Chapter 8
Lunch was quieter than it had been, perhaps because the news of their marriage going public made it seem more real.
Regardless of the reason, it seemed to Jake that Catherine had something on her mind that couldn't necessarily be explained by that fact alone. Before long, he was going to have to figure out what he should be doing as a working royal.
The meeting with the PR Department was the first time he'd heard someone refer to him as the prince.
It was... surreal.
He should probably figure out what causes were close to his heart. Education obviously. Preservation of history.
What about a project collecting stories of those who had been around a long while? Maybe find some young people - teenagers? - and match them with adopted grandparents for that purpose as well as companionship on both sides. Something he should look into and get more information on.
The beginnings of an idea began to form along the outer edges of his mind, but he knew from experience it would take a while to coalesce.
Didn't the king of Terralago’s father also take the throne at a fairly young age? Older than Catherine, but still young. Could how his regency turned out be part of the reason Prince Anthony pushed so hard to be Catherine's regent?
When Jake reached the archives, Madeleine was nowhere to be found. Issy was looking through documents on the computer.
She'd changed her appearance since the last time he saw her a few days earlier. Her normally dark brown hair was nearly black with bright pink and purple highlights.
She looked up at him. "How did the meeting go?"
"Fine." He shrugged. "Public opinion is better than expected, so that's good."
"Of course it is. Everyone wants Kinsey to be happy. The pictures they released point to that."
Jake hadn't seen the photos yet.
"What kinds of things does Catherine like to do outside of the palace?" Surely her sister would have some ideas.
Instead, Issy shrugged. "She doesn't leave very often. We usually go to church on Sunday mornings, but other than that, only for business really. Not many public appearances without a very specific, work-related reason."
Jake took a seat next to her, learning in to get a better look at the document on her screen. "Why do you think that is?"
"She's a homebody introvert at heart." Issy clicked to zoom in on one section. "At least that's always been my impression. There could be more to it, but if so, I don't know what it is."
Something in Jake's gut told him there had to be more. He'd have to see what he could find out. "Does she like music? Theater?"
Issy shrugged again. "We've never been very close. I was young when Mum died. Kins had to grow up fast, despite Papa's attempts to make sure she didn't have to."
How could he find out? Surprising her with a night out to a traveling Broadway or West End show didn't seem like the best plan.
The royal family had a box at the Vesperi Skye Hall for the Performing Arts.
The Vesperi Skye Symphony played there as well, but they had a fairly short season and it wouldn't start for a few more weeks.
Could they watch a recorded stage play? There were several.
He'd have to think about it some more. He'd search the streaming service while he made their dinner in a couple of hours.
While dinner was in the oven, Jake did just that. He found several recordings of shows - Hamilton, Come From Away, Waitress, two Trilunium musicals - Land of the Moons and Origins. He found the first half of the Wicked movie adaptation, with the second set to release near the end of the year.
Did being royalty mean they could get access to an early copy of it?
Or at least one they could watch at home without needing to go to an actual theater?
He was, allegedly, supposed to get an assistant in the next few days.
He had no idea what to do with one, but maybe he could ask them to find out about that kind of thing.
He'd heard of palaces having theaters. Did this one?
Something Jake was fairly certain of... he'd never get used to all of this, and he had no idea how to hire an assistant so hopefully someone else would do it for him.
He turned the oven off but didn't remove the dish. Catherine would text him when she left her office. She hadn't, so she must be running a few minutes behind.
Curious to see if the Wicked movie lived up to the hype, he turned it on.
About the time Glinda admitted to knowing the Wicked Witch of the West and equivocating about being her friend, the text from Catherine arrived.
He'd need to see if she wanted to watch it and find out what it was all about.
All he'd been able to tell was that it was an origin story of some kind.
That Glinda knew the Wicked Witch explained the sometimes conflicted look on her face as all of Munchkinland rejoiced over her death.
One thing he'd learned about his wife - she liked to be comfortable. Yoga outfits or cozy pajamas were her preference in the cottage. If he hadn't been so preoccupied looking for shows to watch, he would have changed as soon as dinner was in the oven. Instead, he waited until after she did.
While they ate, they discussed a little bit about their days, but not much beyond the superficial.
Catherine offered to clean up while Jake changed. They met back in the living area.
"We finished the last of the Trilunium universe last night." She pulled her favorite quilt out of the basket. "What's next?"
"I had a thought about that." Jacob picked up the remote. "What about the Trilunium musicals? They're both available to stream with the original casts."
"I've heard good things about both but haven't seen them. I'm not sure I want to watch them right after the movies, though. Too easy to compare."
He ran through the others he'd found. She came up with a reason not to watch each one, but when he mentioned Wicked, her face lit up.
"I've been wanting to watch that, but had been waiting until it was closer to the release date for the second one at the end of the year."
She waited for him to sit in the over-sized chair before settling in next to him. This had easily become his favorite part of the day.
Pulling the quilt over them, she yawned. "I know it's the origin story for how the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz became wicked. I've heard it's fantastic. I doubt I’d be able to wait until it releases."
After pressing the button to restart the movie, Jake reached over to flip off the light. Between the fire and the glow from the telly, they didn't need it.
Long before Elphaba flew off into the western sky for the first time, Jack found himself preoccupied with the conversation he'd mentioned to Catherine earlier.
"What did you think?" Catherine didn't look at him as the credits began to roll.
"The music and costumes are fun, but I'm going to have to rewatch when I'm not preoccupied."
She stayed silent, waiting for him to go on.
"We need to talk about the wedding-adjacent activities, especially the kiss on the balcony."
Catherine still didn't say anything.
"I would imagine neither one of us want our first kiss to be in front of the public and in full view of cameras and everything else."
She nodded against him. "What do you recommend? A kiss before that?"
"I think that’s a good idea, the best idea even. Probably before the photo call."
"Photo call?"
No one had told her? "A press pool in the Amethyst Room in a couple of days. We shouldn't be expected to kiss there, but we don't want to look awkward either."
"That sounds like a good idea."
Catherine's tone told him she was done with the conversation for the moment.
He could come to only one conclusion. Sometime in the next couple of days, Jake would need to find an opportunity to kiss his wife.
The thought of sharing a kiss with her husband both excited and terrified Catherine. She knew they had chemistry. She knew he would always be a gentleman. But it was something she had precious little experience with.
Come to think of it, they hadn't discussed romantic history for either of them. Maybe they could do that at lunch. It wouldn't take long to get through hers.
As she hurried through the garden on her way to her office, Catherine remembered that she still needed to ask Hopkins about a more clandestine way to get to and from the cottage - one that didn't require her to bundle up like a walrus.
Once in her office, she stuck her gloves in the pockets of her coat, hung her coat up then slipped out of her boots and put them where they wouldn't be seen by visitors.
She'd had several versatile pairs of heels moved to her office. She chose a pair then went to her desk to get some work done.
A notification on her computer informed her of a phone meeting with the king of Northern Santiero had been added to her schedule in about an hour.
After reading quickly through the information she'd need for the meeting, Catherine submitted her lunch order for the day and decided that since one of her favorites was on the list of options, she'd rather order dinner than make it.
As queen, she could request almost anything she wanted, anytime she wanted, but she tried not to.
A quick text to Jacob asked his preference.
Rather than starting something new, she looked over her notes one more time.
Her father wouldn't be on this call. It was all up to her.
She'd been doing some of these calls on her own for a while, with the topics becoming more important as time went on.
This call wouldn't include anything overly important, but it still made her nervous.
Would she ever get over that? Or would she continue to be anxious for the rest of her life?
The voice of her assistant came through the intercom letting her know the call from the king had come through.
Sucking in a deep breath, she reached for the handset, picked it up, and pressed the button to connect. "Good morning."
"Good morning, Catherine, and congratulations! My entire family sends their best wishes to you and your husband." His deep voice contained a bit of laughter. "We won't even be offended we weren't invited."
"Thank you."
"Just remember not to be offended if I don't invite you to my spur of the moment wedding someday."
Catherine laughed. "I won't. We hadn't planned to get married on such short notice, but sometimes these things happen."
"Only in countries with ancient laws and treaties that make our lives more difficult than they already are." She could almost see him lean back in his chair and prop his feet up on his desk. "I'm fairly certain we've eradicated all of those here."
A small half-smile crossed her face. "You might double check that or find a good Royal Historian who can scour records to make certain."
A chuckle came through the line. "Noted."
She hadn't told him that's what happened in Eastern Novigradia, but he could read between the lines. Unless, and until, the general public was told the exact details of the discovery, she wouldn't confirm it to anyone else either.
For the next twenty minutes, they discussed a variety of topics related to their countries and assorted incentives for tourism between the two.
"I'm proud of you, Kinsey.” The informal tone and nickname told her the conversation had switched to personal.
"I know you haven't had an easy time of things, but your father has done a great job making sure you're well prepared for what's to come.
You've done what you need to do to learn how to do your job and do it well.
It sounds like Jacob is just the person to help you.
I hope I find someone to do the same one day. "
Frederick's father had passed when he was eighteen.
Catherine couldn't remember who had been his regent or the exact details, but she knew it hadn't gone well.
Like Eastern Novigradia, Southern Santiero required a regent until the new monarch was twenty-five, unless the monarch was already at least twenty-one.
Technically, she'd been monarch longer than Frederick, but he was older than her.
"Thanks, Ricky. I appreciate it."
"Your father has been a great help mentoring me a few times," Ricky went on. "I'm grateful for him."
"He'd be glad to hear that. I know he's worried about you from time to time." Catherine leaned forward and stared at a spot on her desk.
A noise came through the ear piece. "I have to get going, Kinsey. It was good to talk to you. I'll talk to you sometime soon."
After exchanging another pleasantry or two, the call disconnected.
For the rest of the morning, Catherine did her best to work on several different projects, though she wasn't as productive as she would have liked on any of them.
Finally, the time came for lunch. She'd already set their lunches on the table and taken her seat. Rather than starting, she scrolled through a few news sites her aides had sent to her.
Once Jacob arrived, he gave her a kiss on the cheek as he had been doing for days.
She took a deep breath to start a conversation about their romantic histories, but chickened out.
Instead, they discussed several different kinds of minutia of no real import.
After Jacob cleaned their dishes off the table and put them back on the cart, he told her he was going to head back to the archives and try to get some work done.
Catherine nodded and let him start to walk toward the side door.
"Wait." She still stared at the table.
Neither said anything for several seconds.
She sucked in another deep breath, this time steeling herself to actually broach the conversation.
Instead, she said something that surprised even herself.
"I want you to kiss me."