Chapter 2
Meeting with her mother had never made Victoria so nervous before.
But she'd never told the press she was engaged before either.
Walking into her mum's suite in the palace, Victoria glanced around hoping Frederick wouldn't be there. She'd come home for his wedding, though she'd only seen him for a few minutes. Talking to him would be worse than talking to Mum alone.
Fortunately, Mum seemed to be alone. Dipping into a curtsy, Victoria greeted her. "Good morning."
"Good morning." Her mum held out a mug. "Just like you like it."
Victoria took the mug of coffee and took a sip. "Thank you. It's good."
Her mum motioned to a chair. "Let's talk."
Perched on the edge of the chair, Victoria held the cup of coffee in her hands and stared into the swirling liquid. She didn't want to volunteer information but would answer questions.
"Would you like to tell me what's going on."
Or the former queen would cut straight to the chase and give an instruction phrased as a question. "His name is Enzo. You'll like him." Her family already did like him - at least as the future leader of one of their most important trading partners outside of the Quad Countries of the Sargasso Sea.
As a member of their family? Marrying the youngest child? That could be a different matter all together.
"Does he have a last name?"
"Yes.” Sort of. “I'm not prepared to share it with anyone just yet.
We have a few things to work out before taking the relationship public, but also before I can introduce him to the rest of you.
" She needed to be careful not to lie to her mum.
Let her assume he was her fiancé, but not actually confirm it.
"Why?" Her mum took a sip from her own mug, though Victoria suspected it was tea rather than coffee.
"You'll understand once I can tell you the whole story.
" She adjusted her gaze to stare at the flooring between them.
"I wish I could tell you, but I can't. I won't be able to tell you for at least a few more days, but it could be longer than that.
There's some things going on on his side of things that need to be resolved before we can introduce him to you. "
Victoria glanced up long enough to see a look cross her mum's face.
"Why is that? Has he been in some kind of trouble?"
"Nothing like that. We were supposed to go to his home in a couple of days to take care of most of it. He was called home suddenly last night, so he's not even here now." Using both hands, she brought her mug up to take another sip. A long one. "He wants to meet all of you, but..."
"You can't tell me about him yet." The hint of disappointment showed on her mum's face, but stayed out of her voice.
Years of practice helped the former queen do that. Victoria would need to figure out how to do that herself, to keep a tight rein on her emotions, at least most of the time. There was a time and place to show those emotions, but there was also a lot of times when it wasn't.
Victoria remembered seeing an episode of Taylor Swift's docuseries about her wildly successful world tour.
She met with victims of an attack on a dance party where her music had been playing.
In the interviews and after the meetings with the families, she was clearly distraught, but she said when she went out on the stage, it would all be left behind.
While on stage, she needed to do what was expected of her.
Victoria had never thought she'd find herself in the same sort of position on a much smaller scale.
She wouldn't be playing instruments, dancing, and singing in front of tens of thousands of people for three-and-a-half hours, but she would be the queen of her new country.
She would be expected to control her emotions in front of cameras and the public.
Could she do it? Certainly not as well as the pop star had done, but perhaps as well as her mum did. Maybe she'd talk to Elise, her new sister-in-law. The now-retired actress would surely have some tips.
"Is there anything you can tell me? How did you meet him? How long ago did you meet him? How long have you been dating?" The questions didn't feel overwhelming like they could have when they came so quickly.
"We met when he was on holiday in the same place I was. We literally ran into each other walking toward our respective tables." How should she word the last two answers? "He asked me to have dinner with him since he was eating alone. I was too. We've been practically inseparable since."
Her mum raised one perfectly manicured eyebrow. "Don't think I didn't notice you didn't tell me how long ago it was, but I won't press you for more details. Yet."
Victoria nodded, but didn't answer the questions any further.
"Would your papa approve?" Tears filled her mum's eyes as she quietly asked one more question.
After setting her mug down, Victoria moved to the side of her mother's chair and knelt near her. "I think he would. I know he would like Enzo. I think he would approve of him as a son-in-law." She rested her hand on her mum's knee. "I promise it'll be good."
"Do we need to start planning the wedding? Do you have a date picked yet?" Her mum brushed hair back from Victoria's forehead.
Victoria shook her head. "We're not at the point of planning a wedding. You'll be one of the first to know when the time comes."
"Does Cap know him?"
The head of security had kept tabs on her in the years she'd traveled. From a distance, to be sure, but Cap always knew. He'd probably known about the marriage the day it happened, maybe the day after. He likely knew she'd met a crown prince before they finished dinner the first night.
Maybe not, but he was very good at his job, and Victoria had no doubt Cap knew. She also had no doubt he wouldn't say a word unless it was absolutely necessary.
"I have reason to believe Cap has met him," she said carefully, knowing her mum would pay attention to her wording. "I don't know how well Cap knows him, though."
Her mum nodded but didn't say anything else for a moment. Finally she nodded again. "I can live with that for now."
Victoria knew her mum would be on the phone with Cap or even go see him in person in the next couple of hours.
She stood and kissed her mum's cheek. "It'll be okay. Promise."
Then she left the suite of rooms her mum used at the palace and went back to her hotel to try to get some sleep.
And to wait for Enzo to let her know what was going on.
Walking into his mum's suite, Enzo felt sadness begin to overwhelm him.
He'd known for several months that her time was limited.
She had a conversation with him, they'd talked to the rest of his siblings.
The public still hadn't been told, and wouldn’t be until after the family had time to come to grips with it all.
He wouldn't be ready to be in charge. Ever. Even if his mum followed in the metaphorical footsteps of Queen Elizabeth II and lived to be nearly a hundred. If he didn't become monarch until 73, like King Charles, he wouldn't feel prepared.
In the sitting area, his mum waited for him. She looked weaker than the last time he'd seen her eight days earlier. That was why he'd been called home, but it still shocked him.
After bowing her direction, he leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek before taking a seat. "How are you feeling, Mum?"
"Better this morning than last night." She covered his hand with hers. "I'm sorry you had to come back earlier than planned."
"There's nowhere I'd rather be." That was both accurate and not at the same time. He'd rather be with Victoria, but he also wouldn't want to be anywhere but at his mother's side.
"Tell me about your trip." Her voice sounded stronger than it had a moment earlier.
"I went to a resort in Northern Santiero, just to sit. To be." He wouldn't have a chance to do that for a long time.
"All by yourself?"
"I had my team with me, but I also ran into someone I'd met a few times before. We had dinner, and I spent most of the rest of the time with her."
A twinkle came into his mum's eye. "Her?"
Enzo felt his face heat. "Yes. Her."
This could be his opening. He stared at her hand where it still rested on his. "She was going to come back here with me in a couple of days, but when I had to return suddenly, she wasn't able to come right away."
"You like her." It wasn't a question.
"I do," he confirmed. He sucked in a breath. "I more than like her."
His mum raised an eyebrow. "Are you in love with her?"
"I wouldn't go quite that far." Not yet.
"You know what will happen if you haven't found your person before it's my time." She wrapped her fingers around the side of his hand and squeezed lightly.
Enzo nodded. "And that's why we made a decision."
"You're engaged?" If that thought surprised her, the next bit might send her over the edge.
After a second's hesitation, he told her the truth. "We were married a few days ago."
She blinked a couple of times. "Married?"
"Yes. There was a small island in Southern Santiero that we were able to visit. Because that's her homeland, we were able to marry quickly and quietly."
"She knows the truth of who you are?"
He nodded. "She knew from the moment we met, though she didn't know the timeline until a few days later."
"I'm glad she knew, but is that the only reason she wanted to spend time with you? To be a princess and later a queen?" The look on her face showed her deep concern.
He chuckled. "No, Mum. She didn't need to marry me to be a princess. She already is one, though she hasn't been a working royal."
Confusion tinged his mum's voice. "Who is it?"
"Princess Victoria of Southern Santiero, King Frederick's youngest sibling."
"She hasn't been seen since not long after she turned eighteen. I don't believe Frederick even knew where she was." She shifted in her chair. "But of anyone you could have met out in the world, she's one of the few who could come close to understanding what the role of being your wife will entail."
"That's not why I wanted to get to know her better or marry her." He turned his hand over underneath hers then covered them both with his other hand. "I think you'll really like her, Mum."
If they were able to meet.
Enzo forced the thought out of his mind and kept the smile on his face. "She's kind, she's incredibly intelligent, she's generous..."
"She's beautiful." The smile on his mum's face widened.
"And she's beautiful," he agreed. "That might have been what first caught my attention - after we literally ran into each other - but I quickly came to appreciate so much more about her.
Beyond who she is as a person, she understand the realities of royal life.
The intricacies, the politics, the dinner conversations, the fashion.
.." Which he'd never fully understood. ".
..the time to be quiet and the time to speak out. All of that."
"Under other circumstances, I would have loved to spend the kind of time it would take with your wife to help her become comfortable with the role. Since I won't be able to, I'm grateful you found someone who won't have to learn all of that on her own." Her eyes closed.
Enzo squeezed his mum's hand. "I'll let you rest. I'll be here for a few days at least. Victoria is hoping to be here next week. She has a few things going on at home."
A frown appeared. "I thought one of my briefings said she was engaged."
"She was unexpectedly cornered by local press and inadvertently confirmed something instead of denying it.
Because she hasn't dealt with the press in years, and didn't think anyone knew she was even in the country, she wasn’t prepared.
She watched Frederick's wedding from a distance and snuck in to the palace to see him and meet Elise.
" He kissed her cheek again. "I'll see you later. "
As he left, his mum's personal aide entered and curtsied toward both of them. "Welcome home, sir."
"Thank you." He left his mum's suite. What would happen to the staff when his mum passed? Would they automatically become his staff members? Would his aides stay with him and hers help them transition?
So many questions. No answers.
His phone buzzed.
Victoria
Mum thinks we’re engaged. I think we may want to consider going public with that then bring up the marriage later.
He wasn't sure about telling everyone they were engaged when they were already married. It would probably go over better with the public if they were engaged and then had a wedding, but only if they weren't already married.
The deception bothered him, but he understood why it would appeal to Victoria and her family. Would she tell them the truth sooner rather than later?
After sending a quick text back that they'd talk soon, Enzo headed for his own suite for the first time since his arrival.
As he walked in, he looked around and realized he'd never actually cared about the furnishings.
Would Victoria want to redo everything? He had no sentimental attachment to any of it, save some of the portraits and photos around.
That was a problem for another day. For now, he needed to focus on taking care of things here and getting back to Victoria, while making sure to spend as much time as possible with his mum.
He didn't love the balancing act, but knew it would only get worse from here.