The Indentured Queen

by Carol Moncado

  “It’s not no boys. It’s now my room which means I get to say who can come in and who can’t, and you’re on the no list. So is everyone else.”

  “That’s not how it works.”

  “I don’t care if you think that’s how it works or not. Get out.” Katrín was close enough, barely, to push against his chest. “Get. Out.” She pushed harder.

  The stupid mountain didn’t move.

  He crossed his arms over his chest, and Katrín had to stop herself from staring at his upper arms. “I’m a good foot taller than you and weigh probably twice as much. I’m exhausted after my first good workout in over a week, but you’re still not going to get me to move.”

  “Fine, you big tree, get out of my room.” Sitting room. Whatever. “I’m not going to get to play tonight. I’ll get over it, but I do need to get some sleep. You may have to get up early, but I have to be up earlier. Get out.”

  He chuckled and turned. “Fine. I’ll get out. You might contact security tomorrow. They’ll know who actually moved your things and may be able to find out if it’s actually been disposed of or still sitting somewhere.”

  “I’ll ask Thor tomorrow.”

  Benjamin stopped and turned back around. “You know Thor?”

  She nodded. “He’s had dinner with me every night since the day after the wedding. He’s kind of hinted it’s because he’s security, and I’m the queen and all, even though no one knows that.”

  “Then why did he detain you today?”

  “He wasn’t the one who arrested me. I didn’t see him until I got to the office. He didn’t acknowledge that he knew who I was so I didn’t say anything. He probably didn’t want to be seen as countermanding any sort of order you had or hadn’t given. Now, if you don’t mind, I need to get some sleep.”

  She glared at him until he left.

  With the door closed behind him, Katrín turned. The consort’s bedroom, the huge one with the Furniture of Historical Significance, was out of the question. There had been another room, maybe belonging to a lady-in-waiting or something, that was more her speed.

  She opened two wrong doors, but found it on the third try. Still easily three times the size of the room she’d slept in the night before, it was much cozier.

  Despite her exhaustion, sleep didn’t come easily, but eventually it came. Her dreams were filled with longing to be held in those arms and being loved.

  Katrín awoke almost more tired than she had been in the first place, but she didn’t have time to worry about it. She needed to get out of this part of the palace before anyone else saw her and questioned why a dishwasher was hanging out in the king’s quarters.

  Accusations of an affair were just what she needed to get this farce of a marriage off on the right foot.

  “You wanted to see me, sir?”

  Benjamin looked up from the paperwork he had read four times and still not comprehended. “Thor, right?”

  The security team member was familiar, but not one Benjamin worked with closely on a regular basis. “Yes, sir.”

  “Have a seat.”

  Thor hesitated then sat across the desk from Benjamin. “What can I help you with, sir?”

  “You were there when Katrín was brought in yesterday.”

  “Yes, sir,” he confirmed.

  “But you’ve been eating dinner with her for several days. You know who she is. Why didn’t you take care of it?”

  Thor stared at him in the same way Chamberlain did. The way Benjamin felt his father would have when he was displeased. “To be quite frank, sir, it’s not my job to make sure your wife is in the system until you tell me it is. In fact, I could lose my job, my pension, and even be imprisoned for adding someone to that database without express orders from your office.”

  The barb struck where it was likely intended to. “You left her in handcuffs.”

  “I received no official information on who the new queen is. Until I did, I must act reasonably while still protecting the crown. That is my primary responsibility, not whether or not a woman I believed to be the new queen was uncomfortable without confirmation of her identity. Since the new queen, whoever she was, hadn’t been added to the system yet, I had no way to know for certain if she was really the queen or someone claiming to be.”

  It infuriated Benjamin that this man, like Chamberlain, could do his job to the letter and still make Benjamin out to be the bad guy.

  Maybe he was.

  No. He was the king. He couldn’t be the bad guy unless he did something truly terrible. He’d told Chamberlain to take care of everything necessary. Chamberlain hadn’t done these things, saying he wouldn’t presume to know what Benjamin wanted even though he did just that all the time.

  Thor was cut from that same cloth. Ostensibly protecting and deferring to Benjamin while at the same time giving him a lesson in being a man as his father would have done.

  “Is there anything else you can think of that I should have done that I haven’t? Clearly, I should have made sure Katrín had the access and protection a queen needs, but what else have I missed?” The question surprised him. It certainly wasn’t the one he would have expected to ask when he sent for Thor.

  Thor looked like he wanted to say something but didn’t.

  “You have permission to speak freely, within reason.”

  “Very well. Your wife shouldn’t be working in the kitchen.”

  “But that’s her job.”

  Thor shook his head, which Benjamin realized was suspiciously absent of any hair, the opposite of his movie counterpart. “No, sir. Her indenture was to the crown, to pay off the debt her mother owed. If she ever came into any money, she could buy out the rest of her indenture. Most spouses of the family are given access to at least some of the accounts your family holds. I know how much her indenture is. Paying it off, for your royal self, sir, is about like me picking up Chinese food on the way home. A drop in the bucket. If she were given access like one would anticipate your wife would be given, the indenture would go away.”

  The man had a point, one Benjamin didn’t want to discuss. “Then what is her job?”

  “Her job is to be your wife, and all that entails. To be the queen, like your mother was your father’s queen, and still is to some degree. Like your older siblings have the job of Prince or Princess of Eyjania. Before long, her job is likely to be the mother of your children. Until then, and even after, her role is to be your help meet. And, at the risk of sounding impudent, you need her.”

  This should be interesting.

  “Your father was an immensely popular king. Your mother was very popular. There’s no timetable on grief, but ‘the people’ don’t always see it that way. She hid out. I was there when they met. I watched them fall in love. I know how hard it was for her. I’m not saying it was the wrong move because forcing herself into the public would have been detrimental to her well-being but doing what she needed to do for herself made the family much less popular. Your aunt isn’t the most personable, but she did her best to be the public face of the crown until you turned eighteen. Then your uncle began to exert even more influence on you.”

  Benjamin’s stomach began to sink.

  “You told me I could speak freely, so here it is. Your uncle is an entitled...” Thor stopped himself. “Jerk. He’s self-centered and has an inflated view of his own importance which he’s passed on to you. You may be king, but you’re a man, just like the rest of us. The people have noticed your attitude and compared it, unfavorably, to your father. I worked for him for many years. He was king, but he knew he was blessed, that he didn’t deserve any of this anymore than anyone else, and it was simply the luck of the genetic draw. You don’t have the natural charisma your father did, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make your people fall in love with you, too. Your wife can be a big part of that.”

  Benjamin leaned back in his chair as he considered Thor’s words. “You’ve given me a lot to think about.” He didn’t want to think about any of it. Not now. Pos
sibly not ever. “That’s all for now.”

  Thor stood. “It’s my pleasure to serve you, sir. I know the man you could be, the man I hope you become.” He hesitated again. “This may be too far out of line, but I’ll say it anyway. I hope you become half the man your brother-in-law is.”

  He left before Benjamin could ask him to elaborate.

  His brother-in-law? Wasn’t his name Allen and still a teenager, with a paralyzed, broken body? What could he have that Benjamin could have to live up to?

  Dismissing the thought, he decided to get back to work.

  Katrín sat a table by herself, knowing Thor would be along momentarily. She glanced up to see him leaving the line. Weary to the bone, she just wanted to eat and go to bed. The person who covered dishes on Katrín’s half-day off never did a good job, and she had to clean up the mess.

  Thor sat across from her, but didn’t ask how her day had been. It must have shown on her face.

  Finally, she broke the silence. “How was your day?”

  He took a bite and didn’t look at her. “I met with my... big boss about an incident yesterday.”

  That was a creative way to talk about it. “Are you in any sort of trouble?”

  “No. I was able to give my assessment of the situation honestly without fear of repercussions.”

  “I’m glad.”

  “I’m just glad the other party involved understood that my hands were tied.”

  Katrín couldn’t stop the snort. She covered her mouth with her hand. “Sorry. That was funny.”

  He gave her a wry grin. “It kind of was.”

  She wanted to ask what Benjamin said, if he’d said anything about her or... she didn’t know what she wanted to know. Mostly she just wanted to go to bed.

  “I understand you’ve moved out of your quarters into new ones?” he asked.

  “There was something I wanted to ask you about that. Something went missing when my things were moved. Something that doesn’t work properly but holds great sentimental value.”

  Thor smiled at her. “The keyboard is in my office.”

  Katrín closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

  “I know it holds great meaning for you. It’s already been taken to your new room.”

  Tears filled her eyes. “Thank you, Thor.”

  He smiled. “My pleasure, ma’am.”

  Now she had to figure out how to word her next question. “I’m not very familiar with the part of the facility where my new residence is. Do you know the quickest, most...”

  “Discreet?” he offered.

  “That works. The best way to get there.”

  He didn’t answer immediately. After a couple of bites, Thor asked another question. “I suppose that depends on several factors, including how many entrances there are from the hall to the sitting room.”

  She tried to think what that could mean in the code they seemed to be using. “Well, there’s one main one and another one kind of off to the side. It’s trickier though. It sticks.” That should work.

  “In that case, I’m sure we can find a way.” He took another bite then pushed his chair away from the table. “If you’re finished, I do have some paperwork I need you to look over for your new residence.”

  Katrín took her tray and put it up. Since Thor had started eating with her, she’d gotten more sideways glances. It turned out, he was well-known in the palace, and they were likely wondering why he’d taken such a sudden interest in her.

  A few minutes later, they were in his private office.

  “You have an actual Thor hammer?” she exclaimed as she spotted it.

  He chuckled. “My niece gave it to me two Christmases ago. She said I needed it. My son decided that since his name is Thor, too, he should get to run around with it so I brought it in here.”

  “How’d you get the name Thor anyway? It’s unusual for an Eyjanian to be named after the Norse god.”

  “My mother is Icelandic. Her father was Thorbjørn. She shortened it to Thor for me.”

  “It is a curious name for a senior member of the security team at the palace.”

  “Quite.”

  He picked up a folder and carried it with him, motioning her to go ahead of him into a conference room across the hall. Closing the door, he put the folder on the table. “No one can hear what we’re saying in here, but the windows mean we can be seen, and no one could ever accuse either of us of anything untoward.”

  Katrín nodded, trusting her new friend. “None of that kind of thing ever occurs to me.”

  “It has to, Your Majesty. It’s one of the downsides of being in the public eye.”

  “I’ll try.”

  He flipped the folder open. “Now, to be a bit less circumspect, you’d like to find a way to get from the consort’s quarters to the general area where you work without being seen walking through certain portions of the palace in your uniform.”

  She could tell by his tone what he thought about her still working in the kitchen.

  “Yes.”

  “Unfortunately, the ones that would be the most direct have their other end in conspicuous areas, like a hallway and there’s always the chance someone could see you exit.”

  Katrín deflated. “That won’t work.”

  “No, it won’t, but I have a thought. It’s not shorter, but it is much more circumspect.”

  “What’s that?”

  “The room across the hall from your old room was once used for the king’s mistress. Many, many years ago, but it does have a secret entrance. For all anyone needs to know, you’ve simply moved across the hall because it has a window. We can move some random belongings in there so should anyone happen to see you walk in or out, it won’t look odd. You could even have Laurie over for a girl’s night or something to help the illusion.”

  Katrín shook her head. “I already feel bad about not being completely honest with her, though I’ve been very careful not to lie.”

  “Understood. I’ll get you a key. There are no rosettes in there, but a set of small stones amid larger ones.” He tapped a spot on the map as she studied the familiar hallway. “Right here. The pattern is the same. At the end of a short hallway, there’s a winding staircase. It’s very tight. Are you claustrophobic?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “If it’s too much let me know, and we’ll see what else we can work out. There are several exits, but you want to go all the way to the top. It’s a full four or five stories worth of stairs,” he warned. “It won’t be easy at the end of a long day to walk back to your old room then climb all of them. When you get to the top, there’s another short hallway. The door to the left goes into the king’s quarters. The door to the right goes into yours.”

  “Why does the secret hallway to the king’s mistress’s quarters have an exit in the consort’s quarters?”

  Thor raised a brow.

  “Oh. For the prince consort when there was a queen.”

  “Exactly. At the entrance in your quarters, you’ll also notice there’s no rosettes, but the same smaller stones. It actually lets out in the lady-in-waiting room.”

  Katrín nodded. Perfect. “Thank you. Can I get a key and get moving? I’d like to shower and collapse.”

  Thor closed the folder. “Of course, Your Majesty. It’s my pleasure to be of service to the crown.”

  11

  Benjamin found himself wanting to talk to his wife, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on why. Maybe it was Thor’s comments earlier about needing Katrín to get the people back on his family’s side.

  He sat in one of the chairs between the entrances to their quarters and waited for her to arrive. A glance at his watch told him it shouldn’t be long, but when he’d finished reading the eighteen page document in front of him, she still hadn’t arrived.

  Could he have missed her? No, he didn’t believe that. More likely he had misjudged the time she would return. He walked to her door and reached for the handle.

&nbs
p; She’d told him he wasn’t welcome, though he had the right to walk in anywhere he wanted. Instead, he knocked, waited a full minute and a half, then knocked again. After the third round, the door finally opened.

  Katrín looked rumpled. Something he’d never seen before, even when she’d come to his office in her pajamas. “What?”

  Benjamin frowned. “Were you sleeping?”

  She shot him an icy glare. “I was until someone started pounding on my door. What do you want?”

  “When did you get back here?”

  “Nearly an hour ago. I took a shower and went to bed. I’m tired.”

  He set his papers on a nearby table. “I’ve been sitting out here the whole time, and I didn’t see you.”

  Her shoulders slumped. “Thor showed me another way to get here. I didn’t think you’d want someone in my uniform walking through the main portion of the palace to get here.”

  “One of the passages?” he asked with a frown. He thought he knew all of the ones that led from either one of these quarters and, except for the one that went to the workout room, none ended in locations conducive to Katrín getting to and from the kitchen unseen.

  “An extra secret one. It goes to the room across the hall from my old one. The kings and prince consorts of the past used to keep their mistresses there.” She leaned against the door. “It’s perfect. I can say I moved across the hall because it has a window. He’s even going to have it set up so it looks like I actually live there.”

  That had bothered him since he saw her room. “Why did you live in a room with no window before?”

  “You have no idea how the palace really works do you?” She shook her head. “Of course you don’t.”

  “Enlighten me.”

  Katrín turned and walked into her sitting room, leaving the door open as she took a seat on a lounge chair. “If your job comes with room and board, there’s a minimum standard that is included. If you want more than that, it affects your salary. All of my salary goes to paying off my indenture. That room is legally the base room for someone indentured to the palace.”