The Crown Jewels

by Honey Palomino

  “Bertolf,” I asked. “Do you know where Will is?”

  “The entire Royal Family is in a meeting, Madam Rose,” he replied.

  “A meeting? Do you know when he will be out?”

  “I do not, Madam. Shall I tell the Prince you’re searching for him?”

  “No, that’s okay, thank you.”

  “Would you like some breakfast, Madam?”

  I looked at the huge table, filled with heaping bowls of fruits and breads and pastries, and realized I was starving. Aunt Ora was the only one sitting there, quietly nibbling on a croissant.

  “Yes, please,” I replied, sitting at the table. “Hello,” I said to her. She smiled serenely and nodded.

  “Are you enjoying your stay, Madam?” Bertolf asked as he began to pour orange juice into a sparkling crystal and gold trimmed glass.

  “Yes,” I lied. What was I going to say? No? I was tormented every second, and completely torn from one minute to the next on which way to turn? That if I felt Will’s lips on my neck one more time, I was going to bow down and devour every inch of him?

  None of that seemed anywhere near appropriate, so I kept my mouth shut.

  “You should visit the palace theatre while you’re here, it’s quite lovely.”

  “Thank you, Bertolf,” I replied.

  “If you’d like I can arrange for one of the staff to escort you there later,” he said. Going anywhere with one of the staff felt more uncomfortable than anything.

  “I’m sure Will can show me later,” I replied. “Or Catherine,” I added.

  “Perhaps, Madam. I anticipate the Royal Family will be very preoccupied today, however.”

  Willy finished his breakfast and ran over to me. He put his paw up on my knee, and I remembered how Will had taught him to shake hands for his first trick. I reached out and he put his paw in my hand.

  “Good boy, Willy,” I whispered, petting him. Bertolf retreated to the kitchen again, leaving Willy and I alone with Aunt Ora. Willy laid at my feet and put his head on the ground.

  It felt weird sitting there all by myself with her.

  “So you kissed a toad,” she said, her voice so soft and broken I could barely understand her.

  “A toad?”

  “Yes, last night. In the snow, darling.”

  “Oh, well…,” my voice trailed off. “A toad, ma’am?”

  “Prince Will is still a toad. Someday your prince will come.”

  I nodded, completely bewildered as to what she was trying to say. Instead of asking, I just smiled.

  After that, she just smiled off into space.

  Bertolf had filled my plate with croisants, fruit, eggs and sausage. It was all so delicious, and my discomfort soon disappeared. Before I knew it, I’d forgotten all about Aunt Ora and I was lost in far away memories. Memories of a happier time. Memories of a time that was long gone, but seemed to still be able to conjure up feelings that I rarely indulged in.

  I was walking out of the cafeteria the first time I heard his voice.

  “Excuse me? Are you Julia?”

  Besides Sally, nobody ever talked to me. Somedays I was convinced I was invisible at Brown, but I liked it that way. I was there to study, not socialize. I couldn’t say the same thing about my classmates.

  When I turned towards the voice to reply, I stumbled when I saw him. He wasn’t just handsome, although that was certainly the case, there was something more about him, something worldly, an air of confidence that oozed off him. He stood there smiling at me like we were already best friends.

  “Julia, right?”

  “Yes,” I replied, my voice cracking.

  “I thought so! You’re a tutor, right? I saw your flyer on the library community billboard. Physics? Calculus?”

  “Oh, yes, of course,” I replied. I’d put that flyer up weeks ago, hoping to make a little extra money, but nobody had responded.

  “I’m Will,” he said, holding out his hand. I reached out automatically, his warm hand enclosing mine. His blue eyes felt like they were peering into my soul. “I go to RISD.”

  “Nice to meet you,” I replied.

  “You, too. I’m in the Film department.” I nodded, and the wondering began. Why was he talking to me? How did he know I was the same person who posted that flyer? We stood outside the doors of the cafeteria as I tried to figure out why this insanely beautiful creature was speaking to me.

  “I can’t believe I have to take calculus for a film degree,” he continued, running his long, slender fingers through his light brown hair, pushing it away from his piercing blue eyes. I’d never seen eyes that blue before and he used them like a weapon. Hypnotizing me, rendering me speechless.

  “It’s not my strongest area,” he was still talking. I couldn’t help but stare at him, watching his long, black, fringy eyelashes wave at me with every other word he spoke. “I could use some help.”

  After a moment, I realized he had stopped talking. He looked at me expectantly, his face a study in sensuality. His strong square jaw was sprinkled with stubble, his lips full and inviting. When I realized I was staring at them, I tore my eyes away quickly.

  “I’m sorry, did you ask me something?”

  “Tutoring? Are you still available?”

  “Oh, right. Really?” I managed to squeak out. “Me?”

  “Yours was the only flyer that offered calculus tutoring.”

  “Of course, right. Sure, okay,” I responded. I couldn’t think of a way out of this, and with lips like that I was sure to screw it all up. But there I was, agreeing to tutor Will.

  Will. It was so simple that day, when all he was was Will-the-film-student, and I was just Julia-the-calculus-nerd. Before I knew who he was. Before we started dating. Before we made love. Before he broke my heart. Before our parents decided to force our lives together again. Before I slapped him.

  As soon as Sally heard I was tutoring him, she filled me in quickly. She knew all kinds of things about my new tutee, and she gave me every detail about his life. After our initial tutoring session, which took place at his loft in the Jewelry District of Providence, she demanded I tell her everything he had said and describe every piece of furniture in his loft. Not that there was much to tell.

  Will lived sparsely, explaining that he loved the minimalistic look because it was the exact opposite of where he’d been raised. By then, I already knew who he was, and in between moments of trying to get him to focus on calculus, I asked him to tell me stories about life in Sweden.

  Nothing he told me could have prepared me for the extreme opulence of the palace he grew up in.

  Sally warned me not to get involved with him. Once she saw that I was falling for him, she warned me about his reputation. But nothing she said could have prepared me for everything that happened. How could have anyone predicted that?

  He got under my skin quickly and easily, turning me on with just one look, making me laugh like a schoolgirl at every turn, making my stomach flutter with just a wink. When he asked me out, I thought I was dreaming.

  “Here it’s asking us to make a rough sketch of the derivative of the function graphed below…”

  “Go on a date with me.”

  “Huh?” I asked, certain I was hearing things. He’d been staring at me intently since I’d arrived for our third tutoring session, and we were sitting next to each other on his couch. I was trying to ignore the heat of his gaze, but it was next to impossible. His thigh was pressed against mine, and I had been doing my best to ignore it.

  The thing was he didn’t act like a Prince, and that’s what I liked about him. He dressed casually, he was down-to-earth and funny. Besides his Jaguar, he didn’t have a lot of material possessions that I had seen so far.

  Never in a million years did I think his niceness was anything more than just being polite.

  “I like you, Julia. A lot. It feels good to be around you.”

  “Will, I don’t think —,”

  “—don’t think. Just say yes. We’ll do s
omething fun, I promise.” His smile was so genuine, and he looked downright hopeful. How could I have said no?

  If only I had.

  If only the girl back then knew what was coming. If only I’d have had some indication that ten years later I’d be sitting here at this huge table with a zombied-out Aunt Ora and eating croissants made by the palace chef, I’d have said no.

  But I didn’t. I said yes. And I said yes again. And again. And again.

  In fact, I’d done more than said yes. I’d begged him for things I never even thought of before, but once he showed me the ecstasy that my body was capable of, those long nights alone with him in his bed, I’d have begged him for anything. I’d have done anything he asked. Anything he wanted. Anything that pleased him.

  His status as a member of the Royal Family had nothing to do with any of it. It didn’t get in the way. It barely even registered most of the time. No, my submission was purely a physical reaction to the sheer seductive magic he was capable of, and nothing more.

  He seduced me. And I let him.

  So who’s fault was that?

  Not much had changed, I realized, when I thought of last night. He’d pulled me out of my shell once again, hell, he’d ripped me right out of it.

  Just like I’d ripped us out of the moment with that hard slap across his face. I felt terrible about it now. In fact, I couldn’t wait to apologize to him.

  If only he’d get out of this meeting so I could do just that.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  WILL

  “Someone stole my crown!” My mother’s voice bounced off the walls of her chamber, full of panic and anger. “That’s what they’re saying!”

  My mother’s living room was full of men from the SAPO, the Säkerhetspolisen, which is the security force that protects the Royal Family.

  “Mother, calm down, I’m sure there’s a mistake,” I replied, my mind racing as I tried to take my own advice. I’d left Jewels in the vault last night alone, and as the full realization of the possibility that we were to blame for this began to dawn on me, I felt sick.

  “There’s no mistake, Wilhelm!”

  “How is that possible? The vault is totally secure!” I stopped short of saying I was in there last night. Before I went back to the party, I had gone into the security room and deleted the footage of our little tryst.

  But not until I watched it for myself first, and I have to admit, it turned me on to relive those few moments. I couldn’t help but reach into my pants and pull out my cock. I’d been hard so damned long, and watching the look that crossed Jewel’s face as I pressed myself into her just pushed me over the edge. I spent the next twenty minutes watching it over and over until I found some relief. After I was finished, I’d gone back down to the party with the images of Jewels swimming through my head, and my cheek still stinging from her slap.

  But I’d never even thought to go back and make sure she’d closed the door to the fucking vault.

  I was beyond mortified, especially now that the jewels were missing. But I wasn’t about to open my mouth and claim responsibility. I’d deleted the footage. Nobody would ever know we were there, and I wasn’t about to tell them.

  My mother was enraged, though.

  “How could this happen, Dankvart?” Mom turned to the large, obviously shaken man standing next to her. “I blame you for this!”

  Dankvart Dagfin was the Main Guard at Drottningholm Palace, and had been with us for the last twenty years. Nothing like this had ever happened before, and we were all shocked.

  Someone had come in after Jewels and I left and took her oldest crown. Priceless heirloom gems, gone. An irreplaceable historical artifact, vanished.

  “Your Majesty, I assure you, we will leave no stone unturned. We will not rest until we recover the crown. I have no idea how this happened, the vault was tightly secured when we closed it for the day before the party. We’ll be sure and check the video surveillance immediately.”

  “You haven’t done that yet?” Mom exclaimed. “Get out! Don’t come back until you have answers for me.”

  The men filed out one by one, but not before the largest of the guys from the SAPO turned around to address us again.

  “Your Majesty, rest assured, the party responsible for this will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

  I ignored the fact that my heart was about to jump right out of my chest. Everything was going to be okay, I told myself.

  I erased the tapes. Jewels and I were in the clear.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  JEWELS

  After breakfast, I went back to my room and grabbed my big purple coat. I took a walk in the gardens, doing my best to clear my head. I was rehearsing what I was going to say to Will, but everything was coming out all wrong.

  I was so torn. I wanted him. I didn’t want him. It all felt so right, but it was all so wrong. The entire thing was impossible, so why was I so torn about it? There was only one realistic option for us, and that was to keep our hands…and lips and everything else…off of each other. Why did that seem like the worst possible outcome?

  Maybe if there’d really been a baby, I wouldn’t even think about forgiving him. But to be honest, I understood why he fled. I didn’t agree with it, but I understood. If I could have fled, I would have, too.

  We were both so young. And youth makes you do foolish things. Apparently, living in a castle and being forced to be in close proximity with your princely ex-boyfriend made you do foolish things, too. Like kiss him. And then slap him for it.

  I certainly felt foolish, that was for sure. Luckily, the only people who knew what I was going through were Will and Sally. And I knew they would never tell anyone.

  If keeping a secret was the key to keeping my dignity, then so be it. I wasn’t afraid of secrets. I could handle secrets.

  What I couldn’t handle was public humiliation, and as long as I was avoiding that, then I could handle almost anything.

  I made my way back towards the palace. My father was due to pick me up for lunch soon, and I was hoping to get a few moments alone with Will to talk before he arrived. I stopped short when I saw the group of men walking out of the palace. Serious, stoic and suited in expensive clothes, they looked very official.

  A few seconds later, Will emerged as well, and lit up a cigarette. I’d never seen him smoke before, in fact, I had no idea he smoked at all. I was slightly turned off, but I told myself it was none of my business. Will could do what he wanted.

  His face remained serious when he saw me, and that’s when I knew something was dreadfully wrong. Will always greeted me with a smile, no matter what. He lifted his hand to take another drag off the cigarette, and I saw that his hand was shaking.

  “Will?” I asked, walking up to him.

  “Hey,” he replied.

  “Hey,” I said softly. “What’s going on? I didn’t know you smoked.”

  “I don’t.”

  “You okay?” I asked.

  “No, not really,” he said slowly. He waited until the black SUV’S the men had loaded themselves into drove away and then turned to me. “We need to talk.” He looked around, and then grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the front door.

  “Will, what’s going on? Who were those men?”

  “There’s been a burglary,” he whispered.

  “What?” I asked. “Where?”

  “Here. At the palace. The vault was burglarized last night.”

  “The vault? What vault?”

  “The vault we were in. My mother’s crown was taken. The case was cleaned out.”

  “What!” How could this be? I replayed the events of the evening in my head, seeing Will place the emerald necklace around my neck, his smile when he posed with the crown on his head. I saw him kissing me, his roaming hands setting me ablaze with desire, and I saw his face when I slapped him. I saw him leaving, and me following shortly after.

  “We didn’t close the door!” I exclaimed.

  “Shhh!” Will
said, putting a finger over my lips. “I took care of everything.”

  “What do you mean? The crown is gone!”

  “The video,” he said.

  “Video? There’s video? Oh, my God, Will!” I felt sick. I was sure I was going to puke right there on his Italian leather loafers.

  “Not anymore. Stop talking, Jewels. Listen to me, very carefully, okay?”

  I nodded, speechless, as I tried desperately to keep the panic at bay.

  “My mother hates the idea of video surveillance. She only allows it in the vault, and nowhere else in the palace. It’s absurd, but she insists. But after you left last night, I went to the security room and erased the surveillance video of us there. Unfortunately, my idiotic brain didn’t think to go close the fucking door, so this is totally my fault.”

  “No, Will, it’s my fault,” I insisted. “I left last. I should have closed the door! I just - I was so upset - and I - oh, God, Will, what have I done?” I cried.

  “Stop it, Jewels. I won’t let you take the blame for this. I promise you that everything is going to be okay.”

  “But, how?”

  “I only deleted the part of the video that had us in it. It’s set up to automatically record movement. Whoever stole the jewels will be on that video. The SOPA just took the hard drive to investigate it. So, don’t worry. They’re very good at their jobs. They’ll figure out who took them and get the jewels back. And nobody will ever know we were in there.”

  “I hope you’re right,” I replied. Tears of fear and frustration began to fall down my face.

  “Oh, Jewels, don’t cry. Everything will be okay, hjärtat, I promise.”

  When he opened his arms, I walked right into them.

  “I’m so sorry I slapped you,” I said, my words muffled by his massive arms surrounding me.

  “I deserved it. You can slap me again, if you want.”

  “This is no time to joke,” I said, laughing in spite of myself.

  “Anytime I can make you laugh is the right time,” he said, staring down at me. I smiled, sighed, and put my head on his chest, letting his warmth envelope me, hoping he was right about everything turning out okay.