“I hold out hope for Ree,” I told her, steering the conversation away from Cillian altogether. “She just needs a little confidence.”
“What she needs is a right good shagging by a man who can do her proper.”
“Like Caz?” I teased.
“Exactly,” she said. “That’s why I first called him, you know. I saw his show. I saw how he helped women blossom and become more confident, ready to chase after their dreams and even catch one or two. But she’s not ready for someone like Caz.”
“Few are,” I quipped. She chuckled and acknowledged the point with a nod. “Allan has her convinced any man who would want her has an agenda.”
“That’s probably true,” she conceded. “There’ve been a few… incidences in the past. Her place in the succession to the throne is well known, as is her timid nature. And Allan swims with sharks.”
I thought about Cillian with a grimace. “Fact.”
She studied me thoughtfully for a moment. “You’re not like the rest, you know.”
“The rest?”
She nodded. “Auggie attracted his fair share of professional princesses, Eloise tops among them.” Off my look, she chuckled. “I know I’m not one to talk, but when you trade in a son for a father, you’re taking the ladder-climbing thing too far.”
Since we were being so candid… “How did that happen, anyway?”
“I’m sure you heard about Benji.” I nodded. She took a deep hit. “It’s hard to come back from something like that.”
I nodded again. I couldn’t even imagine. As much as I hated them for what they did to Auggie, I wouldn’t wish such a thing on anyone.
“He worked later and later, finding any reason to keep from coming home and facing that empty hole in the family. Business trips all over the world. He even went back to the Academy for a while, taking four-month tours of duty just to be anywhere else but here, using his aspirations to be king one day as his excuse. No Byrne would deny him, particularly Allan. Meanwhile, she had nowhere to go. She was stuck all alone in that big fortress with nobody there but Allan to console her. Once their affair became impossible to deny, Cillian dropped her like a bad habit. She barely missed a beat and married Allan in a quiet, civil ceremony. It was quite the royal scandal until the heir apparent married a pregnant American.”
She said it with a teasing smile. I had to giggle. “I suppose that was quite the shock.”
“I’m surprised the Queen didn’t drop over dead, the poor dearie.” She laughed. So did I. “But you’re good for him. Solid. He needed that. He’ll be a good king.”
“I think so too,” I told her, with a proud tilt of my head.
“Just do me a favor.”
“What’s that?”
She took another hit and slowly exhaled. “Beware the sharks.”
It was food for thought, though I barely had time to digest it. If I thought that first week was busy, it was nothing compared to the week after that, when we had events stacked all the way to the weekend. Auggie read the Night Before Christmas to the children at the Cancer Center. We went to the ballet. There was a choir performance from Princess Giselle’s Academy of Independent Living, where young Ryan had his very own solo.
And all of it was documented by the royal social media account. I was certain my face was carved into a permanent, polite smile.
We spent a whole day at the Agape Center, which prepared meals for the underserved, cooking and boxing care packages that would go out to anyone having a tough time over the holidays. One in ten boxes had a ticket to the Christmas Ball. Watching their faces light up when they discovered the ticket was one of my favorite gifts that year.
Our “reaction” shots to the video were posted that night and went viral, giving our approval numbers another boost. They liked the ones where I cried the most.
During it all we had to get the family moved from Castlewick to Castlegate by the Saturday before Christmas. Castlewick opened to the public, so that they could see all the historic decorations and enjoy traditional treats and goodies.
It was just before we were due to leave for Castlegate when Auggie and I decided that we didn’t want Hannah to continue in her job now that Dash was out of the boot and back on his feet.
Her resentment only grew in the two weeks we attempted to keep her on. I didn’t see it getting any better. Eventually we would add to our family. I needed an ally in my nanny, not someone who was waiting to jump my man the second my back was turned.
I sat down with Hannah, to let her know her services would no longer be required. She got a two-week paid vacation and a six-week severance, which was generous considering.
She didn’t take the news very well. “What’s the cause? I haven’t acted inappropriately.”
I took a deep breath. “I can’t trust you, Hannah. Not after that night.”
“Nothing happened,” she reminded.
“What if I hadn’t interrupted you?”
Her eyes narrowed. “That’s something you should ask your husband.”
I stood and held out the check. “Thank you for all your help with my brother. I wish you well in your future endeavors.”
She rose slowly to her feet, staring me down before she took the check. Her eyes met mine. “You don’t belong here, you know. You’re a joke to anyone with any decent breeding. You can kick me out of this house and out of his life, but the fact remains. It may not be me, but it’ll be someone. Someone more suited to him. And deep down inside, you know it.”
She turned on her heel and stalked out of the room.
She was gone by the time Auggie made it home. After that, we all boarded the helicopter to take the quick jaunt to Castlegate Harbor. From there we took the royal yacht to Castlegate. Dash was beside himself as we glided across the water. He wanted to be right there on the bow with Auggie, Dallas, Fern and Gav.
I stayed inside the cabin with Jack and my parents. I couldn’t wait to return to the magical place my marriage began, even though my least favorite aunt had decided to come along for the ride.
It was my first period since Jack was born. I knew Auggie wouldn’t take well to the news, but inwardly I was glad. I knew it was best that we waited, but he was sure that we had conceived again the night of the christening. He commented from time to time, letting me know that despite the preventative steps we had taken since then, he was still wistful and hopeful about having our second child.
That bright red stain on my underwear that morning told a different tale. It explained a lot, given my PMS had returned as well.
I was honestly surprised Hannah left with any skin left on her face after she insulted me. But I was a lady now, and a future queen. She could have her bitterness and her anger. My husband’s love was mine, no matter what she had to say about it.
The family was bowled over by Castlegate as we approached. Sean led us to a line of funny ol’ buggies, ready to take us up to the castle. Sean drove the kids, Dad drove one behind him with Mom, Gav, and Fern. Auggie brought up the rear with Jack and me.
Festive lights led the path, as the staff had already put out the holiday decorations for the grounds, turning it into a magical winter wonderland. Lights twinkled overhead like a canopy of stars as we wound up the road to the monstrous castle, passing lines of Christmas trees that were adorned with natural ornaments that looked like plants, flowers, and woodland creatures.
Staff lined to greet us as we arrived. Dash, as always, led the way, making sure he said hello to each one.
The inside of the house was decorated as well, with boughs of holly and jingle bells and any number of cliches from old Christmas standards. I half-expected there to be chestnuts roasting on an open fire.
Dinner was prepared instead, a fine pot of porgelagh to warm us all up and ward off the chill of an upcoming storm. Snow was expected over the weekend. There was mulled wine for the adults, Yaars of course, and hot chocolate for the kids. For me they made an apple-auberry cider that delighted me all the way down to my toes
.
After dinner we retired to the main drawing room, where a 12-foot noble fir stood wrapped in the royal colors of black and purple, accented with silver and gold. The ornaments were heirlooms, and the garlands were made of aldrite beads with gold accents.
There were already dozens of presents waiting under the tree. Both Dallas and Dash squealed and made a beeline, eager to figure out which of those shiny boxes were theirs. Auggie stoked the fire while Mom located some old vinyl Christmas records that she played using an antique gramophone.
Dad rocked Jack in a rocking chair while Auggie pulled me up for a dance, where we joined Gav and Fern as they swayed slowly to the music.
“I can totally see why you love it here,” I told him with a smile. “It’s timeless. Like a fairy tale.”
“All it was missing was you,” he said. I wrapped my arms around his neck. “Well. You and Jack,” he amended with that smirk I loved so much. “Wait till next year, when there are two babies waiting for Santa.”
My face fell a little. I had to deliver the bad news. “One of those babies will have to wait a bit longer,” I said.
“What do you mean?”
I leaned closer. “I got my period today.”
His face fell too. “Eighteen months it is, then,” he decided after a long pause. He caressed my face. “We have a lifetime after all.”
I reached for a kiss.
Snow came that night, which made for a magical winter morning. Dallas and Dash went to play in the snow with Gav and Fern, while the rest of us stayed inside where it was cozy warm.
Without Hannah there to provide her services, Jack was my full-time job. It was the greatest gift of my holiday, after those two crazy weeks juggling every chainsaw under the sun. That entire weekend was lazily spent napping or reading or listening to Auggie play. He even attempted to teach me chess, but my brain went haywire when he tried to explain how all the different pieces moved.
Thankfully, Dad took over, with Dash on his knee so that he could learn to play the game of kings, queens, bishops and knights.
Mom, Fern, Gav, Dallas, and I opted for a jigsaw puzzle. By ten o’clock that Sunday, I was ready for bed. I carried Jack to our room, one of the master suites overlooking the grounds with its own terrace. I placed Jack in his cradle with a kiss before I slipped out of my robe and climbed into bed. I decided to peruse the socials before I went to sleep.
It was a bad idea.
“The Queen of Mean” was trending. I knew in my gut it wasn’t a good sign.
“Is Princess Peaches afraid her Prince Auggie might be eager to shake another tree?” the headline read. “Their former nanny seems to think so. Relieved of her duties less than two months of landing the job, Lady Hannah Covington, who comes from a prestigious aristocratic Aldaynean family by the way, alleges that the newly crowned royal fired her after finding her innocently listening to Auggie play his music in the family conservatory.”
My lips pursed. I knew before I looked who that byline belonged to. Only one tabloid journalist could gleefully tell such a tall tale so convincingly. My being duplicitous was his favorite narrative.
Ironic.
I kept reading.
“’It was completely above board,” Lady Covington asserts. “His Grace had asked me to listen to some new music and I was excited to do so, as a fellow music major myself. When Peaches found us together, she and the heir apparent got into a terrible row. The next day, he apologized for ‘leading me on,’ or some ridiculous nonsense. Two weeks later, after I helped the new duchess with her ailing brother, she gave me a termination letter along with my Christmas bonus.’”
With a gnawing feeling of dread, I checked my new text messages. Sure enough, Her Majesty had already discovered the scintillating news story. Her text read only, “We need to talk. Urgently.”
I sighed as I put my phone on the nightstand, right next to the birth control pills I began that day.
Merry Christmas to me.
Chapter Twenty-Five
The following day was the Christmas Ball, which meant another command performance before the queen anyway, so rather than make two trips I told the queen I would be free to discuss it when we arrived.
This made me even less inclined to go.
Though invited, both Mom and Dad decided to stay home with the kids instead, who were too young to attend. Fern and Gav likewise opted out due to a prior commitment with the dance academy. It was just Auggie and I that dressed up in our formal wear, just like uniforms, and choppered over to Shimmering Falls by nightfall.
We stepped out to lights and cameras as the queen’s official photographers mingled with the scant few media outlets approved to cover the event for the country. The tiara on loan from the queen weighed on my head so I was forced to hold my chin up. We waved, Auggie in his overcoat and me in the faux fur in white and silver.
No one asked about NannyGate, mostly because no one who would inquire about gossip would have been granted access to us to ask it. Instead, we made polite chit-chat, all the politically correct things approved by Her Majesty to talk about, including the amount of money that was raised for the children’s hospital thanks to the ball.
“You must have been very proud to have been a part of the committee,” asked one reporter.
“Oh, yes,” I agreed with a smile. “Although most of the coordination of the event happened before I officially joined. They’re the ones who really made the magic happen. I was tending another, more demanding boss,” I grinned. The reporters laughed.
“How is Jack?” another reporter wanted to know.
“Fantastic,” Auggie beamed proudly. “Enjoying his first Christmas tremendously. We’d like to thank every Aldaynean citizen who thought to send him a gift, particularly the gifts handmade with love and care. It was so thoughtful. We are touched beyond words for your continued support and affection.”
We survived the press gauntlet only to be ushered inside for a private counsel with the queen. We were once again taken to her office, the large, daunting and historic yellow room where my idyllic happily ever after once suffered its most critical blow to date. Learning that my loving husband had initially begun to woo me to serve an agenda had been a bitter pill to swallow. The memory of it left me a little off center.
I had to wonder if that was Maeve’s reasoning for using this as a backdrop to our little tete-e-tete.
She even made us wait for her, a page right out of her grandson’s playbook.
She said nothing as she walked around the desk and sat in the seat of power. It was, in fact, second only to the throne. Her eyes met mine. “Care to tell me what happened?”
“What’s there to tell? She had inappropriate intentions towards Auggie,” I said, my chin high and my spine straight. “She also had zero respect for me. If I couldn’t trust her with my husband, how could I trust her with my son? She had to go.”
Maeve nodded, apparently in agreement. “I do wish you would have come to me first. Such matters must be handled delicately, as you can now see.”
“People are going to talk,” Auggie reasoned.
“Perhaps,” she acknowledged. “But firing someone right before the holidays…,” she trailed off, as if I should have known I was playing with fire.
Granted, it was a dick move. But I wanted her out of my house if we were going to be spending so much time in the intimate setting of Castlegate. Given her behavior that day in the conservatory, she was lucky she got two more weeks out of me.
“I will handle Lady Covington,” the queen assured. “In the meantime, we have to hire a new nanny. Aldays is coming. There will be many things to plan come the first of the year. I expect you to pull your full weight in the committee, even if you have to deal with people a sight more duplicitous than your former nanny.”
My eyes met hers and held. “I’ll do whatever needs to be done. Starting with picking my own nanny.”
She hesitated for a long moment. “Fine,” she finally agreed, deciding not to mak
e an ordeal of it. I honestly didn’t know which scared me more. Maeve rose to her feet. “Come. We must greet everyone.”
The ballroom was decorated in winter white and silver, which made all the colorful gowns sparkle against formal black tuxedos on all the VIP guests that had been invited.
Despite the glitz and the glamor, these events were work for me. From how I spoke to what I said, how I treated others or even mere body language I used, I was scrutinized down to the very last detail in any of the hundreds of interactions I endured.
It didn’t help there were people there hell-bent not to like me, starting with the Covingtons themselves. There were the ladies from the committee, in the friend circle with Eloise, all of whom thought that I didn’t belong in their midst.
Then, of course, there were the Byrnes.
I wanted to avoid that smug smirk on Cillian’s face. I tried to kill him with kindness, but that only amused him more.
Caz was there, because of course he was. Why wouldn’t an American gigolo be at every royal event we hosted? He was Viv’s favorite boy toy these days, mostly because his mere presence seemed to irk the royal watchers.
Ironically enough, aside from Auggie and the Princesses, the only friends I had in the whole place were Riona and Vivienne Byrne. I found myself gravitating to them over the course of the evening as we continued to work behind the scenes as hostesses of the shindig.
Ree was glad for the help, as she shouldered the lion’s share of what was expected to coordinate the different caterers, the band, the entertainment, and the party hosts for the Aldayneans who had won tickets to attend. There were photos to take and press to juggle.
She barely sat still the whole evening.
“Is this why you never bring a date?” I teased. The other princesses all had suitors on their arms for the evening, managing to combine their job with their social calendar. But not Ree. Never Ree.
She chuckled. “I never bring a date because nobody asks me.”
The Duke Takes a Bride (The Rocking Royal Trilogy Book 2) Page 25