Chapter 17 #2
"Why only likely abdicate? Why not say you would actually abdicate?" Enzo found himself genuinely curious. It didn't matter much to him, since she was right about the catastrophies necessary, but he did want to know her rationale.
Victoria unclasped her hands and sat back in her chair. "Because I don't want to be tied to something? I want to have wiggle room. If, God forbid, something happened to you, especially before we have children, there's probably not a place for me here. I would go home."
Those things hadn't occurred to Enzo. He also tried to relax some in his chair as he contemplated what she'd said.
"There will always be a place for you here, but I can understand where you’re coming from," he said slowly.
"I can also understand why we wouldn't want to say that publicly.
There's no reason for the general public to know that we've thought about those things. "
"Definitely not. I'll tell my mum or my brother if it ever comes up in conversation, but I won't bring it up." She closed her eyes and sighed. "Is there anything else we need to discuss this evening? I'm exhausted and would really love to take my hair down and wash it."
Enzo stood and held out a hand. "We can be done for the night. I'm sure we'll have other things to talk about in regard to all of this sometime soon, but there's no reason it has to be now."
When she clasped his hand, he helped pull her to her feet. Rather than let go, he wrapped his arms around her and felt her almost melt against him.
There were things she had to be carrying. Weight she felt belonged to her alone. As her arms wrapped tightly around his waist, he knew he needed to find a way to let her know she could trust him to have her back.
Maybe he needed to have a conversation with Jeanette and Madeleine.
Speaking of... "Are Anthony and Madeleine still here?" He hadn't heard their travel plans.
"For now. They're still in the suite down the hall, but we can ask to have them moved to their own suite if it would make us more comfortable." She rested her head against his chest.
"I don't mind having them stay here with us."
"Well, that's good." Amusement filled the voice coming from behind him.
Enzo and Victoria loosened their hold on each other and turned to see both of their guests emerging from the hallway.
Victoria leaned up and kissed his cheek. "I'm going to take that shower now." As she passed them, Anthony also gave her a kiss on the cheek while Madeleine gave her a hug and whispered something to her.
After she nodded in response to Madeleine's statement, Victoria continued walking toward their suite.
Madeleine looked to him. "I would like to call in colleagues from Eastern Novigradia.
They're experts in their field. They've worked with us in our archives a number of times on special projects.
I have a couple of hunches, but I'd like to discuss them in person rather than over any kind of long distance communication. "
"I don't have a problem with it. Please send the names to me and I'll give them to Cap. As long as he approves, and I don't see why he wouldn't, please send for them."
"Thank you. I think they will be a big help. They've done this sort of thing before in other locations and are well-known and well-respected in the industry."
Anthony jumped in. "I can vouch for what Madeleine is telling you.
I had my own checks run on them not long after Caroline passed when they were helping validate some of the new artifacts that were part of the process to be Catherine's regent.
I understand the need for due diligence, but if it's acceptable to you, can we let them know to pack and that they'll likely be needed here? "
Enzo nodded. "That would be fine. If they're trusted by both of you and Catherine, I find it highly unlikely they won't be allowed here."
The three of them spoke for another minute before going their separate ways.
Victoria was already curled under the heavy blankets, pulled up to her ears, and facing away from his side of the bed.
It hadn't been long since she'd left the front room, so she must have sped through her bedtime routine, even if it was truncated significantly. He quietly went about his own routine, hoping to let her rest without pressure to talk to him when she wasn't ready.
He knew what she'd said when he'd found her in the archery nook. That's what he'd been calling it in his head anyway. He knew the window had been an arrow slit, so archery nook made sense to him.
One thing he didn't want to do was minimize her feelings. He knew it wasn't true - she was needed - but he had no right to tell her she didn't feel the way she felt. People often believed things about themselves that weren't true, but they had to come to that realization themselves.
All he could do was love and support her until she might finally believe it for herself.
Once his nighttime ablutions were finished, Enzo made his way under the blankets until he lay facing Victoria's back. He wanted to reach out, wrap his arm around her waist and hope he could bring some comfort, but he didn't think she would be ready for him to do that.
Instead, he pondered what he'd begun to realize.
Enzo wasn't just falling in love with his wife.
He already had.
Victoria didn't understand why she was needed in the archives. She hadn't even been assigned a job the day before. The only reason anyone noticed she had left was because Enzo came to look for her.
Being raised in a palace meant she had a lifetime of practice concealing her emotions.
In front of family or very close friends it might be acceptable, but not in front of anyone else - at least not all of the time.
There were times it would be appropriate - such as a memorial service - but appearing to be upset or depressed at any other time would not.
She sat in the conference room near the office now being used by Jeanette and waited for the meeting to begin.
Four others were already there, but she didn't know who they were.
Given their lack of reaction to her presence, she suspected they didn't know who she was either.
One was an older gentleman, probably in his late 60s or early 70s.
The other three looked to be a bit younger, maybe in their early 50s.
Based on their accents, they weren't from Dellisole, but she couldn't quite place where they were actually from.
The door to the conference room was already open, but from where she was seated, Victoria couldn't see who might be coming. Given the way the other three jumped out of their seats and snapped to attention, she figured it out.
A few seconds later, Enzo entered the room. Victoria stood but didn't curtsy. She'd already seen him before leaving their quarters. After giving her a kiss on the cheek, he took a seat at the head of the table while Jeanette, Madeleine, and Anthony sat across from her.
Before they started discussing the situation at hand, Madeleine introduced them.
"Your Majesties, these are some of my colleagues from Eastern Novigradia.
" She indicated each one as she gave a brief run down of their credentials.
The older one was a retired professor. The younger three were current professors and researchers.
Two she introduced as Tristan and Terri Goodey and the other as Nathaniel Daugherty.
"They believe they have some insight into what might have been stolen. "
The professor stood. "We've been hearing whisperings for a while, but it wasn't until Madeleine brought this situation to our attention that we began to put some of the pieces together.
" He nodded toward Tristan who stood to close the door and turn the lights off so they could see the images on the projector screen.
A photo of a painting appeared, one that Victoria recognized but couldn't place.
The professor gave the name of the artist if known, the subject, and the country of origin before moving on to the next one.
Victoria wished she'd paid more attention to her ancient history lessons in school so she'd know the details about the one from Southern Santiero.
When the fourth one appeared on the screen, he set his remote down.
"This is King Gilead III of Eastern Novigradia.
Until about fifteen years ago, he was believed to be King Gilead II, but discoveries made at that time gave insight into a whole new monarch, the true Gilead I who had essentially been erased from history.
In the years since, we've been able to focus research in new directions.
It is believed that Gilead III, along with accomplices in the other countries mentioned, stole treasures and hid them.
Those treasures have never been found. They include jewels, precious metals, paintings and other artwork, as well as the few known artifacts from King Gilead I. "
"What does that have to do with us? None of those paintings were from Dellisole." Enzo looked far more relaxed than Victoria felt, but she knew he didn't like to have his time wasted when there were so many other things he needed to be doing.
The professor picked his remote back up and clicked again. "This is King Lorenzo I of Dellisole."
Victoria didn't recognize the name but that didn't strike her as odd until she realized Enzo also looked confused.
"He is another king erased from history," the professor went on. "In fact, he was quite young, just like King Gilead I. We believe this portrait was created with him as an adult so others wouldn't realize how young the ruler actually was."
"I've never heard of him." Enzo leaned forward in his chair. "There's at least one other from the Commonwealth I didn't recognize either."
"That's not surprising." Tristan stood. "All of these monarchs were quite young and have since been virtually erased from history.
" A new slide appeared on the screen with multiple portraits of boys and girls between ones of older men dressed as monarchs.
"The theory is almost too fantastical to be believed.
The last monarch in each of these groupings all went on their Grand Tours about the same time. "
Enzo asked the question Victoria also had. "Grand Tour?"
"As they neared the end of their education, they each took a tour of European cultural and political centers.
Contemporary accounts show that they would have been in Paris at the same time then been in the same place several other times as they continued their tours.
While there's no definitive proof of a conspiracy, there's too many similarities in the history of their countries to dismiss the idea entirely.
" A red dot appeared on the screen pointing out the four Eastern Novigradians before the screen changed to just those four.
"King Fulke was likely assassinated by his brother, Gilead.
His young son became Gilead I for just a few months before he died under suspicious circumstances.
His uncle was known as Gilead I until about 15 years ago when the story of the true Gilead I was discovered not long after the death of Queen Caroline.
The man we now call Gilead II was almost certainly killed by his son, now known as Gilead III. "
"I've never heard of anything like that here in Dellisole." Enzo frowned and looked at Jeanette. "Have you?"
The historian shook her head. "No, but they didn't know about the Gileads until a few years ago. It's possible we have hidden history that we know nothing about."
Nathaniel stood and the slide changed to the rest of the portraits.
"As we've researched, we've uncovered similarities with the group of monarchs who met on their tours as well as inconsistencies with how they came to the throne.
None were in the direct line of succession when they met.
In Eastern Novigradia, Gilead III was the nephew of the king, became the cousin of the king, then the Crown Prince once his father took over.
The others have similar histories. One was illegitimate and only became king because the direct heir passed unexpectedly.
That one is well-known history. The others are less so. "
"What is the theory you've developed?" Jeanette asked the question.
"Our theory is that the monarchs who met on their tours manipulated events so they all became kings within the next decade. Gilead III was the last of them to do so. The rest became king much sooner."
"For what purpose?" Victoria couldn't make sense of it. "Why would all of them becoming kings as a group matter?"
Tristan shook his head. "That's something we still haven't discovered for certain.
We suspect it may be that they were planning some sort of treaty to solidify the relationships then try to work together to take over the rest of Europe.
If that were the case, it seems likely there would have been double crossing by many of them as they each saw themselves as the eventual true ruler of the new empire. "
Though she didn't understand what would drive them to do that, Victoria could follow the rationale. "What does that have to do whatever is missing from Dellisole?"
The professor stood once more and advanced the slide on the screen. A portrait of one of Dellisole's early monarchs appeared. "We believe the map to the hidden treasures is on the back of this portrait."
Nathaniel continued. "We believe the portrait in the gallery is a forgery and the original is long gone."