Chapter 9
Their public debut.
If Frederick was nervous, he could only imagine how Elise felt.
She'd wrapped up shooting in Southern Santiero the day before, but it had been determined that the formal event - a fundraiser for an organ donation organization - would be a good time for them to step out together and introduce Elise as the new queen.
The media had been buzzing for three weeks, guessing who the lucky woman was and naming almost any woman Frederick had ever met, even if had been only briefly years earlier.
Elise was one of few women who hadn't been on anyone's list.
There was likely a betting pool somewhere on who it would be. Elise probably existed on that list somewhere. If anyone had taken that bet, they'd likely win big.
Frederick waited at the garrison for Elise to appear. She'd been in the palace for several hours, but he hadn't spoken with her yet. George appeared, his tablet in his hand.
"What are they saying?" Frederick had asked that question more in the last few weeks than he had in the rest of his life combined.
"About what we expected. There's a lot of anticipation.
There's no real consensus on who the new queen might be.
There hasn't been much speculation that anyone considers serious.
The list of women is extensive, but the only one that anyone seems to think might be a legitimate possibility is the last woman you had lunch with.
The only reason they think that, though, is because she was last. There's no real talk that the two of you would be overly compatible. "
Frederick thought back and tried to remember who the last woman had been.
A brunette. Probably. He couldn't remember her name, which he regretted.
They were not remotely compatible. If anything, she had seemed like a gold digger.
Most of her questions had revolved around the jewels she'd have access to and what kinds of vacations they could take and how many people she'd have on her personal staff.
He hadn't cut lunch overly short, but Frederick had known it wouldn't work less than ten minutes after meeting her.
"Has Elise been mentioned at all?" He tugged on his shirt sleeve under his suit coat.
"A couple of times. They've been in jest, typically when a story about the movie followed a story about the new queen or vice versa. Two of her female costars have been mentioned as possibilities as well. No one seriously considered Queen Elise as a viable possibility, but no one knows for certain that you’ve ever met.
" He tapped on his tablet a couple of times.
"Reporters are already lined up at the venue. They've been there for hours already."
Of course they had. "Elise will be fine." If anything, she had more experience with the press than he did.
The door opened, and Elise walked in.
Frederick felt his breath catch in his throat. "Elise... you look lovely."
She dipped into a curtsy. "Thank you, Frederick." She slipped her hand into his elbow. "You look quite handsome."
He turned and led her into the garrison where one of the security team members held the door to the black SUV waiting for them. Frederick entered first so Elise wouldn't have to move to the far side in her gown.
During the ride to the venue, she asked him questions about the attractions they passed on the drive. He answered the best he could, but the member of the security team in the front passenger seat filled in a few details Frederick wasn't aware of.
When they reached the portico in front of the venue, Frederick realized his error. He would exit first, and Elise would have to move to the other side of the SUV - the very thing Frederick had tried to avoid back at the garrison.
The reporters were lined up so they wouldn't be able to see into the SUV while Elise moved across it to the door. Frederick held out his hand for Elise to take it. He could tell the moment they realized who he was escorting.
Elise held a clutch in her other hand. She smiled at the cameras and those beyond them, but they didn't stop to talk to them. That would happen another time.
They were the last ones to arrive. When they were announced, those in the ballroom began to cheer.
"I don't like being a bigger story than the charity," Elise told him quietly as they stepped into the room.
"I know, but we'll do our best to use the spotlight to redirect it where it belongs." Surely they could manage to do that.
He held Elise's chair for her and took his seat between her and the event organizer. As soon as he was seated, the staff began serving the meal.
For the remainder of the meal, Frederick split his conversational time between Elise, the organizer and those seated on either side of his seatmates.
He didn't talk to those two nearly as much as he did Elise and the organizer, but more than he normally did.
He kept one ear on Elise and her conversations.
As expected, she was friendly and personable.
He wouldn't have expected anything less.
After dinner, Frederick gave a speech about the importance of organ donation and thanked those present for their hard work raising both funds and awareness.
After him, several recipients of organs spoke on the second chance they'd been given.
One had received a heart. Two more each received a kidney from live donors.
A friend of one had been a donor for the other while a relative of the other gave a kidney to the first one.
He'd never heard of such an arrangement but it seemed to help increase the number of those able to receive new organs.
The last speaker had been a recipient of a heart as a child after discovering the same genetic anomaly that his father had.
His father had been on vacation in Southern Santiero when his heart had given out.
He'd received a heart from a car accident victim.
Because of that donation, his father had met the woman he would eventually marry and have children with.
The domino effect.
Frederick needed to make sure he was more involved with this sort of thing. It was important.
But so were all of the organizations he gave his patronage.
What made one more important than another? That question had to have plagued royals the world over for decades, since they took on a philanthropic role instead of a dictatorial one.
He and Elise would need to discuss what their goals as a couple were.
Would she want to support the arts? That would make sense, but would she limit it to the acting world?
Or would she expand to the performing arts as a whole?
Instrumental music and choral music could easily be a part of that.
Would other parts of the art world be part of it as well?
Unfortunately, they only had two days before she needed to leave to finish shooting Becoming Mrs. Scrooge. He'd meet her parents the next afternoon. They'd hoped he'd be able to before they went public with Elise's identity, but it hadn't worked out that way.
Elise had told her parents about the relationship when they arrived a few days earlier. Their trip had been delayed when her mum contracted a nasty stomach virus. His back-to-back meetings had prevented him from being present.
As the event came to a close, Frederick offered Elise his elbow and escorted her through the room, talking briefly with those they encountered as they made their way to the exit.
They walked to their waiting SUV and waved toward the cameras and the gathered crowd, but didn't say anything. Their conversations with those inside would make their way into the public knowledge base, but for now that's all they would get.
The public reveal meant Elise would need to stay at the palace. Frederick couldn't convince himself he felt badly about that.
He looked forward to seeing her more often. Before long, she'd live there permanently.
He couldn't wait.
The meeting with her parents had gone well, like Elise knew it would. The reaction from the public had been a bit more mixed. She suspected it wouldn't improve until she lived in Southern Santiero and took on the role of queen consort full time. That wouldn't be until after the wedding.
A second public appearance in three days wouldn't hurt though.
At least this one was more casual and wouldn't require a gown. For the organ donation event, she'd worn a gown by the same woman who had designed her wedding dress. For this event, jeans and a nice shirt would suffice.
She also needed to wear heels, something she preferred to avoid at all costs whenever possible.
The stilettos were her least favorite of the heels she had to wear from time to time, but Elise suspected she'd have to wear them much more often in the future.
Once again, she expected to meet Frederick near the garrison, but at the last minute the woman acting as her dresser for the time being, told her to go a different direction.
As she walked down the main staircase - the same one she'd walked up on her first visit - Elise found George waiting at the bottom.
He tipped his head toward her. "Good evening, Your Majesty. This way please."
Elise followed him to a foyer where Frederick waited.
"Good evening." She dipped into a curtsy since she hadn't seen him yet that day.
He'd been busy in his office for most of it, and she'd been meeting with the event planner and others to make decisions about the wedding.
She'd also met with the protocol officer who spent a mind-numbing two hours with her, trying to help her understand everything she'd need to know to be queen.
It was enough to make Elise want to cry.
She didn't know Frederick well yet, but she did know him well enough to know she wanted to get to know him better. That had to be what would keep her going until she felt more comfortable in her new role.
Frederick extended his elbow toward her. "Good evening."