Authors: Carol Moncado
So why had he come at all? She opened her eyes just enough to see the clock. Four in the morning. Eight hours until the release. She needed sleep. All she could do was close her eyes. And eventually drift off.
When she awoke, even before she opened her eyes, she knew he no longer lay next to her. What had happened to change things between them? While things weren’t where they should have been, they were nothing like they’d been in the first days of their marriage. She needed to decide what her official response to Henry’s release would be. As she finished getting ready for the day, Diana walked through the open door.
“What did I originally have scheduled for today?” Christiana asked before her assistant could say anything.
Diana tapped on her tablet. “A visit to the children’s wing of the hospital, a grand opening of a nursery school, and a meeting about the rescheduled banquet from December.”
Christiana nodded. “Very well. I’ll leave as soon as breakfast is over.”
Diana’s eyes went wide. “Are you sure, ma’am? What will the duke and Tony say?”
“I do not particularly care what the duke says. I told him and Tony the other day that I would no longer be curtailing my schedule any more than necessary. Were the plans canceled?”
She looked at her tablet again. “Not in so many words. They were told it was unlikely you would make it, but the decision had not been made yet.”
“Good.” Christiana walked purposefully into the kitchen. “Good morning, Paul.”
He smiled at her. “Good morning, ma’am. What can I make for you?”
After a quick, simple breakfast, she headed for the car pool and the squad of security sure to surround her. Five cars headed to the hospital rather than the usual two. She had still not seen Alexander. Nonetheless, she did not want to think about him or what else was going on, possibly right at this minute. She did not know when the announcement would be made, but she planned to be very busy elsewhere. Her security team would keep her safe. And, if they failed in some way, God would protect her.
Dr. Jonah Fontaine, husband of Princess Anastasia, was visiting from nearby Montevaro, and showed her around the new state-of-the-art children’s floor in the Women’s and Children’s wing of Pagosa General. He’d already spent a week at his favorite orphanage in Ravenz-by-the-Sea, working with the children there. She spent some time in the community room, talking and coloring with different children. Their parents took pictures of her with them, and she answered questions about the baby. She could tell when the announcement was made. The demeanor of the parents changed. They became more sympathetic. Though no one mentioned it, she could see it in their faces and hear it in their voices.
At least she had some time before his release. Not much but some. After nearly ninety minutes with the children, she and Dr. Fontaine, flanked by royal security and them by hospital security, retreated to his temporary office in a conference room.
“How are you?” he asked gently as they sat down.
Christiana shook her head. “It is not about me, Dr. Fontaine. Right now, it is about the children. Tell me what else you need and how we can help.”
By the time she left the building, her stomach let her know it was time for lunch. When she realized it was only a few minutes after eleven, she directed her driver to take her to the nearby bistro she often frequented rather than make the longer drive back to the palace.
Her instructions were met with protests, but she overrode them. Grumbling, arrangements were quickly made and a plan carried out. She would find a random family and have lunch with them. She had not done that in over a year, but did often before then.
Suddenly, the idea held great appeal.
* * *
Julia groaned in frustration and kicked at the tire. Flat. Just what she needed. And Alex wasn’t with her. He’d stayed at the program for kids while she made a quick -
yeah, right
- run to the store. Though their first night’s hotel stay had greatly exceeded her expectations, the rest had been stepped down a bit, despite the money burning a hole in her pocket.
But now, she sat on the side of a Ravenzarian road with no clue who to call for roadside assistance and no jack in the car. Digging through the paperwork from the car rental company, she finally found someone to call. She knew how to change a tire. She just didn’t have the proper equipment. The company agreed to send someone out to help her, though they seemed to think she should have everything she needed.
With her flashers on, she pulled out her tablet, glad she’d decided to get the data plan for the month. Her first stop was the main Ravenzarian paper.
Uncle Released from Prison While Queen Dines with Subject
The obviously pregnant queen didn’t let the release of her uncle affect her plans for the day. After spending nearly three hours at Pagosa General and talking with hospitalized children and their families, she headed straight for Pagosa Bistro for a bit of lunch. As is her practice most times she goes, she found a family in line, waited together, paid for their meal, and spent an hour or longer talking with them. The family, like so many before them, refused to discuss the conversation in any detail.
After the announcement by the Pardon Board regarding The Royal Uncle, as he was known, at the Good Friday Request of Minority Leader Michaels, the boat from Pirate’s Island contained one of the country’s most notorious criminals. Though he pled guilty to relatively minor charges of conspiracy to defraud the royal family, among others, his life sentence in solitary confinement led many to believe there was more going on behind the scenes. The official response from the palace is an unsurprising “no comment.”
What was the story with the uncle? Had she ever heard it? Julia didn’t think the queen had really been on her royal radar until the wedding neared. She’d missed all the uncle stuff, and she hadn’t set up an email alert for news stories until she discovered Alexander was the groom. She thought about Googling the uncle, but she didn’t know his name and the article hadn’t been much help on that level.
Movement in her rear view mirror caught her eye. Black cars. Several of them. A motorcade? Her breath caught in her throat as the first one whizzed by too close for comfort. It slowed down as did the others and pulled off to the side a ways up the road. A man in a dark suit and sunglasses climbed out of the passenger side of the last vehicle and made his way back to her.
She rolled the window down an inch. “I’m sorry. I have a flat and no way to fix it. There’s a truck on its way.”
“I’m sure it is, ma’am, but this is a fairly treacherous road. Can we be of assistance?”
“I don’t have a jack to change the tire.”
He pressed a finger to his ear and turned away. A second later, he turned back. “Ma’am, we’d be happy to fix it for you. If you’d go to the second car back, we’ll transport you somewhere a bit safer than the side of the road and bring your car to you.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Can I see some ID?”
The man gave her a half-smile. “Of course.” He held up his badge and ID card to the window. She had no clue if it looked real or not, but his willingness reassured her a bit. She handed over her ID when he asked. Probably because there had to be someone important in one of those cars.
Julia nodded and grabbed her purse, looking down the road before getting out of the car. Another man waited on the tree-lined side of the second car, a limo, and opened the door as she neared.
He nodded as she gave him a tentative smile. “Ma’am.”
“This really isn’t necessary.” Who could be in the back seat? Wasn’t this how people ended up buried in the woods and on one of those Saturday night news programs?
“Our pleasure, ma’am.”
She slid into the seat then turned to see who sat next to the other door. “Alexander?” She could hear the shock in her voice as the door closed behind her.
He looked up from the papers he was reading through, recognition crossing his face before it was replaced with a plastic smile.
Mortification flooded over her. “Oh. I should probably use an official title, huh? Like Prince Alexander or sir or Duke whatever-it-is.”
The polite smile stayed in place. “Julia, right?”
“Right.” Did he only remember her name because she’d introduced herself to Christopher last week?
The car shifted into gear and pulled away from her rental. “Are you enjoying your visit to Ravenzario?”
“Except for the part where my son and I were detained by police when we arrived, it’s been wonderful.” She twisted the hem of her shirt between her fingers.
“Your son?” His brows pulled together. “I don’t think I knew you had a son. But you were both detained? Did they say why?”
Julia shrugged. “Not really. They asked us some questions and then let us go. Even gave us some money and a hotel room as compensation for our trouble.”
“That’s good.” He shifted in his seat and she could see him better. “I know we saw each other at the hospital last week, but can you help me remember where I knew you from before that? I’m afraid, I don’t quite...”
“Of course.” She smiled. Evidently, she hadn’t made nearly the impression on him that he made on her. “We did a project together in Professor Putane’s Political Science class. He usually taught grad school and hated being with us undergrads. Then, after a frat party one time, you took me back to my place.” Three weeks later, she’d discovered she was pregnant. “The apartments on ElmBrook Road in Serenity Landing.”
She could nearly see the wheels turning in his head. Then it clicked for him, and he snapped his fingers. “Right! There was that picture of us in the student newspaper that time. Studying on the quad, wasn’t it?”
“Sounds right.” Julia didn’t tell him she’d scrapbooked the picture, long before she knew anything else about it. Besides the gigantic crush, how many other times would she be in the school paper?
The limo pulled into a parking lot on the side of the road. “I do hope I’m not keeping you from anything important?”
“Not particularly. I have a meeting, but figured I was going to be nearly an hour early as it was.” He smiled at her. “So where’s your son?”
“The children’s program at the hotel.” She felt the need to explain. “Last fall, when we were planning our Spring Break trip, your wedding was all over the news, and he decided he’d rather come here instead of going to Disney World.”
Alexander raised a brow. “We won over Disney?”
She quirked a half smile his direction. “I told him we’d gone to college together. He started researching Ravenzario for a school project. The rest, as they say, is history. I did
not
expect to run into you while we were here, though if there was some sort of public event we could get to, I told him we’d try.”
Alexander chuckled. “I can do better than that. Tell you what. Will you be here Friday night?”
“We leave for Rome Saturday morning and fly out Sunday, but we’re planning to stay in Acron.”
“Why don’t you come to a dinner we’re having. It’ll be a few hundred people and I can’t promise I’ll have time to do more than say ‘hi’, but I’ll make sure to at least talk to him for a minute and take a picture with him.”
Julia gave him the most genuine smile she’d experienced in a while. “That would be
amazing!
”
He chuckled. “For old times’ sake. I may even be able to arrange it for you to stay on the property. I’m not sure yet. A lot of people from the banquet will be there from out of town, and Queen Christiana may have already promised the cottage to someone else. I bet your son would love it, though. How old is he?”
“Seven.”
“Oh yeah.” He leaned over and whispered, “It has a secret doorway and everything.”
Julia laughed. “He’d love that, but it’s not necessary. We have the reservations in Acron so we can be on the ferry. It leaves Saturday night, and we didn’t get to do the things we’d planned because of being detained. We looked at staying in Pagosa but no ferries cross to the other island that will get us there in time.”
He peered out the window, though she couldn’t see what he was looking at. “If you decide to come, I’ll make sure you can get to the ferry before it leaves Acron. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for your son.” Alexander looked at her again. “What’s his name?”
Julia looked at her hands. “Alex. His name is Alex.”
Chapter 32
Alexander felt sucker punched. “Alex?” This woman couldn’t have named her kid...No. Certainly not. He remembered her after she told him about the project, but he’d never known her
well.
“Good name.” What else was there to say?
“After my grandfather. He practically raised me.”
Relief washed over him. “Still a great name.” He glanced at his watch. “I wonder what’s taking them so long.”
“There was no jack in the car, but I’d guess they have one.”
“You’d think one of these cars would.”
She shifted in her seat. “You know, if you have somewhere to be, they can leave me here and take you on.” Julia pointed to the store across the street. “I can wait there.”
Alexander shook his head. “It’s only about a ten minute drive from here, and I have about half an hour before I need to arrive.”
At that moment, activity increased. He turned to see the little car pulling into the lot. “Guess they got it fixed.”
Relief was evident on her face. “Good.”
Opening the door himself, he climbed out of the backseat. Turning he held out a hand to help her. Polite, nothing else.
At his motion, Justin emerged from the car behind them. “Give Justin your information and itinerary so he can contact you if necessary and make the arrangements for Friday.”