by Jenny Frame
Their food was served and they ate in quiet companionship as the news played on the wall, and they both read morning newspaper websites.
An item came on the news about the upcoming state visit to Britain by President Loka of Vospya. Crowds of protestors were gathered outside both the embassy and the Houses of Parliament every day, creating as much noise and disruption as possible.
Bea felt more and more angry the closer the state visit got. “I don’t know why we’re having him here, Georgie. It’ll make me sick to have him stay and give him hospitality.”
The small but oil- and gas-rich Eastern European country of Vospya had quickly earned the reputation of one of the world’s worst human rights records since President Loka led a coup against the democratically elected government there.
George took a sip of water and patted her lips dry with the cloth napkin. “We’ve already been through this, Bea. We have no choice. We are servants of the government and the prime minister, and we must welcome whomever they wish to offer the hand of friendship to. It’s not always pleasant, but service comes before self.”
“Bodicea Dixon makes a huge thing about Britain being a liberal democracy, but when there’s a trade agreement at stake, she’s willing to shut her eyes to their appalling human rights record.” Bea was barely restraining her temper. President Loka’s military coup had set his country back a hundred years. Gay people, women, and generally anyone not agreeing with him were brutally oppressed.
“It’s the way it has to be. We are servants of the democratically elected government,” George said firmly.
To make matters worse the news channel reported next on a royal exclusive. Bea hated the speculation she got in the press.
“I’ll put it off,” George said.
Bea sighed. “No, I want to know what imaginary story they’ve got about us now.”
The pictures showed the royal couple on a visit to a whisky factory in Scotland, as the voice-over described: “At the end of the tour, Their Majesties were given a sample of the finest casked whisky, but the Queen Consort passed on the offer. Our sources tell us this could be due to a royal baby on the way. We expect an announcement any day now.”
“Bloody idiots,” Bea shouted and threw her napkin onto her plate. “There’s a new story about me being pregnant every bloody week. We have to put out so many denials to the press, I’ve lost count. I feel like a baby-making machine not a person.”
“I thought you wanted lots of children with me,” George said with disappointment.
Now Bea felt bad. Children were a touchy subject between them. George had wanted to start a family as soon as they came home from the world tour, and had in fact given her doctors at their clinic all the stem cell samples needed to create their child as soon as they were married. Bea could become pregnant at the private London clinic anytime, but she was reluctant.
“You know I do, so don’t pout. I just need time to settle into this life first. If I’m not settled, how can I bring a child into the world who will be glared at by the media from the first day of their life? I know you want an heir—”
“If that’s what you think, then I obviously haven’t explained myself properly. I don’t just want an heir. I want a child with you, Bea. A child brought about by our love. A little piece of us, to love, protect, and care for. I don’t see what’s so wrong with that.”
When George put it like that, she couldn’t see anything wrong with that—in fact, everything seemed right with it. In her mind she saw an image of George, so big and strong, holding their baby in her arms, and Bea’s heart fluttered.
They ate on in silence for a few minutes before George said, “Gussy called me about Roza. She’ll travel tomorrow. Are you sure you don’t mind her staying indefinitely?”
“Of course not. She’s family.”
George took her hand and tenderly caressed it with her fingers. “I really feel badly for her. Brought up without her mother, and Uncle Christian is a very old-fashioned father. It seems to me she has just been crying out for love, attention, and affection. That scoundrel Thea Brandt knew exactly which buttons to press with her.”
“I was thinking, Georgie. She needs an occupation while she’s here. Something to give her a new perspective. Why don’t we send her to work at Timmy’s?”
Bea had given up her job at the hospice charity when she became the consort. But Timmy’s was still very close to her heart, and she had now become its royal patron.
“That’s an excellent idea, my darling. There’s nothing better to make you appreciate your responsibilities than trying to help others.”
“My thoughts exactly. I’ll make a call and organize it.”
“Do you think your new director can handle Roza? She’s quite a handful,” George said.
Bea smiled smugly. “Lennox King? Oh, I think she’ll handle her very well.”
Just then a breaking news story on TV caught their attention.
“We are just getting reports that Princess Rozala of Denbourg has been involved in a high-speed car crash, not far from Ximeno Palace.”
“Oh God, Georgie.” Bea gasped.
George immediately called her private secretary. “Bastien, Princess Rozala’s been involved in an accident. I need you to find out everything you can.”
Chapter Two
Lennox King pounded her feet on the treadmill below her, trying to strain every last bit of energy from her body. Sweat dripped down her forehead and she quickly wiped it away with her hand. The high tempo music in her ears and the adrenaline shooting through her body were taking her towards that special place that gave her the best natural high she could get.
She glanced down at the timer and saw she had just over a minute left to go. The treadmill was already set on a steep incline, but she wanted more, wanted to push her body further.
“Computer? Incline up two.”
Immediately the running track moved upward so Lennox was running at breakneck speed virtually uphill.
Lennox felt the increased acidic pain in her legs straight away, and that slight moment of panic when her body told her that she couldn’t do it, but she shook that off and closed her eyes.
Push, push, she told herself.
Her lungs burned intensely as if they couldn’t get enough oxygen into them, and then it happened. She got past her body’s point of no return, the point where her body stopped resisting, and she was hit with the most intense burst of pure pleasure.
Lennox let out a groan and finally the timer beeped and the treadmill started to slow and lower to the ground. She fell forward and leaned her upper body over the front of the machine. “Jesus.” She was gasping, desperately trying to get her breath back.
As hard as it was, and as hard as her body was screaming in rebellion at what she had just put it through, the aftershocks of pleasure still spread all over her body. “Better than sex.”
She grabbed her towel hanging on the side and wiped her face and ran it through her sweaty short brown hair. Only then when she came out of her own personal bubble did she notice the other gym patrons.
They were spread over different cardio machines that faced a wall projecting a bank of TV channels. Rolling news and sports, and the music to which her earbuds were currently hooked up. The gym wasn’t too busy, seeing as it was lunchtime, and that’s how Lennox liked it. She hated the gym in the evening when all the people came to be seen, and not to truly work out.
Lennox took a big swig from her water bottle when something on the news channel caught her eye. The breaking news banner flashed across the screen, and she quickly told the computer to switch to the news channel.
She saw footage of a white sports car with its front end crushed into a pole, and then the reporter started to say, “Denbourg’s under-fire royal, Princess Rozala, is in the midst of more drama today after she sped away from Ximeno Palace and her protection team this afternoon, and became involved in an apparent car accident with members of the press. At the moment we haven’t been ab
le to ascertain her condition. A five-mile exclusion zone has been implemented around the palace and the accident, to ensure the princess’s security and for police investigations. This comes on the back of a troubled few days for the princess the media dub the Royal Rebel…”
Lennox watched intently as the footage switched from the scene of the accident to that of the princess attending glamorous parties and hanging on the arm of a much older woman. The princess was a beautiful young woman, Lennox thought, but if the press were to be believed, quite a handful. As she got wrapped up in the story, a woman’s voice interrupted her. “You really push yourself hard. I wish I had your stamina.”
Lennox looked down to her side and saw a blond woman leaning against her machine. She smiled, stepped down beside her, and wrapped her towel around her neck. “I like to keep in good shape.”
Lennox felt the woman’s eyes caress her shoulder muscles and arms, while the woman stroked her fingernails seductively down Lennox’s neck.
“I can see that. My name is Gill, by the way.”
Lennox could tell she was being hit on, and it wasn’t a rare occurrence in the gym. She wasn’t arrogant but knew that her tall, solid body and confident demeanour were attractive to women, and it was something that she had exploited in the past—but not any more.
She took Gill’s hand and noticed the wedding band and large engagement ring on her finger. “Lennox King.”
Gill took a step towards her and gently caressed her biceps. “I’ve seen you a few times in here, Lennox. You work harder than anyone I’ve seen and leave without saying a word to anyone. I just had to come up and introduce myself. Would you like to get some coffee after you’ve finished?”
A few years ago, she wouldn’t have thought twice about it. They would be having sex in the changing room by now, regardless of the rings on Gill’s finger. The shame that her memories brought her were her constant companion. She looked down to the Roman numerals tattooed on her wrist and tried to gulp away the sick feeling inside.
“I’m sorry, Gill. I have to get back to work.”
“Maybe next time? I’m at the gym quite often during the week.” Gill took another step into her personal space and whispered, “It doesn’t have to be anything serious. I appreciate discretion.”
Lennox lifted her water bottle from the holder on the machine and said, “I’m sorry. I don’t do casual.” She took a long swig of water. I don’t do anything any more. Before Gill had the chance to push it any further, she ended the conversation. “Excuse me, I need to get started on my weights or I’ll never make it back to the office in time. Nice meeting you, Gill.”
Lennox walked off and brought the conversation to an end. As she walked away she heard Gill say, “You should learn to relax and have some fun when it’s offered, Lennox. You know where I am.”
That’s the problem, Lennox sighed to herself. She’d had more fun than any one person should ever have.
*
“There’s nothing wrong with me, Doctor.” Princess Rozala lay on a private hospital bed while the doctor ran a handheld body scanner over her body.
“If you’ll permit me, Your Royal Highness. I have to check for internal injuries.”
All Roza had wanted was to get out of the palace without her new security entourage following, meet her lady-in-waiting, and get out of the country and away from her father. That idea had fallen apart when she had swerved off the road into a pole. Luckily she had been shaken up more than anything. When her new security team had gotten her out of the wrecked car, she knew she had lost her chance to get away.
She heard a knock on the door of the hospital room and a familiar voice say, “How is she, Doctor?”
Her brother, Crown Prince Augustus, marched into the room. Dr. Vann bowed to him and said, “Just a few minor injuries, cuts and abrasions mostly, Your Royal Highness. Princess Rozala has been very lucky indeed.”
Prince Augustus shook his hand. “Thank you. Could you give us some privacy?”
“Of course, sir.” He bowed again and left brother and sister alone.
“Did Father send you to reprimand me?” Roza said with heaps of attitude.
A look of anger flashed across the Crown Prince’s face. He strode right up beside the bed and said, “I sent myself because my little sister was in an accident, or do you not think I care if you hurt yourself?”
Her brother’s righteous anger broke through all the emotions she had stubbornly kept locked up inside for the past few days, and tears tumbled unrestrained down her cheeks.
“I’m sorry, Gussy.”
Augustus took her into his arms and held her tight. “It’s all right, Roza. I’m here. You mustn’t drive yourself around—if you’d been with your security people in your armoured state car, this wouldn’t have happened. You scared me. I couldn’t take losing you. We’ve already lost so much in this family.”
Roza felt her usual stab of guilt at his reference to their mother and held on to him even tighter. He was the only one in the world who would show her affection now, the only one she could be herself with, and she was being sent away from him. “Gussy, please don’t let Father send me away. You’re the only one who understands.”
He pulled back from her slightly and took a handkerchief from his suit pocket. “Here. Dry those eyes.”
Roza dabbed her eyes and tried to pull herself together. Perhaps if she could persuade her brother she should stay, then he might have a word with her father.
“Gussy, I didn’t know what Thea did. She never would tell me. I would never have been with someone who made arms to hurt our people…or ruin your wedding preparations. I loved her—thought I loved her.”
Augustus picked up a seat and brought it over to the bed. “I know that, Roza, and I know exactly why you were drawn to her. I realized over the last couple of days that I’ve let you down.”
“How could you ever let me down, Gussy? You’re my big brother.”
Augustus took her hand and looked accusingly at the ring Thea had given her, the ring whose meaning was speculated on in the press for a few months, while Roza had delighted in the discomfort that had caused their father.
“Big brothers are supposed to protect their sisters. I was so busy, caught up in my royal wedding hysteria, that I left you unprotected from a shark like Thea Brandt.”
Roza’s natural defiance surfaced in a second. “I don’t need protecting and I can choose my own partners, Gussy,” she snapped.
“Ah, my feisty sister’s back. Yes, you do need protecting. Father’s been cold to you, and you’re always seeking acceptance from someone strong and someone to annoy him. Ms. Brandt gave you that in spades. I should have nipped it in the bud.”
Roza pulled her hand back from her brother and twisted the ring around her finger. She should have taken it off as soon as she walked out on Thea, but quite frankly the thought frightened her. “I wouldn’t have let you. My romantic choices are my own,” Roza said angrily.
Now apparently confident that his sister was safe, Augustus sat back in his chair and became all business. “I can’t persuade Father not to send you to Britain—one, because he is immovable on the subject, and two, I think it’s a good idea. It’ll get you away from your champagne swilling set of friends and give you some distance from the Denbourg press. Anyway, you love Aunt Sofia’s family, especially George and Theo.”
That was true. Two of the most stable times in her life had come when she stayed with her aunt and cousins, when she’d attended school and her last year of university in Britain. But as she had been then, she would now be under a more watchful eye than she was used to at home.
“Of course I love them, and Bea is a lovely woman too, but the British court is so much more domestic.”
Gussy laughed softly. “You say domestic as if it was a bad word.”
“It is.”
“Perhaps domestic is what you need, Roza. Without a mother—”
“You and Father would have been much better off without
me. Then Father would have had Mama and you just like he always wanted.”
“Don’t you ever say that, Roza,” Gussy said angrily. “Our mama gave her life for you. She wanted you to have a full and happy life, but that you should do your duty like we all have to.”
Her brother got up and started to pace angrily. “I’ve treaded softly with you for too long. I need to step in and take over from Father because he just continues to alienate you. You’re twenty-three, Roza. Time to grow up.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean I asked Father to hand responsibility for your future to me.”
“Excuse me? I’m not five years old, Gussy. I don’t need a guardian,” Roza said angrily.
“Clearly you do. You might not like it, but I must try and help you, Roza. You have an important role to fulfil in this family.”
Roza got up from the bed and started to gather her things. She felt absolutely furious. “What important role? Being spare to the heir? It’s like having a pair of old shoes in the wardrobe that you know you’ll never need, that just sit there getting dusty. I have no role, Gussy.”
“That’s the sort of attitude that’s got you into trouble. You have countless engagements you should be taking on to help the family, but you’re too busy partying. You have great privilege, Roza, and you need to pay for that with service to your people.”
Roza couldn’t quite believe the change in her brother. He had never spoken to her this harshly. She picked up her bag and said, “You’re turning into Father, Gussy.”
“I’ll ignore you said that. The royal plane will take you to London tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? Why so quickly? I won’t have time to say goodbye to my friends.”
“So you don’t do one of your disappearing acts.”
That was exactly what she had planned. Maybe she could get out of the country tonight if she and Cressie could sneak away.
“I’ve appointed you a new five-man security team.”
“Five? I’ve only ever had two before.”
