn’t want to be hurt more.
I was trying to save myself.
And they were telling me to suffer for him.
It wasn’t fair.
Why were they making it harder?
“I called you this afternoon. But I was told you left the palace with Eliza and Wolfgang?” the Adelaar said. He looked over his speech for the evening as one valet adjusted the medals on his coat, and the other fixed the hem on his trousers.
“Yes,” I answered, hoping he would not ask any more than that.
“Where did Eliza want to go that you had to accompany her and not her own guards?” he questioned, but before I could answer, he spoke to the speechwriter behind him. “I know that earlier I requested you take out the statement about the convention, but on second thought, by doing so, it seems I am avoiding the subject.”
The woman took a step closer. “So, you wish to add it again, sir?”
“Yes, discretely and in passing. Something along the lines of honoring the long history of the partnership between our two countries,” he directed, handing back the papers to her before adjusting his sleeves. “Ah, yes, Iskandar, as you were saying? Eliza? Is she all right? Where did you take her?”
“Yes, she is fine,” I stated. “She went to see a friend.”
At that, his eyes shifted to mine. “A friend?”
I nodded.
He looked me over, and for the first time, I felt heavy under his gaze. I did not want to meet it. “Do I know of this friend who requires you to leave your post and not give word?”
“Yes.”
“Iskandar, you are being cryptic, which is odd because you have never hesitated to answer my questions fully before,” he replied.
The Code of Honor required that we always be honest with our monarchs should they ask anything of us. Tell the whole truth, no matter the situation or the time, whether it costs you your position or offends anyone else. However, that was only when asked. Which was why I wished he had not asked. All I wanted was to see nothing and hear nothing of their lives, just protect them. Why was everyone making this difficult?
“You are silent, and now I am curious. What happened this afternoon, Iskandar?” he questioned, stepping off the box he stood on and walking over. His eyebrow raised.
I glanced over his shoulders at the room, which was still full of others.
“Seattle.” It was all I could answer.
His eyes widened, and he searched my face.
“I will have the room,” he ordered, and immediately, everyone stopped what they were doing and walked out. Only when the doors closed on the speechwriter, and we were alone, did his shoulders drop and his tone change. “Odette?”
I nodded.
“She is here?”
I nodded again.
“When?” His whole demeanor changed, and his voice softened.
“She arrived at ten seventeen this morning.”
“And it is now six forty-five in the evening, Iskandar. Why did you not tell me? Where is she? How did you know she was here? Is she in the palace now? Will she be at the state dinner tonight? I did not see her name on the list. No, that is not possible. Obviously, she cannot be there; I would have been informed. Is she in the palace? Where?”
I could not read the expression
on his face. He seemed torn for whatever reason, nor could he allow me to answer the series of questions he was still asking.
“Iskandar, you are not speaking.” He finally paused to listen.
“I sought to see you, but you have been in meetings till now. Ms. Odette is staying at the Lal-et-Loire Hotel. Wolfgang had someone at the EIM inform him should Ms. Odette enter the country. She is not in the palace, nor will she be at the dinner. However—” I stopped because I had answered his questions and did not want to speak beyond that.
“However?” he pressed. “Finish what you were about to say.”
“I had nothing more to say.”
“Iskandar, you may be older than me, but I have many more years of lying under my belt. So, I can personally tell you, as an expert, you are horrible at it. What were you about to say? It is unlike you to be whatever it is you are being right now.”
He was right about that.
“If it is so hard for you, should I simply call Wolfgang?” he demanded. “You and I know he will not leave out anything even if he wanted to.”
“He would hesitate worse than I am,” I replied, giving in, not wanting that man-child to be the one to tell him. Knowing Wolfgang, he might get emotional, seeing how his grand thought of true love did not bring Odette back.
“Is Odette all right?”
I could see the concern in his eyes now.
“From what I can tell, she is very well—”
“Good God. Then what the hell is wrong with you? What is going on? Why is she not here? I am getting sick and tired of asking you to speak, Iskandar.”
“She did not come to stay here. She came to get you to sign divorce papers, sir.”
He was silent, and his eyebrows furrowed together like he did not understand Ersovian anymore.
“Divorce papers? She wishes to divorce me?” he asked again.
How many more disappointments was he meant to have? “Yes, I gave her my number so I could arrange for you to meet tonight after dinner, and she could present the documents—”