Hand-Me-Down Princess

by Carol Moncado

  “You were doing all right for yourself, but I know him well enough to know he wouldn’t have stopped until he’d pushed way too far. I have no idea why he is so adamant that Lizbeth marry Malachi.”

  “I’m not either, sir.”

  Jessabelle and her father-in-law both turned to see Malachi carrying Lizbeth up the stairs. She waited for feelings of jealousy to appear, but instead all she felt was an urge to wait for an explanation. Malachi set Lizbeth down next to a bench, and favoring one foot, she lowered herself to it.

  “What happened?” King Antonio asked.

  Lizbeth winced. “I went for a walk in the garden and tripped. Malachi heard me yelp and came to see what happened.”

  Malachi came to stand next to her. “I yelled that I needed help. Didn’t anyone hear me?”

  Jessabelle exchanged a look with her father-in-law. “I didn’t.”

  “I don’t think anyone in the billiard room did either,” the king added.

  She looked at the other woman. “He said you’re pregnant with my husband’s child.” Her face remained impassive.

  Something undefinable passed across Lizbeth’s face before she looked straight at Jessabelle. “I’m not pregnant with Malachi’s child. He’s never kissed me. Never gave me any hint we’d be more than friends.”

  Jessabelle leaned her head against Malachi as he wrapped an arm around her waist. “I know.”

  Lizbeth turned to the king. “Could you have someone take me home? I don’t have a car here.”

  He nodded at her. “Of course.” He pulled out his phone and texted someone. “Someone will be here in a moment to look at your ankle and help you to your room. Stay here tonight, and someone will drive you back to Erres in the morning.”

  A moment later, two aides came out along with most of the people left in the two rooms. The king only told them that Lizbeth had been slightly injured and urged all of them to head to their rooms to turn in. When it was just the three of them left, the king turned back to her and bowed slightly.

  “Have a good evening, Jessabelle. You have my sincere apologies for allowing a man to be around who would try so hard to undermine your marriage.”

  Malachi stiffened at her side, something she didn’t quite understand.

  She gave the king a small smile. “It’s all right. It’s not your fault. If you’d known how far he would go, you wouldn’t have let him stay.”

  “You’re right. I knew he wanted Malachi to marry Lizbeth, but I never dreamed he would have taken it so far.” He smiled at them and turned, leaving them alone on the balcony.

  “Are you all right?” Malachi asked, kissing the side of her head.

  She smiled up at him. “I’m fine. I promise.”

  He turned and put both hands on her hips. “I’m glad.”

  Malachi kissed her, for real this time. Jessabelle kissed him back until he drew away. Together they headed to their suite.

  “Did you finish a letter for my father?” he asked as they neared the door.

  She shook her head. “I tried. I really did. Maybe I can come up with something tonight.”

  Malachi sighed. “If you can’t, it’ll be okay.”

  Jessabelle nodded, but noted how unsure he sounded. Okay. Right. She prayed it would be. Otherwise, this uneasy truce she just began to feel with the king might be too fleeting to be real.

  * * *

  Everyone had gathered in one of the large sitting rooms. A fire blazed in the large stone fireplace. Malachi sat on a love seat with his arm around Jessabelle. The rest of the family including the commonwealth cousins, sat around the room. His mother stood near the fireplace with a gold gift box in her hands.

  “Antonio,” she started. “I know we agreed the festivities for the anniversary of your coronation would combine with your birthday celebration, and you said you did not want any gifts this year, but we did not listen to you. Not entirely.” She handed him the box.

  He looked as relaxed as Malachi had seen him in a long time. “What is this?”

  “Open it.” His mother took a seat in another chair nearby.

  His father shook the box a little bit to get the top off. “What is this?” he asked again, a bit more awe in his voice. “Letters?”

  “From all of us,” his mother confirmed.

  He picked up one and opened it. “From my mother.” Since the wedding, Malachi’s grandmother had spent most of her time out of the country visiting an old friend who was recovering from surgery. As he read the letter a smile crossed his face, and then, if Malachi wasn’t mistaken, tears filled his eyes.

  “That was lovely, Mother. Thank you.” The king stood and kissed his mother on the cheek. “I appreciate it.”

  He read through the next several letters, laughing at the anecdotes and sharing bits and pieces of some of them with the rest of the group. After he made his way through all of them, he said, “I’ll read them all more carefully later, but grandmother?”

  Nana Yvette looked at him. “Yes, dear?”

  “There is not one from you in here.” It was more question than statement.

  “I know. I will give it to you later.”

  What could she be up to? Malachi wasn’t sure, but knew there was something more to it. He was too grateful that his father hadn’t mentioned the lack of a letter from Jessabelle to think about it too much. Dinner was served shortly after. Malachi sat with his wife on one side and Queen Adeline on the other.

  “When is the baby due again?” he asked her.

  “July 25.” She looked at her husband sitting across from her. “But Charlie’s family is hoping for July 15 because that’s his dad’s birthday.”

  “What does Lindsey think?” Charlie’s twelve-year-old daughter adored her step-mother and the feeling was mutual, but what would she think about a new baby?

  “She’s excited,” Charlie told him. “She’s been a huge help taking care of Addie when I’m out of town.”

  “Are you still feeling sick?” The question came from Jessabelle. He didn’t know Addie had been feeling poorly, but his wife did?

  “It comes and goes,” Addie told them. “It has been much better the last couple of months but has not completely disappeared.” She looked at Christiana, seated across from Malachi. “Enough about me, though. Have you finally settled on a date for the wedding yet, Christiana?”

  Christiana had been quiet throughout the meal, but gave Adeline a small smile. “We have settled on October, but we have not yet decided which day. Hopefully, we will be able to nail it down this week.”

  “When do we get to meet your fiancée?” Charlie asked the question nonchalantly, but Malachi knew more was behind it. Last he heard, there was still no concrete proof of the fiancée’s complicity in any crime.

  Christiana’s small smile slipped. “I do not know. Perhaps soon.”

  After dessert, the immediate family went back into the sitting room while the others left for the airport and their return flights home.

  Nana Yvette stood near the fireplace, an envelope in her hand. “Antonio, it has been fifty years since you entered this world, screaming your displeasure for all to hear. Sometimes, you still do that.” Everyone laughed, and his father had the good grace to look sheepish. “There was someone else who did not give you a letter, though I am not certain you realized it.”

  Malachi’s stomach clenched as Jessabelle stiffened at his side. Why would she mention that?

  “But no matter.” Nana handed over the envelope. “What I have to tell you in this letter will change everything you think you know about your family. It is time you know. It is time everyone in this room knows. It is time for the past to be unhidden.”

  His father laughed uncomfortably. “What a wonderful thing to hear on my birthday, Grandmother.”

  She stared at him. “Oh, please. If this would ruin your birthday, I would not have done it. Do you not trust me to only have the best interests of you and your family at heart?”

  “I suppose.” He loosened t
he flap and pulled out a piece of high quality family stationary. He read the first piece of paper, the blood draining from his face, and he turned white as a ghost. “You knew this?” he whispered. “All these years? You knew, and you never told me?”

  “What good would it have done?”

  Malachi exchanged a look with his brother, who simply shrugged.

  “Keep reading,” Nana Yvette admonished.

  His father must have reached the bottom of the page because he slid it behind the other piece of paper. If possible, his face turned even whiter.

  “Are you serious?” he asked his grandmother.

  “Quite.”

  His father stood. “You knew I had another child?” His face turned red. “You knew who it was? And you let this happen?”

  Malachi blinked and felt his own face blanch. William and Yvette had similar looks on their faces. None of them knew what was going on. Malachi glanced at his mother. She stared at the floor, her hands clasped tightly in her lap.

  “You knew she was my daughter?”

  What? Who?

  His father’s voice grew louder, and he pointed their direction. “She is my daughter?”

  Nana Yvette remained calm and nodded. “Yes. She is.”

  Chapter 34

  “What do you mean Jessabelle is my daughter?” King Antonio roared.

  Jessabelle shrunk into the shadows. She may have stood up for herself to her husband some in the last couple of days, but just then all she wanted was to sink into a hole in the floor and disappear.

  But could what he was saying be the truth?

  Could she be King Antonio’s daughter?

  And did that make Malachi...

  Her stomach revolted at the unfinished thought.

  Former queen Yvette stood her ground in front of her red-faced grandson. “Do not yell at me, Antonio. You might be the king, but I am your grandmother, and you will show me the respect I am due. Are we quite clear?”

  It took a minute, but the king seemed to calm down a bit.

  “Besides, if you’re not careful, your blood pressure will kill you. I doubt William is quite ready for the throne just yet.”

  “I’d prefer to wait.” William’s voice came from somewhere to Jessabelle’s right.

  “Hold on.” Malachi had buried his face in his hands but now lifted it. “Are you saying Jessabelle is my...” He couldn’t complete the thought any more than Jessabelle had been able to.

  The king’s face blanched, the color draining from it as quickly as it had come. The implications became clear to them all. Jessabelle looked for a rubbish can, but found none. Not in a palace.

  “Oh, fiddlesticks.” Nana Yvette waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t you trust me more than that? Do you really think I would have encouraged the arrangement if I believed for one moment that you two were related?”

  Her mind couldn’t keep up with the rapid revelations.

  Malachi stood. “Wait. You’re saying Jessabelle is my father’s daughter, but we’re not related?”

  Jessabelle’s eyes went wide as Malachi reached the conclusion before she did.

  “How is that even possible?” Her husband stood with his hands on his hips, looking down at his much smaller grandmother.

  “I think you need to sit down, Malachi.” Queen Alicia wiped the tears coming from her eyes. “It is time for all of you to know something. Your father has known for many years, but I did not know Nana Yvette knew until a few minutes ago.”

  Queen Alicia perched on the edge of the ornate setee. King Antonio sat next to her, taking one of her hands in both of his. He let go with one hand and wrapped it around her waist. “Let me start, love.” He kissed the side of her head. “All of you know I was not the best husband for many years. I had a long-term affair that had to be the worst kept secret ever. Twenty years ago, when your mother told me this story, it scared me straight. I told the other woman it was over. I told her that as long as she moved to the States or somewhere equally far away, I would give her enough money to live comfortably for years. When I told her the whole story you’re about to hear, she agreed. I have not seen nor heard from her until she was here a few weeks ago.”

  “Why was she here?” William asked the question.

  Antonio sighed. “To tell me something it turns out my grandmother had known for years. A few days after that last conversation, she found out she was pregnant with my child. She gave birth and immediately gave the baby up for adoption. She has since married and had a son with her husband. They recently discovered their son has a chromosomal disorder called X-MEN Disease. It has something to do with how the body processes magnesium and if the body does not process it correctly, the individual is more susceptible to certain kinds of infections and cancers. She’s a carrier. All of her sons will have fifty percent chance of having this disease, and all of her daughters have a fifty percent chance of carrying it.”

  “And she wanted your help finding this kid?” William asked. “To make sure he or she knows about this?”

  “Correct. The working theory is that increased magnesium consumption will help. If the body only processes ten percent of the magnesium ingested, then by increasing the magnesium by ten times, the body will have what it normally needs. At least that is my understanding.”

  “You had no idea?” Malachi asked. “No clue she’d had your child?”

  The king shook his head. “I had no idea. I did not even know where to begin to look. She gave me the information she had. The child shared my birthday, was born in Ravenzario, and she never even knew if the child was a boy or a girl. She was assured the child would be raised by a loving family here in Mevendia.”

  Jessabelle could stay silent no longer. “And I’m the child?”

  “It would seem so,” he answered with a sigh. “A DNA test would be required to know for certain.”

  “Oh, posh.” Nana Yvette waved her hand. “I had that test done years ago. She’s your daughter.”

  Everyone in the room simply stared at the older woman.

  “She had been my assistant, once upon a time. She knew I would not approve of the affair and voluntarily left my employ not long after it started, but before it became public. When she found out she was pregnant, she did not have anywhere else to turn. I made sure she was comfortable in Ravenzario and that the adoption took place. I knew of your promise to Mr. Keller, and I knew how devastated he and his wife were to not have children of their own. They never knew who her biological parents are.”

  “So you helped arrange the adoption?” Antonio asked his grandmother.

  “I did.”

  Jessabelle struggled to assimilate the information. To find out she was the king’s daughter was overwhelming, to say the least. Did that mean she was a princess by birthright and not simply through marriage? Marriage to her...she still couldn’t think it.

  And it hit her. “That’s why you told me I would always be loved, isn’t it?”

  Nana Yvette gave her a gentle smile. “You remember that?”

  Jessabelle nodded. “You told me I would always, always, be loved.”

  “Because I knew, even if this never came to light, I would love you because you, dear girl, are my great-granddaughter.”

  Malachi cut in. “None of that explains how Jessabelle and I are not related.”

  * * *

  Malachi sat on the edge of the chair. At two hundred years old, it had surely seen its share of drama, but this time, Malachi was directly involved.

  And he couldn’t make any sense of it.

  Jessabelle was his father’s daughter but he wasn’t related to her?

  How, in any universe, did that make any sense at all?

  His mother wiped a couple more tears off her cheeks. “Everyone knew about the affair. I’d come here at one point to think. I seriously considered leaving your father, even though I knew it could cost him the throne someday. At that point I did not much care. While here, I did some drinking. An ancillary member of my staff, one I
never spent much time with, drank with me. The next day he transferred to a staff position in our embassy in Ravenzario. I had unsettling dreams about that night, but I could never quite put my finger on what happened. Life went on. Malachi was born. A few years later, that aide was transferred back to the palace.” She took a deep breath before continuing. “The first time I saw him after he got back, I had a panic attack.”

  “I was with her.” His father wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “It scared the life out of me. It was a complete breakdown, but fortunately not in public. It took nearly a full day before she was able to articulate what it was. A visceral fear of this man.”

  “What happened?” Barely concealed fury tinged William’s voice.

  Their father continued. “The security team questioned him and finally he admitted what he’d done.”

  Malachi made himself look at his parents. “What?” His hoarse voice sounded odd to his own ears.

  “He was in love with the other woman and had been since they were young. To get back at me for ‘forcing’ her into an affair-his words, not mine or hers-he drugged my wife and raped her.” Malachi’s heart ripped as his mother’s shoulders shook in silent sobs. “She had no idea, just that this man scared her on the most basic, even unconscious, level. He’s been in prison for twenty years and when he’s released in a few years, he’ll be exiled from the commonwealth.”

  And none of this explained how he wasn’t related to Jessabelle.

  Or...

  Malachi’s heart constricted. “He’s my father?” he whispered, trying to push the thought as far away as he possibly could.

  Nana Yvette rested her hand on Malachi’s shoulder. “Yes, love. I had the testing done years ago, before your mother even suspected. I did, but I didn’t want to tell her, to remind her, if she did not already remember on her own.”

  His mother lifted her tear-streaked face. “You have known for years who Malachi’s biological father is?” She looked at her husband. “We have never known for certain.”

  The former queen stretched to her full height. “What good would it have done for anyone to know? Antonio, would you have loved him any less?”