The Duke Takes a Bride (The Rocking Royal Trilogy Book 2)

by Ginger Voight

  “Oh, my God! I’ve seen the pictures of Castlegate. It looks so beautiful and peaceful there.”

  “It was,” I confirmed. “I wish we could live there full-time. I guess for now, holidays will have to do. How about you? I heard you were house-hunting.”

  She nodded. “We obviously want something close to both families, so we’re looking around Cochrann. It’s such a quaint little city, Pea. I’m already in love with it.”

  I nodded. It looked that way from what little I had seen. I envied her freedom to explore it.

  She touched my tummy. “How’s the baby?”

  “He’s fine,” I grinned. “Kicking and keeping me awake at night and sleeping like an angel during the day.”

  She laughed. “Enjoy it now, girl. In two weeks, you’re going to have 2:00am feedings and dirty diapers and spit-up all over your clothes.”

  I cradled my tummy. I couldn’t wait.

  I greeted Gav and Archer, as well as Audra, who looked a little more sedate than usual. I figured Audra must have been privy to the purpose of this impromptu gathering. Mariel and Giz joined us for hors d'oeuvres. Fiona was the last to join our little party, leaving the grand entrance for the queen.

  Despite whatever cozy relationships we might have formed with her, we all stood when Maeve made her entrance. She received her guests one by one, and we bowed or curtsied in kind.

  “It was an enjoyable honeymoon, I trust,” she said to Auggie and me, whom she greeted last.

  “It was lovely,” I said. “Castlegate is truly a joy.”

  She nodded. “It has always been a favorite of the family. Created as a sanctuary for us all. Of course, we’ve been known to share it when the occasion called for it,” she smiled, referring to how it was used in WWII.

  “Auggie told me all the stories. He’s quite proud of the history.”

  She nodded as she looked up at her grandson. “I’m glad there’s at least one place in Aldayne where you feel at home, Augustine.”

  He put his arm around me. “My home is wherever my wife is.”

  Her gaze slid back to me. “Of course.” She gave me a once-over. “How are things going with the pregnancy? How far along are you now?”

  I had to think about it, since we were lying about the official due date. “Thirty-four weeks,” I said, quickly doing the math.

  She nodded and sized me up. “You look like you’re carrying a little lower than usual. Is everything all right?”

  I stammered a little so Auggie stepped in. “Never fear, Grandmother. Dr. Hamish examined her prior to the wedding and said everything looks to be on schedule.”

  “Excellent. As you know this Masquerade Ball will be a reception mostly for the new princess. We can’t have you going into labor early, now can we?”

  I gulped and looked up at Auggie. His face froze into an obedient smile.

  “I’m taking good care of her. I promise.”

  “See to it you do,” she instructed with a regal nod of her head. “We have a lot still to do and not nearly enough time to do it.”

  She turned to her daughter. “Giselle, why don’t you take the children to see the gardens before dinner?”

  Mariel piped up. “Forget the gardens. I think one of our falcon eggs is about to hatch. Who wants to see that?”

  Dash jumped up and down. “Oh, me! Please!” He remembered he was addressing royalty, so he bowed. “If you please, Your Highness.”

  Mariel just chuckled and mussed his hair. “As you wish, Lord Dashiell.”

  He so loved having an official title.

  With Dash and Dallas gone, with Mariel and Giz to entertain them, it left all the adults in the room with the Queen.

  I suspected we were about to learn the real reason for our meeting by the way Fiona hovered nearby, quietly observing as usual, silently communicating with the queen.

  “Please, sit,” Maeve instructed us. We obeyed. She took a seat as well. “It has come to my attention that there are some members of the McPhee family who are getting quite a bit of press at your expense.”

  Dad stiffened. “They are not McPhees, Your Highness. They are my parents. By law and by blood, anyway.”

  She nodded. “I take it they are estranged.”

  “They’re not,” he affirmed. “But I am.”

  “I see,” she said. “Well, that’s not an ideal situation, is it?”

  Archer piped up. “With all due respect, Your Majesty, what do you expect us to do about it?”

  Her cool green eyes easily slid his way. “I’m so glad you asked, Archer. I’ve found that that the best way to silence a squeaking wheel is with a little grease. Surely, there is something that these people want in exchange for their silence.”

  Dad chuckled humorlessly. “You clearly don’t know the Pruitts. Silence isn’t exactly their thing.”

  “From what I understand, they are ministers, are they not?”

  “Technically,” I answered, the word bitter on my tongue.

  “What does that mean?” she wanted to know.

  “It means they make a living preaching the gospel, but they don’t really live by it.”

  “I see. Is that the root of the falling out?”

  Mom and Dad shared a look. Finally, my stoic dad answered. “Things were always strained between us, long before I met Sunny and moved from Sweetwater. I married too young; they didn’t like that. I took her name; they really didn’t like that. I had children that I raised to be true to themselves.” He took a deep breath. “It was the straw that broke the camel’s back apparently.”

  “They called Dash an abomination,” I elaborated, mostly because it needed to be said. These people were vile, whether I was related to them or not.

  Maeve was struck silent by the news. “I see,” she finally said, reaching for a cup of tea. “Well, that is quite upsetting, isn’t it?”

  I wanted to let her know the only reason they were making such a stink was because of Christopher, but the less she knew about him the better.

  “I reckon reconciliation is out of the question.”

  Mom and Dad shared another look. As mad as he was at them, they were still his parents. I knew the decision couldn’t have been an easy one.

  Archer, again, piped up. “Maybe I could smooth things over.” We all turned his direction. “I’ve kept in contact with them over the years. Our relationship is more cordial. Plus, I’m an expert negotiator. I think I could find a middle ground.”

  Dad sighed. “You shouldn’t have to do it alone, son.”

  Audra stood. “He won’t have to. I’ll arrange everything.”

  Again, Dad looked at Mom. After a slight hesitation, she nodded. “I can come, too,” he decided. “It’s something I should have done a long time ago.”

  “Excellent,” the queen declared. “Now that that unpleasantness is over, we can discuss happier topics. I’ve been giving a lot of thought to it and with your plate so full managing the Masquerade Ball, I’ve decided to offer my services in selecting your nanny.”

  She announced it like a favor. I hardly took it as one. “I won’t be hiring a nanny.”

  Her eyebrows lifted. “You won’t? Why not?”

  I took Auggie’s hand in mine. “We want to do this on our own. And my family is staying with us at Castlewick, which is fully staffed. I can’t imagine that there would be a need.”

  She chuckled. “My dear, you are a princess now. In a few short months, your royal duties are going to be a full-time job, with quite a bit of travel and projects to take you away from your family. This will only increase ten-fold once you become queen. Selecting a nanny now means you have total control over the consistent care of your child, who will become the heir apparent upon his birth, where the training for this role starts.”

  My stomach dropped. “But it’s my child.” Auggie squeezed my hand for support. “Don’t I get a say in how he is raised?”

  “Of course, my dear. Of course.” I knew she was pacifying me, which only made me even mo
re resistant. “No one is usurping your role as his mother, simply providing critical support in your most important job of raising him to be king.”

  My eyes swung over to my mom’s in panic. She cleared her throat. “Maeve,” she began, then reconsidered. “Your Majesty. As a mother, I’m sure you understand what a personal choice this is.”

  Maeve turned to her. Her voice was soft but invited no argument. “It’s not a choice, Sunny. It’s an obligation. Beyond this child belonging to her and to Auggie, he will belong to Aldayne.”

  It was everything I feared the minute Auggie proposed to me. I placed my free hand on my tummy and cursed the tears that threatened to fall.

  Auggie chimed in. “Perhaps this isn’t the time to have this discussion, Grandmother. After all, Pea is going to get the standard six months maternity leave.”

  Clearly, she didn’t care to be questioned about it. “It’s best to do this sooner rather than later. I’ve already enrolled him in St. Francis Academy, and he isn’t even born. You’re about to be parents, it’s important to be forward-thinking about the future. Time passes a lot faster than you think it will.” Maeve stood. “Come. Dinner is about to be served.”

  She stalked from the room, leaving us all choiceless but to follow.

  Chapter Eleven

  To her credit, the queen did not broach the tender topic again throughout the meal. Instead we focused on the plans for the Masquerade Ball. All our ideas were put into action from the moment Auggie gave them to her. She barely questioned anything, merely made suggestions on how to make our plans a little more regional, to welcome the people of Aldayne.

  By the time dinner ended, I was too tired to put up more of a fight on the nanny front. I agreed at least to meet some of the applicants at some point during the following week.

  Dad and Archer finalized the trip details back to the States, preparing to leave that following morning so that Dad could get back in time for Halloween.

  Only a few people knew it was so he could be present for the birth of his grandson, and not some silly Masquerade Ball he would have much rather missed.

  But I was quickly learning appearances were key. I said as much to Auggie when we returned to our own private apartment in Castlewick. He rubbed my aching back after we climbed into the huge four-poster bed. “You could always hire your own nanny,” he suggested. “Make Old Mother have to approve of your choice instead of the other way around.”

  I chuckled. “There’s an idea. Think she’d go for it?”

  “Who cares?” he quipped as he turned off the light and spooned me from behind. “One day she will be forced to bow to you as queen.”

  “There’s a heady thought,” I murmured.

  He turned me over to face him. “Get used to it, my love. You’re poised to be one of the most powerful women in the world. Might as well get used to wielding that power now.” He bent for a kiss and I didn’t deny him.

  But as I turned to go to sleep, his suggestion lingered in my subconscious.

  He was right. In addition to several other equally impressive titles, I was a princess now and, in a few years, I would be queen. I might as well get used to calling some shots of my own, starting with the care of my very own child.

  And Jack must have agreed because he settled peacefully so that I could sleep better than I had in a long time.

  We were up and at ‘em that next morning. There were plenty of things to coordinate, especially as Audra, Archer and Dad prepared to head back to the States for an indeterminate amount of time.

  I knew Dad wouldn’t want to spend too much time with his folks. Historically this had never gone well. I knew also that he would want to get back to Aldayne in time for Jack’s arrival by the end of the month. He didn’t have a whole lot of time to pull off a miracle. And shutting Memaw and Papa Pruitt up would literally take an act of God.

  I could control none of that, so I had to release it into the hands of the people I loved as they headed back to America.

  I did stop Audra to pick her brain about some of the things I could control. “Who would you hire if you were looking for a nanny?”

  She was stunned by the question. “I would assume the Queen has a list as long as her arm of qualified candidates,” she answered at last.

  “I’m sure she does. But this is not her decision. It’s mine. I’m the mother. I’m the one who is going to have to trust this individual to basically stand in for me when I’m unable to be there. Shouldn’t it be someone who could impart the values and lessons that I find important?” She chewed on that a bit. Finally, I withdrew the big gun. “Imagine how this experience would benefit a king in the future, to have a diversified support system of caregivers with different backgrounds, skills and experiences?”

  I knew I had her when she sighed. She pulled out her phone to look up a contact. “One of my closest friends in school went into the military once we graduated. We were supposed to do it together, but priorities changed,” she trailed off, referring to Cillian’s betrayal of both when they were barely adults. “After her service, she studied to be a teacher. Her specialty is pre-school.”

  “Sounds perfect,” I said.

  “She’s not likely to make the queen’s list, but honestly that’s one of the things I like most about her.”

  “Why wouldn’t she make the queen’s list?”

  Audra shrugged. “She’s not as formal as royal protocol might demand. She’s not exactly the ‘stand silently by’ type, if you know what I mean.”

  I glanced around at the staff who busied themselves trying to appear invisible. “I do.”

  “She was always the life of the party. But no one ever had my back more. My family and Auggie aside, of course.”

  “Of course.” I took her information. “Thanks, Audra. I’ll be meeting with the nannies Maeve has recommended all week. It helps to know I have options.”

  She squeezed my hand. “I’m here if you need me. You know that.”

  I reached for a hug. She really didn’t do those, but between Fern and me, we were breaking her down.

  I wanted to talk to her about Archer, but she didn’t do that either. But even I could feel the electricity crackling off the connection between them. I hoped they would be back in time for the ball.

  Speaking of ball, I had a long list of things to do and less than two weeks to do them. That morning I met with several caterers who brought the dishes inspired by our Masquerade theme. Because it was a ball in a Gothic castle, the food was exotic, seductive and a little creepy. Giz and Mariel represented #TeamQueen, while Fern and I represented #TeamMcPheeAgassi as we met with chef after chef, tasting sample after sample.

  Auggie got to miss all of it, thanks to his training at the Royal Guard Military Academy. To be crowned king, he was required to be knighted under the Royal Order of Valor and Duty, or ROVD, which was bestowed on royals who graduated the academy or served in the armed forces. To be king, they had to understand the cost of war, so that the servitude of their people would never be taken for granted.

  Of course, Cillian had graduated with honors and he didn’t understand squat. I think it was safe to say there were some flaws in the theory.

  Still, we did what we were told. For me, this included meeting with three possible nannies that had already been screened and preapproved by Maeve.

  And they were perfectly lovely women. One was a retiree. One was still in college, about to graduate from a very prestigious program at Girbridge, which had routinely produced nannies for royals for nearly a century.

  The third was a nanny who already had experience with several prominent families in the UK.

  They were polite. Well-mannered. Soft-spoken. Obedient. In fact, they were completely interchangeable. I had forgotten their names by the time they left Castlewick.

  Tuesday worked the same way Monday had. Meeting with more chefs and party planners, a few contractors to build temporary staging for the musical acts we had booked.

  Because it was the off
icial reception where the people Aldayne would be personally introduced to me, we were going to open up Greystone to about 4000 people, all chosen at random by a lottery so that the party wouldn’t be exclusive only to those who could afford a ticket. They would all be seated on the grounds to enjoy a night of music and dancing, courtesy of some of our famous friends. They could wear masks and enjoy complimentary food and drink, including good ol’ American barbecue if I could find a chef that could pass my dad’s taste test.

  There would also be a private reception with 300 additional VIP guests who would enjoy private access to the castle at $250 a head with all proceeds going to charity. These guests were required to dress in costume to attend, but honestly it was a matter of pride to do it right. According to the Grapevine it was going to be one of the biggest events of the year, and that was a year that included the Queen’s Silver Jubilee and our wedding.

  Because of this, the food and drink would be decidedly more elegant and upscale, making that VIP ticket even more attractive.

  The clencher, though, was that while dressed in elaborate costumes they could move about the outdoor venue perfectly anonymous for greater freedom.

  It was an ambitious project, and I spent all that week coordinating the event with my team, while meeting a fleet of super nannies who came and went in a blur. Nothing stood out about any of them.

  By Friday, Maeve was growing a little cross. I knew that when she showed up for a surprise meeting that afternoon.

  “You have seen over a dozen nannies,” she said as we sat in the drawing room where tea had been served. “Surely one of them has impressed you.”

  “They all impress me,” I told her. “Just none of them stand out.”

  “This isn’t a popularity contest, Peaches,” she said. Her use of my given name was both rare and powerful. “This is your child.”

  “That’s right,” I argued. “My child. And I want my child to grow from this relationship. The last thing he needs is one more nameless, faceless servant to yes-sir, no-sir him into thinking he’s king of the world.” Her mouth thinned into a line. I fired the kill shot. “Auggie never had a nanny. Cillian did.”