by J. J. McAvoy
I did not even have time to unpack my suitcases. I spent most of my time rushing back and forth, searching for the right outfit. Only it didn’t seem to exist. I changed five times because I knew the photos taken of me this morning would be everywhere by nightfall. I did not exactly have all my best clothes with me. But then again, most of my clothes were designer, so that wasn’t the problem. Right? Or were designers bad? Ugh. Whatever. I was just trying to find something that didn’t make me seem like I was trying too hard but also didn’t make it look like I wasn’t trying at all. Eventually, I went with what my mother always told me to do—get caught trying because it was better to be judged for doing too much than not doing enough. So, I went all out—Valentino yellow pencil dress with a low back, Christian Louboutin beige Follies Strass pumps, and black Chanel clutch.
And with my hair. I loved my curls, big and fluffy, and I had been growing them for almost ten years, but this morning, I had no idea what to do with them. I put them up and then let them down. Then back up and then back down until I became fed up and just left it down.
This was me.
Me glammed up a bit.
But me.
There wasn’t much more I could do. Nothing was going to make me less nervous. I needed just to go. Grabbing my purse, I wheeled out one of the suitcases behind me. I heard the television, and for some reason, I could follow along a little before coming out to see the subtitles on the screen.
“Breaking News. After what pundits and officials called the perfect state dinner with Prime Minister Christoph Leon of Austria, Prince Galahad reportedly went to see what palace officials claim as his longtime on-again, off-again sweetheart, Odette Wyntor, heiress of Etheus LLC and Grammy-nominated singer. Sources are saying the Adelaar has done his best to keep this relationship a secret for over a year now, but with her arrival in Ersovia, Bellecoeur Palace has officially released this statement in the very early morning, which reads:
Since childhood, Prince Galahad and every member of the royal family have been aware of the love and warmth the members of the public have given them, to which they will always be eternally honored and grateful. However, the royal family also knows with this love and warmth comes a great deal of interest in their private lives, whether they wish for it or not.
The royal family never wishes to infringe on the freedoms of the Ersovian people. One of those freedoms being the rights of the press to speak or write anything they wish, whether or not it is true or false. For this reason, it has been the policy and tradition of Bellecoeur Palace only to comment and provide statements on matters of genuine and factual importance. And so, we shall do so now.
Prince Galahad and his longtime girlfriend, Odette Rochelle Wyntor, are engaged. A formal announcement was to be made of their relationship last December; however, due to the tragic and untimely loss of Prince Arthur, the statement was withheld as the royal family and country mourned. And though still in mourning, Prince Galahad has decided it is no longer right or proper to keep his relationship from the public.
He trusts that the people of Ersovia will welcome and love the woman he has chosen to spend the rest of his life with—as his family has. He has asked for this statement to be issued in the hopes that those in the press will be just, fair, and kind as the royal family and Miss Wyntor readjust to their new roles and life.
“Miss,” Iskandar called to me, already stepping toward me, getting Gale’s attention. Gale turned back to face me, dressed in a different dark-colored suit from the one last night.
“Is this your only bag, miss?” Iskandar said, outstretching his hand for the suitcase.
“There is one more in the room.”
He nodded, going around me to get it, and Gale stepped forward.
“Just like I thought, you look stunning.” He smiled.
“You would say that no matter what.”
“Because it is true, no matter what,” he replied.
However, I was distracted by my name and photo next to his on the television screen behind his head. “Did you write that statement?”
“You can tell?”
I smiled, nodding. “It just sounds like you.”
“Why? Too formal?”
“No”—I stretched—”it’s kind.”
“Anything for you, my dear.” He smirked, offering me his hand.
I took it only for him to bring it up to his lips and kiss it, making me roll my eyes. “Now you are laying it on heavy.”
But I missed this.
“You will get used to it again.” He rubbed my knuckles before looking down at my finger. “Do you still have the ring I gave you?”
“No, I threw it in the lake because I was so mad at you,” I said, and his eyes widened. Laughing, I lifted my clutch. “Joking, I have it and the brooch.”
“Oh, how you torture my heart...” He half laughed.
“Should I wear it?”
“Wait until we get to the palace. We will take an official picture there.”
I nodded.
“Odette?”
“Hmm?”
“Breathe.”
I nodded.
“That is not breathing. That is nodding. Breathe, Odette.”
I inhaled and exhaled. “Happy?”
“Yes.” He watched me carefully. “We should get going. Have you called your mother?”
I shook my head. “I’m saving my energy.”
I didn’t want her reminding me how crazy I was.
“You can always just pass me the phone.”
“No, I definitely cannot.” She would say things that might break his spirit. The only one who could go up against my mother was me, and even I lost most times.
“Okay, let’s go,” he said, squeezing my hand.
When we walked forward, Iskandar was already standing at the door. I hadn’t noticed him walk by and where my luggage went, I wasn’t sure, but he focused on getting us out of there.
“We will go through the private exit,” he said as we reached the front doors.
“We will go through the lobby,” Gale said to him with a smile. However, it was not one Iskandar shared.
Iskandar stared at him—maybe that was his way of begging—but Gale just nodded his head to me. “She needs to check out.”
“That can be handled by someone else, sir,” Iskandar said through almost clenched teeth.
“They know we are here. We are not hiding or sneaking away. It is not something shameful, so we leave as guests leave,” Gale stated back.
Iskandar’s jaw still wired shut, nodded. With all the energy in his body, he forced out, “As you wish, sir.”
He walked in front of us, opening the front door. When he opened it, two more men were standing there, neither of them Wolfgang. Both of them bowed their heads, with their hands over their hearts, to Gale. However, it wasn’t just them when we stepped out. There were more people in the hall.
“Were they all here last night?” I whispered to Gale as we waited for the elevator.
“No, only two, but I called for more this morning.”
“They got here fast,” I said when we stepped through the elevator doors.
“You did take almost two hours getting ready,” he whispered back.
“You told me to take as long as I like.”
“And you really did.”
I elbowed him, causing him to grunt and the two new guys to glance back, confused at what happened. Iskandar, however, seemed unbothered. I smiled at them, but it was only when Gale nodded that he was fine did they turn back around.
“I am a very precious person, you know,” he whispered before pushing my back, making me stumble a little bit.
I spun back to him, glaring, but he pretended not to notice, a grin on his lips. “How do we all fit in here with your ego, Mr. Precious?”
“By God’s grace,” he said with base in his voice.
I shook my head, trying to ignore him, which was hard with his hand in mine. However, I focused on the numbers as they
went down.
“Ready?” He squeezed my hand.
“Yes.” No, not really. But what else could I do?
The doors opened, and there were guards down there, too, along with a few other guests in the lobby. The moment we stepped out, I could hear the press from outside. They couldn’t just come inside, but that didn’t stop the guest inside from holding up their cell phone, taking photos of us.
“Do not pay any attention to them. Come on,” Gale whispered, walking to the reception desk.
There, I saw the familiar faces of Annalena and Viktor. Yesterday, after they had realized their mistake, they had looked ashamed. Today, looking at me, then at their prince, then back at me, they looked mortified, their faces pale and their bodies stiff. You would think they had died standing up.
“My fiancée and I would like to check out,” Gale said, and I noticed his eyes narrowing angrily, directly on those two.
Was this why he wanted to come to the lobby?
“Of course, Your Highness,” the manager, the woman with short black hair and birthmark on her chin, said to us with a large smile on her face. It was then I looked at her name tag.
“Wera,” I said her name, causing her to look up from her computer.
“Yes, ma’am?”
“Thank you so much for yesterday. The wine you chose for me was delicious. I enjoyed it,” I said.
“Yes, thank you, Wera. I enjoyed it as well.” Gale smiled, nodding to her.
The biggest grin spread across her face. “I am glad. There—you both are all set. I hope you visit here again.”
“Maybe. You never know who could stop by,” Gale said with an eyebrow raised, and he gave another glance to the two still frozen beside her.
“Ummm.” Wera looked at us and then back to him. “I do not know if it is allowed, but may I have a photo? If not, it is fine. I just—my family will never believe it.”
“Sure,” I said even though I was not sure it was fine, either.
“Really?” She grinned.
And I squeezed Gale’s hand.
He just nodded, and she came around the desk. She looked for someone to take her phone, and gave it to Iskandar. He looked down at it and then back at me and then Gale, who again nodded.
“One, two, three.” He snapped the picture and handed her the phone. “Sir, miss, we must be going,” he added quickly.
As we walked, I leaned into Gale and asked, “Did I just break some rule?”
“Yes,” he whispered back. “I am sure many other hotel owners will be upset at the new tourist attraction we’ve created. And the prices will surely go up here. However, since you do not know the rules yet, we might as well break them quickly.”
I couldn’t comment as we were right in front of the entrance doors, and the press were like bloodhounds waiting for meat outside the doors held back by security. I felt my stomach began to turn.
When the doors opened, the screaming began, and the flashes nearly blinded me.
“Hold on to me tightly,” Gale whispered as we pushed our way out. Though the guards could stop their bodies, their questions were never-ending.
“Odette! When did you first meet the prince?”
“Prince Galahad, why her?”
“Odette, are you still going to sing?”
“Prince Galahad, what about your rumored affairs with Sabina Franziska?”
“What does the king think of this relationship?”
“When is the wedding?”
“Where is the ring?
“Odette, how do you feel about becoming the future queen?”
“What do you even know of Ersovia?”
“Odette, you will be the first black queen in Europe, any comment?”
“Was money involved in this?”
“Do you think the people will accept you?”
“Do not listen to them. Just keep walking.” Gale’s voice was the only gentle one.
“Prince Galahad, are you happy Arthur is dead so you can be king?”
At that, Gale stopped for only a second, but I pulled him away before he did what I knew he wanted to do—shove that camera down the throat of whoever had said it.
I pulled hard, and we managed to get into the car. Iskandar shut the door behind Gale. When he did, I could see Gale’s face turning red, his grip on me tightening to the point my hand trembled.
“Gale. Gale, you are hurting me.”
“What?” He pulled himself from his thoughts, only then noticing his hand. “Forgive me,” he said, letting go quickly.
“Are you all right?” I whispered, putting my hand on his lap. “What they said.”
“It will only get worse until they get the reaction they want,” he muttered, his face pale. “Welcome to royalty.”
“Don’t scare me. I am always looking to run, remember?” I tried to joke, but their words must have gotten to him because he wasn’t having it.
“Now that they have your name, Odette, they will never forget or let you off,” he whispered back. “I want you here, but I fear I just damned you also.”
I leaned closer, very close, to the point where he could only look at me strangely, not understanding. With a straight face and stern eyes, I said, “Fâlipüks.”
He stared back, his face shaking until he couldn’t hold it any longer and snorted then broke out laughing. And it made me feel so much better to hear it. “That should be an insult, but when you say it with that accent, it is hilarious.”
“Do not make fun of my accent.”
“You make fun of mine.”
“I make fun of the words you use to speak, not the accent.”
“Waskāds.” He rolled his eyes.
I sounded out the word again. But I couldn’t figure it out. “What does that mean?”
“Whatever.”
I frowned. “But what and ever together do not make that in Ersovian.”
“Every language has slang, Odette.” He smiled and held my cheek. “Do not worry. I will personally teach you...at night.”
From the look in his eye, he did not seem to have teaching in mind.
“Waskāds.”
Chapter 6
The palace looked huge from far away, but when parked three feet in front of it, the palace looked like the place only fancy giants would live. The columns were bigger than me. No, forget the columns, the windows were bigger than me. And as if the building itself wasn’t intimidating, the men and women—six maids, four butlers, eight guards, one dog in the arms of one princess, and a queen standing at the center—standing outside, waiting at the doors, was a lot to take in.
“Odette. Odette?”
“Hmm?” My head whipped back to Gale.
“This is part of a tradition. When a prince brings his future bride to the palace for the first time, she is met by the queen, her other children, and her staff. You are to give her flowers—”
“I didn’t bring flowers, Gale.” Panic shot through me.
“I did,” he said, and Iskandar lifted the bouquet of four different types of flowers. “Do you remember these?”
“Red roses for renowned beauty and grace, the white peony for prosperity and good fortune, the golden Stella de Oro daylily, which symbolizes the morning star—the sun—the symbol of new life, valor, and justice,” I said. Still, the last one he never gave to me. “A black tulip?”
It wasn’t really black. It was very dark purple, so much so it almost looked black.
“It is called The Queen of the Night tulip and symbolizes the monarchy's power, wisdom, and duty. These are the four flowers of Ersovia,” he said, giving me the bouquet. “I will lead you up the stairs to her. Do not look at anyone or anything else. You will curtsy, lifting the flowers to my mother, the queen. Do not lift your head until she takes them from you. Then you will walk up with her, turn back to the gates for a photo, and wave to the public.”
I just looked at him. “You tell me this now?”
He smiled. “You would overthink it, and I am trying to g
et you in the doors as quickly as possible.”
My jaw clenched at the goofy grin on his face.
“Careful, do not squeeze them. That is bad luck.”
“Gale!”
“Breathe. You will be fine.”
“And if I am not?”
He made a face and looked back to the front of the car. “What happened to the last woman who failed an introduction? Was she beheaded?”
“You are not funny!” I snapped at him.
“Do not worry, miss. She was not beheaded. She died from an arrow to the heart during a hunting accident, but that was over two hundred years ago,” Iskandar replied as if that clarification helped me in any way!
Gale snickered. I held on to the flowers gently. Thinking about my feet, I wondered how I would curtsy and how one was done here. Or how one was done at all. I looked back up at the older woman, who was dressed in a royal-purple, short jacket dress suit, with a brooch—similar to the one Gale had given me—on her chest. She had pearls around her neck that matched her earrings. Her dark-red hair was swept to one side over her shoulder, and she stood like the queen she was.
“Do I go now?” I asked.
“It must be done on the hour. We will wait another two minutes until noon,” Gale said. And again, he pulled my attention from the window to him.
“Oh, the hour? So, what if we got here after twelve?”
“We would wait until one,” he said seriously. “Tradition and protocol are important here.”
I looked at him. “Do you remember that night when I asked you to tell me the negatives to marrying you?”
“Yes, I do believe I told you that you would have to learn many palace rules. To which you said, ‘Ugh! That’s almost my life now,’” he said, his voice rising higher as he mocked me.
“First off, I do not sound like that. And second, you snuck the rules in with other stuff, just like a lawyer, to get me on the fine print,” I muttered.
He chuckled. “It is not my fault—”
“Sir. Ten seconds,” Iskandar interrupted, and I could not believe how easy it was to forget other people were near when Gale was around.