Chapter 9
In the ten days since the queen's passing, Victoria had learned a significant amount about her homeland.
Not from her new family, though they'd been kind to her. They were simply wrapped up in their own grief and things that needed to be done.
She'd spent a lot of time with the staff, starting with the lunch room after the first walkabout. They'd known who she was and that she was connected to the new king, but like everyone else, they still believed the never-refuted engagement story.
And none of them ever questioned why she was already living in his quarters.
She'd started a few more official engagements, mostly ones related to the queen's passing and with Enzo, but a few on her own.
All of those were events that hadn't been canceled and a member of the family had committed to attending.
Though everyone would understand if no one attended due to the queen's passing, she wanted to help out where she could.
The people she'd met had been most kind. None had asked about her relationship with Enzo, though she knew they had to be curious. She'd only given a couple of short addresses, nothing of any significance.
In that time, she'd had a basic uniform, the same as the rest of the family and many of the people.
Black.
After the service, they'd be able to expand their palates a little more to other dark, somber colors. She didn't know exactly when they'd be able to return to bright colors and less subdued styles, but she looked forward to it.
Her mourning wasn't the same as the others. She had only met the queen a few times. Her emotions were more to do with empathy for others than for herself.
Now she would ride in one of the official family vehicles, though none of the immediate family would arrive with her. Instead, they all walked behind the queen's casket as it moved from the halls of government where she had laid in state to the abbey where the service would be held.
She'd offered to walk with Enzo, but it had been determined only biological family would do so.
That meant she would go with the other in-laws, but none of them were closely related enough to be considered senior royals.
And that meant she'd be alone in the last car to arrive.
She'd even suggested arriving with her family or having her mum travel with her so she wouldn't be alone. That had also been vetoed. If her mother hadn't been part of another royal family, they might have allowed it.
Keeping her expression appropriately neutral as the procession continued, Victoria still did her best to acknowledge as many of those lined up along the route as she could. Eye contact. A slight tip of the head. Anything to show she wasn't simply along for the ride.
It had been a number of years since her father's service and the gravitas of it had almost slipped from her memory. She knew it had been, but the actual feeling of it was gone.
The cars arrived at the entrance to the abbey and all of the occupants exited. Victoria followed suite when her turn arrived. Her place at the end of the line of family had been preselected.
The rest of the procession wasn't far behind.
The horse-drawn gun carriage came to a halt at the base of the steps.
Members of the armed forces acted as pall bearers.
As they carried the casket up the steps, the family members following behind split into two lines, reforming into a single line on the other side.
When Enzo made it to the top of the stairs where Victoria waited, she stepped out of line and executed a precise pivot to fall in beside him.
She'd seen the plans for the rest of them, but couldn't remember what they were. They came to a stop in front of chairs designated for them. Enzo's next youngest sibling stood on her other side.
Out of the corner of her eye, Victoria could see a tear slide down her husband's cheek. No doubt photos and video of the moment would be disseminated for the rest of his life and probably after when his family held this service for him.
Like most royal funerals, this one was steeped in tradition.
It lasted about an hour and then Victoria found herself lined up next to Enzo again.
Two columns of family members followed the casket once more.
This time, after the casket was loaded into the hearse, Enzo joined her in the automobile as it followed to the burial site.
"How are you?" Victoria asked softly once the doors were closed. She did her best to keep her lips from moving much so lip readers wouldn't be able to see the conversation.
"I'm all right. Ready for this to be over."
She wanted to reach out and take his hand, but kept hers folded in her lap as was expected.
Once again, she did her best to acknowledge those lining the streets without actually waving or smiling.
As she turned to look toward the other side, Victoria noticed another tear rolling down Enzo's cheek. To say she threw caution to the wind might have been a little over dramatic, but she did reach over and grasp his hand where it rested on his thigh.
He curled his fingers around hers, silently acknowledging the contact without protest.
The graveside service didn't last nearly as long, then local and foreign dignitaries joined them for a reception at the palace.
"How are you holding up?" Her mum asked the question as she gave Victoria a tight hug.
"I'm fine. A little overwhelmed, but nothing like the rest of them have to be." She returned the hug for a few seconds longer than she probably should have, but Victoria didn't care.
Her mum stayed by her side as much as possible, and for that Victoria would be eternally grateful. Neither of them knew the names and titles of most of the dignitaries from Dellisole, but Victoria didn't know many of the foreign ones either. Her mum helped her navigate most of those.
As the reception neared its end, Victoria found herself on one side of the room with just her mum and Enzo.
"Welcome to our family, Enzo." Her mum accepted a kiss on her cheek. "I do wish it had been under more normal circumstances, but nonetheless we're happy to have you."
"I feel much the same."
Victoria wondered if everyone could see the tiredness that had settled around his eyes or if only she could thanks to the amount of time they had spent together.
A few minutes later, they realized the only ones left were the three of them and Frederick and Elise who were walking their way.
The conversation didn't last long, but plans were tentatively made for breakfast the next morning.
The Southern Santierians knew Enzo's schedule could still be a bit up in the air.
Victoria didn't anticipate any reason for her to be unable to join them.
Despite their now-familial relationship, the Southern Santierians left the palace for their own accommodations elsewhere.
Once again, Victoria found herself walking down corridors with her husband until they found themselves back at their quarters.
Now, if only they could rest.
Dark gray suit, teal tie.
Still subdued.
Not black.
Enzo was happy about that.
Laying his mum to rest and surviving the reception with all the dignitaries had lowered his stress far more than he thought it would.
He'd postponed his massage the week before, but needed to make time for it now.
What he really needed was a real stress-free holiday, but it would be a long time before he was able to take one of those.
"You look very nice."
He turned to see Victoria walking out of the en suite wearing a navy pantsuit. The top underneath matched his tie. The whole family would be putting away the black and it relieved Enzo more than he would have expected.
"Thank you. You look very nice as well."
She spun on the ball of one foot until she made a full circle. "Thank you."
"I wish we were able to make this announcement in our own time and with a greater choice of wardrobe options." He fiddled with the cuff link on his left wrist, trying to get it straight.
"I know, but it will be fine. Everything will be fine." She sounded like she was trying to convince herself as much as she was trying to convince him. "How long do we have before we need to leave?"
"A couple of minutes." He gave her a wink. "They can't start without us."
She laughed. "True, but neither one of us want to set a precedent for being late."
"Also true." Finally satisfied his cuff link was straight, he extended his elbow toward her. "May I escort you to our first joint photo call?"
Victoria moved to his side and slid her hand into his elbow. "I would be honored."
As they started toward the door, Enzo stopped in his tracks.
"What is it?" Concern tinged her voice.
"Should I change into a navy suit instead of gray?" He had plenty of options. It would only take a moment since he wouldn't change his shirt.
"That's up to you. If the blues don't match just right, it could look more off than it would with a gray suit."
She had a point, but he turned toward the closet anyway. "Let's see what I have."
The third blue suit they looked at was virtually identical to hers. He quickly shucked his jacket and toed his shoes off at the same time. Victoria took the hanger with the navy jacket as he quickly changed his trousers.
She held out a hand. "Hand me the gray ones and I'll get the belt out for you."
By the time he had his shirt tucked in and trousers secured, she'd left his belt where he could easily grasp it and moved to the area of the closet with his shoes.
"Do you have any preferences?" she asked as she looked them over.
"The second shelf, far right." He always wore those with this suit. Fortunately, they didn't even need to be tied. As he maneuvered his feet into them, Victoria held the jacket for him to slip his arms in.
Tugging on the sleeves to straighten them, he looked back at her. "That was quick." A glance at his watch told him they still had a minute before they actually needed to leave the suite. "We work well together."
A genuine smile crossed her face. "I suppose we do." She reached up to brush a bit of his hair back into place.
They did walk a little faster than strictly necessary as they made their way through the palace and arrived at the outer office with enough time to gather themselves.
The Director of Public Relations entered a minute before they would need to step into the public eye together for the first time. "Your Majesties." She greeted them with a curtsy. "Good morning. Do you have any questions before you enter the garden?"
"I don't think so." Enzo gave her a nod. "We've been over the official story. It's close enough to the real story that it doesn't matter." Only a few minor details would be changed.
"Very well. Then whenever you're ready. The press is waiting." She tipped her head then moved to the side, allowing them through.
Once again, Enzo offered his arm to Victoria.
When they rounded the corner and came into view of the press, he could see their eyes widen as they realized the announcement was coming from both of them.
They stopped on the mark Enzo knew by heart though it wasn't visible to anyone else.
"Good morning," he started, talking not only to those gathered, but the people beyond.
"Before anything else, on behalf of my family, I would like to thank all of you for your support over the last week-and-a-half.
I would not wish the loss of a loved one on anyone, but the outpouring of love made it a little more bearable. "
He took a breath. "As often happens in life, news comes in pairs - both good and bad.
Prior to my mother's passing, we were able to share with her our joyous news.
Princess Victoria of Southern Santiero and I chose each other.
We were wed in a small ceremony several weeks ago.
I was able to introduce Victoria to Mum as my wife, and she was able to share briefly in our joy before her passing. "
From the looks on the faces of the reporters gathered, only their professionalism kept them from gasping out loud.
"As my wife, Victoria is now Queen Consort of Dellisole. As a matter of logistics, she has unofficially removed herself from the line of succession in her homeland where she holds the fourth spot in line after her eldest brother, King Frederick."
Covering the hand gripping the inside his elbow with his own, he continued.
"Due to the nature of my mother's illness, and that she wouldn't likely live to see us wed otherwise, we forewent most traditional wedding customs. In due time, we will observe some of those traditions, but for now, we simply want to share our good news with the rest of you. "
"Congratulations!" The call came from several of those gathered.
"We will answer a few questions but reserve the right to pass on any of them." He gave his trademark crooked grin, the one he was known for, and the reporters laughed.
"How did you meet?" One of the royal correspondents for the local station asked the first question.
He looked down at Victoria who smiled at him and answered before he could. "I believe we first met when I was four and you were... six? Something like that. Our paths crossed any number of times since."
"Queen Victoria, you haven't been seen in years until a few weeks ago. Can you tell us where you've been?" The use of her name and title was encouraging, but the question was one he knew she didn't want to answer.
"That is a question best saved for another time." Victoria's diplomatic answer impressed him. They hadn't discussed it ahead of time.
They answered a few more innocuous questions then gave a final wave and turned to go back inside.
At least that was over.