A Royally Beautiful Mess

by Carol Moncado

  “We’ll take it. How many others do you have like it?”

  “What are you thinking?” Darius asked softly as the woman began to dig around under the cabinet.

  “What we had picked out was fine, but if she has enough, I think we give all the girls sets like this. They’ll appreciate the workmanship and that it’s local.”

  “So we give all the girls jewelry and the boys baseball hats, t-shirts, or a fishing rod?” His younger brother wouldn’t know what to do with it, but he loved to eat all kinds of fish.

  The woman stood back up with a stack of boxes in each hand. “How many did you need? She’d hoped to have these to me a couple of weeks ago, but didn’t so I have a bunch.”

  Esther counted on her fingers. “We want to see them first, of course, but eleven for now, and possibly commission some more. Are they all that stone you mentioned that’s from here?”

  The clerk’s eyes had widened as Esther spoke. “Yes, ma’am.” She set the boxes out in a row so Esther could open them and choose.

  Of the twenty the clerk’s friend had made, Esther chose fourteen and asked for the artist’s card to commission some more.

  “There’s not that many women in the family,” Darius pointed out.

  “I know.” Esther leaned her hip against the display. “But Harrison will marry someday. His wife would be the only one without a set, so she gets one. Your brothers will all marry someday. This way, everyone gets them. But we only need eleven for Christmas, ten if you don’t count me, but...” Her eyes twinkled. “...I want a set, too. And if the babies are girls, they need one.”

  She turned back to the clerk. “I know we have a huge stack over there, but these will replace some of those items. Do you have anything locally made, perhaps that can be personalized in the next couple of days, but for men? We’ll need ten, and the ability to order more.”

  The woman smiled, a genuine smile, and not just because she would likely make a commission on the purchase. “I know just the thing.”

  Two days later, when they pulled up to the house where they’d all be staying, Esther was reminded of a smaller version of a palace. “This isn’t quite what I expected.”

  “Me either, but I was pleasantly surprised when I drove over here with Jonathan. Mr. Leopardi is in his mid-twenties and lives here alone. There’s an apartment over the detached garage with three bedrooms in it, and a cabin out in the woods where he’ll be staying while we’re here. Security is using the garage apartment as their quarters. There’s a set up in the basement for their surveillance and another house with rooms for staff members.”

  “Are you sure your uncle isn’t coming?” That was the thing that made Esther the most nervous, even more than the Queen Mother finding out one of her children had gotten married without telling her about it.

  “I never knew this, but he always goes to some northern town for Christmas. I knew he didn’t join the family, but not why.”

  That weight lifted from her shoulders. “When do they get here?”

  She knew all the answers, but it still made her nervous. Asking gave her an outlet.

  “They all left about dinner local time.” He glanced at his watch as the car rolled to a stop. “My family left about 4:30 Akushla time. It’s a seven-and-a-half-hour direct flight. Your family left about five in Cabo Juan-Eduardo, and it’s a four-hour flight. I think, because of the difference in travel distance, they’ll actually get here about the same time.” He checked his watch again. “In about three or three and a half hours.”

  “As long as they don’t get here at exactly the same time. That could get confusing.” She climbed out and pulled her coat more closely around her. “Do you think your family will have any issue with the rooms they’re assigned? Will anyone throw a fit?”

  “I doubt it.” Darius already had a key and used it to let them in.

  Esther turned a critical eye toward the interior. To her left was the library, to the right a dining room that would never fit all of them. Beyond it, she could see a sun room. Elegant Christmas decorations abounded - mostly greens with white lights and silver accents where needed, much like the palace in Cabo Juan-Eduardo.

  They walked straight ahead, between two elegant curving staircases, and into what Darius called the “grand room.” From there she could see the kitchen to the right and a closed door to the left.

  “There’s a suite down here.” Darius went to the left. “I thought we could give it to my mother.” He held up a hand when she started to protest. “I know. She’s not a monarch, and never was, but if we give your father the best suite, my brother will see it as an insult. Same if we give it to my brother.”

  “Fair enough.”

  “So we give this to my mother as a dowager queen, then give the kings comparable rooms upstairs.”

  “That works.”

  He pulled a sheet of paper out. She could see all of their names scribbled on it, but wasn’t quite sure what it all meant.

  “There’s a bedroom in the basement for my youngest brother.” She followed him up one of the staircases. “The two rooms on either side of the stairs are identical.” He pointed to one. “Most of your family is on this side, so give this one to your father. Most of my family is on the other so that one goes to my brother.”

  He opened his backpack and pulled out laminated cards. “Each room has a spot for name cards to be attached.” In the center of each door was a metal decoration that doubled as a clip for the name cards.

  Situated around the opening to the first floor were four bedrooms. Two went to the monarchs, another to Jacqueline Grace and Kiara, her sister’s surprise ward, and the last to Esther and Darius.

  There were two wings. The first one they entered had three bedrooms off the walkway. Those rooms went to Astrid, Kensington, and their families. Sofia and Gracie were given the room in the middle.

  Esther took the rest of the signs from Darius and flipped through them as they walked back toward the other wing. “Do you think we could get your family name tags? I know your mother and older brother, but I’ll never keep the rest of them straight.”

  Darius chuckled as they reached an entryway with four doors off of it. “The one with your brother?” He held out a hand.

  Harrison was sharing with Josiah. She knew he was Darius’s next youngest brother and probably about the same age, so it worked well. Darius’s twin sisters got the room across the hall.

  “These are actually two separate, full apartments with kitchens and everything, though they won’t be stocked,” Darius explained walking to one of the other doors. “I’m just going to put the names here though rather than on the other bedrooms inside.” His twin brothers would share space with Harrison and Josiah, while his two younger sisters would share with Genevieve and Evangeline.

  “Are they all going to be okay with sharing a room? I don’t think I’ve ever shared with anyone, even while traveling.”

  They turned back toward the center of the house. Darius stopped at a door on the right. It had the ornate clip in the middle. “What’s this room?” He peeked in then opened the door all the way.

  She hadn’t actually seen inside any of the rooms, but hopefully this was the smallest of the bunch.

  “I don’t remember this one.” He took the last card from her. “We can put Alfred here, then he’s not so far from everyone else. If Harrison and Josiah have an issue sharing, Harrison can be in here, and Alfred can share with Josiah. Or Harrison can go to the basement since my other brothers are in that apartment.”

  “We haven’t actually looked in any of the rooms. Are we sure they’re shareable? I mean, are Harrison and Josiah going to be expected to share a double bed or something?”

  That stopped Darius in his tracks. “I don’t know.”

  Noises downstairs told her Vesta and Louis had arrived.

  “Mr. Leopardi told me the rooms all have king beds that can be split into singles. We went over who should go where, but I don’t know if it was done.”

/>   They only had a few hours to get this figured out. The stress was starting to give her a headache. “The rooms in the other wing are fine. Gracie and Sofia will think it’s tons of fun to share so even if they’re in one it’s all right. The main section is good.” She hesitated. “You check this wing. I’ll check the others to make sure they’re all the way they’re supposed to be.”

  She hurried to check the rooms, relieved when the four main rooms were properly situated. The ones in the other wing were as well, though the center room was also still a king-sized bed.

  Darius looked annoyed when she found him again. “They’re all still together.” He was looking through his phone until he found what he was looking for then held it to his ear.

  Esther decided to go downstairs and check in with Vesta and Louis. If the weekend started off with this sort of drama, what would the rest of it hold?

  24

  Darius hung up with Mr. Leopardi. Though he’d said he would be staying in the cabin, that turned out to not be the case. He was out of town. He did tell Darius where he stored the extra bedding for each room and offer a discount since it hadn’t been set up properly.

  At least Darius knew how to make a bed now. He’d have to enlist Vesta and Louis so it could be done fairly quickly. Maybe. He didn’t think he wanted Esther moving furniture, not at seventeen weeks pregnant. The security team was already busy, and the rest of the temporary help hadn’t arrived yet.

  Downstairs, he found the three of them unloading some of the foodstuffs brought in for the weekend. Things like coffee and other drinks would be kept in here, but most was set up in the industrial kitchen in the basement.

  “We have a problem,” he started. “I need everyone’s help.” He quickly explained what they needed to do in five of the bedrooms.

  Vesta took charge. “You two go get started. We’ll finish in here then follow behind and make the beds. I’ll make sure the larger bedding is put away as well.”

  Someone else with a plan relieved Darius. He and Louis went to the first of the apartments. No matter what Mr. Leopardi had said, it wasn’t quite as simple as taking the bedding off and separating the two sides. There was a mattress topper to be dealt with and side tables to be moved. It took far longer than Darius expected to do each room, but just over two hours later, the furniture was moved in all of them.

  They went back to work with Esther and Vesta. The women kept making the beds, but put Darius and Louis to work moving the extra bedding out of the way.

  “The good thing is the beddings all match.” Vesta snapped a sheet into place as Darius gathered the mattress pad, sheets and spread off the floor. “Just in different sizes. We don’t really have time to mess with folding everything neatly and putting it all away in the closets, so we’ll stash them in my closet in the basement, and I’ll get it all sorted later. Since they match, we don’t have to remember what goes where.”

  Whoever decorated for Mr. Leopardi had some sense.

  He started for the door when Vesta called after him. “Just stick all of it in the elevator rather than making several trips all the way downstairs. There may not be enough room for you, too, but at least you’ll only go downstairs once. Plus my room is almost directly across from the elevator in the basement.”

  Darius chuckled to himself. He never would have thought of that. He would have made like five trips. Instead, he filled the small elevator with the bedding and pushed the button to send it to the basement. He took the stairs all the way down to find the elevator had just beat him.

  His phone buzzed as he carried the first load into Vesta’s room. He dropped them on her bed then checked it. Great. His family was already on the ground, half an hour early.

  Darius dumped the rest of the bedding on her bed as well, promising himself he’d come back and help her clean it up later. He took the stairs two at a time until he reached the second floor where he found Esther and Vesta walking out of the second apartment.

  She held her phone. “My family left the airport. They’ll be here in about twenty minutes.”

  Exactly the same time as his family. Would it look like a convoy of cars with VIPs driving down the interstate?

  “We have one more room to do.” Esther started for the other side of the main floor.

  “I don’t think so. You two go get freshened up. Louis and I will finish the last room.”

  “Uh, Vesta?” Darius told her about the bedding and his pledge to help her later.

  She waved him off. “I’ll take care of it.”

  He kissed her cheek. “Whoever made sure you and Louis knew about this job opening is my new hero. I don’t know what we’d do without you two.”

  “You’d be just fine.” Her cheeks turned red. “Now go freshen up. Your family will be here before you know it.”

  He tapped on his phone. Surely Ian already knew because the security teams that traveled with each family would have already been in touch. Jonathan was supplying extra personnel, including those stationed at the gate.

  For the first time, he entered the room with his name and Esther’s joined on it. He’d debated for a long time exactly how to write the names for each of the cards. Kings and queens, even former ones, were given titles. Everyone else just got first names. They were family now, after all.

  There had to be a rhyme or reason to it all though, so eldest went first when two royals shared a room, regardless of family. For the couples, the royal came first.

  Since he and Esther were both royal and a couple, he came first - he was older by six whole weeks.

  Still, it would have been kind of nice to label it “Mr. and Mrs. Quatremaine.”

  He went in to find Esther changing clothes, her new shirt about halfway on, giving him an excellent view of the growing baby bump. “Do you think you can hide it until tomorrow?”

  “I’m going to try.” The shirt settled into place. “How obvious is it?”

  Darius studied her critically. The pants were loose and ill-fitting. The shirt was probably a size too big. “This isn’t one of those times where you’re going to cry if I say it looks like you’ve put on some weight but not necessarily pregnant, is it?”

  She shook her head. “No. That’s actually the look I was going for.”

  “Then I’d say you succeeded.” He stood in front of her with his hands on her abdomen. “You don’t usually, you know. You look amazing and are clearly pregnant.”

  “I know.” She kissed him then moved away. “You better change, and I need to touch up my hair and makeup.”

  They hurried to get ready. Darius even spent a few minutes in front of the mirror, his stomach suddenly churning. He hadn’t seen anyone in his family since March and had barely spoken to any of them. Seeing his family was a huge deal for both of them.

  “Ready?”

  Esther stood near the door leading to the rest of the house as Darius’s phone buzzed to let him know the cars had arrived. With Esther’s hand in his, they went down one of the curved staircases. Headlights shown through the windows near the front door.

  “Here goes nothing,” he whispered.

  “We got this,” Esther whispered back.

  If only he felt as sure as she sounded.

  Esther hoped she sounded far more confident than she felt. Darius moved forward to open the door so they could go outside to greet their families.

  Someone had arranged for staff members to be on hand to open doors. Probably Jonathan or Louis or maybe Ian.

  The doors to the first two cars were opened at the same moment to allow her father and Benjamin to emerge at the same time.

  At first glance, as she curtsied to both of them, Esther saw anger on Benjamin’s face. At being second?

  It turned to annoyance when he realized Edward was in the car ahead of him.

  Her father turned to help her mother out as Esther’s mind scrambled to figure out who could be in each of the six vehicles it took to transport this many people.

  Darius leaned close to her ear.
“They should be organized oldest to youngest, based on the eldest royal in the vehicle,” he told her. “Regardless of family. That’s why your father comes before Benjamin.”

  Her father helped someone else out of the car. Esther wasn’t sure who she expected, but it wasn’t who she saw. She gasped as the implications rolled over carefully made plans. “Grandmother!”

  “Hello, dear!” Grandmother Grace called cheerfully. “Oh! I can’t wait for this.” She marched right past Esther’s father and waved toward the still-stunned Eyjanian king. “Hello, Benjamin. Do help your sisters out of the car.”

  Esther had to hide her laugh. Leave it to Grandmother to correct the younger king. She held her arms open to accept the hug she knew was coming.

  “I didn’t know you would be here,” she told her grandmother as she held on tight.

  “I’ll find a sofa somewhere to sleep on. This place surely has plenty.” Grandmother held her a little closer. “Do I sense another surprise in the offing?” she whispered. “You do a good job hiding it though.”

  “We’re telling everyone tomorrow. Only Mother and Papa know,” Esther whispered back.

  “They won’t hear it from me.”

  “Gigi!” The little girl voice was accompanied by little girl footsteps pounding across the concrete.

  Grandmother released Esther and turned to give the little girl the kind of look only a grandmother who is also a former queen can give. “Duchess Grace, is that how we arrive at a new location that is not a park?”

  The little girl stopped, chastened, and shook her head. “I sorry, Gigi.”