Chapter 26
The Royal Tour Begins
Today, Queen Alexandra arrived in Blavenberg looking adoring on the arm of her soon-to-be-husband, Prince Rikard. The two are in the Prince’s home country to visit his parents and conduct royal engagements. This is the first tour abroad for Her Majesty. The Royal Palace in Blavenberg has provided the itinerary for the couple.
In their short week in Lundhavn, they will attend a sailing race, open a new exhibit at the National Museum, meet with children at an international school, and open a European trade summit.
The couple is on the heels of their engagement interview where we saw their incredible sexual chemistry in full glow. We couldn’t love them more if we tried. Stick with Exclusive for more dirt to come.
“Min skat,” my mother gave me an embarrassingly long hug as if I had been at war.
“Mother, he is getting married, leave him be. Don’t steal him from dear Alexandra,” Mikkel said.
We stood in the family sitting room, having only arrived in time for luncheon. Alexandra was trying to play along, but everyone forgot she didn’t speak our dialect.
“Welcome to Blavenberg, Alexandra,” my father said. “It is lovely to have you and finally meet you properly.”
“Thank you for having me,” Alexandra said a bit quietly. “My grandmother sends her best regards.”
“Of course. Of course,” Mamma said. “Come, come, sit. How do you take your coffee.”
“As black as her heart,” I joked.
It was true. Alexandra took her coffee black, but I was also trying to get her to come out of her shell. She looked nervous.
“Be nice,” my father said to me.
Meanwhile, Alexandra snickered.
We settled in for coffee. Marie, whose English wasn’t the best, tried to engage with Alexandra. Alexandra was either ignorant or otherwise disinterested. It occurred to me I had little to go on knowing how my future wife would handle normal social situations. She struggled when confronted with a man hitting on her younger sister. She wasn’t sure how to read it. It hit me that this all might be overwhelming.
Alexandra did not lack manners. She was pure perfection but could be wooden in social situations. I knew she was capable of being funny and charming when she let her guard down, but she had little experience talking to outsiders and tended to freeze up.
Meanwhile, if she was reading the room’s vibes, she fed off how awkward this was. My brother was noticeably agitated. His wife was acting off. My parents were trying to make the best of it. It was not helping.
“I heard you called off Windsor,” Mikkel said. “Best season of your life and you called off Windsor! What a dumb idea!”
I shrugged. “Not a lot of time for polo when you’re about to get married. You know that.”
Truth was, I was disappointed about missing it but also wanted to save the family name. That required Alexandra and I to be open to speed bumps. She wanted to go, too. She desired a big international week away as much as I did—far from both of our families. And, selfishly, I thought if we’d managed it, things might have taken off.
“How are the wedding preparations… happening?”
Marie was nervous about her English.
“How are they going?” Alexandra asked, voice kind. “So far, we’re talking to dress designers. All my sisters are excited. We had a meeting with the bishop.”
That was awkward as hell. But, for the first time in my life, I could add celibacy to a list of held virtues. Although, I was struggling with that more than ever. Since the beginning of adulthood, I had sex quite regularly, never contemplating holding back. The more time we stole away, the more I prepared to lie to the bishop about being on good behaviour. While I feared Celeste’s wrath, Alexandra became more and more tempting. The fact that we hadn’t done much was odd but also made me want to do a lot more in a big way. Maybe there was truth to some things being worth the wait?
“You met with the bishop. Will you be converting?” Mikkel joked in our mother tongue.
“Look, it may be funny to you, but it must be done,” I replied in English. “And no. I don’t have to convert. We must go through this awful conference process. I don’t much care for it.”
“Neither of us does. A box to tick,” Alexandra said. “I loathe that.”
“You are not very religious?” Mikkel asked.
Alexandra shook her head. “Afraid not. Piety is a virtue beaten into our heads by my grandmother, but I find it tiresome. Anything that is reinforced primarily by guilt seems unfair.”
Her candour surprised me. It was also kind of hot. I loved off-the-cuff Alexandra. Whenever she came out to play, I encourage it. I squeezed her knee to let her know I concurred. She met my gaze with a devious smile.
Mamma changed the subject. “If we can be of any assistance with the planning, please let us know. We are very excited for the wedding, Your Majesty. I am sure you have things under control. I also remember being a royal bride and the extreme pressure.”
“It is very much,” Marie said.
“It’s not without stress. The good news is, as a monarch, you sort of do what you want. And please, call me Alexandra.”
It was partially true and partially not. I suspected we would cross bridges that Celeste would fight us on. We hadn’t hit an issue she much cared about yet. I was surprised we hadn’t gotten more pushback. It made me wonder what the old bitch was up to.
“Well, we are happy to have you with us,” Pappa said. “Alexandra, we have put you in the apartment directly next to us. If you need anything?—”
“She will not be coming back to Blauhus with me?” I asked.
“The request made by the Palace—the official demand—was the Queen must be stationed here for security reasons,” Pappa answered.
I assumed we’d have a bit of an awkward first evening together sharing a bed before things got off to a roaring start. Since Alexandra couldn’t keep her hands off me, I wanted to get the show on the road. She was ready, but my plans were thwarted.
“It’s fine. I can stay here. I don’t want to leave you alone, Alexandra.” I said. “That seems unfair.”
“We do not want there to be allegations of impropriety,” Pappa said. “So it is best?—”
“They lived together!” I waved in the direction of my brother and sister-in-law.
Alexandra squeezed my knee. “It’s got to be Celeste up to being Celeste. It’s fine. We will just… we don’t want to put your family in a bad position.”
I was angry, but I also couldn’t tell her why. After coffee, she decided to settle in and direct the dressers and maids assigned to her. Meanwhile, I hung out in her room. We would be alone sparingly on this trip.
“I wanted to spend one-on-one time with you,” I lamented.
“I would like that, too, but you know Celeste,” Alexandra said. “Darling, whatever happens, she is going to find out and punish us. She could do all manner of things.”
It was the first time she’d used a pet name for me. It was unexpectedly heart-warming.
“Can we not wait a bit longer?” Alexandra laughed. “Just a bit. And I promise you… it will happen.”
Her tone was earnest. I couldn’t help but trust her but also wanted to throw caution to the wind and take her right there. I assumed if we fucked, it would already be worth it. Inversely, Alexandra made a good point. Celeste could wreak havoc. The risk wasn’t just to me but also to my family. It was for Alexandra and her three sisters who never asked for any of this.
“Okay,” I agreed. “Just know that… I do want to… do more.”
She blushed. “Same.”
“And I hope this place suits you and all is well.”
“Your family seems… normal. So far, they are lovely. I adore that your mother refers to you as min skat. Mamma used to do the same to us, Rick. It was sweet and it hit me in the feels.”
“I thought it was embarrassing.”
“Don’t. Your mother loves you and you still have her! Sometimes I wonder if I will ever remember her another day. Mamma was the best sort of person. Asti and I remember her. We miss her.”
“I am sorry for that, Alexandra,” I said. I never thought about how much it must hurt. “Doing this all without your parents must be difficult. Weddings… they’re emotional, right?”
“It’s hard, yes.”
“You can always tell me about it,” I said. “I don’t know how I can help. I’m not good at this stuff but I will try.”
“I disagree. You can be very sweet and understanding,” Alexandra said. “You describe yourself as if you were some sort of monster, but Rick I do not see it that way. You’re wonderful. You are capable of being compassionate. Don’t convince yourself you’re a monster. You love hard.”
It was the first time a woman acknowledged what my mother had done alone for all these years. She always said I was her sweet one. And, compared to Mikkel the Emotional Vacuum, I was. No one saw that—not my father and not past partners. After spending my entire life being told I was just an attention whore, I gave up and dug into being the monster other people saw me as. I was the bad boy. I was the rake.
“Thank you for believing that but I don’t know if I deserve it.”
Alexandra took my face in her hands. “You deserve it for as well as you take care of me and the girls. Okay? You may have done some bad things before, Rick, but… you are a good person deep down. Tell yourself you are worthy of love. You are.”
There was a knock. “Sir, your father and brother are going out on the sailboat. They request you join them.”
“Alright,” I agreed. “Thank you, Martin.”
“You should go,” Alexandra said.
I nodded, not wanting to. “I should. Never alone.”
“I will see you later. Enjoy the time, darling.”
She gave me the sweetest kiss. Alexandra was so good and pure. Lying to her was wrong. Yet, what she didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her. And I hoped she would never know.
I left her room, joining Martin in the hall.
“Apologies, sir. I did my best to keep them at bay. I figured you might want some time alone with Her Majesty.”
“You did your best. I appreciate it.”
We continued down the hall. I shook my head.
“What is it?” Martin asked.
“I’m so guilty! She’s so good and sees me as good. But this scheme with the press? My lies about why I agreed to the engagement and how we engineered it? She still doesn’t know. She must never know, you understand?”
Martin nodded. “Sir, I think she would understand, but I gather some things are best left hidden. I see how much you enjoy your time with her. I know it is genuine. You shouldn’t feel guilty about that.”
“I am doing the best I can to make a life for us—but also to save the family. It’s selfish. I hate lying to her. It never bothered me at the start, but now…”
Now I knew what was going on. My feelings for her grew stronger by the day. Alexandra was now my greatest confidante andchampion. I worried if she thought this was all put on, she’d never forgive me. Yet, telling her risked her not understanding how much I adored her and wanted her. I couldn’t tell her. Lying seemed more compassionate now.
“Now, you just want to make her happy,” Martin said. “It is good. I wish you both much happiness.”