Chapter 13
Frederick wasn't happy he left his new wife alone without talking to her about where he was going, but truthfully, he didn't know where he was going. More accurately, he didn't know why he was going.
He'd received a text, coded in such a way that he knew it was important and told him to go to his office.
He entered through a side door, his eyes sweeping throughout the room as he did, but he didn't see anyone. Walking toward his desk, he wondered if a message waited for him instead of a meeting.
Only years of careful listening meant he could hear the whisper of the door to a secret passage - one very few people knew existed.
"Hi."
Frederick turned to see his little sister standing there. Tears filled his eyes unexpectedly fast.
Before he could speak, she dipped into a deep curtsy. "Congratulations, Your Majesty. I'm thrilled for you."
“Victoria.”
And then she was holding onto him, crying the same as he was.
He wanted to ask where she'd been, why she hadn't been at the wedding, but he suspected pushing her too quickly would only result in her shutting down and pulling away.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there."
Frederick could barely understand her with her face buried in his chest. He didn't know what to say.
"I was here. I watched it online, but I didn't want to be the story. 'Prodigal princess returns home' or anything else that would take away from your day." She moved away from him and reached for a tissue in a decorated box on his desk.
"I am so very happy to see you." He wanted to press for more answers about where she'd been and why she didn't communicate with him at all, but he kept the questions to himself.
"Oh no!" She brushed at his jacket. "I got you wet."
That made Frederick smile. "I'm not concerned about it." He motioned toward the chairs nearby and took a seat in one as she sat in the other.
"Thank you for not pushing me," she told him quietly, wiping at her cheeks with the tissue. "I've needed to get out on my own and travel and do... some other things."
She didn't expand on where she'd been or what she'd done, but it seemed to be important to her.
"I'll be here for a few days, spend a little bit of time with Mum and the boys, then I'll be back on the road as it were. I won't leave the palace, so no one will know I was here." She sniffled again.
"Frederick?" The side door opened to let Elise in.
He stood and tugged on his jacket to straighten it.
"Elise, I would like you to meet my sister, Victoria.”
His sister stood and curtsied to Elise for the first time. "Welcome to the family."
Elise's face brightened. "I'm so glad you're here." She hurried toward them and pulled his sister in for a hug. "It’s such a pleasure to meet you."
"I didn't want to be the story on your big day," she explained again. "I haven't been seen in Southern Santiero in a very long time, and I wouldn't want my arrival to distract from what's important."
"I appreciate that." Elise stepped back but took hold of his sister's hands.
"But it would have been just fine if you did.
" She looked at Frederick. "The most important part of today happened a few months ago when we were legally married.
Speculation about where you've been wouldn't have bothered me at all. "
Frederick wondered how much space or time speculation about why she wasn't there would take up.
With another swipe at her face, his sister started to edge toward the secret passage. "You two need to get back to the reception. I'm so glad I got to meet you, Elise."
Frederick could see his sister tear up again.
"And I'm so happy to see you, Ricky. I miss you." She gave him another quick hug then hurried to open the door to the secret passage and went through without looking back.
Elise blinked. "There's secret passages?"
"What palace doesn't have at least one?" Frederick surprised himself by giving her a wink. "You'll be briefed on where all of them are after we return from our trip." He took her hand as they walked toward the side door.
"Trip?"
Had no one told her about it? "We're leaving this evening for our honeymoon on the yacht. We'll be traveling through the islands, making a few stops along the way. Your bags should already be packed, but if there's anything you'll need that they may not have thought of, please let your aide know."
"I have an aide?" She sounded puzzled.
Frederick hid a frown. "I'll talk to Cap to ensure you are fully briefed on everything you need to know and introduced to your temporary staff. You'll be able to select your own staff members if you'd prefer."
She gave a nod as they neared the ballroom. This time they weren't announced, but simply walked in. A few people noticed immediately but the majority didn't realize it until they reached the center of the ballroom floor.
Frederick bowed toward Elise as she curtsied toward him. The music started and, once she was in his arms, they started to waltz around the floor.
Once the song ended, he bowed again and she curtsied. The next dance she had with her father. Frederick stood with his family as she did. The third dance would be with his mum.
"I heard you had a visitor," she said holding her champagne glass so no one would be able to read her lips.
"I did," he confirmed. "We will leave this evening, but no one else will leave until you do in a few days." If anyone read his lips, they'd assume he talked about his brothers.
Neither of their girlfriends had joined them, though he wasn't certain why. Perhaps they weren't ready to subject them to the rigors of the press coverage that came with a royal wedding.
"I heard that as well, and I'm glad."
Frederick offered his elbow for her to slip her hand in. As soon as Elise and her father finished their dance, he led his mum onto the floor.
"After this is cake," his mum told him as they moved around the floor. "Once you've finished that and any other photos, you should take Elise and sneak out. Leave on your honeymoon without saying anything to anyone."
He nodded. "I think that sounds like a lovely idea. I'll talk to her in a few minutes." Even being used to the limelight, all of this had to be getting to her.
Once he finished his dance with his mum, Frederick joined Elise near the cake. He leaned close and whispered to her. She nodded.
Together, they cut the cake, fed it to each other, then moved to the side as everyone else began to take to the dance floor.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
She nodded.
With that, they went onto the balcony then through a partially hidden door.
Time to start their honeymoon.
Despite not knowing exactly what the plan for the honeymoon was, or who had crafted the plan, Elise was looking forward to getting out of the limelight for a while.
Yes, she’d been an actress since she was a teen. With that, at times, she experienced more attention in a week than most people would in a lifetime.
That didn’t mean the attention didn’t wear on her.
She was also learning that the attention she’d been garnering as the new queen was very different than what she’d been used to as an actress.
As they reached the yacht, Elise also realized they had never discussed other things that were typical for a wedding night. She hadn’t even thought much about it, not with everything else that had been going on - queen lessons, etiquette lessons, sociopolitical lessons, and more.
Frederick motioned for her to precede him on the gangway. She gathered her gown in her hands to hold it off the ground.
The captain waited at the top. He held out a hand to help her balance as she moved onto the deck itself.
The captain bowed his head as she boarded. “Welcome, Your Majesty.”
“Thank you.” She released his hand and stepped away to give Frederick room to join her.
“Sir.” The captain bowed again. “Your suite has been prepared to your usual specifications.”
“Thank you.” Frederick gave an answering nod.
As soon as they were protected from view of anyone who might be gathered outside, Elise stopped, reached down, and pulled off her heels.
She let herself sigh and squished her toes into the carpet. “That is my favorite part about wearing heels,” she told Frederick. “Taking them off.”
“Then why do you wear them?” Elise found the confusion in his voice adorable.
“Because they’re expected. It’s part of the look expected for both actresses and, apparently, queens.” She didn’t know where to go, so she waited for Frederick to lead the way. “Not all of the time, of course, but far more often than I’d prefer.”
He motioned to a set of stairs - were they called stairs on a yacht? - and once again she went first. They went up two flights before he motioned to a set of double doors made of frosted glass with the royal crest on them.
Their suite.
The first thing she saw when walking through the doors was a wall. Odd. When she walked around it, the reason became clear.
The wall doubled as a headboard for the king-sized bed. When sitting up against it, she realized the view would be spectacular. Once they were out to sea a little bit, with the interior lights turned off and the lights of the city burning in the distance, it would likely be magical.
“Your bath and closet are on that side,” Frederick told her, pointing. “Mine are on the other.”
This suite had two baths? That surprised her.
“This is lovely, Frederick. How long have you had it?” She walked toward the sliding glass leading to an outdoor sitting area, skirt of her dress flowing behind her.
“A couple of years. The last one belonged to my father. I was never comfortable with using it as my own.” He gave a half-shrug. “I’m not overly comfortable living in the same suite my parents did. I can’t do much about that, but I could do something about the yacht.”
Elise walked out onto the deck with Frederick following closely behind. “Do you have to live there? Why would it matter if you live in a different suite? Isn’t the palace yours?”
“Technically, no. It belongs to the Royal Trust.” He leaned up against the polished wood of the railing.
She rolled her eyes and turned to lean her back on the rail next to him. “So technically it’s not, but the reality is that it’s your home. If you want to live in another suite, who is going to tell you no?”
“Probably no one,” he admitted. “But that’s the Monarch’s Suite. It’s called that because every monarch for…” Another shrug. “…I don’t even know how long has lived there.”
“Is there something you love about it? The view or layout or the furniture or something.”
“Not overly. The view is fine, but not my favorite. I have no real opinion on the layout or furniture. It’s functional, which is all I need. I spend far more time in my office.” He truly seemed to have no real preference.
“Then if you don’t have a connection to it, why don’t you talk to one of your aides or the house manager - or whoever would be appropriate - about finding a different apartment to live in?” The yacht began to move away from the dock.
A thoughtful look crossed his face. “I could do that.”
Had it really never occurred to him?
“The worst they could say is that I can’t for security reasons or some obscure rule,” he continued.
“If you can’t move, could you redecorate? Obviously, there would be some limitations because of the historical nature of the building, but I’d imagine some things could be updated or changed to suit your preferences.”
Frederick nodded slowly. “Our preferences.”
It took a second for Elise to understand the correction.
Elise would be moving in with him, even though she still hadn’t seen the suite for herself.
“Our preferences,” she agreed.
It brought to mind that their wedding night was at hand.
“Are you hungry?” Frederick pushed off from the rail and moved toward the cabin.
It seemed like dinner had been a long time ago, and Elise’s stomach reminded her she hadn’t eaten much when she had the chance. “I could eat, but something easy or whatever they have on hand. There’s no reason for anyone to put a lot of work in.”
Frederick pulled his phone out of his pocket and sent a quick text. “Done. Your stylist will be waiting for you in your bathroom to help you with the tiara and anything else you need.”
It shouldn’t have surprised Elise that someone had thought about that, but she certainly wouldn’t have. The only time she’d worked with a stylist on a regular basis was on set. Never in her personal life.
That was about to change.
“The kitchen will have something sent up in a few minutes.” He unbuttoned his uniform jacket with one hand. “I’ll meet you back outside in a few minutes if you want to eat out there.”
Elise looked around and saw a small table with chairs off to one side next to expansive windows, but it was a gorgeous night. Outside would be beautiful. “That would be lovely.”
Frederick nodded then walked toward his closet, phone in hand.
She went to her own closet and found the woman who’d been working as her stylist for the last few weeks waiting for her.
Taking the tiara off didn’t take quite as long as putting it on, but she would likely never get used to the tediousness of the process.
Once that had been taken care of, Elise changed out of her second dress and into her most comfortable pyjamas. She went back to the deck and took a seat in one of the lounge chairs and used a blanket to protect herself from the chill of the breeze created by their movement through the water.
Pulling it up to her chin, she tried to fight the warmth, but found herself drifting.
Before she knew it, she was asleep.