The Pilot's Prince

by Merry Farmer

  “Vested interest?” she asked casually.

  “Well,” Tracy answered with a cagey grin.

  The door to the kitchen swung open as a server took an empty tray in before Gloria could say something more. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Princess Marina through the gap in the door, huddled together with a group of reporters. The reporters looked as though they were being spoon-fed something other than refreshments.

  “Psst, Tracy,” Gloria whispered, nudging her new friend.

  When Tracy looked her way, Gloria nodded to the kitchen. Tracy gasped when she saw Marina through the door, which hadn’t fully closed after the server went through. The two of them moved slowly toward the door. Gloria strained to overhear what was being said.

  “…infidelity is an issue,” Marina was saying to the reporters. “Dr. Hayes was caught red-handed the other day with a visiting dignitary. And I’m sure it isn’t the first time it’s happened.”

  Gloria’s jaw dropped and angry heat flooded her face and neck. Tracy looked just as irate.

  “And I’m sure you’ve all noticed how cold things are between the two of them today,” Marina went on. “In fact, if you ask me, I don’t think the wedding will take place. I’m sure my sister will—”

  “Your sister will what?” Gloria demanded, bursting through the door.

  Marina gasped so hard as she straightened that she started to cough. The reporters looked terrified to have been caught as well. One bolted before Gloria could stop her.

  “There is no infidelity,” Tracy told the other reporters with a familiarity that hinted to Gloria that she knew them. “Whatever story she told you is a slanderous lie.”

  “But,” one of them started, “she’s Princess Marina, the queen’s sister.”

  “That doesn’t mean she isn’t lying,” Gloria said.

  Marina snapped straight, glaring at Gloria, but her face was pale. “How dare you accuse me of dishonesty when you are the Jezebel in this situation.”

  Gloria remained as calm as she could. She’d flown combat missions. She could deal with whatever battle Princess Marina was trying to wage. “I’m dating Prince Mikael,” she told the reporters. “The two of us were seen in an intimate situation, and, as a result, there was some confusion. And if you’d like to corroborate that story,” she went on as Princess Marina tried to interrupt, “any number of the palace staff and royal family can back up the true story.”

  “What I’d like to know,” Tracy picked up where Gloria left off, “is why Princess Marina is making up stories and telling the press.”

  “I’m doing no such thing,” Princess Marina protested.

  “No?” Gloria crossed her arms, resting her weight on one hip. “Would you like to explain to the queen why you’re telling people the wedding might not take place?”

  Tracy gasped. “Wait a minute. You’re the one trying to stop the wedding.”

  Gloria was on the verge of cringing, thinking that Tracy’s accusation was one step too far, but Princess Marina’s color went splotchy, and she began to babble in her efforts to answer. “I did not. I am not. Why would you even think such a thing? How dare you?”

  The bottom dropped out of Gloria’s stomach, and she let her arms fall to her sides. “Oh my gosh, you are the one who’s been trying to stop the wedding.”

  “What a ridiculous slander.” Princess Marina was growing more flustered by the moment. “She’s my sister. I would never….”

  Gloria reached out and grabbed her arm, tugging Princess Marina toward the door back into the ballroom. “If you would never, then you’ll have no problem explaining that.”

  “You’ll be fine with telling Her Majesty everything you were telling these reporters,” Tracy added.

  “I can’t…I won’t….” Princess Marina continued to stammer as Gloria marched her out into the ballroom and across to where Mack and the queen were still talking.

  The two of them glanced up from their conversation with expressions of surprise. Gloria met Mack’s eyes with all the ferocity she felt. It was about time the royal family got to the bottom of all the problems surrounding the wedding. She was going to make Princess Marina confess if it was the last thing she ever did.

  10

  Between the righteous indignation on Gloria’s face and the look of downright intimidation his Aunt Marina wore, Mack knew something was about to happen. Something big. He reached for his mother’s hand while at the same time scanning the room to see how many of the throng of reporters had a clue something was happening.

  Too many of them did. Mack stepped away from the window, intent on meeting Gloria, Marina, and Tracy and turning them back to the kitchen.

  “What is it?” his mother asked. “What’s going on?”

  “I don’t know,” Mack said, “but I have a feeling we’re about to find out.

  Half a second later, he and his mother met Gloria, Marina, and Tracy in the center of the room.

  “Your Majesty,” Gloria said, as regal as any royal, “your sister has something she’d like to say to you.”

  “N-no I don’t,” Marina stammered.

  Mack frowned. Aunt Marina was never flustered. She was the epitome of poise. “On the contrary, you look like you have more than a little to say.”

  “I don’t. Honestly, I don’t,” Marina fumbled on, glancing around as though snipers had rifles trained on her. She hissed, “People are watching.”

  “Then we’ll go where they aren’t watching,” Mack said, nodding to Gloria.

  She glanced back at him with a firmness that said she was completely on board with whatever he wanted to do. Mack pushed forward, steering their entire group toward the swinging kitchen door. Dozens of sets of curious eyes followed them. Most were baffled press, but as soon as Mack’s brothers saw what was happening, they dropped whatever conversations they were having to follow.

  The kitchen staff glanced up in surprise at the flood of royals coming through their door. Mack was more surprised to find William hunched over a counter bearing trays filled with desserts. He had a bundle of flowers wrapped in cellophane in one hand and a cream tart halfway to his mouth in the other. At least, he did until noticing the new arrivals.

  He dropped the tart, clutched the flowers harder, and gasped, “I didn’t do anything, I swear. Look, flowers.” He thrust the bouquet at Viktoria.

  “We know you didn’t do anything,” Mack reassured him, steering their group in his direction. “But someone else did.”

  “What’s going on?” Alek asked, pushing to the front of the group of royals.

  “I think that’s a question Aunt Marina can answer,” Mack said, although he glanced to Gloria.

  “We overheard her,” Gloria said, sending a brief look to Tracy, who had her arms crossed and seemed to be trying to pin Marina to the wall with her stare. Gloria went on with, “She was telling a member of the press that the wedding might not happen, that there’s been infidelity.”

  “But there hasn’t been,” William insisted, pushing through the throng of people to stand by Viktoria’s side. He handed her the flowers. “I love you, Vickie. You know it, your family knows it. Heck, I think the whole world knows that I’m yours in every way.”

  “Oh, Willy,” the queen sighed, taking the flowers. Blinking back tears, she threw her arms around him.

  “But…but you can’t,” Marina yelped as though their hug were a personal affront. “This is…this has to be stopped.”

  Rather than breaking up the royal embrace, her comments drew the attention of everyone else straight to her.

  “What exactly did you tell the press?” Johan asked.

  “Yeah, what kind of rumors are you spreading?” Viggo asked, mirroring his twin’s posture and glare.

  “I didn’t tell them anything,” Marina insisted. Her cheeks had gone from pale to bright red.

  “That’s an outright lie,” Gloria said, looking incredulous. “We heard you.”

  Marina stood straighter, looking down he
r nose at Gloria. “How dare you question me? Who do you think you are?”

  “Someone I trust,” Mack answered, reaching for Gloria’s hand. “Someone I love.”

  Marina snorted. “You always did have wretched taste.”

  “Marina.” Viktoria clasped a hand to her chest, gaping at her sister. “How could you say such a thing?”

  Instantly, Marina went back to looking anxious and uncertain. “Well,” she stammered, “you know he’s always been the black sheep of the family.”

  Viktoria stepped away from William to rest a hand on Mack’s arm. “Mack is my son, and I love him. I’m proud of the way he’s tried to stay true to his beliefs, even when the rest of us haven’t made it easy for him.”

  The unexpected praise struck Mack’s heart. He had no idea his mother felt that way about him. For all he knew, she thought he was as useless as everyone else did. “Thank you, Mother.” He smiled at her, more determined than ever to make sure everything turned out all right for her. “There’s no use in using insults and deflections to hide the truth,” he said, turning back to Marina with a frown. “Someone has been interfering with this wedding since long before the announcement was made public.”

  “Someone went to extreme lengths to try to stop the concert from taking place,” Arne added. His brothers nodded and muttered in agreement.

  “The yacht sinking at the regatta wasn’t an accident either,” Kristoff said.

  “A lot of things that shouldn’t have happened have been plaguing us all,” Viggo finished.

  “I have nothing to do with any of that,” Marina said.

  But she looked guilty as sin. That fact struck Mack harder than anything. It was as if he were watching layers of his aunt’s machinations fall away, revealing the woman she really was. He had a sick feeling she’d been that kind of person all along.

  “I’m not going to stand here and listen to you accuse me of terrible things,” Marina said, clenching her hands into fists at her sides as though she wasn’t sure what to do with them. “Viktoria, I demand you get your children under control at once.”

  Mack held his breath as his mother straightened her back and stared at Marina. “Tell me the truth,” she said. It was simple, direct, and delivered with an unwavering look of command. In that moment, Viktoria Magnusson looked every inch the queen.

  “I…but…you can’t….” Marina gasped and floundered, all but shrinking before everyone’s eyes. Not even she could hold up under the regal stare.

  She pursed her lips and glanced pleadingly to her sister, she hugged herself, visibly trembling, and then she burst into a sigh, her shoulders sinking.

  “All right, it was me,” she confessed in a rush.

  Mack’s eyes popped wide. He and his brothers exchanged startled glances. It was all Mack could do to keep the rush of anger boiling up in him from spilling over.

  “It was me,” Marina repeated. “I’m the one who’s been trying to stop the wedding.”

  “Marina, how could you?” Viktoria blinked, pressing a hand to her chest. Her expression was both startled and hurt.

  Marina surged forward, appealing to Viktoria with desperate eyes. “Things have been so good between us lately. We were never very close growing up, but for the first time, I finally felt as though I had a true sister.”

  “Oh.” Viktoria stared at her, surprise and growing compassion in her eyes.

  Mack swallowed his initial reaction to question everything his aunt was saying and to protect his mother. There was more to the situation, and he had to find out what it was before he acted.

  “You don’t know how wonderful it’s been for me to have the love of my sister to bolster me,” Marina went on. “It was like having a best friend. And there’s nothing so wonderful as having your sister for your best friend, especially when you’ve been through the kind of things we’ve been through.”

  “What have you been through?” Alek asked, incredulous. “You’re a royal princess and one of Mother’s chief advisors. Your life hasn’t exactly been hard.”

  Marina started to scowl again, but Arne stepped in with, “She has had a few personal disappointments.” Arne’s face was pinched into a frown, as though he wasn’t sure whether he should be defending her. He rubbed his chin and looked reluctant to say more.

  But Marina jumped in with, “I have had personal disappointments. Just because I haven’t shared them with the rest of you doesn’t mean they aren’t there.” She glanced around, meeting each of her nephew’s eyes.

  Mack caught Gloria staring at him in question out of the corner of his eye. He could tell she was frustrated that things weren’t unraveling the way she thought they would. He wished there was something he could do to reassure her everything would come out all right in the end, but he still hadn’t completely caught up to his aunt’s game yet.

  “Viktoria,” Marina said, stepping closer still to her and taking her hands. “Hasn’t it been wonderful, the two of us working together as a team?”

  “It has been nice to be close,” Viktoria admitted slowly.

  “These last few years have been the happiest of my life,” Marina went on. “I’ve been so proud to be your sister, so fulfilled.” She paused, sending a sheepish glance to William. “And it’s not that I don’t like you. I do.”

  William made a strangled sound that could have been disagreement or just confusion.

  “It’s been painful,” Marina continued, facing Viktoria. “So painful to think that this new closeness that we’ve developed, something that has been missing from our relationship for so long, could vanish. And I know I was wrong. I know I’ve done some unforgivable things.” She glanced to Arne, appealing for his forgiveness as well before turning back to Viktoria. “All I can say is that I did it for love. I did it because I couldn’t bear the thought of a wedge coming between us when we’d finally built something wonderful together.”

  She finished, and silence reigned. The background noises of the kitchen even seemed to hush as they all stood there, waiting. Mack peeked at Gloria to see what she thought of the way things had unfolded, but even she appeared to be holding her breath, watching the queen to see how she would react.

  Finally, Viktoria said, “You could have told me,” in a soft voice. Her eyes were filled with compassion, and she clutched Marina’s hands tighter. “You could have told me all of this much sooner. We could have worked through it together.”

  “I know.” Marina lowered her head. “But I saw how much you loved William and I…I didn’t think I could compete with that.”

  William opened his mouth to say something, but appeared to change his mind. He snapped his mouth closed, frowning at the situation as though he didn’t know what to make of it.

  “Can you forgive me?” Marina asked at last, so much contrition in her eyes that Mack felt a little sympathy for her. He’d struggled for so long to find his place in his family, and if he’d found closeness with one of his brothers only to have it yanked away again, he didn’t know what he’d do.

  The air seemed to vibrate with expectation before his mother let out a breath and nodded. “I can forgive you. I’ve only got one sister, after all, and no one was hurt.”

  She opened her arms and drew Marina into a hug. Marina burst into tears and clung to her as though she’d been thrown a life preserver. Mack looked to Gloria again to see what she was thinking. It was hard to tell. Several emotions flickered across her beautiful face. His brothers weren’t any better. None of them seemed to know what to make of things. Alek didn’t look inclined to give Marina an inch, whereas Arne seemed to be satisfied with the explanation. But Arne always had been closer to Marina than the rest of them.

  “No lasting harm was done,” their mother said, letting go of Marina at last. “The wedding is still happening. You weren’t able to stop it after all, but that only means that we’ll all be one big, happy family together.”

  “Yes.” Marina blinked back her tears. “Yes, I’d like that.”

  “Yo
u don’t have to fight against us,” William said, still looking as though he wasn’t sure he should be intruding. “You can fight with us.” He paused. “I mean, we can all fight together as one. Or we don’t have to fight at all.”

  His uncanny awkwardness was just the thing they all needed to break the mood. Viktoria and Marina hugged again as Viggo and Johan glanced around, heading to the kitchen door to look out into the ballroom. Mack reached for Gloria’s hand, needing her support to figure out how he felt about things.

  “We’d better all get back to the event,” Alek said at last, taking charge. “I’m sure the press is dying to know what’s been going on in here.”

  “Tell them we had a family matter to sort out,” Kristoff said. “We did, but they don’t have to know what it was all about.”

  Alek nodded. “Sounds like a plan. We should all talk about the wedding, about how happy we are to have Dr. Hayes as part of the family, and about how the whole family is behind the marriage.” He glanced to Marina to be sure she understood.

  Marina nodded, breaking into a smile. She took Viktoria’s hand, walking with her, William on the other side, to the door and out into the ballroom.

  “I guess all’s well that ends well?” Tracy asked, arms still crossed and her eyes narrowed as she stared at the door. Johan turned, and their eyes met. Johan shrugged. Tracy bit her lip and walked over to him. The two of them returned to the ballroom, deep in conversation.

  Mack and Gloria were the last to leave. Mack offered his arm to escort Gloria through the kitchen. “Something tells me I can’t thank you enough for bringing everything to a head,” he said.

  “Tracy and I heard what we heard, and we couldn’t let it slide,” Gloria said. She frowned, which prompted Mack to pause before they returned to the press event.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  She glanced up at him. “Do you believe her?”

  Mack rubbed his free hand along his chin. “I can’t see a reason not to believe her. Feeling a part of something, especially a family, is important.”