CHAPTER FOURTEEN – HATTIE #2
In the last ten days, I’ve realised one thing: this is what he thinks will calm me down when I get a bit agitated.
Which, well.
Annoyingly, he’s completely right, although I have no intention of telling him that.
“I have the questions here. You can read them over and veto any you’re uncomfortable answering before she arrives,” he says quietly.
“You already know that our engagement is going to open a can of worms and drag up all the stories from when you went missing. People are going to want answers, and we have to be prepared to give them. We might be able to head a few off before they become a point of discussion.”
“Oh, so it has nothing to do with the fact the gossips masquerading as reporters think you’re marrying Jasmine Sinclair and that the two of you are in a long-term, secret relationship.”
He pauses.
“Finn…”
“All right, so one of the questions to me is about that. I intend to firmly deny ever having any type of relationship with her.”
I sniff, turning my face away. “You better.”
He releases his hold on me slightly and leans back, grinning down at me. “I quite like your possessive streak, do you know that?”
“You’re insane.” I wriggle out of his hold and walk across the room with a sigh. “They’re going to ask about my family, aren’t they? About our relationship. And I’m going to have to lie and say it’s hunky dory, perfectly fine, not toxic in the slightest. Stuff like that.”
He hesitates. “There’s a question regarding them on the list, yes. But like I said, you have full control over what you answer. We can wipe it.”
I nod. “Please do. Given the situation it can’t be avoided entirely, but I’d rather not discuss my relationship with them right now.”
“Right now?”
“Yes. You didn’t really think I was going to let them all go down as innocent people, did you?
” I raise my eyebrows. “I plan to make the people fall dreamily in love with me as their crown princess, then plant enough little hints to the internet sleuths so that they figure out what really happened in their own way. Then, when I ruin the Sinclairs, everyone will feel sorry for me, not them.”
Finn blinks at me. “I think I’ve underestimated how thoroughly you’ve planned it all.”
“Well, I’ve had a long time to dream up various means of revenge,” I say quietly, looking away from him. “Some are slightly more realistic than others.”
“Oh? What are the unrealistic ones?”
“Public flogging was one that brought me great joy for a while.”
He pauses. “When I’m the king, I can change laws, you know.”
“If it takes me that long to ruin their lives, I’ll have more things to worry about than the legality of a public flogging,” I say dryly. “Besides, your mother might change that law if I ask her to.”
“That’s true.” He sits down on the sofa and pats the spot next to him, ushering me over.
“Do you know she’s been waxing lyrical about you for the last week?
I have no idea how she’s undergone engagements and appearances without telling everyone how wonderful her future daughter-in-law is, although she did let it slip once to a governmental minister.
I think there are some surprising rumours that Jasmine has finally managed to charm her. ”
“Really? The only thing that Jasmine can charm is herself, and even then, it’s a bit touch and go.” I sit next to him, pausing only to pick up the papers on the coffee table.
“That’s why I said the rumours are surprising,” he replies. “Would you like me to put an end to them?”
“No. Leave them be. Jasmine will be fanning the flames of them, and the bigger the rumours grow, the more humiliated she’ll be when the truth comes out.” I flip the front page of the questions that’ll be asked later. “And the more entertained I’ll be by the whole thing.”
“Is that so?” He smiles at me. “Then maybe a ‘palace source’ needs to corroborate those rumours a little.”
“That would be helpful.”
“For your entertainment, right?”
I turn from the questions and blink earnestly at him. “Happy wife, happy life.”
Finn laughs and presses a shaky kiss to my forehead.
“All right. I’ll see what I can do.” He rests one arm over the back of the sofa behind me and leans in, producing a pen seemingly from out of nowhere.
He clicks the end twice before handing it to me.
“Here. Cross out whatever you aren’t happy with. ”
“Okay,” I say slowly, giving the pen a click of my own. “I don’t think there’ll be a lot I’m comfortable with, you know. I’ve never spoken on camera before.”
“That might not be a bad thing.”
I jump at the sound of Her Majesty’s voice, but Finn barely glances up. “Your Majesty.”
She raises her eyebrows. “What did I tell you to call me, Hattie?”
Oh, right. “Beatrix.”
She beams. “Just like when you were a child.”
“Why are you here?” Finn asks, finally looking over at her. “Don’t you have things to do?”
“I would consider helping my daughter-in-law prepare for her first televised interview to be ‘something to do,’” she replies breezily, then looks at my lap. “Oh, you’re going over the questions. How are you feeling about it?”
“A bit like I’ve been thrown into the base of a waterfall,” I reply. “I’m not prepared for this at all. I’ve never done this before.”
“Like I said, that’s not always a bad thing,” she says, sitting opposite us.
“But what if I mess up and make everyone look bad?”
“That’s why it’s pre-recorded. If you make a mistake, it’s edited out, and we simply try again. Even I make mistakes sometimes, darling.”
“You do?”
“I do. Nobody is perfect, and nobody can remember everything.”
“I don’t have any training at all,” I say, looking down at the questions. “How am I supposed to sit there as the future crown princess and not look a total fool?”
“The fact you haven’t had any training is exactly what I’m banking on,” Beatrix says, and a glance up at her confirms she really does mean it.
She looks utterly unbothered, as if I’ve just told her a weather forecast she’s already seen.
“This…” She motions to us both. “Is a fairytale, for all intents and purposes.”
“I wish you wouldn’t say it like that,” Finn grumbles. “You’re the one who arranged this marriage.”
“Yes, it looks very arranged when you’re touching her every time I look at you,” she retorts sharply. “The point is that you don’t need to be a perfect, refined princess with the epitome of manners. You need to be Harriet Sinclair.”
“I don’t understand,” I say, putting the pen down. “Harriet Sinclair is nothing special.”
“While I beg to differ, that’s exactly the point.
” She smiles, and the warmth in it makes her eyes sparkle.
“Any training—too much training—will make you come across as fake. Even though the Royal Family is seen as some sort of untouchable, fairytale institution, people want to feel connected to us. After all, we’re a part of their very identity as Askurians.
We’re woven into every facet of Askurg’s history.
“For you, you’re stepping into a world that is entirely foreign to you.
If you’re nervous, all that will serve is to make you relatable to people everywhere.
Yes, there will be those who will criticise you and deem you unworthy, but they’re the exact same people who would call you fake and contrived if you did a perfect job, so they don’t matter. ”
“She’s right,” Finn says, brushing his thumb back and forth across my shoulder. “Everything else will come in time. For today, you just need to be you. That’s more than enough, because you’re enough, Hattie.”
My cheeks are warm. “I just… I don’t want to let you down.”
“Impossible,” the Queen says. “You could never do that.”
Great.
Those aren’t high expectations at all…