"Princess Hoshi's Love Nest"
Sources close to the palace report that Princess Hoshi returned to her private chambers last night accompanied by her former bodyguard.
Rumors already had been swirling around the pair, who had been marooned on a deserted planet for several months.
Now sources say that Commander Malcolm Reed's resignation from Her Highness' service upon their return home was just a ploy to lessen the public curiosity about their private dealings. In addition, sources say that the couple decided to tone things down for a time in order for Queen Nora to become used to the idea that her daughter was in love with a commoner.
Last night, for the first time since their return, the couple was seen engaging in intimate caresses at the princess' birthday bash.
Reed currently is in the employ of the Reginald Macmillian family, providing security for their 7-year-old daughter, Stephanie.It was in this capacity that he was at the party.
There is some speculation that Princess Hoshi's former chief of security, Captain Jonathan Archer, had a hand in getting the couple together. He was seen taking the young Miss Macmillian off Reed's hands so that the lovers could spend time together alone.
"They were practically making love on the dance floor," said one shocked matron who wished to remain anonymous. "Who knows what they would have done if that poor woman hadn't been attacked in the kitchen."
That last reference is to the miraculous reappearance of Captain Archer's ex-fiance, Elizabeth Watson.
In a twist rarely seen in royal circles, the party was disrupted by an altercation in the kitchen of the celebration. For a reason yet unknown, Ms. Watson's abductors had brought her to the scene.
One source reports that her abductors were wearing royal guard uniforms, but a spokesman for the palace denied that rumor.
"As we all know, the queen is a model of decorum and dignity," the spokesman said. "To even think she would have something to do with a criminal act such as kidnapping borders on treason."
Princess Hoshi and Reed were on hand for the rescue of Captain Archer's ex-fiance, as was the queen.
However, the princess and her lover left the party by themselves and were seen entering her chambers alone. As of this morning, there have been no reports that they have emerged from the love lair.
Odds-makers from the gambling district report that betting has already started on when the couple will wed. In addition, there is heavy interest in the pool set up for the next royal birth.
Odds are running 2 to 1 that the birth will be no later than nine months from now.
Hoshi finished reading out loud and folded the paper, glancing up at her fiancée over a cup of tea. She set the cup in the saucer and smiled. She didn't know which was funnier, the article or the outraged expression on Malcolm's face.
The poor man. He would just have to get used to it.
FIN