The Indentured Queen

by Carol Moncado

  On and on.

  Benjamin wanted to leave, to find Katrín and talk more with her about his desire for her to stay.

  As the press conference began to wind down, more and more reporters seemed distracted, checking their phones and reading rather than listening.

  Finally, when the head of public relations asked if there were any more questions, a reporter stood. The woman had a well-deserved reputation as something of a pit bull, but always fair and in search of the truth.

  “I have a question for King Benjamin,” she called.

  He moved closer to the microphones. “Yes?”

  “What is your response to the story sent out anonymously a few moments ago?”

  Benjamin glanced at the PR gentleman, who clearly had no idea either. “I have not had a chance to look at any press release or recent story. Whatever it is, it did not come from my office.”

  “I’m sure it didn’t,” she assured him. “But anonymous sources in the palace claim that you had never met the queen prior to the announcement of your engagement, and the press release was actually sent by a disgruntled former employee in an effort to embarrass the royal family.”

  The PR official started to say something but was cut off by the reporter. “I would like to hear from the king. I’m sure everyone would.”

  Benjamin looked through the crowd for a friendly face and found none. He took a step to the microphones. “As I said, I have not seen the report.” Time to face the music though. There was no sense in denying it or waiting for someone else to put their own spin on it. “However, there is some truth to it.”

  The gasps and muttering among assembled reporters grew louder.

  “I had met Katrín prior to the announcement, but we were not in a romantic relationship. If you look back at all other communications from my office, you will notice very careful wording so that we - I - never actually lied to the people.”

  He took a deep breath and gripped the sides of the podium. “When my office became aware of the news, I sent for Katrín. We spent some time together, and I discovered that I quite liked her. She reminded me, in many ways, of my mother, not in her mannerisms, but in her utter devotion to those she loves. The more I learned about Katrín, the more I wanted to know. The decision was made, mutually, to go forward with the wedding and do the rest of our getting to know each other afterward.”

  Benjamin hesitated for a second. “The men in my family often tell stories about how they knew the moment they met their future wives. It was no different with Katrín.” He could finally admit that to himself.

  Shouted questions threatened to overwhelm him, but Benjamin stopped them with a raised hand.

  “Katrín is a beautiful woman, but beyond that, she is kind and compassionate. Her heart breaks when she sees injustice and wants to right it.” He gave a half smile. “And, to be quite frank, she knows how and when to tell me to stick it.”

  That actually generated a laugh.

  “She has been instrumental in what many of you have commented on in recent days.” Time for more truth. “After the death of my father, my mother and I both found ourselves rudderless. For her, she was able to find her own way back, but for a young man, barely a teenager when he became king, it was a bit more difficult. As a result, I shut myself off from those closest to me, and from my people. As the years went by, it became easier and easier to do, until what Katrín calls my ‘resting grumpy face’ became my every day face.”

  The reporters, and hopefully the country beyond the cameras, waited in silence for his next words. “I love my God, my family, and my country and her people with everything I am. I have never quite known how to convey that to any of them. Katrín is helping me learn how.” He pulled out his phone. “These photos will be made available to all of you momentarily.” He quickly sent them to the PR office who put them on the screen, beginning with a selfie Katrín took of the two of them not long after they arrived at the Festival.

  “My wife and I went to the Festival recently and spent time with some new friends who are now members of my staff.” A selfie of the six of them appeared on the screen. Benjamin knew the picture well. He and Katrín looked very much in love, though that wasn’t the sole reason he chose it. “They did not know who we were and spoke frankly with us about the reasons why the family isn’t nearly as loved as it was when my father lived. With their help, with Katrín’s help, I want to show all of you that I am the kind of man my father would have been proud of. It’s something I have to work toward daily, but I can assure all of you that it is my heart’s desire to spend the rest of my life taking care of and loving my God, my wife, my family, and my country and her people, to the best of my ability.”

  With that he turned and walked back toward the palace, ignoring the shouted questions, and praying it would be enough.

  “You could have told me.”

  Katrín looked up from the desk in the office she’d been given to use. She suspected it wasn’t the usual queen’s office and that her mother-in-law still occupied that one.

  Now the Queen Mother stood in the doorway with an a look Katrín couldn’t decipher.

  “Pardon?” Should she stand and curtsy? That seemed like the thing to do, but the other woman had come into Katrín’s office, not the other way around.

  “That the two of you weren’t in a relationship when the announcement was made by an anonymous, disgruntled, former employee.”

  The former queen swept into the office and perched on the edge of one of the chairs.

  Katrín just stared at her. “What are you talking about?”

  “The story broke during the press conference. A disgruntled former employee managed a press release that looked authentic announcing your engagement. Benjamin told the press that the two of you had met but were not in a relationship at the time. You could have told me.”

  Katrín managed to control her surprise. “That would be a discussion you should have with your son. He controlled those discussions. I was just along for the ride.”

  “Oh, I will be having a long talk with my son. I’ve known for a while that Isaiah had something to do with it, but I thought the announcement was simply premature.” Her hands remained folded in her lap and her entire being was the picture of poise. “What I would like to know is why you went along with it.”

  Katrín wasn’t sure how to answer that question. She decided on a version of the truth. “He promised to take care of my family, especially my brother, for the rest of their lives.”

  The look on the queen’s face softened. “I can understand the appeal in that offer.” Tears filled her eyes. “My brother also had spina bifida. Not as severe as your brother’s - he used arm crutches not a wheelchair - but he was in and out of hospitals his whole life.” She smiled sadly. “He passed not long after Alfred and I married. His name was Ben.”

  Katrín didn’t say anything else. She didn’t know what she could say that wouldn’t end up poorly for herself, Benjamin, or even his mother.

  Before either one could say anything else, Benjamin walked in. “Katrín, we need to talk abou...” He stopped when he caught sight of them. “Good morning, Mother.”

  “I think all three of us need to talk about the press conference.” The Queen Mother tilted her cheek to accept the kiss from her son. “Have a seat.”

  Katrín jumped up. “You can have this one.”

  Benjamin shook his head. “That’s your seat. Or we can go upstairs, which might be a better option.”

  His mother nodded, then stood. “I agree.”

  Katrín waited for them to leave the office first, planning to follow in their wake. Instead, once in the outer office, Benjamin let her catch up then rested his hand on the small of her back.

  It disconcerted her, the way the warmth spread from the point of contact all the way to her extremities. They walked through the outer doors into the main sitting area leading to the family’s quarters. From there, they went into the smaller one and through the doors to Benjamin’s
quarters.

  Their quarters?

  If she was staying, did she live here with him?

  Had she ever actually committed to staying?

  “Did either of you see the press conference?” he asked as they all sat down.

  Katrín shook her head as his mother told him she’d seen part of it.

  Benjamin clicked the remote causing a screen to come out of the ceiling. After a couple more clicks, Benjamin appeared on it. She watched as he gave a statement, then a few minutes later took a question.

  Knowing what she knew, Katrín could hear the subtle undertones and slightly more than half-truths. He never lied.

  She gasped when the pictures from the Festival showed up. At least he’d used ones where they weren’t wearing their hats. The rest of his words began to seep in.

  “I do wish you would have discussed this with me.” His mother stood and gave Benjamin a kiss on the cheek. “But for now, I think the two of you need to discuss where you go from here.” She hesitated. “For the record, your father and I were always proud of you. He still would be.”

  Benjamin shook his head. “I know you believe that, but there’s a lot Father wouldn’t be proud of. I’m working on it, though.”

  “I know you are.” She squeezed his forearm then glided out of the room.

  Then it was just the two of them.

  Benjamin clicked the remote and the screen vanished back into the ceiling. “I hope I didn’t presume too much in my statement.”

  Katrín leaned back in the chair. “Even if you did, the plan was always for the country to believe that we were the real deal and that you truly mourned me when I was presumed dead. What you said today doesn’t change any of that.”

  He rested his forearms on his knees. “I meant what I said earlier. I want to spend the rest of my life taking care of and loving you to the best of my ability.”

  She wanted to believe him. “What exactly does that look like?”

  He shrugged. “It looks like you’re my wife, and I’m your husband, and we have a real marriage.”

  It sounded good. Benjamin was saying all the right things. “But I barely know you.”

  His blue eyes conveyed a vulnerability she’d never seen. “On the contrary. You know me better than anyone. I’ve never talked with anyone else about being afraid of failing my father, or why I’m insanely claustrophobic, or that I have to sleep with the lights on for days after an incident like the elevator and probably weeks after yesterday.” He reached over and rested his hand on her knee. “You’re the only one who’s ever made me look… what was it you said? Like an actual human, I think you said.”

  “Any date night with your wife would have had the same effect.”

  With a shake of his head, he moved his hand. “No. Most of the women I’d looked at as potential marriage partners were nothing but socialites and gold-diggers. They’d have looked the part, but wouldn’t have cared one bit about me. Most of them would have been freaking out worse than I was last night.” He tilted his head. “About the only exception would probably be Anabelle Gregorson. She married Prince Kensington of San Majoria because she loved him and couldn’t stand the idea of being married to me.”

  There had been other women? “How many other women did you talk marriage with?”

  33

  Benjamin wasn’t sure what he’d said to upset Katrín, but he clearly had. “Other women? There was never anyone else.” He’d already told her that more than once.

  “How many other women did you discuss marriage with?”

  Oh. That. “There was Anabelle. I’m not quite sure why Isaiah thought it was a good match, though her grandfather turned out to be a criminal, so maybe there was something to that. He also talked extensively with the family of the Duchess of Cantor, but as far as I know, there was never any sort of deal struck.”

  “So the thought of marrying someone you didn’t love was always part of your life?”

  Benjamin hadn’t thought about it like that. “I suppose. I always knew my parents shared something extra special. It was difficult for me to fathom that I could have the same thing. It still is.”

  Katrín wasn’t looking at him and didn’t say anything.

  “I don’t know what it looks like,” he told her softly. “I just know I want you in my life. I want to be more like you.”

  She leaned forward and started to say something, but his phone buzzed before she could. Benjamin groaned and pulled it out of his pocket. At least it was a text and not a phone call.

  “The new team is here to meet with us and the PR staff to go over some of the plans to make the country fall in love with the royal family again.”

  Katrín bounced out of her chair like it had an ejection seat. “Then we should go.”

  Benjamin blinked and watched her move off, realizing how rare it was for her to walk away without him when they were going to the same place. He trotted to catch up with her, and she fell in step slightly behind him as he did.

  It had never bothered him before. When his mother started doing it not long after his father’s death, it bothered him some, but he’d grown used to it over the years.

  The longer he’d been married to Katrín, the more it bothered him that she did the same thing, especially since it wasn’t a situation like Queen Elizabeth with Prince Philip who towered over her and would block the view of anyone trying to glimpse the monarch.

  Before he could decide if he wanted to discuss it with her, they reached the conference room filled with about a dozen people. On one side of the table sat their new friends. Chairs on the other side were filled with members of the public relations team. They didn’t look happy about the arrangement.

  Benjamin didn’t particularly care. He knew the public relations office wasn’t entirely to blame for the approval and popularity ratings. In fact, they likely weren’t even mostly to blame, but over the years they’d become complacent, just like he had. It was time to shake things up.

  “Good afternoon,” he said as he walked into the room, and everyone started to rise. “Stay seated.” He took his seat at the head of the table then realized there wasn’t an obvious seat for Katrín, except the foot - where the presentation would be projected onto a screen. He looked at Marty and his team. “If all of you would move down a seat, my wife needs to be closer to me than is currently possible.”

  It wasn’t a request, and wasn’t worded as one. He could have made the palace team move, but he didn’t like the optics of Katrín against the new team.

  A moment later, they’d all resituated themselves with Katrín at his right side. He turned to the right. “Marty, Harry, Marissa, and Elise, would you show us what you’ve put together?”

  The lights dimmed as the screen lit up. Marty spoke first. “We’ve put together a comprehensive plan for getting the monarchy back on solid footing with regards to approval rating and popularity. It starts with a cohesive online and social media presence and continues with an increase in personal appearances by the older members of the family at events chosen for their appeal to the public as a whole and in keeping with the family’s corporate purpose.”

  Benjamin frowned. “We are not a corporation.”

  “Not in the traditional sense, no,” Elise answered. “But corporate can also mean a large group or, in this case, an entity even if it’s not a company.”

  He glanced at Katrín. “I’m not sure we have a corporate purpose.”

  Harry spoke up. “If I may be so bold, sir, you do, even if it’s never been spelled out as such.” He clicked a button and the slide changed. “In fact, it’s the very first thing we need to discuss. We took the liberty of coming up with what we believe is the family’s purpose, though we are, of course, open to having it amended as you see fit, sir.”

  At least two people on the PR side of the table muttered something Benjamin couldn’t understand, but he put a stop to it with a glare.

  After another click the words “Corporate Purpose” were joined by several mo
re lines.

  To advance the well-being of the Eyjanian people as well as use personal and corporate philanthropy, public relations efforts, and personal appearances in an effort to bring public awareness and an increase in funding through other avenues when appropriate to causes the family is passionate about.

  Benjamin nodded. “It may need some reworking, but for our purposes today, it will suffice.” He’d never thought about articulating what the family’s purpose was, but that was a good start.

  Relief showed on all four faces. Marissa took over. “With that in mind, the first thing many people will see is the online presence of the family. We recommend cohesive visuals and layouts, while still allowing for personal expression of each family member.” She went through a sample website, Facebook page, Twitter, and Instagram.

  Elise jumped in. “One thing we’d like to do is make sure each page has the same basic layout. As an outsider looking for information, few things are more frustrating than knowing the information exists and not being able to find it in the same place every time. For instance, Your Majesty...” She clicked a button. “This is your website.” After another click an arrow appeared. “This is where a visitor can find your public schedule.” Another click showed a picture of Genevieve. “This is the page for Princess Evangeline.”

  “That’s Genevieve,” he interrupted.

  Elise smiled at him. “I know, but this isn’t her website.”

  Benjamin gave a single nod Elise’s direction. She knew her princesses.

  Another click and another arrow, nowhere near the one on his page. “This arrow leads to a drop down menu where, after three more clicks, you can find Princess Evangeline’s schedule. We recommend working with each family member to create websites that are unique to the individual but standardized in their layout and overall look.”

  “And have the right pictures?” Benjamin asked with a smirk.

  Elise glanced across the table at the fuming head of public relations. “Exactly.”