Illéans were not the most reserved people on the planet. When compared to cultures like the German Federation, the Saudis, or the New Asians, Illéans were downright scandalous. The English and Swendish were maybe on our level but they were quieter. I never considered Illéa for the quiet category.
Not unless there were Italians visiting.
"Her Majesty Queen Eadlyn Helena Margarete Schreave, as I live and breathe, wearing her queen pants!" Queen Nicoletta exclaimed as she breezed into the foyer of the palace. She was the last of our guests to arrive seeing as she was traveling the furthest. She would also be the first to leave unfortunately, something my parents were much more disappointed about than me. "I may have to actually bow to you now," she teased, embracing me.
There was once a time when Queen Nicoletta was slightly more retrained. Following her wedding when I was an infant and then prior to giving birth to her daughter she had tempered a bit. However, when I was eight, her husband's sudden death sent her into a tempest with everyone scrambling to pick up after her. Everything the Italians did, they did with passion. They reveled in the smallest victories and despair in the desperate times. Since Mom is a superhero she managed to help her closest royal friend while also caring for newborn Osten.
"Please, Queen Nicolatta, the only difference is a bigger crown. No need for bowing," I informed her.
"Mia cara, I am so sorry I will not be able to make it to your father's birthday festivities. The personal invitation was so touching."
"Invitation?" I repeated as we started walking upstairs toward the rooms she always stayed in while visiting Angeles. "I invited you over the phone."
She laughed. "You did, but because she has this ridiculous sense of propriety, even with me, your mother sent me a formal invitation in the mail. Complete with a royal seal."
"Of course she did," I muttered.
Nicoletta took my arm in hers. "When will I be meeting your fiancé, figlioccia? The media is curious about him. We've had very little of him these past few weeks."
"I know, believe me. Gavril has been jumping down my throat, trying to get us on camera for another interview. I didn't want to take any press away from the summit though. After this madness all passes, we will do a pre-wedding interview. If Gavril behaves, I may even give him a full hour on wedding preparations," I said, only half-joking because I knew that a special on wedding prep was a given. "But don't worry, he'll be at all of our meetings and meals and he does live here. It's a big palace but chances are that you'll bump into him at some point. It's not like I keep him locked up for myself."
"Well isn't that a picture to behold?" Nicoletta chuckled. Her bold comment made me draw back before I remembered that she's just abrasive by nature. She elbowed me, giving me a secret smile.
We had just gone around the corner to the wing of the palace where she always stayed when we heard voices coming toward us. I turned and saw Mayor Goldsworth chatting warmly with none other than Eikko.
"Queen Eadlyn!" Goldsworth exclaimed, bowing and extending his arms outward as if finding me in my home was something victorious.
"Mayor Goldsworth," I greeted. I couldn't help but smile at him. No one ever could resist his sunny personality.
His eyes slid from me suddenly to Queen Nicoletta, stopping her from greeting Eikko. They locked eyes and Goldsworth smiled more softly at her. "Well, aren't you a lovely sight to have befallen me," he said in a more subdued tone than I had ever heard him speak.
Nicoletta's eyes lit up as she extended her hand to him. "Queen Nicoletta Gioia Bartalotti," she said quietly.
"Samson Goldsworth," he answered, falling into a deep bow. Much deeper than when he had ever greeted me. I must have been frowning sardonically because Eikko elbowed me lightly and gave me a look that told me to smile.
"I was just escorting Queen Nicoletta to her room," I said, trying to break the tension. It wasn't tension really. Nicoletta and Goldsworth were simply staring at each other. It was still a little uncomfortable to be witnessing.
Nicoletta waved a hand at me, still staring at Goldsworth. "I think I'll manage on my own," she said breathlessly.
"But—"
"We should go get ready for the dinner tonight, right?" Eikko asked loudly, cutting me off. He pulled me away before I could say anything else, practically sprinting down the hall with me trying to keep up. We slowed down when we made it up to the third floor. "Well, talk about sexual tension," he joked.
I frowned. "I'm starting to think there's a conspiracy to make all of my favorite leaders in this country fall in love with queens of other countries. I mean seriously, why couldn't have any of them fallen in love with their own queen?"
"Um, because one of them is your twin brother and the other one is a bachelor ten years older than you?"
"Nicoletta is ten years older than Goldsworth!"
"And I'm nearly four years older than you," he said, smiling. He found all of this hilarious. "There's no conspiracy and you know how Goldsworth is. It'll be a little fling and on Friday he'll go back to Kent, she'll go back to Italy, and it will all be in the past before the media can even get wind of it. Okay?"
I grimaced, worrying more about Nicoletta getting hurt than what the media would say. "I'm moving her on the seating chart to keep her far away from him."
Eikko held his hands up, surrendering and letting me do what I want. "But you know that if it's true love, nothing will be able to keep them apart?" I gagged dramatically as we walked to our room to get ready for dinner.
The thing about summits is that they were, in essence, not much more different than a regular day at work. Instead of meeting with advisers, I was meeting with other world leaders and mayors of Illéa, security was tighter and cameras were allowed in the palace for once but those were the only major changes. If you don't count my needing a more sophisticated wardrobe.
Eloise, Neena and I started planning my wardrobe two months before the summit, meticulously deciding which dresses I would be wearing and designing my new dresses. Of course I needed a new riding outfit for my planned afternoon of hunting with King Frederick from the German Federation and Mayor Bosdynn of Carolina. It was going to be a strange afternoon but the German king was showing interest in the opportunity of hydro plants for energy and Carolina had the biggest hydropower plant in Illéa.
I never got around to checking the seating chart and making sure that Goldsworth and Nicoletta weren't sitting together. It didn't matter though. When Eikko and I entered dinner on the first night with everyone present, Goldsworth had switched places with Bosdynn so that he was directly across from Nicoletta. Even from the other end of the table, I could hear him boasting about his vineyards to her. In fact, that seemed to be the popular topic of conversation. Everyone was curious about the possibility of making wine in central Illéa.
The next morning we were up bright and early and sitting in the largest conference room we could find. "The main purpose of this constitution is to outline the most fundamental laws and rights for Illéan citizens that will carry over into the constitutional monarchy. We will have a sound explanation for proceedings in the government within the constitution as well," Lady Brice explained, distributing the folders of information to everyone. "We asked those of you in charge of provinces to listen to the needs of your people so that we can have a document that sufficiently represents the needs of our people. We will start with Point A on Page 1 and go from there. Point A under Medical Practices is the age at which a person needs their parents' permission for any and all surgeries. You may proceed."
I was more than happy to sit back and watch my fellow leaders duke this one out. In the end I was going to have the final word that they needed to be of age to have the right to undergo surgery independent from their parents. Goldsworth paced the floor, giving a drawn out anecdote of a mother whose daughter was unable to get an abortion because she wasn't of age and ended up dying by initiating a miscarriage on purpose. He stood proud as a peacock as he argued with other people there over childrens' rights and I knew that most of it was just a show for Nicoletta.
The day continued in much the same fashion. Some topics were no-brainers, like funneling all immigrants through the same cities on each coast to ease the burden of organizing documentation. Other topics took hours to resolve, like gun control. Bosdynn seemed to be the only one for it.
"The country is no safer now than it was fifty years ago when citizens were allowed to be armed," Bosdynn told the group. "It's not guns that are burning down businesses and rioting in the streets."
"But imagine if guns were involved," Camille cut in. "It'd be madness."
"Not to mention, the rebels that committed the massacre that took the lives of my grandparents and nearly a hundred others possessed guns that had been passed down by people who once owned them. We haven't had a significant rebel attack since," Ahren pointed out.
Bosdynn shook his head. "They're rebels. Telling them that they're not allowed to have guns clearly doesn't prevent them from apprehending them. How many guards did they kill in the process of getting guns?"
And on it went. By the end of the first meeting, I wanted nothing more than to go to bed with Eikko and sleep until the meeting the next morning. Instead I had to host another dinner, this one with just the ladies invited to the palace, and then prepare with Lady Brice for the next day's talking points.
Camille and Josie both stepped in to help me with my hostessing duties. Josie didn't realize that it was an all-female event until she was already there though, looking disappointed to have missed an opportunity to see Kaden.
"You can talk to General Leger, you know," I told her. I was in the act of piling my plate with dessert, getting a disgusted look from Josie.
"About my boy problems?"
I laughed. "No, but he's not all that bad at giving advice about boy problems. He helped me. No, he can give you the details about Kaden's daily schedule so that you two can just happen to bump into each other from time to time."
"I can stalk him. How romantic," she said sarcastically.
"Sometimes love takes a little push."
She shook her head. "A little push would be wearing extra perfume, not being creepy."
"It was just a suggestion," I told her.
She softened slightly, pausing as she lifted a petite four off of the tray and dropped it onto her plate. "I appreciate it Eadlyn." She paused before saying, "I don't think I ever imagined getting boy advice from the queen of Illéa. Or actually getting to help her with an international summit."
"I don't think I ever imagined giving you boy advice for my brother," I told her. If I wasn't supposed to be on my best behavior with the prying eyes of the most powerful women in the world focused on me, I would have elbowed her. Instead I just smiled warmly at her.
The women's gathering also gave me the opportunity to speak with Camille. The photographer in the room jumped on the chance to get pictures of the two of us together, speaking cordially with each other. She assured me that Ahren was doing well in his job as future prince consort and his French was getting even better with each passing day. I asked her about any travel plans they had in the next few months. "The offer to honeymoon in France is still on the table, right?" I asked her.
"Oh, oui! We would love you to have you in our country!" she exclaimed. "There is an exquisite seasonal palace on the coast, just a half hour from us. You could stay there and stop by to see us on your way home."
"Are you sure? Your mother won't mind?"
Camille pressed her lips together uneasily. "She and Father are planning a trip to Saudi, immediately following your wedding."
"That sounds dangerous."
"It is," she said, her voice somber. "But it's their job as monarchs to make sure everyone is getting along, yes? They think they can do that by visiting them."
"Do send them my regards though. I'm sad she wasn't able to make it here for the summit."
"She saw it more necessary for Ahren and I to attend, since we will be ruling when these changes to your government take place. I daresay she was also looking for the chance to get the two of us away from the palace," she said, blushing.
I was vaguely aware of all the women in the room rising to their feet around me. I turned just in time to see Mom waving her hands at all of them. "You silly women, don't rise for me. I'm just an old woman embracing the opportunity to watch her daughter do good work," she said to them.
There were some chuckles as they sat again and resumed their conversations. Mom walked through the room, greeting Nicoletta gently and joining Lady Marlee by the windows. A maid immediately passed her a cup of tea. I watched Mom, my heart squeezing painfully at what I was seeing. Beneath the flawless appearance of a queen was the dark cloud of a very worried mother. Her eyes swept the room regularly but always landed right on me, as if she was using the excuse of observing the room to keep checking on me. And when she was looking at me, her mind was clearly at work with the way she was only barely answering Lady Marlee. She was more than watching me. She was preserving me in her mind.
I wanted to beg her to tell me what had her worried. She was in a room surrounded by some of her closest friends. She had been noticeably absent from all obligatory appearances with Dad's simple explanation that she still needed her rest to recover from her heart attack. That was nearly four months ago though. She needed more rest than she got when she was queen but from what Lady Marlee and Lady Mary were saying, she was getting between eight hours and twelve hours of sleep every night. So why did she still look exhausted?
Last time she had tried to bottle up all of her stress and not tell me anything, she had a heart attack. But what could I do? Mom was stubborn as a bull on her best days. I couldn't ask her to look after Nicoletta and how close she was getting to Goldsworth and add to her worry. I would have to tell Lady Marlee or Dad to keep an eye on their close Italian friend.
Early the next morning, I was woken up early to go to a briefing with the palace press team to hear about the peoples' response to the summit. Unless there was a wedding, Selection, coronation, scandal, or baby's imminent arrival happening in the royal family, the people were more than happy to leave us alone. Citizens on the other side of the country with mayors that weren't invited to the summit like Lakedon or Waverly probably wouldn't even know that it was occurring.
"People are responding well to this summit, Your Majesty," Abby, one of our many press secretaries, reported. "This is the first truly decisive thing you've done in making the transition to a constitutional monarchy and they like that. It shows that you're taking it seriously."
"Your Majesty, I would like to arrange for just a couple photographs to be taken during the session today. I think the people would respond well to that," Gavril suggested.
I nodded. "If that's what we need to give them, we'll give it to them."
"Perfect. We'll get those this morning and have them ready to circulate at primetime. Tomorrow we will be sending cameras with King Maxon, Prince Kaden, Prince Osten, and Sir Eikko on their fishing trip with the other gentlemen visiting this week. Then, Abby, make sure to have a photographer set up on the grounds to photograph Queen Eadlyn with King Frederick and Mayor Bosdynn while they're hunting two days from now."
Abby wrote down everything he was telling her with gusto. I was fairly certain that Dad said Gavril was training her to take his place as head press secretary. They had yet to pick someone to take over for Gavril as host on the Report. "Queen Eadlyn, would you like to write your own statement for how the summit is progressing or would you like to have one of us write it for you?"
"I'll have Neena write it for me," I told them, unwilling to have one more thing on my plate – no matter how small – but not wanting a stranger to write it either.
Gavril went over some other points with me to make sure we were on the same page for what we wanted to include in the constitution and what absolutely had to go my way to keep the people happy. We were able to adjourn relatively quickly though to get me on my way and get the press team working on arrangements for the rest of the week.
The morning session for the constitution was relatively calm (and boring, really) with the only thing on the agenda to discuss being the amount of power each new branch of the government would have. It was still the widely accepted belief that there would be a parliament of two elected ministers from each province, the advisers would retain their titles as head of agriculture and such, Lady Brice would see to primarily domestic affairs and I would be head of foreign affairs. The power was shared and the stress made equal. The details of elections and terms were what needed to be ironed out.
The afternoon session – the dreaded trade deal session – had only just begun when the guard that had been standing by me all day whispered to me, "Sir Fadaye needs to see you at your earliest convenience, ma'am."
"I'm in the middle of a council session for an international summit," I hissed back. I immediately regretted snapping at him when he was only the messenger. "He can't wait until this session is over?"
"No, ma'am. It's urgent, having to do with one of the mayors. A scandal, I believe."
"One of the mayors here?"
Eikko inclined his head at me slightly, also curious about what this scandal was. My eyes flicked between Goldsworth and Nicoletta. They both were still acting like flirty, hormonal teenagers around each other. It couldn't be about them.
"Yes, ma'am."
I sighed and looked over at Eikko. "Go. I'll hold down the fort." He dared to squeeze my hand, something that would have made Raelynn pass out on the spot if she saw him do it.
"Thank you," I whispered fervently. I stood, drawing all eyes to me. "I'm sorry ladies and gentlemen, but something has just come up that is demanding my urgent attention. I leave you in the care of Sir Eikko and Lady Brice while I attend to this." There were some mumbles but no outright protests as I made my way out of the room.
Gavril was in the hallway with General Leger and Dad. "It's Goldsworth, that bastard," General Leger grumbled, seeing the questions in my eyes.
I raised my eyebrows, even more confused. "We'll brief you in your office," Dad said, steering me toward my study.
"What is going on?" I demanded once we were safely behind closed doors.
"Someone leaked to the news that Goldsworth has been taking money from his education funds to help fund his vineyards," Gavril reported calmly but I could see his excitement at getting to do damage control on a major scandal.
"He's been embezzling?" I asked, looking for clarification. "But that's federal money. That's money that we allotted for him for public education, money that Mom worked hard to get for him. He can't take it and put it toward alcohol!"
Dad's eyes were apologetic as he said, "Yet he did."
"I always said that guy was bad news," General Leger fumed. "No man who is a bachelor by choice can be trusted with money. No offense, Gavril."
"None taken, General. That's why you all let me handle the scandalous pictures and videos that come through here."
"Can we get back to the topic of one of my allies in this constitution has been exposed as a fraud, please?" I snapped. "Where was this reported?"
"Not Kent. Hudson, of all places," Gavril said. "It aired on their afternoon news."
I frowned but then a light bulb went off in my head. "They've been fighting over control of the lake they share for years. Of course Hudson would dish a scandal about Goldsworth."
"Who would give it to them though?" Dad asked. "Someone had to be privy to some confidential information to know that he's been doing this and to sell it."
"Someone who has confidential information stored up and has the means of getting more. Someone looking for money, maybe? Someone who would love to see me fail and this constitution fail? I think we know who is behind this," I said. "It can only be Marid."
There was a collective sigh from all of us as we realized that it had happened. Marid had come out with his trump card and was using it to disrupt the best thing I had going for me in my reign so far.
"Aspen—"
"We'll start looking in Hudson for any trace of him," General Leger said, interrupting him with the beginnings of a plan. "He can't possibly leak a story to a news station without leaving a trace. I'll have my best agents on him."
"Marid Illéa does not leak any more stories, is that understood?" he asked General Leger and Gavril darkly. "Illéas will no longer have any place in this palace or a place of comfort in this country. I want Georgia and August under constant surveillance. He is not getting away this time." General Leger paced to the other side of the office as he barked orders into his headset, ordering a meeting in security from the sounds of it.
Gavril stepped forward. "How should we proceed with Goldsworth, Your Majesties?"
Dad looked to me for my answer, clearly leaving this fight to me. My fury at Marid had been reawakened but it was quickly simmering down and being replaced by my anger for Goldsworth. I should have known not to trust a man so dazzling and so precocious. I should have known that he would have skeletons in his closet. "Bring him here," I said decisively. Dad nodded in approval.
As Gavril stepped outside to get him, Dad softened slightly. "Are you okay?"
"Will I ever be able to trust anyone?" I asked distractedly, staring at the plush carpet beneath our feet.
"Power turns even the best people into desperate fools. It's a hard lesson to learn. Over these next few months, you'll build a team of allies. Neena, Brice, Josie, General Leger, some of your other advisers…Gavril," he added with a chuckle. "They'll be your inner circle. You'll learn to hold everyone else at arm's length."
I sighed and leaned into the arm he was offering me. "Why couldn't we have just been farmers or owned a restaurant or been scientists like Uncle Gerad? How is it fair for me to have been put in this position?"
"I don't know Eady. It doesn't seem fair, does it?" He rested his head against mine and we stayed like that until we heard Gavril's voice coming from outside the door.
Goldsworth walked in, eyebrows raised, looking for the reason for why he was being summoned to my office. Dad walked around my desk to stand behind Goldsworth as I stared him down. "Is it true that you've been taking money from your federally aided public schools to help boost production in your vineyards?" I asked him, getting straight to the bottom of it. His eyes widened and he sputtered, looking for words. The truth was clear in his reaction. "Mayor Samson Goldsworth, I hereby revoke your title as mayor and your privilege to be part of the constitutional committee. You have an hour to leave my home and be on a plane back to Kent."
"Your Majesty, please, just let me explain—"
"I would listen to her, if I were you," General Leger cut in. "The longer you're here, the higher the likelihood that you'll have to answer to Queen America. And it was her public education initiative that got you that aid money in the beginning. It is best for you to accept Queen Eadlyn's mercy and vacate the premises immediately."
"I just wanted to make an impact. I was planning on giving the profits of the vineyards back to the schools, tenfold, if you could just give me the chance," he begged.
"No!" I slammed my hands down on my desk, making everyone in the room jump. My palms stung but I ignored it. "Do you realize what you've done? You've jeopardized this whole summit by being exposed as a corrupt, careless, alcoholic criminal! You are no longer an employee of the queen and you are certainly no longer welcome in anything with the Illéan seal on it."
Goldsworth gulped and nodded. "What of my vineyards, Your Majesty?" he asked, turning back on his way out.
"They're your problem now, Samson. Seeing as you've just lost your job and all credibility that would recommend you for another one, I would sell them. Something is telling me you'll need the money in the coming months," I said coldly.
He bowed his head one last time before walking out of the office, eyes forward so that he would have to face the men standing inside the office that would protect me to my dying breath and were thus infuriated by his actions as well. The office was silent for several moments as everyone waited for me to make the next move.
"General Leger, have someone inform Sir Eikko that he will have to be in charge of the rest of the session this afternoon while I attend to this mess," I said, running a hand through my hair. I slid off my black shoulder and draped it across the back of my chair. "Gavril, call in the press team so we can start discussing damage control." I waited for everyone to leave before turning to Dad. "You should tell Mom. I don't want her finding out about this by watching the news. She should hear it from you."
Dad nodded and kissed my forehead. "You sure you're okay?"
I smiled grimly. "I will be once we get this all sorted out."
"Do you want Eikko?"
"No. One of us needs to be in there and whatever mess we've made with Marid is my fault. We're both exactly where we need to be." Dad nodded once and then left the office.
We spent the remainder of the afternoon discussing the need for me to be even more on point for the rest of the summit. Gavril said, "Goldsworth was a poisoned apple for this summit. Now we need to make sure the damage stays isolated to him." If the people couldn't trust my decision-making for the people forming this constitution, they couldn't trust the constitution itself.
With the resolve to being on my best, most regal behavior for the rest of the summit, I stumbled into my bedroom where Eloise was waiting with my dress for the evening. "We don't have much time, do we?" I asked her when I realized that I didn't know what time it was.
"Unfortunately not, ma'am. We have just enough to have you looking magnificent for dinner," she said apologetically.
"And where could I find my prince consort? Have you seen him?"
"He was in briefly to check to see if you were here. He left to get ready himself. That was a while ago though so perhaps he'll be here soon," she reported.
Sure enough, just as Eloise was touching up my curls again, Eikko strolled through the door of my bedroom with a folder tucked under his arm. "Eloise, my hair looks just fine. You can leave me for the night."
"Okay, Your Majesty. Enjoy your evening," she bid. She put the curling iron down and turned it off carefully. "Watch this while it's still cooling down."
I gave her a thumbs-up and watched her go. I met Eikko by my bed, reaching to hold him by the arms. "How was the rest of the session?"
"How about we not talk about work for a few minutes?" he suggested.
"Then what will we talk about?"
He smiled. "How beautiful you look right now. And how much I want to kiss you right now." He leaned down to press his lips to mine. "It's torture to sit through those sessions without being able to touch you. You're gorgeous but this little line here makes me worry," he said, brushing his thumb between my eyebrows as he spoke
"Sorry. It's just been a long day." I sighed and leaned my head against his shoulder. I glanced at his watch and saw that we had a few minutes before we had to leave. "Tell me a story. Something happy or funny."
"Okay. Hmm, let's see." He paused, thinking about it. As he spoke, his lips were in my hair. "Growing up, my sister was actually better at learning her English than me. I was six when we were at the market one day – a Swendish market – she was going through and teaching me the English words for things being sold. Well, we passed a linens vendor who was selling pillow cases. Unfortunately I couldn't quite pronounce pillow correctly and with my accent, it came out as pillu, a Finnish word."
"Which means?"
"It's, well…a four-letter word that starts with 'c' and rhymes with runt." I giggled. "I was much too young to know what that word meant. The vendor certainly did though, especially when I said it while looking at her. I've never seen my sister run so fast than when she was pulling me out of the market and away from the vendor." I laughed at the mental image of six-year-old Eikko running out of a market, dragged the whole way by his sister.
"I don't have any pictures of you when you were younger," I suddenly realized. "You brought the ones from home but you're just a teenager in them. I want to see what you looked like when you were little."
He grew quiet, sober. "My parents would have them all."
"Oh. Never mind then."
"No, I should call them. Perhaps I'll do that next week and ask my mom to send some." He called his parents once every couple weeks. He was busy so he didn't have much time to spare and from what I heard, the conversations were stilted but he still made the effort. He said that as long as they kept answering, he would keep calling. They hadn't moved to Swendway yet. Though they hadn't RSVPed to the wedding, they weren't leaving the country.
"Would you like to go to Swendway?"
He lifted his head up. "What?"
I looked up into his eyes. "We have the ability. We can go while we're on our honeymoon. We could visit your sister and see your other family members."
"We actually could?" he asked, his eyes lighting up with excitement.
"We could. Do you want to?"
"Actually, about my sister, I have a different request."
"Okay."
"I'd like to invite her to the wedding."
I gasped, realizing that I'd been foolish enough to not even think of that. "Oh goodness, Eikko, I'm so sorry. I didn't even think of that. Of course you can invite her! Wow, yeah, invite her tomorrow. She and her family can stay as long as they want."
"Eadlyn, do you realize what today is?"
"…No?"
"It's August 17. We'll be married in less than a month."
I smiled, the though of being his wife making my stomach swoop. We would officially have our lives linked. As terrifying as it was, I couldn't help but think that a month was much too long. I wanted to marry him tomorrow. In one month, we would be in France, husband and wife, prince consort and queen. "I can't wait."