Chapter 10
As Frederick would have expected, Elise fit seamlessly into his world. She chatted easily with the adults and immediately put the children at ease.
She spent time experiencing each of the exhibits with the children.
He noticed she seemed especially happy in the paleontology exhibit.
Too bad there wasn’t much in the way of dinosaur exploration in Southern Santiero.
There wasn’t much in the way of archaeological digs either.
They were relatively young as a country and had only been sporadically inhabited before that.
Frederick also talked with the children and experienced each exhibit with them. The time set aside for the visit passed quickly, and before he knew it, they were back in the SUV.
He’d told his team he may want to stop at a restaurant for dinner with Elise.
“Are you hungry?” he asked as they put on their seatbelts.
“I could eat. Will something be waiting for us at the palace?” She glanced at her watch. “It’s a little early, isn’t it?”
“I thought we could stop and get something at one of my favorite restaurants.” He didn’t put the vehicle in drive just yet, not until a decision had been made.
Elise looked down at herself. “Are we dressed appropriately?”
Frederick laughed. “Yes. It’s a cafe run by a friend of my grandmum. No fancy clothes allowed.”
She grinned back at him. “Then that sounds perfect.”
He sent a quick text to the head of his security team then put the SUV in gear and followed the lead vehicle away from the discovery building.
The drive took longer than he expected, but they arrived at the cafe on the outskirts of town in time to beat the dinner rush. As planned.
Once again, he opened Elise’s door for her then held the door to the building when they reached it. Inside, the hostess clearly wasn’t expecting them.
She gasped and curtsied before saying anything. “Your Majesties. How may I serve you this evening?”
“Two for dinner,” Frederick told her. “The table by the window if it’s available.”
“Of course, Your Majesty.” She grabbed a couple of menus and rolled napkins before turning away. “Follow me, please.”
Frederick waited for Elise to go in front of him then followed both of them, though he knew where the table was. None of the tables offered total seclusion, but this one came the closest.
Once seated, Elise asked him what he recommended, then decided to order what he suggested.
"Did you enjoy the center?" He took a sip of his beverage.
"I did." Her whole face lit up. "I wish we'd had something like that. The one we had was great, but not that extensive."
"One of the best things about being king is getting to do things like that.
" He took a sip of his beverage. "There's a lot of meetings and boring paperwork and things like that, but getting to be out with the people.
.. that's my favorite part, even if I don’t do it nearly as much as I wish I could. "
Elise glanced around then leaned closer. "Is getting to have some contact with people part of that?"
He remembered his moment of vulnerability on the plane.
He still hadn't hugged anyone but Elise in a very long time.
"Yes." He'd been hugged by several of the smaller children who didn't know enough to be intimidated by the king.
Their parents would sometimes try to stop them, but he never did.
One of the children even sat on his lap for story time in one of the stations.
Those photos would make the rounds soon, if they weren't already.
Now that he was legally married, the comments about what kind of father he would be would ramp up exponentially.
"You looked very comfortable," Elise told him. "The children loved you. They're very good judges of character."
"I've heard that, though I'm not around many for any significant period of time."
The waitress returned with their meals, setting them on the table in front of each of them. "Does everything look correct?"
Frederick could hear the nervousness in her voice.
"It looks lovely." Elise thanked the waitress.
The waitress curtsied, again, and left them to their meals.
They didn't speak for several minutes as they began eating. Once they'd settled into their meal, Frederick spoke again.
"What is your schedule like for the next few weeks?"
"I leave tomorrow morning for our next location in Europe. I'll be there for three or four weeks while we finish shooting. Each day will be different, depending on what scenes are being shot." She took another bite of her dinner.
"I wish we could send the royal plane with you tomorrow, but unfortunately, it doesn't fall under public use." He didn't like the thought of her flying commercial now that her identity had become public.
She gave him the smile he had quickly come to love in person even more than he had on the screen. "I'll be fine. I've got a seat in first class and security will be with me the whole time. A couple will be seated with me and several more will be elsewhere on the plane."
Frederick gave a nod. "I know, but I would still feel better if you were flying on my plane."
Elise reached out and covered his hand with her own. "I'll be fine. I'll text you regularly and call when we can coordinate our schedules. Security will be tight on set, but it's in the middle of nowhere anyway. It's not in a city where there are unknowns all over the place."
He turned his hand over to grasp hers lightly. "I know, but I'll feel better when you have official protection and transportation all the time."
Her fingers wrapped around his. "There's no known threats against me or your family in general. Your security team is top-notch. Everything will be fine. I promise." After giving his hand a light squeeze, she let go, and began eating once more.
Letting the subject drop, at least for the moment, Frederick also turned his attention back to his meal.
They finished their meal and took the waitress's suggestion for desserts. Once she delivered them, they each ate half then traded. When the waitress returned, they both thanked her for the recommendations and asked her to pass their compliments on to those in the kitchen.
Rather than rush off, they decided to enjoy a leisurely cup of coffee as they looked out over the activity on the pier below.
They continued to talk about a little bit of everything and nothing at the same time.
Frederick found himself smiling more than he had in a very long time.
If they'd been in a more private location, he likely would have been laughing a lot more, but he found himself more self-conscious than he would have expected as the dinner crowd began to arrive.
Finally, a nod from Frederick's security officer told him the time had come for them to leave.
Frederick helped Elise to her feet and followed behind her as they made their way to the main entrance.
Fortunately, though they could see the dinner crowd - and hear the whispers - they didn't walk close to the tables and didn't feel obligated to stop and talk with the other patrons. Instead, they both smiled and waved.
The hostess held the door for them as they exited.
Word had gotten out that they were eating at the cafe and a small crowd had gathered.
Before security could stop her or give her go-ahead, Elise moved to the crowd and shook hands with as many of them as she could, stopping to take selfies with many of them.
Frederick did the same, following behind her.
He did enjoy this part of the job, though not as much as in a more controlled setting like earlier in the day.
A large cracking sound behind them made Frederick and Elise both turn their heads.
Before he could make a decision, it was made for him.
Members of security grabbed them both and rushed them to the waiting vehicle. Elise was basically thrown in with Frederick following her - his body covering hers to ensure whatever was happening had to go through him to get to her.
The door slammed behind him and the tires squealed as sirens started and they were taken away.
The weight of Frederick on top of her made it difficult for Elise to breathe, but it also felt comforting and safe at the same time. Though she had no idea what had happened, Frederick had chosen to put himself between her and whatever threat was out there.
Or had he?
Had she simply been closer to the vehicle when they were both essentially thrown into it?
"Get in your seats. Seat belts on. Heads down." The tone of voice was tense but not overly so or frightened or any other emotion that would freak Elise out even more.
Frederick shifted on top of her pressing her further into the rubber mats on the floor. She didn't mean to make an oomphing sound, but she couldn't help it.
"I apologize," Frederick muttered as he managed to get most of his weight off of her.
Elise was able maneuver herself into the other captain's chair and put her seat belt on, then doubled over.
They sped along, sirens screaming, until they careened around a corner then screeched to a stop in the palace garrison.
"Let's go." The doors flung open as she struggled to press the button on her seatbelt.
Frederick was already out of the vehicle and through the door into the palace itself. She was rushed after him, though she couldn't imagine whatever threat there had been would still be a problem in the palace.
Rather than being taken to somewhere she was familiar with, they were taken to an underground, windowless room inside what seemed to be the security offices.
"What happened?" Frederick demanded of his head of security, a man in his forties with a commanding presence.
Cap motioned to the seats around the table. "We're still looking into exactly what it was, but the window behind you shattered." While Frederick sat at one end, the head of security sat at the other.
Frederick frowned. "What about the rest of the people there? Were they in any danger? Were they looked after? Was anyone injured?"