§ § § - February 10, 2003
"You wish to…what?" exclaimed Carlono's voice over the phone.
"Break our engagement," Anna-Kristina said flatly. She'd cried all she could possibly cry; now she felt empty of everything. It made it much easier for her to do what she had to do. Carlono would never want her now.
"But…cari mie…you've barely accepted my proposal!" Carlono protested. "It took me more than a year to get you to say yes. Now, a week after you do, you are saying no again? Why do you do this to me? Do you hate me so?"
"I don't hate you," said Anna-Kristina. "I just can't marry you, Carlono. It wouldn't be right. I'm sorry, but it's all over between us. Please find another…please be happy." She hung up before he could protest any further or ask any more questions. She knew it was the coward's way out, but at the moment she didn't care. There wasn't really anyone else she could turn to. Her father was dead, and since his passing her mother had sunk into a deep, dangerous depression that had proven to be untreatable. The family had eventually been forced to put Kristina in a care facility, but in their darkest moments they knew she was dying in inches, most likely of a broken heart. Anna-Kristina thought she knew exactly how her mother must be feeling. Her own heart had been broken, so badly that she'd never been able to piece it back together enough to find the sort of love she knew Carlono deserved. But she had caved in to his persistent and repeated proposals of marriage, thinking that at least she could be secure in his love.
Not anymore, she thought now. It would be impossible for them to marry after what she had just learned. Just like Gabriella, she and Margareta were sterile, due to their having taken amakarna since they were babies. Carlono would find her hopelessly flawed; he'd be unable to accept her inability to bear children.
She needed solace, in the absence of her parents and in the face of her latest and final rejection of Prince Carlono. There was only one place left for her to go. Anna-Kristina pulled out two suitcases and began to frantically pack clothing into them, at the same time making a series of telephone calls to arrange flights. Then she made one final call to Fantasy Island, to the main house, and begged Roarke to arrange for a charter-plane pass to be waiting for her at Gate 18 in Honolulu International Airport. He agreed without asking questions, even though she could hear the trace of curiosity in his voice that he couldn't quite hide, and wished her a safe trip.
By the time she reached Fantasy Island she was exhausted and wallowing in her misery; it was the eleventh of the month now on the other side of the International Date Line. It was late afternoon and the sun was casting long shadows across the plane-dock clearing when the princess stumbled onto terra firma. There was a driver waiting to take the new arrivals to their hotel rooms, and he recognized her and bowed. "How may I assist you, Your Highness?" he asked.
"Please take me to my Uncle Christian and Aunt Leslie," Anna-Kristina requested, collapsing wearily into a seat.
"As you wish, Your Highness. Are they expecting you?"
"No, but take me there anyway," she said. The driver nodded, helped the others with their luggage, and then took the rest of the group to the hotel before driving Anna-Kristina to the Enclave. She took in the modest two-story fieldstone house with its gambrel roof, the lush green lawn, the riots of flowers growing along the front, the stained-glass window in one of the upstairs rooms, and found herself amazed and impressed at the same time. It wasn't a large house, but it was very pretty.
"This is Mr. and Mrs. Enstad's home, Your Highness," the driver said.
"I'll tell them I'm here," Anna-Kristina said, "if you'll bring my suitcases." She got out of the car and started across the lawn, soaking in the warmth of the tropical climate and feeling hope burst to life within her for the first time. She rushed the rest of the way to the door and pressed the bell.
A moment later it opened and Leslie peered out, her blue eyes going very wide. "Oh, my God! Christian, my love, come see who's here!" she called over her shoulder.
"Hello, Aunt Leslie," Anna-Kristina said softly, with a tremulous smile.
Before Leslie could reply, Christian came into view behind his wife and reacted in shock, his hazel eyes popping and his mouth falling open. "Herregud, Anna-Kristina, what are you doing here?" he exclaimed.
Anna-Kristina burst into tears, and Christian and Leslie looked at each other in surprise, confusion and worry. Then Leslie reached out and took their niece's hand, pulling her inside and bringing her back to the living room while Christian accepted the suitcases from the driver and closed the door. "Come on in here and sit down," Leslie urged, settling Anna-Kristina onto the sofa. "What brings you around the world like this, and what on earth is the matter?"
Christian put Anna-Kristina's suitcases down at the entrance from the foyer to the living room and came to join them, regarding his niece with amazement. "Not a word from you that you were coming," he said, not without affection. "Quite typical of you."
"You'll never stop teasing me, Uncle Christian, will you?" she said through her tears.
He grinned. "No, I probably won't. Now for fate's sake, Kattersprinsessan, what brought you here—and why the tears? I don't suppose this has to do with Gabriella's little revelation of last week."
Anna-Kristina nodded. "She insisted that Magga and I be tested too. All three of us are sterile, Uncle Christian. Magga doesn't care, but when Briella told Elias, it shocked him so much that they still haven't talked about it. I'm afraid she'll lose him. And I…" She sniffed hard and scrubbed at her tears. "I called Carlono and told him I can't marry him."
"You called him to tell him that?" Christian demanded incredulously, taking a nearby chair and leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "I can just imagine what he must have thought of that. What did he say when you told him why?"
Anna-Kristina bit her lip and hung her head, unable to meet his or Leslie's gazes any longer. "I didn't," she admitted with some shame. "I only told him I can't marry him and hung up the phone before he had a chance to ask why."
Leslie and Christian looked at each other again, and she put a hand on Anna-Kristina's shoulder. "Don't you think he deserves to know?" she asked.
"Does it really matter? I'm flawed now," Anna-Kristina said bleakly, meeting Leslie's gaze with newly streaming eyes. "I can't have children, and I know Carlono would never want me. Besides…" She broke off and let her weeping take over again, not sure she wanted to explain any further.
But Christian said, "Besides, what?"
Anna-Kristina stubbornly shook her head, and Leslie reached over and patted his knee. "Let it go for now, my love. She's just gotten here and I'm sure she's worn out, not to mention upset. I think the best thing for her is to get a good night's sleep." That made Anna-Kristina inexplicably break down into wailing sobs, making Leslie blink and stare at her in startled surprise. Christian grinned a little ruefully.
"We'll have to feed her a sedative," he observed. "She'll never fall asleep in the state she's in. I'll handle that if you'll get the futon set up for her." They'd bought this recently in concession to an unexpected emergency of sorts, when Brian and Lauren Knight had had to fumigate their house for termites and needed a place to sleep for two nights. It had actually been fun, between their playing various card games, drinking wine and chatting, and making a sort of party of it. They'd placed the futon at the back of the living room near the French doors to the patio, where anyone who slept there could catch the sound of the ocean in the distance at night.
Leslie nodded. "Okay…see if she's hungry too, would you? I don't think it's good for her to try to sleep on an empty stomach, especially if she has to have medication."
Christian rose. "True. Well, then, Anna-Kristina, what do you think? We had a light supper not half an hour ago, and it isn't much—just some of Mariki's lobster salad for sandwiches, and some soup, and a little wine to go with it. Do you feel like eating?"
Anna-Kristina looked up at them, registered their startled looks, and realized she must look pretty frightful in her current emotional state. "Maybe a sandwich."
"That's fine," Christian said. "No wine for you, though, if you're having a sedative, and I think you should. You're too distraught. My Rose, what's in the refrigerator?"
"I think she ought to have some orange juice," Leslie mused, crossing the room to the little half-bath located beside the laundry alcove. "That's probably the healthiest thing for her to have…some Vitamin C and other good stuff." She glanced back for Christian's nod and smile, returned the latter, then slipped into the bathroom to look for sheets in the tiny linen closet therein. Christian turned to his niece.
"Well," he said in jordiska, "for all that it's completely unexpected, it really is good to see you, Kattersprinsessan. A shame it's under such sad circumstances, but maybe we can work things out tomorrow. Did you get any sleep on any of your flights?"
Anna-Kristina shook her head. "I couldn't," she mumbled. "All I could do was try not to cry. Herregud, Uncle Christian, no one's ever going to want me, now that I can't have children. I'll never find anyone who…" She broke down again, and Christian sat beside her, gathering her into his embrace as he had done so many times throughout her life.
"Calm down, Anna-Kristina," he said, quietly but firmly. "You'll make yourself sick if you keep going like this. And believe me, you and your sisters aren't the only ones who have had that sort of news. Many people have to deal with it, and they usually find some way to do so. I know it's hard news to receive, and it's all right to cry. But don't lose yourself in thinking it's the only thing that makes you attractive to a man. I've already had to reassure Leslie a few times on that score."
Anna-Kristina looked up at him. "Is Aunt Leslie—?"
"We don't know," Christian said, glancing at Leslie as she emerged from the bathroom and headed for the futon with some sheets. "But that isn't the real issue. I've made it as clear to her as I can that I love her whether she can have babies or not. And you'll find a man who can say that to you as well, Anna-Kristina, believe me. Not all men are looking for a breeder." She stared at him in wide-eyed shock at the word, and he grinned and winked, making her giggle slightly. "Good girl. When you find the man who wants you for yourself, and not for your childbearing abilities, then that's the man you want to marry. Now…wait here a few minutes, and I'll get you your sandwich and orange juice, and while you're eating I'll try to find something to help you sleep." He switched back to English. "Leslie, my Rose, do you know if we even have any sleep aids in this house?"
Half finished making up the futon, Leslie paused to watch him heading for the kitchen. "I don't know. I'm not even sure which one of us last needed one."
Christian laughed. "Neither am I! All right, then, I'll just look around. This is quite the way to conclude our weekend, I must admit." Leslie laughed agreement.
"I'm sorry to bother you," Anna-Kristina said faintly, her voice very shaky.
Leslie abandoned the futon for a moment to come and sit beside her again, sliding an arm around her shoulders. "Honey, believe me, you're not bothering us. It's a big shock to get that kind of bad news. And we know you probably didn't feel as if you had anyone else to go to, did you?"
Anna-Kristina shook her head. "No…you're right. Mamma's in such bad condition now, she doesn't respond to us when we go to see her. I think she knows it's us, but she doesn't care. She's become so ill since Pappa died. A lot of the time, it's Aunt Anna-Laura who steps in when we need someone to give us advice…even Briella asks her for it."
Leslie nodded. "Well, don't worry, you can stay with us as long as you need to, okay? Christian and I both have to go back to work tomorrow, but if you need anything, just call the main house and we'll do what we can for you. Right now—oh, perfect timing, my love." Christian had just returned with a sandwich and a glass of orange juice, which he handed to Anna-Kristina. "Right now, you eat, and then if Christian can find a sleeping pill, you take that and get some rest."
" 'If', indeed," Christian said humorously. "Don't eat too fast, Anna-Kristina." He leaned down long enough to drop a kiss on Leslie's lips, then headed for the half-bath.
Anna-Kristina swallowed some of the juice and took a bite of the sandwich, her eyes widening. "Did Uncle Christian say Mariki made this?"
Leslie grinned and nodded. "Yup! Mariki's always cooked more food than we could eat at one meal, so we've started taking home a lot of the leftovers. Saves us quite a bit of grocery money. Your uncle's started researching the idea of setting up a branch of his company in London, and possibly Santi Arcuros as well, so we've started saving up for the trip to Europe later this year. I'm going to be using my entire month's vacation in one shot." Anna-Kristina smiled a little.
"You'll stop to visit us, won't you?" she asked.
"Of course," Leslie assured her. "We wouldn't miss it. You finish up and let me get that bed made for you." She patted Anna-Kristina's shoulder and arose, and Anna-Kristina watched her aunt cross the room. There was no question in her mind that, of the three women her uncle had been married to, Leslie was far and away her favorite: much warmer and friendlier than Johanna had been, and more of a comfort and a family member than Marina. And, completely unlike either Johanna or Marina, she was deeply in love with Christian, which made all the difference. Even if Christian and Leslie couldn't really do anything to help her, they were a source of comfort, and she was glad she'd made the impulsive journey to Fantasy Island. Tomorrow was soon enough to think about things.
