A/N: A quick word in regard to chapter 3 of the previous story: it was pointed out that I had apparently posted it twice. My disk document has only one copy, but I recall having had trouble posting it due to library-computer restrictions, and FF decided for some reason to duplicate it. For those of you who have me on alert—if you get a notice of a posting of that chapter somewhere down the line, it will just be a reposting notice. Meanwhile…here's something new. Thanks as always to my readers and especially my reviewers!
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§ § § -- February 3, 2003
The two sisters stood in the royal suite of Lilla Jordsö's nine-century-old castle, staring at each other, one with tears in her eyes, the other with shock in hers. At last, Queen Gabriella Katarina Susanna Enstad Lindell said in a slightly shaky voice, "Don't worry, Anna-Kristina. It's not the end of the world, nor even the family line."
"But it must horrify you," said Princess Anna-Kristina Enstad, her blue eyes somehow getting even larger. "To know that this is so final…"
Gabriella shrugged fatalistically. "There's nothing I can do about it. Stina, you and Magga had better make an appointment with Dr. Salomonsson as well."
Anna-Kristina blanched. "I don't know…"
"You must," Gabriella said stoically. One of her tears broke loose, but she seemed not to notice it slowly sliding down her cheek. "I have told Elias."
"What did he say?" Anna-Kristina asked.
"He hasn't," Gabriella replied, looking a little bleak, and a second tear followed the first one. "But the announcement must be made, and soon. And then you will have to send Uncle Christian an e-mail so that he can update the royal website. He'll know how to say it so that it's tactful and not melodramatic, and if not, Mr. Roarke and Aunt Leslie can help him. But it must be done. Stina, go to Dr. Salomonsson, before I'm forced to order it of you. You need to know if it's true of you also, and so does Magga."
"But we've already announced my engagement to Prince Carlono," Anna-Kristina said a little maniacally. "No, Briella, let me hope for a little while, I beg you…"
Gabriella peered at her curiously. "You're my older sister. We've told each other everything, Stina. How close have you and Carlono been?"
Anna-Kristina bit her lip, harder than she had meant to, and exclaimed softly in pain. She focused on her sister and shook her head. "I wouldn't allow more than kisses, Briella. But they…he…"
Gabriella lifted a hand. "It's all right, Stina." They stared at each other, then both burst into tears and fell into each other's arms.
§ § § -- February 4, 2003 – Fantasy Island
"Herregud," said Christian in a stunned voice from across the library, and Leslie looked around in surprise. She'd been about to go back out to make the bed.
"What's wrong, my love?" she asked.
Christian turned to her and extended his hand, and she immediately came to him, peering uneasily at the computer screen. Christian stood up and hugged her hard. "That damned spice," he muttered savagely. "It's created havoc yet again."
"Christian, what are you talking about?" Leslie persisted, staring up at him in alarm.
He released a loud frustrated sigh. "The family has made two official announcements. For the one, Anna-Kristina and Prince Carlono have finally gotten engaged…which of course should be happy news…but for the other, it's been discovered that Gabriella will never be able to bear a child." He closed his eyes and she watched him worriedly.
"What about the spice? What's that got to do with it?" Leslie asked.
"This isn't something that went out in the official announcement," Christian told her, sounding very tired. "It's being kept strictly within the family. But the reason Gabriella can never have children is her dependence on amakarna since her infancy. The stuff has somehow reacted with something in the family DNA and rendered her sterile."
"Oh my God," Leslie breathed, and Christian nodded. "How did they find out?"
"Marina," Christian said, his head drooping. "She felt it was only prudent that the castle physician have access to all the knowledge she had about amakarna, and gave him detailed information. Evidently there have been a few cases of amakarna-induced sterility in the past, but according to Marina's information, they were very rare—and it happened only in human women. That is, human, as opposed to whatever Marina's—and your father's—people are and wherever they come from."
Leslie stiffened in his arms. "If it's true of Gabriella, then it's probably also true of Anna-Kristina and Margareta. What about them?"
"They're being tested," Christian said. He opened his eyes finally and studied her. "My Rose, you and Mr. Roarke will have to help me find some way to put this on the site that avoids all mention of amakarna. Count LiSciola liked to pretend that the spice was very popular all throughout our country, but in fact his only jordiska customers were the last four kings to hold the throne, as well as all three of Arnulf's daughters. And it was never revealed that they took the spice; so I can't make any mention of it when I update the site."
Leslie nodded. "I think Father'll be of more help than I will," she said and shuddered. "My God, it's incredible. I only suspect I can't have children…but your niece knows it for a fact. What a way to have my own problems kicked into perspective."
She and Christian looked at each other, and he smiled slightly. "Oh no, my darling. Two years of being married to you and I'm still not ready to share you with a child, so don't get any ideas." Leslie laughed, and was relieved to see Christian chuckle along with her. He hugged her again and gave another long sigh. "If Arnulf had known about that, I'm sure he never would have given his girls that spice. There was no way to know until now. His and Kristina's daughters were the first girls born in line for the throne since the LiSciola family introduced the spice to ours. I have a very strong feeling that Anna-Kristina, Gabriella and Margareta will be the last Enstads who ever take it."
Leslie pulled sharply back from him, stricken with a thought. "Then that raises two questions. First, who'll get the succession, especially if Anna-Kristina and Margareta turn out to be incapable of having babies too? And second, is there any way to prevent the family from hooking Gabriella's eventual successor on amakarna?"
Christian's mouth twisted with a momentary rage. " 'Hook' is exactly the word, my Rose, that's perfect. Well, it depends on Gabriella's choice. To begin with, Arnulf may one day have posthumous grandchildren via adoption, but those children can never inherit the throne. It's part of the monarchic rules, written into Lilla Jordsö's original constitution and therefore absolutely irrevocable by anyone, ever. The successor must be a blood relative, to keep Ormssvärd's dynasty alive. That means that either Carl Johan's grandson or Anna-Laura's grandchild-to-be will be chosen, for it's up to Gabriella to decide."
Leslie nodded. "I see. How old is Matteus now?"
"Nearly fifteen months," Christian said.
"Then it's too late to get him started on it," Leslie said, seeing hope spark in his eyes at that. "Father told me that once a human infant passes its first birthday, the ability to tolerate amakarna disappears."
Christian kissed her. "That's an incredible relief, my darling, thank you for that. Why don't you answer this one and let Anna-Kristina know." He released her and indicated his chair, and she settled into it, peering at the waiting message on the screen.
"This is in jordiska," she said and grinned at him. "You'd better either start teaching me how to at least read it, or else translate."
"Someday I'll teach you," Christian said with a wicked glint in his eye, "just as soon as I find myself wanting to do something on our days off other than making love to you." She playfully clocked him in the gut, and he groaned and doubled over as if she'd driven a fist into him, making her burst out laughing.
"Come on, Mr. Incorrigible, quit playacting," she chortled, catching his grin. She reached out then and caught his arm. "Christian, my love, you don't think that if Gabriella were to choose Cecilia's baby, she'd insist on seeing that he or she was given the spice?"
"I don't know," said Christian, "but I intend to do all I can to try to prevent that." He grabbed the chair in front of Leslie's computer and pulled it over to sit beside her. "Quickly, send a reply to Anna-Kristina, tell her what you just told me, and then I'd better check the news wires online before I make any changes to the website."
‡ ‡ ‡
At about the same time, Mateo Apana was idly checking the site where he usually got the day's news when he was at work, absently slicing through envelopes with a letter opener as he did. His eye roamed over the various headlines and stopped abruptly on one that read, "Princess engaged." Alerted, he clicked on this and waited for the story to come up, setting aside the envelope and letter opener to concentrate.
His stomach began rolling with shock as he read. Princess Anna-Kristina Enstad, the story said, had finally become officially engaged to Prince Carlono Bartolomé of Arcolos, and the wedding was tentatively scheduled for that summer. There was a photo of Carlono and Anna-Kristina together, her arm through his, both smiling warmly into the camera. Mateo studied the pretty face, thinking she hadn't changed much since their one and only meeting two years beforehand just after Christian and Leslie had been married.
He'd deliberately pushed her away from him then, even though her guileless and heartfelt declaration of love for him had hit him in a way he'd never dreamed. He could remember two or three brief relationships before his narcolepsy had become severe enough to frighten off potential girlfriends, but they hadn't touched him in quite the way this sweet, naïve princess had done. He'd hated to turn her away, but he hadn't felt he'd had any choice. What girl in her right mind would want a narcoleptic with a limp? She'd only consider him a burden and resent having to take care of him. It had hurt worse than he had ever imagined to see her eyes frost over, the day she'd seen his limp and learned of his narcolepsy, and to hear her agree in her most regal tone that she should look elsewhere for the love she wanted. He'd let her walk out of his life, believing it was the best choice for them both.
And Mateo had continued to believe it, even while keeping a very sharp eye out for any and all news of Anna-Kristina. He checked the Enstad family website often, looking for news of her, perhaps even personal messages from her to her people as her sister the queen sometimes did, and as time had passed he'd somehow fallen quite deeply in love with her. It was a sucker punch to hear that she'd at last let that Arcolosian prince talk her into marrying him. It might be best for Anna-Kristina, but that didn't mean the news didn't hurt him badly. Unable to help himself, he reached out and touched the screen, as though he could touch her face through it, and shook his head. Goodbye, my Anna-Kristina, he thought. I love you. Make sure he makes you happy, please.
"Hey, Mateo," Jonathan Ichino suddenly called across the room. "Did we get another payment from the pineapple plantation? I'm about to make a trip to the bank and their latest installment's due."
Mateo started violently and looked over at Jonathan, but Jonathan seemed not to have noticed. He was gathering checks and dropping them into a small pouch preparatory to leaving for the bank. "Let me look," he finally said and forced himself to check return addresses on the envelopes. But his eyes inexorably returned to Anna-Kristina's smiling face on his computer screen, and he had to look away before the stinging in his eyes could become something much worse. He clenched his teeth and deliberately closed out the news website, stoically pulling himself back together.