A Crown for Christmas

by Marlene Bierworth

  Ryan settled his back against the cement block that held the food and focused on some distant landmark to avoid looking at his make-shift therapist and date.

  “I am forced into a role in the family business that I’m not ready for?”

  “No one can force you to do anything,” she said.

  “I have no choice – it’s my destiny. I was hoping for more time. I feel young and inadequate for such responsibility.”

  “You have a good head on your shoulders, and you can learn. It’s making wise decisions that takes the time.”

  “Exactly. A politician needs to be wise. I’m sadly lacking.”

  “I disagree,” said Megan playfully. “You chose to befriend me.”

  He chortled. “And the world seems a brighter place when I sit here with you.”

  “I’m glad to hear that. I am also enjoying my time with you.”

  Megan wiggled the box. “I brought dessert.”

  “Can we walk first? There’s a path through yonder wood that you may enjoy.”

  “Luring me into the forest, are you? How can a girl feel safe when you keep our dates confined to hiding up here in the ruins?”

  “To be honest, I’m fairly well known in the village and have recently come into public view in the worst possible fashion. Town is off limits at the moment, and besides I’m enjoying having you all to myself.”

  A voice cleared from behind and Megan jumped to her feet. She turned and there stood the man she’d seen from the balcony in the castle. She found her voice. “I thought you were with Suzanne?”

  The two men cast inquisitive looks between one another. “Yes, I recognize you from the tour. I was just clearing the time away with,” he paused and after a silent exchange with Ryan continued, “with my colleague here. As you’ve no doubt heard, sir, I am spending a lot of time with a woman I’ve met recently in town. Will you need me anymore today?”

  “No, please go and have fun. If your date is half as entertaining as Megan, we shall both be better set for the drudgery of daytime work. Have a delightful evening, James. See in the morning.”

  After he left Meg placed hands on her hips and glared. “Why didn’t you tell me you worked at the palace?”

  He seemed amused. “I never got around to that detail, I suppose.”

  “Very clever of you,” came another voice – a female this time. Megan spun around. “I thought I might find you here. Rescuing more damsels in distress?”

  Ryan seemed uncomfortable and grew angry. “This is my place of solitude and now I’ve been disturbed twice. Return to the castle and tend to whatever suits your fancy. I will see you tomorrow.”

  He grabbed Megan by the arm and ushered her out of the ruin and onto the path he’d pointed out. He stormed in silence and then as if a switch went off, he stopped and turned to Megan.

  “I apologize. As you can see, the situation I am being thrust into allows me little privacy. It tends to rattle my nerves.”

  “And she also works at the palace?” asked Megan.

  “Work? Heavens no. But you could say that she is part of a problem I need to find a solution for.”

  “The case you referred to that’s keeping you out of the spotlight?” Megan asked.

  “You ask impossible questions. Can’t we continue to meet as two people who want to share time together with no expectations?”

  “I expect nothing from you, Ryan,” said Megan, “except honesty and integrity.”

  He ran fingers through his hair. “Then I suppose we shall have to call it a night. I’m sorry.”

  He turned away and she stood paralyzed watching after him. Not her vision of the end of their relationship. The man might as well of admitted his dishonesty straight out. Better she’d witness that side of him sooner rather than later when he’d consumed all her take-home vacation memories – at least those of the romantic nature. She marched past the ruin vowing never to return. Appeared tragedy filled the place, past and present. The birds of prey could eat the leftovers from their meal if Ryan didn’t return to clean the mess.

  The harder she tried to brush the fifth and final date off as unimportant, the more upset Megan became. Each pounding step grated off a hurt festering on the inside – rejection. The one thing about new contacts that she dreaded most. But this was not her fault. He was the one who did the walking and she’d honor his choice to turn and run. She groaned. He was running. Perhaps part of the trouble that he’d alluded to this evening. She kicked at a stone and broke one of her manicured toenails.

  V A C A T I O N – she chanted the letters angrily into the evening air – and finished the carefree ditty with a firm counter-retort – it’s vacation time.

  Megan headed straight for her room, ignoring the polite good evening from the desk clerk as she hurried by. Taking the stairs two at a time she reached the third floor out of breath. She slammed the door to her room shut behind her and let the pent-up tears flow. Megan grew angrier with herself by the minute. How had Ryan uprooted such a tender shoot in her heart after only five short encounters, and why on earth did it matter so much? She recalled the way the woman gazed at Ryan, as if he were her personal property. Great! Now she could add jealousy to her temper tantrum. Men! She’d done without one this long, maybe she should stick to a successful career and stop trying for romance. Leave more men for Suzanne to pick through.

  A long soak in the tub helped her to refocus and with her hair wrapped in a towel, she went to the window to see what the commotion was about outside the hotel. Crowds had gathered and were chanting something she couldn’t decipher to a figure who’d disappeared through the rotating doors of her building. She shrugged it off as some diplomat staying in the hotel. She pulled on a snugly terry housecoat, compliments of the hotel, plunked in a comfy chair that gobbled her into its folds, and flicked on the television.

  The house phone rang, and she grimaced for she needed to apologize for her rudeness earlier in snubbing him off. Picking it up she said, “Hello,” but before she could continue with her admission of guilt, the desk clerk spoke.

  “Miss Fairchild. There is a gentleman caller who would like to speak to you.”

  “Not interested in any gentleman callers,” but before she removed the phone from her ear she recognized Ryan’s voice.

  “I’m sorry to hear that. I’ve come to bear my heart to you.”

  “The office is closed.”

  “Not professionally, Megan. May I see you?”

  “I just got out of the shower.”

  “I can wait until you dress.”

  Megan sighed, knowing her heart would never forgive her if she cast him aside without allowing him to explain. “Fine. Give me five minutes, then come up.”

  “Five? I’ve never known a woman who can dress in five minutes.”

  “Believe me, sir, it won’t be fancy.”

  She hung up the phone and walked to her room. She chose a simple over-the-head casual dress that fell to knees in the middle and up several inches on the sides creating a v-shaped hem. Vigorously, she towel dried her hair and let the damp loose waves fall over her shoulders, scrunching the natural curls to give it a bouncy wet effect. Wiping a few remaining streaks of mascara from the tears she’d cried took the most time and she went to the door with the facecloth in her hand. This was about as informal as it got.

  When she opened to the knock, the entourage standing directly behind him took her by surprise. She raised her eyebrows. “Need protection from little old me?”

  He searched her face, beyond the hard exterior and into her soul that could not hide from his intense stare. “Perhaps you will need their assistance, Megan. For if it’s at all possible, you look even more beautiful than earlier.”

  “Those lines are worn out, Ryan. Come on in, but leave the troops in the hall. I promise I have no knives and I’ll try not to strangle you for your transgressions.”

  Ryan nodded to the men who did not hide their surprise or dismay at Megan’s candor well. She closed the do
or firmly behind him and headed to the sitting area leaving him to follow. She sat back in her chair and nodded toward another.

  “Please sit. I’m sorry I have no dessert to offer you. I left it for the crows. But I can give you a stiff drink from the liquor cabinet if that’s your taste.”

  “I’ll share a secret.”

  “I figure that’s what you’re here for,” she said biting her lip, feeling the original anger returning to take the offensive position.

  “I meant about the liquor.” He smiled and seemed to take pleasure in her discomfort. “I attend many social events but the staff know I do not like the taste of alcohol and equally hate the effect it has on people’s behavior. I am served cola and juice in fancy drinking glasses and the world is none the wiser.”

  “Lies? Why am I not surprised?”

  “Megan, I realize our relationship is new and has suffered a great disappointment on your part this evening. But I’m banking on the hope that you feel this same attraction I do – the one that won’t allow you to slip through my fingers. In the brief time we’ve been separated, I feel as if my heart has lost a beat. My mind replays the picture of your stunned expression at my decision to leave and it torments my mind. Two hours of torture is more than I can bear.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “You are new to Edstrom and unaware of the recent events.” Ryan paused.

  “Still listening.”

  “King Julius has passed away recently. The time of mourning has passed and the people are ready to have their monarchy tied in a red bow by Christmas.”

  “And this is the ugliness you eluded to that keeps you hiding? News flash! The new appointment of Prince… I don’t know – it’s some long tedious name – is all people around her talk about,” she said. “You never said what service you provided for the royal family.”

  He exhaled and searched Megan’s face. “I am the replacement. My full name is Prince Ryannaus Julius Alexander Edstrom, next in line for the throne.”

  Megan’s jaw dropped and the blood drained from her face. She automatically straightened her form, stood and backed off a respectable distance. “What…?”

  He raised up from the chair suddenly appearing older than his twenty-nine years. He held her gaze. “This is the exact response I did not want from you. I enjoy the girl who treated me like an everyday normal, who knew no pretences or guarded her tongue to appease royalty.”

  “But you are royal.”

  “Yes, but I enjoy you as a woman that I’m interested in getting to know better.”

  “And where could that possibly lead us – friends? We both know you’re not implying mere friendship. We’ve gone beyond that, haven’t we?”

  “I have and was hoping to entice you to the other side,” he said, spreading that grin she loved across his stressed features. She’d definitely been enticed and could not deny the growing attraction between them. “From the first moment – no even before I met you – I sensed you were coming to me. Does that sound stupid?”

  Megan recalled the episode with the binoculars and nodded agreement. From a distance, they’d magically connected, and somehow fate had arranged they meet in person. The gift from Ms. Claus of a royal Tiara popped into her mind and she bit her lip, tired of the fight. “Not stupid, Ryan. Sort of romantic.”

  “So, Miss Fairchild, are you interested in spending time with me at the castle where we can roam free and not worry about the chaos my presence makes when I visit the village unexpectedly?”

  She recalled the commotion outside. “That following outside was for you? And here I thought someone famous was staying at the hotel.” She wondered if such a comment could have her thrown out of the country for treason.

  His searching eyes never stopped pleading. “Only visiting the establishment. But don’t think you can put me off with sarcasm,” said Ryan. “Can I send the car around for you tomorrow at ten? They will bring you to the castle, the staff will settle you in a guest room and we will lunch together on the south terrace.”

  “Move in? I’ve known you less than a week and you ask me to move in. You truly don’t know me at all.”

  “You will have your own suite and you can bring Suzanne along. My royal consultant is quite smitten with her.”

  “Royal consultant? Well she’ll be pleased to hear she hit the jackpot. Suzanne has developed deep feelings for your colleague. James monopolizes her mind even when they’re not together.”

  “And do I dominate your mind, Megan?”

  Her growing blush gave her away but she stood strong. “I pictured a different man.”

  “I’m the same man. Don’t confuse my position with the person.”

  “It’s hard,” said Megan.

  “Think of me as Ryan, the man you’ve helped with heartfelt words of wisdom and kindness. My kingdom should bow to you for bringing me out of myself and back into life.”

  “You give me too much credit. You just needed an ear to vent.”

  “And a shoulder to cry on. Do you realize only the Queen Mum has seen her son cry?” Ryan reached for her hands. “Am I swaying you? All I want is the chance to get to know you without the press hounding us and creating their own version of our relationship.”

  “And what of your family, Ryan? Your mother will come for chats and share a cup of tea. And your sisters will forget that I am not of noble blood and that their brother is playing with fire?”

  “My sisters will love you. Mum might not be as easy to win over, not because she won’t like you but she has stately expectations.” Ryan squeezed Megan’s hand and pulled her in close. “If I’m to be King, the country will respect the changes I bring to the table or...”

  “Or what – you won’t be King and your countrymen will miss out on a great leader. I’ll not jeopardize that, Ryan – or, should I call you, Majesty?” Megan tried to pull away but he held her firm.

  “You’re upset, when my only wish was to give us a chance at love.” He stood and the same despair she’d worked so hard to eliminate lingered behind his eyes.

  “You will adjust to your destiny; you’re stronger than you think.”

  “I thought I had a reason in you. Now that’s gone.”

  “You’re acting absurd. The connection would have been broken when I leave Edstrom, anyway.” She stared at him openly. “And what of the royal tart who showed up at the ruins? You must know the woman thinks she owns you. Will she simply bow out and accept your rejection of her to test the waters with the American? A rebuff is a hard pill to swallow – believe me – I choked on it earlier.”

  “Lady Winslow assumes far too much. We’ve been chums since childhood and she’s under the false impression that it only takes a good political match to rule the kingdom; that love and romance are not a necessary component in the higher realm of things.” He moved closer until she could barely breathe. “But I think Edstrom would rather follow love into the new era. That is the glue that holds kingdoms together.”

  Megan squirmed under the gaze that uncovered the hidden secrets of her soul to this man who stood wanting to claim her heart.

  “Do you have a harem?” she asked, attempting to lesson the intensity of the moment.

  Ryan roared laughing. “A harem of one – you – if you’ll agree to continue our acquaintance under the protection of the castle.”

  “Well, Suzanne would likely kill me if I did not accept your invitation.”

  “I suppose I will have to thank her, not for killing you but for keeping us together.”

  He bent in, and their lips brushed and her heart had no choice but to surrender to his embrace. Arms reached behind his head and she pulled him closer. They melded as one and time collapsed into forever-land in a flurry of unleashed passion. The kiss was everything she imagined perfection to be.

  Reluctantly, he pulled away, and she saw his eyes drenched with the turbulent emotions that swam inside her core. “I take that as a definite, yes. I will stay awake all night long anticipating your arrival, jus
t to make certain I’d not simply dreamed this moment.”

  “You better not. I want you wide awake at lunch.” Ryan pecked a light kiss on her swollen lips. “Until tomorrow, Megan Fairchild.”

  Suzanne was ecstatic when she heard the news. The packing began and soon both girls had their rooms stripped clean of everything they owned and cases waiting by the door. Megan disappeared into the bathroom and prepared for the day. In the shower, she tried pinching herself to be sure she wasn’t the one dreaming. She’d chosen a turquoise summer dress that respectfully rested mid-knee and dipped in a slight V-neck in the front. Matching shoes and handbag completed the ensemble. Using combs, she pinned the sides of her hair toward the back and gave the top a bit of lift so it didn’t lie flat. The blonde highlights shone extra bright today and her blue eyes radiated what her heart supposed to be real.

  Megan attempted to keep a lid on her expectations. Ryan’s first responsibility was to his country – not her – and she’d not allow herself to create rifts in the royal family. She knew of responsibility and the price one pays to achieve it. Megan could not run from it while jiggling her career during the loss of her mother and her father’s almost immediate jump back into a lively social life that invaded every cherished memory of her family. His choice of women and the hole it created within had caused her to climb into a self-preserving cocoon long before her arrival in Edstrom Isle. At least the trip and Ryan had served to break that unhealthy cycle. The importance of family returned to her and forgiveness for the inconsideration her father had shown, flowed freely for the first time. Megan refused to force Ryan into a compromising situation with his family and she’d safeguard him, even if he fought her every inch of the way.

  For now, it was enough to comprehend that she and Suzanne would be living in the main part of the castle with the royal family. How long the fantasy would last was uncertain, but she’d not dwell on the future today. The car arrived promptly at ten. The bellboys wheeled their luggage to the curb and the driver lifted it into the limo’s trunk. Megan paid her bill at the desk and left, bidding this first part of their vacation goodbye.