“Exactly. And I’m still considered the ‘eligible prince’ at home. I know it’s different here in the States, but I don’t want anyone’s attention on me when it belongs on them.” He nodded toward his grandmother and Mrs. Quinn as she walked back over to talk to Gigi again.
“I understand, but can I get a picture with you anyway?” she asked. “I’ll get one with everyone rather than just you so that can be why.”
He tried to make certain his smile wasn’t the uncomfortable one, but wasn’t sure he managed. “Sure, but it can’t be sent anywhere or posted for at least a week.”
Lani took the photo after the woman agreed to wait on posting it then handed the phone back.
“Wait.” She looked back and forth between the two of them. “Are you two...?”
“We’re friends,” Lani told her before Harrison could say anything. “That’s all.”
She looked skeptical but walked away.
“Thank you.” Harrison had hoped to make it through the day without being recognized, but he supposed that was too much to ask when the day revolved around his grandmother. It had surprised him when Mrs. Quinn said he reminded her of his grandfather, but there were far worse things.
Once he was seated alone with Lani again, Harrison leaned in. “Let’s get out of here. We’ll meet up with Gigi at the airport.”
Lani nodded, and they slipped out of the clubhouse in the senior living apartments where Mrs. Quinn lived.
As they reached the SUV, a voice behind them stopped Harrison. “Sir, I can’t let you leave.”
He turned to see a member of his grandmother’s security detail watching them. “We’ll meet her at the airport.”
The man shook his head. “I’ve been instructed to keep you with your grandmother. Now that her visit is becoming public, you’re to stay with her and security at all times.”
Harrison sighed and turned to Lani. “If you want to take off, you can.” He held out the keys. “I’ll text you where to meet us.”
“I’ve been asked to keep the young lady here as well,” the protection officer told them.
She shook her head. “That’s fine. I don’t mind.”
“If you would both come with me...”
They went into the side room where Grandmother Grace had waited earlier. Several chairs as well as a table with water bottles and snacks were in there. Harrison grabbed a bottle then held it out to Lani.
“Thank you.”
It wasn’t long before it was time to go. Harrison relinquished his keys to one of his grandmother’s protection officers. The others helped them into the SUV. Harrison and Lani took the rear seat, while his grandmother’s assistant rode in the middle to discuss some business with the former queen.
They were whisked to a private terminal where they didn’t even go through security, but boarded a private jet.
The pilots spoke briefly with Grandmother who nodded then motioned for Harrison and Lani to join her in a cluster of seats.
“I’m told it will be an hour before we are able to depart. There are storms in the Springfield area that won’t end for several hours. I believe I will have some tea. Would either of you like anything?”
“Coffee, please,” Harrison told the stewardess, who would be well-versed in the preferences of the entire family, though he didn’t think he’d flown with this particular one in the recent past.
She turned to Lani. “And for you, miss?”
“Coffee is fine.”
“Would you prefer a cappuccino?” Harrison asked her. He’d discovered her fondness for them over the last few days.
“You can do that on the plane?” Her eyes widened slightly.
“Of course, miss.” The stewardess smiled. “Right away.”
Lani’s lips pressed together, likely to control her shock. “Fancy,” she muttered a second later.
Gigi laughed. “We have incredible staff that do their very best to make sure we have almost anything we’d like. Jacqueline Grace loves a good cappuccino these days. So do her girls.”
“She has two adopted daughters, correct?” Lani asked. “Harrison told me about his family, though I didn’t realize who he was talking about until today.”
“Yes. They’re not old enough for real cappuccinos, but they get foamed milk with a bit of flavor.”
“And they’re both adopted?” Lani closed her eyes and concentrated. “And your older brother adopted his sister-in-law?”
“Correct.” Harrison was impressed. “Jacqueline Grace’s girls, Kensington’s sister-in-law, and Astrid’s daughter are all fairly close in age and generally get along quite well.”
“That’s good.”
The stewardess brought their drinks then disappeared into another part of the plane. Gigi’s assistant was also somewhere else. That left the three of them alone.
“Now, that it’s just us, and this morning’s event is over, there is something we need to discuss.” Gigi took a sip of her tea. “I’m most delighted to have made your acquaintance, Lani, and I do hope to get to know you much better in the near future. After all, I am your grandmother-in-law. I’m certain my son and his wife will be anxious to meet you, as well.”
The way she’d worded it made Harrison stare directly at her. He wanted to glance at Lani, to see if she’d caught it, but he didn’t dare. “Would you care to repeat that, Grandmother?”
She raised a perfectly-sculpted brow as she took another sip. “Which part?”
“About being Lani’s grandmother-in-law. We’re not getting married, Gigi.” Not yet. Probably not ever. But she was the first woman to pique Harrison’s interest in quite some time.
“Of course, you’re not getting married.”
Even out of the corner of his eye, Harrison could see Lani visibly relax.
His grandmother’s eyes twinkled even as he noted the firm set in the rest of her face. The look that said she wasn’t to be trifled with. “You already are married.”
7
It was a good thing Lani wasn’t taking another sip of the best cappuccino she’d ever had.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Grandmother.” Harrison responded before she could. “Lani and I definitely didn’t elope in the last few days. I would remember that.”
Yes, he would. And so would she.
“Oh, I know that, dear.” She waved a hand in the air before taking another sip of her tea. “However, you did share a room, correct?”
“We shared a series of suites,” Harrison told her, his voice tinged with a sense of caution and dread that hadn’t been there before.
Also, not technically accurate. The hotel near Carmi might have been billed as a suite, but it definitely wasn’t.
“I know this. You know this. However, you traveled alone, and unless my informants are quite mistaken - and they never are - one night you did share a room, though it was called a suite. There were no chaperones.”
“Why would we need one?” Harrison leaned forward. Lani was just as glad to let him take the lead, before she somehow managed to cause an international incident.
The former queen set her cup of tea down on the saucer. “There’s a law in San Majoria, pertaining only to members of the royal family, that prohibits them from sharing quarters with a member of the opposite gender unless they are married.”
“So what’s the consequences?” Harrison laughed as he settled back in seat, clearly relaxing. “Do we both spend a couple of years in the dungeon or something?”
Lani didn’t like the sound of that, but decided to take her cue from Harrison and try to relax.
“Nothing quite so dire. Besides we haven’t used the dungeon in well over a century.” She tilted her head to the side. “I believe Ravenzario still uses theirs. It’s more of an up-to-date prison or detention center for anyone causing trouble in the palace, though.”
Lani couldn’t keep quiet any longer. Not when words like beheading and tarred-and-feathered were running through her mind. “Then what are the consequences?”
“Marriage. A ceremony must be held within a specified period of time, though how long has slipped my mind, however, the marriage is already considered legal in the country of San Majoria.”
Lani’s stomach sank. Marriage wasn’t as bad as drawn-and-quartered, but still not exactly what she expected when she agreed to share a suite with Harrison.
“And if there is no ceremony?” Harrison asked, now clearly more on edge.
“The marriage is still legal in San Majoria. The law dates back to 1702 and the treaty with Eyjania. The Eyjanian counterpart to the San Majorian law has long since been overturned, however, ours has not. That’s why your father married Darius and Esther in Benjamin’s office.”
She knew who Darius and Esther were now, but not Benjamin or why they married in an office.
“So Esther was already considered legally married before the ceremony in Akushla?”
Why were they focused on the trivial? What was going to happen to her? That was all Lani cared about.
The former queen sort of shrugged. “Because Darius is a Quatremaine things are a little fuzzier. Rather than risk the Eyjanians protesting the marriage wasn’t valid, your father performed the ceremony. It was a means to have not only your sister and the children taken care of, but to get a foothold in the Quatremaine family that would eventually lead to a weakening of Isaiah’s control over Benjamin. Your father grieved not only his friend, but the inability to make certain his best friend’s son wasn’t unduly influenced by Isaiah.”
Lani leaned forward. “Look, I have no idea who Benjamin or Isaiah are or who your father’s best friend was, but let’s get back to the important part right now. You say we’re legally married in San Majoria, a country I’m not a hundred percent sure I’ve ever heard of until this whole doll thing, but what about here in the States?”
“Without a certificate, likely not,” Queen Grace told her.
“Then how do we annul it in San Majoria? Because Harrison is a nice guy and all, but I have no intention of being married to a prince.”
“Quite simply, you don’t. Should you decide you do not want to be married, a divorce is required and the additional consequences are up to the king. The suggested penalty for Harrison is exile.”
“Papa wouldn’t exile me,” Harrison scoffed. “You and I both know that.”
“He might be forced to.” The queen suddenly no longer looked as young as she had the rest of the day. “You know how old-fashioned the people are when it comes to our family. Remember Astrid and Jordan? All it took was an illegal, out-of-context photo along with her decision to wear my engagement ring to force their wedding.”
Harrison’s shoulders slumped. “She would have been forced to abdicate if they hadn’t married.”
“Correct. Though you’re much farther down the line of succession, you are still on it. Your father is still king. If Astrid were already queen, she might be able to get away with not enforcing it, but thank God, she’s not. However, that leaves you and your father to deal with the fallout.”
“Can’t we just not tell anyone?”
Before Queen Grace could answer that question, the stewardess suddenly appeared. “Ma’am, sir, miss, if you could please buckle your seat belts, we’ll be taxiing momentarily and then taking off. If you need anything, please let me know.”
The seats, bigger than any Lani had ever seen on an airplane before, had extra-long seat belts. She cinched it tighter until she decided that was as tight as she was willing to go.
“We do not lie to the people if there is any way to help it. You know that. Whether anyone knows about it, you are legally married. That is all there is to it. If you drive too fast down the highway, you are still speeding, even if you don’t get caught. You are still married, whether the public knows or not.”
“So you’re telling me, that if I don’t marry Lani legally in the States, we’ll have to get divorced, and pray my father can come up with a politically acceptable consequence that doesn’t include me being exiled from my homeland?”
Lani was pressed back into her seat as the plane accelerated. Her thoughts ran through her mind a million miles a minute, but she couldn’t have voiced them even if she’d wanted to.
This was insane. Crazy.
Small town girls did not marry princes, on purpose or accident.
But the queen simply nodded. “Yes, my dear Harrison. That is exactly right.”
So she was legally married to a prince?
Fan-stinkin-tastic.
By the time the plane touched down at the Springfield airport, Harrison knew four things.
First, his grandmother had been right about the consequences.
Second, Lani wanted nothing to do with him.
Third, he already missed her.
Fourth, he needed to do something about that.
He might not plan to be a working royal his entire life. He’d even entertained the idea of living overseas somewhere.
But being exiled because of an ancient law?
That had never entered his mind.
When Grandmother’s assistant had approached with a matter that needed taking care of, Lani excused herself to go to the bathroom, but Harrison knew it was just an excuse to get away. To prove his point, she’d taken a seat elsewhere when she emerged. Her shoulder bag had been stashed in one of the cabinets near her new seat. She’d pulled her ereader out and pretended to read.
She hadn’t swiped to change the page very often.
If she’d had a way to get home, she likely would have ditched them at the airport, but since they didn’t go to the regular terminal, she couldn’t even try to get a cab or ride share.
Two dark SUVs pulled up to the foot of the stairs. As former queen, his grandmother descended first. Lani hung back as far as she could without deplaning after the pilots.
“Are we all riding together?” he asked his grandmother quietly.
“Yes. You will take the front seat.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Because that was the only possible answer when a queen gave you instructions.
Someone held the door for him. Harrison nodded his thanks as someone else helped Grandmother into the seat behind the driver. A minute later, Lani was in the seat behind him as the last of their luggage was loaded in the other vehicle. Grandmother’s assistant rode with it.
“I have a house reserved near the lake, on the property we use at Christmas, I believe,” Grandmother told them. “It would be lovely if both of you would stay with me for the next couple of days while we get this sorted.”
“I have to work on Monday,” Lani reminded them both. “I don’t really have much choice in my destination at the moment, but that is nonnegotiable.”
“Of course, dear. But you are not a captive. If you would like us to return you to your home, you have that choice.”
Harrison knew what was coming, though he doubted Lani did.
“However, all choices have consequences. It would be a good idea for you to come with us so we can discuss this more in depth.”
If Harrison had to place a bet, he’d say his parents would be involved somehow. Likely a video conference. Better than in person.
He managed to hold back the groan but did let his head tilt backward against the headrest. His parents were probably already in town and waiting to discuss the consequences of a law none of them knew existed.
Lani must have agreed to go with them, because the SUVs both went toward the north side of the lake and not Trumanville.
Before long, they pulled up to the wrought iron gates of the house where he and his family stayed for a couple of days at Christmas every year.
He heard Lani’s sharp intake of breath as the house came into view. It wasn’t much compared to the actual palaces he’d grown up in, but it was a mansion beyond compare for this area.
At least they weren’t staying in the main house. He knew there were several more accommodations on the property, though he’d never stayed in any of them.
He was as surpris
ed as Lani when they stopped near the main steps. Harrison climbed out then held Lani’s door for her while the driver held Grandmother’s.
“I thought we were staying in one of the other buildings,” he told her. “What’s going on?”
Grandmother Grace shrugged. “I have no idea. But Quincy knows where to take us, so I presume there is a good reason for it.”
She led the way up the stairs, but Harrison beat her at the last second so he could hold the door open for her.
“Thank you.”
He continued holding it for Lani who also thanked him. Harrison could tell she was trying to keep her awe to herself, but she failed. As they walked between the two sweeping staircases to the living area with the two-story rock fireplace, her head swiveled from side-to-side, tipping backward to look up but saying nothing.
As they entered the living area, he saw the sight he expected but hoped wouldn’t greet him.
“Good evening, Mother.” His father stood to greet them with his mother next to him.
Grandmother Grace stopped, bobbed into a quick curtsy, then allowed her son to greet her with a kiss on the cheek. “Good evening, Edward, Miriam.”
As his father turned to him, Harrison bowed at the waist. Not a deep bow, but definitely a bow. “Hello, Papa.” Try to get on his good side. The king didn’t particularly care for being called “father” in informal settings.
“Harrison.” The king extended a hand for shaking, pulling Harrison into a man-hug when Harrison took it.
Then his father turned to look at Lani. “I expect you are my new daughter-in-law.” He held out his hand again. “I’m Edward.”
Lani’s eyes flitted to Harrison then she did her best to curtsy, but Harrison could tell it wasn’t something she’d done often. “Your Majesty?” The question in her tone was likely a result of her uncertainty in general rather than wondering if the man in front of her was actually the king.
“Lani, correct?” his father asked, letting his hand drop when she made no move to take it. Harrison didn’t think his father would be offended under these circumstances. In other situations, it could start an international incident.
Small Town Girls Don't Marry Secret Princes: A Small Town Contemporary Christian Romance (Beaches of Trumanville Book 2) Page 5