by Jenny Frame
Lex walked over to the steel and Perspex railing that surrounded the roof area and looked out over the London skyline, and let out a long breath.
She closed her eyes and concentrated on the sounds around her and her breathing. Serenity wasn’t Lex’s natural state. She was impulsive and didn’t deal with stress well, but these flaws in her character were something she was well-practised in attempting to keep under control.
Lex looked down at the tattooed date on her wrist under her watch and felt the fear of losing that control. Losing control had taken her down a dark road before and she never, ever wanted to go there again. She couldn’t shake the feeling she was on the verge of a storm that was brewing, but Lex promised herself that she would use every tool she had to ride out whatever was coming her way.
*
The Denbourg royal plane was coming in to land at Heathrow. Roza caught her new lady-in-waiting, Lady Linton, gazing at her and said, “Is there something I can help you with? You keep gawking at me like I’m some exotic animal at the zoo.”
Despite the sharpness of her tone, Lady Linton—Perri, as she had instructed everyone to call her—smiled and said, “Forgive me, ma’am, but you look so much like your mother. She was my best friend and I haven’t seen you since you were a baby. It’s a surprise to see so much of her in you.”
Roza shifted uncomfortably in her seat. There it was again, that feeling of inadequacy. Everyone who had known her mother saw a facsimile of Queen Maria, but were then disappointed in Roza’s character.
She had felt her new lady-in-waiting’s eyes on her quite a few times since they had met last night, and it was beginning to annoy her. Lady Linton was an elegantly put together older lady, who had fashionably let her hair go silvery grey but looked remarkably young for her age.
The flight from Denbourg’s capital to London was fast, but Roza’s anger and resentment seemed to grow with every second of the journey. She was being sent into exile by her family, the ones who were supposed to love her the most, and stripped of all her friends.
Her bad mood wasn’t helped by Perri. They had already come into conflict that morning when she had laid out a rather sober looking outfit for traveling in. Roza completely ignored her advice and wore the shortest minidress she had, short enough that eyes, as well as the flashes of photographers, followed her all the way through Battendorf airport.
At the time, she had gotten satisfaction from the thought of her father seeing the pictures on the newspaper sites he read over breakfast, but now she just felt empty and a little silly in a dress more suitable for clubbing than meeting with her cousins.
Major Ravn and her team started to take their places by the exit as the plane taxied into the royal terminal.
Roza stood up and got her handbag from the overhead locker, her resentment growing arms and legs. She looked down at Perri and said, “I’m sure I’m a great disappointment to you, Perri. No one can compare to the perfect Queen Maria, can they?”
She walked towards the plane doors without looking back, and felt shame at what she’d just said. Shame that she resented the woman who’d given her life to give Roza hers. As usual she gulped down the bad feelings and put a fake smile on her face as she walked down the stairs. Ravn and her second in command, Johann, waited at the bottom while the others lined the red carpet up to the terminal.
Years of training kicked in, and Roza politely shook hands with the airport reception committee.
As she walked up the red carpet she spotted Prince Theo waiting for her. Roza hurried the last few steps and threw her arms around one of her favourite cousins.
“Theo! I’m so happy to see you.”
Prince Theo spun her round in a circle and gave her a kiss. “Roza, did you forget to put on part of your dress?”
Roza laughed. “Oh, this is just to annoy Father. How are you, big cousin?”
“I’m very well. All the better, now you’re here.”
She placed her hands on his cheeks and was serious for a moment. “Are you really okay? All recovered?”
A little under a year ago there had been an assassination attempt on Theo and his sister, and Theo got the worst of it.
Theo smiled and took hold of her arms. “I’m quite well. I get enough fussing over me by Georgie, Bea, and Mama, without you as well. Come on, let’s get going.”
Roza and Theo were escorted to their waiting car. Major Ravn held the door open and closed it once they were in.
“Your Major Ravn looks quite scary, Roza. I don’t think anyone would dare try to go through her to you,” Theo joked.
“Yes, she is a little serious. I think she saves up her smiles for her private life. So? Where to first?”
“We’re going for tea with Bea, Granny, and Mama at Buck house—Georgie has a full day of engagements unfortunately.”
“I’ll need to go and get changed first, Theo. I can’t meet them dressed like this.” Roza could almost feel Perri say, I told you so, and it aggravated her.
“Don’t worry. We’ve got time. I’m to take you to your apartments first. Georgie has organized for you to stay next to me in St James’s Palace.”
“Wonderful! We can get up to all sorts of mischief.”
Roza laid her head against his shoulder. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to see out her exile here in Britain. It would be nice to be back with the Buckingham side of the family. They were a real family, unlike her own, and she instantly started to relax. “What club are you taking me to tonight then?” George, Bea, and her aunt might be domestic, but cousin Theo was a kindred spirit and could always be relied upon to organize a wild night out.
Theo sighed. “Unfortunately I can’t take you out tonight. I have a full day of engagements tomorrow.”
Roza sat up and looked at him pointedly. “Since when do you take on so many royal engagements, and when do you not want to go out to a club?”
“Since I realized it was time to grow up,” Theo said seriously.
“Theo, you can still have fun—”
“Roza, I nearly died last year, and even worse, someone tried to kill my sister, all because Julian…”
Roza saw the haunted look in his eyes when he mentioned his treacherous cousin’s name. She took his hand in support.
He continued. “All because someone in my family didn’t know their place, and their responsibilities to the head of our family. When I was lying in hospital, I promised myself that if I recovered, I would throw myself into royal responsibilities and support George and Bea as best I could.”
Roza smiled and gave him a kiss on his cheek. “I can’t fault you for that, Theo.”
Somewhere deep inside, Theo’s heartfelt declaration chimed with her. Was that what she should be doing? Then she pictured the disappointment on her father’s face yesterday, and her defiant anger returned.
“Don’t worry, big cousin.” Roza grinned gleefully. “I’ll have enough fun for both of us.”
“I don’t doubt it.” Theo laughed.
Chapter Four
Bea sat at the ornate dressing table in her bedroom while her friend and dresser-stylist Holly Weaver added the finishing touches to her hair.
Holly rested her chin lightly on Bea’s shoulder. “What do you think?”
“Perfect as always, Holls. Just like the outfit you picked out for me. I don’t know what I’d do without you,” Bea said, smiling.
When George, Bea, and their advisors had made plans for her new staff as Queen Consort, the post of dresser had been the one position that had irked her natural socialist tendencies the most. The thought of having someone whose whole job was to dress her every day…well, she just couldn’t comprehend that. Bea had dressed and looked after herself her whole life, and she didn’t want to change now, but she wasn’t naive.
She knew that logistically she couldn’t shop personally for the constant stream of outfits and accessories she would need, far less take care of them. Her best friend and new private secretary, Lali, had suggested offering Holly t
he role and combining it with being Bea’s hair and make-up person. Both she and George had thought it a wonderful idea. It meant the people at the heart of Bea’s team were those she trusted without question, and they would never talk to the press.
Holly spent her time planning Bea’s wardrobe, purchasing and ordering from designers, and taking care of the Queen Consort personally. Bea felt so lucky to have her friends around her as she took on this enormous role. The only friend not around her every day was Greta, who had her own family to take care of, but the friends made sure they had a girls’ night every month, Bea’s schedule permitting, to keep their bond tight.
“You would be gorgeous as you always have been, Your Majesty,” Holly said.
Bea sprayed on some perfume and said jokingly, “Holls, if you call me Your Majesty one more time, I’m going to get Georgie to send you to the Tower of London.”
Holly rubbed her hands in excitement. “Oh, all those Beefeaters all to myself? Yes, please, Your Maj.”
Their laughter was interrupted by a brief knock and Lali walking into the room. “Princess Rozala and Prince Theo’s car has arrived, Bea.” She checked her computer pad. “You have ninety minutes to meet with them, and then we need to leave for your afternoon appointment at the city farm and then on to St. Wilfred’s care home.”
Bea nudged Holly. “You see what a slave driver she is, and this is a reasonably quiet day.”
Holly crossed her arms and raised a quizzical eyebrow. “Yeah, Lali, are you this strict with your dashing officer, Captain Cameron?”
“No, I am not, Holls. Well…not much, and if I didn’t keep you on schedule, Bea, you’d never, ever be on time for anything.”
Bea chuckled. That was true. She did have a reputation in her new family for taking the longest to work her way through a crowd, meeting and talking to people. She just couldn’t walk away thinking she had missed a child or an adult who had waited all day to see her.
“You’re right as always, Lali.”
“So what’s this princess like, Bea?” Holly asked. “Is she as wild as the press say she is?”
Bea stood up and smoothed down her dress. “No, I don’t think so. She was lovely when I met her at the wedding. Georgie says she’s had a difficult childhood and just needs to be around family. I better go, Holls. Lali has me on the clock. See you later.”
She looked over to the bed where Rex, her faithful Labrador, lay sleeping with his teddy bear toy. The rest of George’s dogs, Shadow and Baxter, were out being walked by one of the staff, but Rex wanted to stay by her side.
He had taken a shine to Bea since they’d first met and now was basically hers. “Rexie, are you coming too, or do you want to go out walkies?”
Rex was up like a shot and by Bea’s side in a second.
“I think that’s his answer, Bea. That dog adores you.” Lali laughed.
Bea stroked his soft head. “That’s because his mummy loves him, don’t I, Rexie?”
Rex licked her hand in return, and Holly said, “Seriously, you’re getting soft or maybe broody.”
Bea rolled her eyes. “Don’t even mention that word. The country and George think of nothing else. Come on, Rexie.”
They left Holly and walked briskly down the long ornate corridors of Buckingham Palace, Rex following behind. Footmen and footwomen and cleaning staff bowed and curtsied as they passed. Royal protocol calling for the deference of others was something she thought she’d never totally get used to, or wrap her mind around.
Since becoming George’s wife, she’d had to do a lot of wrapping her mind around new things. Her life had changed overnight. She had expected it to, but nothing quite prepared you for the reality. No matter how much her life had changed, her freedom restricted, she would do it again gladly just to be by George’s side.
There had never been someone like her in the role of Queen Consort. So she had to find a way to make the role her own. To justify her position to herself and the people, she had to treat this as a real job, and Lali had been instrumental in helping her to do that.
In a certain sense her role was similar to what she had done her whole working life, working for charities. Only now it was on a much larger scale, shining a light on lots of different causes and raising money. As sceptical as she had been, Bea had seen the evidence for herself. Just by her endorsing a charity and making an official visit, donations increased by at least fifty per cent.
Bea looked at her friend beside her, walking while working on her computer pad furiously. Lali was as much the reason for her success as Queen Consort as she was, and she didn’t know where she’d be without her. Sometimes though, she felt guilty at taking Lali away from her own important charity directorship.
“Lali?”
“Uh-huh?” Lali said, only half listening while she worked.
“Do you ever regret coming to work with me?” Bea asked.
Lali slowed and gave her a questioning look. “Regret it? It’s the best thing I’ve ever done. This job we’re doing…we’re earning more money for all the causes we care about than we could ever have done before. This is important work. Added to that, I’m working for my best friend, travelling the world, and getting time to spend with Cammy.”
“I’m so glad you’ve found happiness with Cammy, Lali. You deserve someone to love you the way she will.”
The doors to the drawing room were just up ahead, and two footmen, one male and one female, flanked either side of the doors.
Lali slowed and stopped before they were in earshot of the staff, and said, “But I’m taking it slowly, Bea. She’s never had one woman in her life before and when the honeymoon period ends, she might feel differently about me.”
Bea could understand Lali’s fear, but Cammy had loyalty embedded deeply inside her. She would die for George, and someone capable of such loyalty didn’t take love for granted.
“Lali, she might have been a ladies’ woman but she didn’t make any promises to them—and I believe she has made promises to you. Am I right?”
Lali blushed and nodded. “And she’s not pressurizing me about going slowly. She’s happy taking things at my pace, which is a change from other people I’ve gone out with.”
“That’s because she knows how lucky she is. She’s a keeper, Lali. Don’t let her go.”
“I won’t. Anyway, Mum and Dad like her too much.”
Lali’s parents were old-fashioned only in the sense that they demanded a lot from their daughter’s potential suitors, so if they liked Captain Cameron, Lali had a winner.
They arrived at the drawing room and Lali went off to meet Princess Rozala and Prince Theo downstairs and conduct them to the Queen Consort.
The doors were opened and Bea strode into the room. She smiled when she saw the Dowager Queen Adrianna and Sofia, the Queen Mother. The two royal matriarchs couldn’t have been more welcoming of her into the family. Bea didn’t come from a big family, so to have those two ladies and Theo to love her was a wonderful feeling.
Queen Adrianna and Queen Sofia even went so far as having afternoon tea with her mother Sarah every week, to make her feel part of the family, and that meant the world to Bea.
Adrianna and Sofia rose as she entered the room, and Bea had to stop her instinct to curtsy to the older matriarchs. Both women had gently chastised her for it so many times that she was finally getting the message. To them, she was not only George’s wife but the Queen Consort, now second only to George in order of royal precedence.
Bea kissed them each on the cheek. “Good morning, Granny, Mama. Thank you for coming.”
“You look beautiful as always, Bea,” Queen Adrianna said.
“Thank you.”
Rex bounded up to Sofia when he saw her and gave her a kiss. He had been her husband’s most trusted friend and a big part of her life.
Queen Sofia ruffled his ears and said, “Hello, Rex. Are you behaving yourself?”
“He is perfectly behaved, and getting more confident by the day. George is real
ly pleased with him.” As soon as he acknowledged Sofia he ran to join the Dowager Queen’s dogs on the other side of the room.
“George mentioned you had a plan for Roza, Bea,” Sofia said.
“Yes, I’m new to this world of royal duty, but to me the best way to show her what duty means and to show her how important her role is would be to work for charity. Not just a visit and unveiling a plaque, but a proper nine-to-five job.”
“That sounds excellent. A bit of hard work will do her good, less time to go to parties with her friends,” Adrianna said.
“At your old charity Timmy’s?” Sofia asked.
Bea nodded and smiled. “I think the director there, Lennox King, will be a great help to her. She’s driven, professional, and unlikely to be affected by Roza’s royal position.”
“It’s certainly worth a try. She could lose her way even more if we don’t get through to her. She’s a hurt little girl, and my brother-in-law Christian has made it worse over the years. I need to see her succeed and find happiness, for the sake of my sister Maria. Not to mention how hard this arms scandal has hit Denbourg itself.”
Bea pressed a discreet button on a side table to signal Lali to bring in their guest. “If nothing else we can show her a warm, loving family.”
*
Prince Theo and Princess Rozala followed Lali up a grand palace staircase to be taken to meet with the rest of the family.
“How’s Gussy, Roza? Getting ready for his big day?” Theo asked.
Roza rolled her eyes. “You could say that. The country has gone crazy over it. I’m glad to see him so happy.”
Theo turned his head to her and said, “I feel a but coming.”
Roza sighed. “Not really, you know we’ve always been close but lately we’ve drifted apart. He’s been so busy.”
“I know how hard it is to keep up your family when they have commitments and travelling all over the world. George and I always make an effort to call each other each week, wherever we are.”
They reached the top of the staircase. “When I met Thea and began to see her, Gussy and I argued a lot and it became easier just to not call him back. Now, I don’t know if that closeness will ever return.”