by Merry Farmer
“We’ve got a couple of those hanging around at home ourselves,” she said with a smirk. “They usually just attend posh garden parties and horsey events.”
Mack chuckled. “Our dukes and earls have a bit more to do with the government.” He frowned as he took a second look at the estate. “Lindqvist in particular. He’s been vocally opposed to a lot of Mother’s policies. And his daughter was supposed to marry Alek.”
“Supposed to?”
Mack sent her a sideways look. “He, uh, kind of threw her over for his bodyguard.”
“I thought Toni was a sweetheart when I met her the other day,” Gloria said.
“Marcia, Lindqvist’s daughter, is nice too. Although a little closed off, if you ask me. I always feel like she’s hiding something behind those innocent eyes of hers.”
Gloria laughed. He was probably just reading the woman wrong.
But Mack went on with, “Lindqvist used to date my Aunt Marina ages ago too. I can’t remember why they split up, but I have this weird feeling like there was a lot of bad blood after the fact.” He paused, frowning in thought. “Lindqvist is bad blood personified.”
“Is he?”
Mack smirked. “You have no idea.”
Their conversation was cut short as they reached the first traffic light at the edge of Solrighavn, and Mack’s phone rang once more. Again, it was whoever had called him the first time, urging them to get a move on. The call left Mack in a grumpy mood, and Gloria more than a little put out on his behalf.
She was even more put out when, the moment they reached the palace, one of the palace staff who Gloria had met the day before, Ivan, swooped in to march Mack away.
“What’s all the hurry about?” Mack asked the man, glancing to Gloria and motioning for her to come along.
Ivan didn’t seem to mind her presence. “Princess Marina wants the entire family present for this particular interview. She wants the family to stand united behind your mother.”
“Does she?” Mack sent her a flat look over his shoulder.
Of all things, that look swirled through her, making her feel lighter than air. He was including her in family business, letting her know his thoughts. Considering everything they’d been up to that day, it left her tingly and hopeful.
The feeling was quickly squashed by the chaos of the press conference. Mack was dragged to the front of a room full of reporters to sit with his brothers while the press grilled the queen and Dr. Hayes with mundane questions about flowers, venues, and honeymoon plans. As interesting as Gloria found the whole royal family and the political situation in Aegiria, within minutes, she found herself drifting to a gilded chair at the back of the room. She sat, exhausted.
“It gets like this.”
No sooner had Gloria closed her eyes to entertain the possibility of a vertical cat nap when Tracy sat in the chair next to her.
“The royal family,” Tracy went on. “The way the Aegirian press hounds them. It gets like this.”
“You’ve been here covering news stories in Aegiria for a while now, haven’t you?” Gloria forced herself to sit straighter.
“Several weeks now.” Tracy shrugged. She glanced toward the table full of princes, a slight blush on her cheeks. “I think I might stick around for a while.”
Gloria tried to follow the line of Tracy’s sight to see who she was zeroing in on, but couldn’t quite tell.
A thought struck her, and she sat straighter. “So, if you’ve been reporting on all things Aegirian recently, have you learned anything about the fishing industry or the oil rigs out in the Baltic?” It felt as though her flight with Mack and Carl was ages ago, even though it was just that morning.
Tracy grinned sideways at her. “You’ve been hanging out with Prince Mikael, haven’t you?”
She answered with a guilty grin. “We went for a flight over the sea this morning.” She’d leave out the afternoon at the lighthouse for now. “While we were out there, we spotted an oil rig that neither Mack nor Carl seemed to know about.”
“There are literally hundreds of oil rigs in the Baltic Sea,” Tracy said. “I’m surprised Prince Mikael didn’t go on and on about it.”
“He did, a little,” she said. “It’s a shame that he wasn’t allowed to go into a career in fishing or environmental science.”
Tracy’s expression opened. “If you want to know more about fish or conservation around here, you should really talk to Dr. Hayes.”
“Mack said he’s the absolute authority about the environment in Aegiria.”
“He is.”
Their attention was yanked to the front of the room as the press conference broke up, the royal family stood behind their table, and the reporters and photographers began to move away or speak to the queen. Gloria and Tracy stood, heading closer to the family themselves.
Gloria had to wait for Mack to finish, though. The press seemed intent on getting as many photographs of the princes as possible and on getting quotes from them. She was surprised to watch Dr. Hayes whisper something to the queen, then duck away from the reporters. She didn’t think they’d let him go, but within moments, he’d snuck over to the windows where Gloria and Tracy stood.
“I’m never going to get used to press attention like that,” he told them, shaking his head and making a dramatic face. “Besides, I look terrible in photographs. Some people were born with the right face. I was born with this one.” He made a strange face to prove his point.
Gloria laughed. In spite of what others had said about him, she thought Dr. Hayes was charming and refreshing. “I’m sure you look fine in any pictures,” she said, resting a hand briefly on his arm.
“It’s nice of you to say that.” He smiled “Even if you’re wrong.”
They shared a companionable chuckle.
“Dr. Hayes, Gloria here was just asking me about an oil rig she and Prince Mikael spotted out in the Baltic on a flight today,” Tracy cut in.
Gloria wasn’t sure whether to be embarrassed by the comment or grateful that the topic had been broached. Especially when Dr. Hayes made an irritated face and snorted.
“I appreciate mankind’s desire to improve technology and advance mechanics, but we really need to stop doing it at the expense of our environment,” he said, giving Gloria the impression of a grumpy activist.
“I hear if they’re managed well, those oil rigs are fine,” she said.
He shook his head and growled. “It’s too easy to cut corners. As a result, the world’s fish population is in dire straits.”
“I guess there’s more money in oil than in fish,” Tracy said.
“That’s the problem,” Dr. Hayes went on. “Greed will end us all if we’re not careful.”
In spite of the topic of conversation, Gloria smiled. “Dr. Hayes, you don’t strike me as the pessimistic type.”
“I’m not, normally,” Dr. Hayes answered.
A cluster of reporters whisked past them, forcing Gloria to squeeze closer to Dr. Hayes to let them through. She grabbed his arm for support, and like a gentleman, he reached out to steady her. Tracy waved to them before hurrying off to join the reporters’ conversation.
“Is there a way to keep track of all the oil rigs?” Gloria asked once she and Dr. Hayes were alone.
“There’s supposed to be,” Dr. Hayes said. “I keep pushing for more in my role as advisor to the queen. Maybe once we’re married, I’ll have a little more clout.”
He said something else, but Gloria barely heard it. She glanced across the room to find Mack smiling at her. His face was still sun-kissed from all the time they’d spent driving and flying, although the faint blush he wore hinted at their other activities. He was obviously happy. His mood was so clearly good that even his sour-faced aunt, who stood next to him with her arms crossed, staring hard at Gloria with narrowed eyes, couldn’t dent his happiness.
Gloria turned back to Dr. Hayes, still feeling the glow of everything Mack made her feel.
“Maybe you can get some h
elp from Mack,” she told Dr. Hayes, sure she was grinning like a fool.
“I think that’d be an excellent idea.” Dr. Hayes grinned back at her. He must have picked up on her mood, because he looked as content with life as either she or Mack did.
“Dr. Hayes, can we get a statement?” one of the reporters in the group that had nearly flattened them moments before asked.
Dr. Hayes sighed. “Duty calls. But I’d be interested in telling you so much more about all this later.”
“I’d like that,” Gloria said. She stepped away, allowing Dr. Hayes to take the spotlight again. Her eyes drifted to the door. She was ready to find her way back to her room for a nap. Better still, she was ready to retire to her luxurious palace suite with Mack by her side for something that would sap even more of her energy.
At the other end of the room, Mack was still fielding questions. He kept glancing in her direction with an apologetic look, though. Finally, Gloria took her cell phone out of her purse and held it up for Mack to see. She mouthed, “Call me,” and when Mack nodded that he got the message, she gave him one last, dazzling smile, before heading out off through the palace as if she belonged there.
7
It was so easy to slip into a routine in the royal palace. Antoine had urged her to consider her time in Aegiria as a vacation, but before a week had passed, Gloria felt as though she’d stepped into a new life. A good life. A life she didn’t want to leave.
“Are you ready?” Mack asked, popping his head around the bathroom door as she touched up her make-up before lunch.
She finished brushing lip-gloss across her bottom lip, pursed her lips, then turned to him with a smile. “As I’ll ever be.”
“You look gorgeous,” he said, offering his arm as they headed out to the palace hallway.
Gloria started to laugh, but stopped herself. “You know, I feel gorgeous today.” And why shouldn’t she? The sun was shining, she was on the arm of an actual prince, walking through a real palace on the way to an informal family lunch. The light sundress she wore swished around her legs—legs that had spent more than their fair share of time wrapped around a certain, actual prince’s waist in the recent past. All of it was more than she ever could have dreamed of.
“Are you sure I’m not imposing,” she asked as they turned the corner into a dining room with an exquisite view of the city. “This looks like a family affair.”
Mack grinned, shifting to hold her hand informally instead of escorting her. “It wouldn’t feel right without you.”
It was such a simple compliment, but it left her heart turning cartwheels in her chest. There was probably some kind of major breech of protocol in the way Mack led her to the table and held her seat out for her. She was certain Aegirian secret services had probably run a thousand background checks on her in the last few days. But none of that mattered as long as Mack wanted her there.
She was wanted. That knowledge settled around her like a breath of fresh air. No more failing flight exams and being told she couldn’t reach for the dreams of her childhood. No more feeling like an outsider in her own family. As strange as it was, as she glanced around the table at the other princes and their girlfriends, and William’s sons, who had just arrived from America for the final rash of wedding activity, she felt as though she were a part of something that mattered.
“I’m so glad I’m not the new girl at the table anymore,” Emma, Prince Arne’s new girlfriend, whispered to Gloria as servers in palace livery served a stunningly beautiful, traditionally Scandinavian selection of open-face sandwiches to each person at the table.
“I still can’t believe I really belong here,” Gloria whispered back. “Although I’d like to think they’ll let me stick around for a while.”
Emma laughed, sharing a look with her that said she felt the same. “I’ve learned so much about Aegiria in the short time I’ve been here. Coming from such a large country myself, I’m always amazed that smaller nations like this still exist.”
“Exist and thrive,” Gloria agreed. “And on a fish-based economy.” She still couldn’t say that without grinning a little.
“Plus some off-shore banking,” Emma added with a significant flicker of her eyebrow. Gloria nearly choked on the sandwich she’d just taken a bite out of. “Yes,” Emma said, catching her surprise. “My friend, Tracy Minhall, has been doing some digging into Aegiria and its finances.”
“I’ve met Tracy. I didn’t realize she was a friend of yours.”
“We’ve known each other for years,” Emma said. She took a bite of a sandwich, and when she’d swallowed, she went on with, “She started out investigating what makes Aegiria tick and how it’s survived intact for so long. It turns out that, kind of like Switzerland, their banking system has a strong reputation for discretion, although the royal family has been championing efforts of a few people to bring more transparency to the whole thing.”
“Fascinating. I didn’t realize.”
“I didn’t either,” Emma said. “I’m sure Tracy could tell you much more about it, since part of her research has been about the way the aristocracy works and how they support themselves. From what she’s said, a few of the oldest Aegirian noble families could stand to lose money if the Queen goes through with transparency or tax reforms. Families like the Lindqvists, the Appelgrens, and the Langlotzes live far too extravagantly for the amount of old money Tracy figures they have coming in, but nobody knows what they’re doing now to make the kind of cash they have now.”
“That must be exciting research.” Gloria’s pulse sped up. “I just saw the Lindqvist estate the other day. Mack said something about Marcia Lindqvist formerly being engaged to Prince Alek?”
“Exactly. I’m sure between the broken engagement and the possibility of financial reform, that whole family, and a heck of a lot of others, is freaked out about the future.”
“Are the two of you talking about financial reforms?” Dr. Hayes asked from the seat on Emma’s other side.
“I’m just learning more about Aegiria’s banking industry,” Gloria told him with a smile. William looked particularly charming that day in a tuxedo that was far too formal for a lunch of open-faced sandwiches, but since the official royal wedding photo shoot would take place after lunch, she supposed he had merely dressed up early to be ready.
“The only thing that gets my goat more than the attacks that have been made on the environment and Aegiria’s fishing waters is the way big financial companies have had a hand in trying to cover it all up by protecting the identities of their customers who are engaged in illegal activity. I hope I have a chance to do something about it once Vickie and I are married.”
“Did you say something, darling?” the queen asked from William’s other side.
“Only that, once we’re married, I intend to fight for you, your honor, and the honor of all Aegiria, my sweet,” he answered, turning to her with an adoring expression. As he did, a dollop of herb-infused cream tipped off his sandwich and onto the lapel of his tux.
The conversation fizzled out as Gloria and Emma exchanged knowing glances and giggles, but the surprise revelation about Aegiria’s banks gave Gloria something to chew on besides caviar and melba toast.
Lunch continued with far lighter conversation. Gloria enjoyed every mouthful of the amazing food she was served. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was, but considering all the “activity” she’d been engaged in that morning and the night before, it was no wonder.
As soon as the meal was over, Princess Marina stood and clapped her hands. “We need to stay on schedule,” she said. “You boys go to the dressing room and put on your dress uniforms. I’ve been told the photographers are already in the throne room, so chop-chop.”
The din of chairs being scraped back and everyone getting up from the table reminded Gloria of the chaos at the end of a meal in an Air Force canteen. That thought brought a smile to her face.
“What’s that look for?” Mack asked as he took her hand and walked with
her to the hall that led to the throne room.
“It just dawned on me why I like being in the middle of this royal family stuff so much.”
“What, it isn’t my charming personality and sizzling hot, horizontal moves?”
Gloria blushed and laughed. “I’m not knocking any of that,” she said with a mischievous arch of her eyebrows. “But the regimentation and formality does remind me a lot of the military.”
Mack hummed. “You might have a point. We all had to serve in the military at one point,” he said, nodding to a few of his brothers walking in front of them, “and I can see the similarities.”
“No wonder I feel at home.” Gloria sighed with contentment.
A sparkle came to Mack’s eyes that ignited the fire that was still smoldering in her core from earlier. “If you could stay, would you?”
She caught her breath. Was he asking her to stay? “I’d definitely consider it.”
They reached a small room near the throne room where the men were getting dressed, which meant Gloria had to let Mack go just as things were getting interesting. That was another part of royal life, after all, or so she figured. Meghan couldn’t spend every waking moment with Harry, after all.
Gloria pressed a hand to her stomach as she walked on to the throne room. She hadn’t just compared herself and Mack to Meghan and Harry, had she? But if it could happen for Meghan, she might just have a chance too.
“Can you tell that I spilled?” William asked as Gloria approached the corner where he stood.
A fond grin broke out on her face. “Yes, I’m afraid you can.”
William let out a sigh, brushing his lapel. “Vickie is going to kill me. I’m a little bit of a disaster, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
“Here. Let me take care of it.” Gloria took hold of his arm and led him over to a small table with a pitcher of water and a few crystal glasses.
She positioned him facing her, then fished one of the ice cubes out of the pitcher of water. She used it like a scrub brush to cleanse William’s coat, then picked up one of the cloth napkins and continued rubbing.
