Royally Matched

by Jenna Brandt

  “Can we speak privately for a moment?” he asked, the look of admiration shining from his eyes.

  “I don’t think that would be wise. Anything you would like to say to me, you can do it in the open.”

  The admiration disappeared and was replaced with one of anger. “I’m guessing your refusal to be alone with me has to do with your new relationship with the Crown Prince.”

  “Not that I owe you any explanation, but yes, the prince and I are involved.”

  “What does that mean? How serious is it?”

  Lily folded her arms across her chest and narrowed her eyes. “I really don’t feel comfortable talking about this with you.”

  “I thought you were different than the other women who throw themselves at royalty around here, but I watched you leave with the prince a few minutes ago. Now, you’ve come back alone with your hair out of place and a missing earring,” he said gesturing towards her.

  “What I do, and who I do it with, is no concern of yours. The way you’re acting confirms I made the right decision by keeping you strictly as a friend, but you can rest assured, that’s over now too.”

  Turning on her heel, Lily rushed back the way she came. She rubbed her ear lobes and realized she must have dropped one of her earrings in the hallway when she was with Max. They were on loan from a jeweler and worth a small ransom. She had to find it before someone else did.

  Lily headed back down the hall and looked for her earring on the floor where she had just been with Max. From down the way, she could hear him speaking to someone. At first, she didn’t pay attention, until she heard him say one name. “Starla.”

  “How did you get in here?” Lily heard Max ask the other woman.

  “I’m Starla Stone, Max, I can get in anywhere I want. I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for a while, but that guy you’re always with—Patrick I think his name is—told me to stop calling. I think he blocked my number and hasn’t been giving you my emails.”

  Lily inched along the wall until she could see them, but remained out of sight. She knew she shouldn’t eavesdrop, but Max was her fiancé and she needed to know what was going on.

  “Maybe you should take the hint,” Max stated with irritation audible in his voice. “He’s doing that because I’ve moved on.”

  “I think you want to, and you’re trying to replace me, but you can’t. I saw the news reports about you and that vapid skank. It’s why I came. I thought you should know before you get too serious with her, I’m pregnant. And before you ask, yes it’s yours.”

  “Do you know how many royals have claims of babies every year? This isn’t a new trick you’ve come up with,” Max accused.

  “I thought you might say that. It’s why I brought this,” Starla stated, pushing a piece of paper towards him.

  “What’s this?” he asked in confusion.

  “It’s a sonogram, Max. In other words, a picture of our baby. If you look at the due date in the corner, it shows when I got pregnant. It was when we were together.”

  Lily tried not to gasp. The news made her heart lurch with a flurry of mixed emotions. What was she going to do? She loved Max, but she couldn’t ask him to pick her over his baby. A royal baby would mean he had to marry Starla in order to avoid a scandal. And since Lily and Max hadn’t officially announced their engagement, the king and queen could quietly demand they end it without anyone knowing. This baby meant her life with Max was over.

  “I can’t believe this,” Max muttered under his breath. “What am I going to do?”

  “I’ll tell you what you’ll do. You’re going to put me up in that swanky palace of yours until the baby comes, or I’ll go public with my pregnancy and how you jilted me.”

  “That’s not how it happened, Starla. I didn’t know you were pregnant.”

  “But the press doesn’t know that. Who do you think they are going to believe, a pregnant woman or a known playboy?”

  “Fine, Starla, you can stay at the palace, but just until we figure all of this out.”

  “That’s fine, Max. You’ll come around to the idea of being a daddy and parenting with me soon enough.”

  Heartbroken, Lily didn’t wait to hear anything else. She rushed down the hall and fled into a dark corner of the ballroom to hide. Once the wedding events were over, she would quietly leave Triola forever.

  Chapter Eleven

  Max woke the day after the wedding, tired and worn out. After his disconcerting conversation with Starla, he had tried to find Lily to tell her what was going on. He wanted her to pray with him and discuss how they should move forward. Every time he tried to get her alone, however, she came up with something she needed to do for Margo. By the time the night was over, she claimed she was too tired to talk and anything they needed to discuss could wait.

  “Would you like your morning espresso, Master Beaumont?” Patrick asked.

  “You better make it a double, Patrick. I have a feeling it’s going to be a long day.”

  “Does this have to do with that wretched Starla woman?”

  “I take it you know she’s staying at the palace,” Max stated with disgust. “I didn’t have a choice, Patrick.”

  “It’s my job to make sure you are taken care of, Master Beaumont. Sometimes, that means keeping track of those around you. I’m aware Starla Stone was at the wedding.”

  “Do you know why she tracked me down?” Max asked, concerned Patrick knew about the baby but had kept the information from him.

  “I assumed she wanted to re-establish your relationship. She had been trying to get a hold of you, but like all your past women friends, I kept her from contacting you once you had moved on.”

  “You’re right, I have moved on, Patrick. I’ve been so focused on the news Starla told me, I had forgotten that I’m not the same man I used to be. I have to forgo my espresso this morning. I need to go find Lily and talk with her about why Starla came back.”

  After getting ready, Max headed to the guest area of the palace. He knocked on the door to Lily’s suite. A few moments later, she opened the door with a distracted look on her face. “What do you want, Max? I’m busy.”

  He looked past Lily and noticed an opened suitcase on her bed. Two drawers were partially closed, and there were clothes scattered on the bed. “Are you going somewhere?” Max asked in confusion.

  “I’m heading back to Karamay later this evening,” she stated matter-of-factly.

  “Why? Is something wrong at the orphanage?” Max inquired with concern. “I can go with you now that the wedding is over.”

  She shook her head. “No, I’m going alone. You need to stay here. You’re going to have your hands full enough in about seven months.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I know about Starla being pregnant. I overheard you talking to her last night.”

  It all made sense why Lily had been avoiding him now. She knew the truth and was trying to distance herself.

  “Let me explain,” Max said, wanting her to understand. “It doesn’t change anything for me. I still love you and want to be with you.”

  “We both know it doesn’t matter now. You’re going to have a baby, and that baby will be heir to the Triola throne. The king and queen will require you to marry Starla to legitimize the baby. This means there is no future for us.”

  “You don’t know that. Times have changed; that’s an old way of thinking.”

  “Things haven’t changed that much, not in Triola. The royal family would never survive such a scandal. We both know Starla being pregnant changes everything.”

  “It doesn’t have to. We can figure something out. Please, Lily, don’t do this.”

  “You’re the Crown Prince of Triola, and begging is beneath you.” She closed the door as she added, “Goodbye, Max, I wish you all the best.”

  As Max watched Lily disappear behind the door, he felt a part of his heart shrivel up and die. What was he going to do without her? Lily was everything to him. He couldn’t see
his life without her in it.

  Dejected, he walked down the hallway. Before he could make it very far, Starla found him and blocked his path. She had a satisfied look on her face as she said, “There you are, Max. I wanted to find out when you wanted to make the announcement about the baby?”

  “What announcement?” he asked in confusion.

  “Well, this baby,” she said patting her stomach, “is the future king or queen of Triola. Everyone needs to know.”

  “This isn’t the right time,” Max stated dismissively.

  Placing her hands on her hips, she glared at him and asked, “Why? It’s not like the circumstances will change? Does this have something to do with that stupid woman you were seeing here in Triola?”

  “Don’t talk about her that way, and if you must know, she told me she is leaving the country. I need time to process all of this before I decide on how to move forward.” Pushing past Starla, he rushed down the hall, wanting to escape to his room and fall asleep. Maybe when he woke up, all of this would be a bad dream.

  Lily handed the last of her luggage over to the palace servant. “Thank you. I will be down in a few minutes.”

  She took one last look around the room before grabbing her purse and coat. It was time to put all of this behind her again. This time though, no matter how hard her parents begged, she would never return to Triola. There was too much pain for her here now.

  Lily weaved through the hallways of the royal court areas, trying to avoid as many public places as possible. She wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone, or come up with an excuse why she was leaving court.

  From a nearby room, Lily heard a muffled voice from behind the door. It sounded as if it might be Starla. Lily knew the pop star was staying at the palace. Was this her suite?

  Lily wasn’t sure why, but something prodded her to lean closer to listen. When she did, the voice became clearer, and she was certain it was Starla.

  “Yes, it’s working, JoJo. I’ve got Max’s attention again, which is exactly what I wanted. I couldn’t believe it when I heard the news say he had replaced me with that basic local girl. No one can replace Starla Stone,” she stated with indignation.

  A few moments passed while Starla must have been listening to the other woman, then she responded. “Well, it was a last resort… No, he has no clue about the truth… How will I fix it? That’s easy, he’ll agree to a quickie wedding. Once we’re married, I can fake a miscarriage. He’ll never know the difference.” Starla let out a laugh as she added, “I know. I mean being a pop star is great, but every girl dreams of being a princess. There was no way I was letting Max get away.”

  First, shock, then disgust, and finally fury settled in Lily’s heart. Starla was lying about the baby and she was using her lie to manipulate Max. There was no way she would let her get away with it. She needed to find Max and tell him the truth.

  Lily rushed through the palace until she reached Max’s suites. She hoped he hadn’t left for the day, and more importantly, he would still be willing to listen to her.

  She could tell from his expression earlier in the day, she had hurt him deeply when she refused to work with him regarding the situation. Rather than go to God in prayer about it, she let her fear cause her to push him away rather than fight for the one man she loved. Now, even if he couldn’t forgive that, she still needed to save him from the clutches of a woman like Starla. Even if Lily didn’t end up with Max, he deserved far better than that.

  Lightly, she rapped on his door. “Max, are you in there?”

  A few moments later, Max opened the door. He was wearing a t-shirt, his hair was tousled, and his eyes red. Had he been crying?

  “You haven’t left? Did you change your mind?” he asked with a hopeful tone.

  “I need to speak with you, Max. It’s of the upmost importance.”

  “What is it, Lily?” he said, gesturing for her to come into his room.

  “I just heard some troubling news.”

  “What now? I don’t think I can take one more thing,” Max said with exasperation.

  “I just overheard Starla talking with someone. She is lying about the baby.”

  “You’re certain?”

  Lily nodded. “She said once you married her, she planned to fake a miscarriage.”

  A look of hurt and anger crossed Max’s face. Lily reached out and placed her hand on his arm. “I’m sorry, Max. I don’t want to hurt you, but you needed to know the truth.”

  “You’re right,” he said, pulling her into his arms, and adding, “Of course, you’re right. Thank you for telling me.”

  “No matter what happens, I only want the best for you, Max,” she muttered against his chest. “I will always love you.”

  Max leaned back and stared at her, his eyebrows furrowing together in confusion. “You’re talking like we’re not getting back together.”

  “I… I just assumed after all that’s happened—how I reacted—you wouldn’t want things to go back to the way they were before.”

  “You’re right; I don’t,” Max said, “I want things to be better, and by you coming here to help me, even with the crazy idea in your head I wouldn’t want you back, shows me we’ll be even stronger because of this. It’s shown both of us, we truly love each other.”

  Lily nodded. “I do, I really do, Max. I love you so much, I didn’t even feel like I was me without you.”

  “Well, you never need to worry about that again. I’m going to marry you, and you’ll be stuck with me forever. First, we need to go kick Starla out on her lying lip-syncing rear end.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Starla was still in her room when Max and Lily knocked on the door. When she opened it, her eyes grew round with shock.

  “Surprised to see us together?” Max asked with anger. “I’m sure this wasn’t part of your plan.”

  “What are you talking about, Max?” she asked with fake innocence. “I’ve just been in my room looking at baby registries.”

  “You can stop the act, Starla. I know the truth. Lily overheard you talking to someone on the phone.”

  Starla’s eyes snapped to Lily as she glared at her. “I don’t know what she told you, Max, but it’s all lies.”

  “Save it,” Max stated with fury. “I don’t want to hear any more of your empty lies.”

  “You can’t talk to me this way. I’m the mother of your unborn child,” she yelled at him. “Who are you going to believe, me or her?”

  “Her, most definitely her,” Max said, taking Lily’s hand in his own. “I can’t believe you would trick me into marrying you and then fake a miscarriage. What type of horrible person does that?”

  Pressing her lips together she said defensively, “You left me little choice, Max. When you just up and left me, I had no idea what I did wrong. I tried to contact you, but you wouldn’t even respond to me.”

  Guilt over his mistreatment of not only Starla, but all the other women of his youth, washed over Max. His poor choices were coming back to haunt him in the form of one diabolical pop star; however, she was a monster of his own making. If he had treated her better then maybe all of this could have been avoided.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t end things better, Starla. I was a different man back then. You deserved to be treated better than that. But that doesn’t excuse away your lies and manipulations.” Gesturing to her stuff he added, “I want you to pack and vacate the palace within the hour.”

  “You can’t do this, Max. If you do, I’m going to the press with my story. I’ve still got the sonogram, and it did a good enough job to convince you, I think it will work on them.”

  “Try it, and I’ll have you arrested for fraud upon the crown. You don’t want to see what it’s like on the inside of a Triola prison. I guarantee you they are not as nice as American ones.”

  Shaking her head, she said, “You don’t have to do that. I’ll go quietly.”

  “That’s the smart choice, and it should be clear by now, I don’t want to ever see you
again.”

  Narrowing her gaze at him, she spat out, “Likewise. I can’t wait to be free of this backward country, anyway.”

  Lily and Max exited the guest room and made their way through the palace until they were alone in the royal library.

  Max turned to Lily and let out a heavy sigh. “I’m so glad all of that is over.”

  “Me too,” she said with a nod. “I can’t believe how hard and dirty she fought until the very end.”

  “Thank goodness you heard the truth. I can’t even imagine being married to her for the rest of my life,” Max said as his eyes went wide with revulsion.

  “I guess that means I saved you from a life of misery then,” Lily said with a smile.

  Reaching out, he pulled her towards him as he said in agreement, “I guess it does, which means I should probably thank you.”

  “And how do you plan to do that?” she asked with a quirk of her eyebrow.

  “Like this,” he said, placing his mouth upon hers. The kiss was like a healing balm, covering up all the wounds, not only from their distant past, but what had happened in the last twenty-four hours.

  As Max pulled back and stared into Lily’s eyes, he realized he would do whatever it took to hold on to her and the love they shared.

  Lily looked down at the newspaper in front of her. Scrawled across the front page was her engagement announcement to Maxwell Gerard Beaumont, the Crown Prince of Triola.

  In six months, she would walk down the aisle, marry the only man she had ever loved, and promise to spend the rest of her life with him.

  “That’s a great picture of us,” Max said as he entered the room. “I’m glad we went with your photographer friend rather than the royal one. He never seems to catch anyone’s good side.”

  “Maybe that’s because you didn’t have one until recently,” Lily teased with a smirk.

  “Ouch. I’ll have you know, I did have one. It was just buried below the surface.”

  “I know that,” she said, reaching out and placing her hand on the side of his face. “You’ve got a heart of gold, it just took some work to get it to shine.”