CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 14

“When my son, the Prince of Norway, told me of his wish to serve his country through the Royal Air Force, I was understandably a proud father. I was also a concerned King.” He paused. “But only for a moment because I have been blessed with four gifted children. When my wife, the Queen, and I discovered she was pregnant with twins all those years ago, we were overjoyed. We became proud parents to two children all at once, and then again, three and six years later, with the arrival of our other daughters. My first daughter, Elin, has spent her entire life serving her country. She attended the finest school in St. Rais, followed by our finest law university here in Norway. After that, she served in our armed forces, achieving the rank of Specialist 1st Class before she returned to her work as a senior member of the royal family. She has dedicated her life to Norway, and her mother, the Prime Minister, and I have all the confidence in the world that Elin will make a fine Queen of our great nation.” The King paused again. “As many of you know, I have chosen not to hide my illness from my people. However, we have reached that time. Due to my illness and the orders from the royal doctors, I have made the incredibly difficult decision to retire as your King. The Queen and I have spent many hours discussing and agonizing over this decision. This was especially true after Christian told us his news, but I cannot go on as your King, knowing that my illness is getting worse and quicker than we’d anticipated. Today, I will be officially retiring and, therefore, will abdicate the throne to my firstborn daughter, Elin.”

The speech went on for a few more minutes. Elin sat behind the camera, unable to focus on her father’s words but on the tremors in his right hand, which, thankfully, her mother was holding and doing her best to keep in place. Moments after this, her father would officially no longer be King, and Elin would be Queen of a country. Her heart was racing in her chest. Despite preparing for this moment, she still believed it wouldn’t happen. Christian would come to his senses, or her father would change his mind and decide to remain King for at least a few more years, if not longer. Yet, here she was, standing there, watching her father give the hardest speech of his life to his people, while her mother, his rock in all this, held on to his hand to keep the world from noticing his declining health.

“Elin will address the nation in the coming weeks, and there will, of course, be a consecration to celebrate our new Queen. Her mother and I will be there, proudly watching our daughter ascend to the throne, as will her brother and sisters and the rest of the royal family.”

He said something else that Elin didn’t hear, and then, that was it: the news was out.

“Your Royal Highness,” Steven said.

“Yes,” she replied when she realized he was talking to her.

“It’s time, Ma’am. Your father will sign the papers of abdication. You’ll need to stand at his side.”

“Right,” she replied.

Elin turned, looking around the room for Ingrid, needing her to be there and wishing she could stand beside her as they did this, but Ingrid wasn’t there. Today, she would officially become Mari’s secretary, and Markus would take over as Elin’s. She followed her parents, who got up from their matching chairs and moved behind her father’s desk. Her mother stood to his left. Elin stood next to him on his right as he sat down in his chair. Elin looked down at the papers sitting in front of him. She couldn’t read the words from where she was standing, but she knew what they said. Her father picked up his pen, uncapped it, and she watched as her mother placed her hand on his shoulder.

“Your Royal Highness.” Steven nudged her again.

“Sorry,” Elin said, placing her own hand on her father’s other shoulder.

The camera was rolling, and other cameras took pictures of the event as her father signed the document. She tried her best to appear confident and unaffected, as if this was always supposed to happen and she was born to be Queen. Her stomach rumbled inside, and she worried people could hear it, but there wasn’t time for that worry because her father capped his pen. Then, he moved to stand, turned to Elin, which she hadn’t expected, and bowed his head to her.

“Your Majesty,” he said.

Oh, fuck. She was Her Majesty now. She knew she wasn’t supposed to bow her head back as sovereign, but this was her father, and he was still alive. He’d been the King her entire life. She didn’t know what to do, but her father did. He picked up her hand and kissed it as per the custom for a Queen. He smiled at her and then moved out of the way for her mother to repeat the gesture. She was Queen Mother now, no longer the Queen of Norway.

“Your Majesty,” her mother said softly.

Elin just wanted to say, ‘Mom.’ She held it in, though, and when the cameras finally all turned off, she was able to hug her parents and have a moment alone with them.

“This is your office now,” her father said.

“I don’t want your office,” she replied.

“It’s the sovereign’s office,” he remarked.

“Dad, just give me a little time. We’ll figure out who’s supposed to be in which office later, okay?”

“Of course, Your Majesty,” he said with a smile.

“Dad, no one is here.” She laughed a little.

“If we don’t do it in here, Elin, we’ll not do it right out there. And we can’t have any mistakes right now. You are the Queen now, and people must see you in that role. Your mother and I will adhere to all of the protocols to ensure that’s the case. We’re in unfamiliar territory here.”

“I know,” she said.

“Now, when we go down to the party, speak with only Nilson and avoid Oscar.”

“Why?”

“They don’t get along, and Oscar is on his way out as Prime Minister. You’ll want to get Nilson on your side.”

“I heard Oscar is neck and neck with Nilson,” she replied.

“Trust me on this one,” her father said. “And Oscar is going to ask you to do a speech at your alma mater – you’ll want to turn that down. He went to law school there as well and is trying to score some points for the election.”

“What speech?”

“Commencement,” her mother said.

“And why would I want to turn that down?”

“Queens don’t give commencement speeches, Elin,” her mother replied.

“But what if I want to? It’s a great school. I enjoyed my time there.”

“We’ll walk in before you now. Remember, when you walk into the room, they’ll be announcing you as Queen for the first time. It’s important to–”

“Your Majesty,” Steven said when he entered the room unannounced.

Elin looked at her father, as she was used to, and her mother cleared her throat.

“Oh,” Elin uttered. “Yes?”

“The dressers would like to get you ready for the guests. They have a few last-minute adjustments they need to make.”

“To what?” she asked.

“Your crown, Ma’am,” he replied.

Elin gulped.

◆◆◆

It wasn’t a crown, exactly – she’d wear that for the first time on her consecration – but it was a tiara; a new one that was larger than the ones she’d worn as Princess. Even her mother hadn’t worn this one. It had been made for Queen Victoria and hadn’t been worn by another Queen since. Elin stared at herself in the mirror as the women moved around her, situating her shoes in front of her bare feet so she could easily slide into them.

“Would you mind giving me a moment?” she asked them once she was ready.

“Of course, Your Majesty,” they replied at the same time.

Elin walked out to her sitting room and stared out the window. Guests were still arriving to the party that would announce her as Queen. Most were likely already in the ballroom, awaiting her arrival. She knew she was keeping everyone waiting, which wasn’t ideal, but she was still having trouble getting used to people calling her Your Majesty. How the hell was she going to do this?

That was when she saw it – the plate of three Skolebrød sitting on the small table by her sofa. She smiled when she noticed the card sitting next to them, walked to pick it up, and smiled wider. Elin read the note silently at first and then out loud to herself.

Your Majesty,

I hope you don’t mind. I made these for you in celebration.

Sincerely,

Ingrid

Elin knew she shouldn’t have one now, but no one would know, and she was starving. She hadn’t eaten anything all day due to her nerves. She bit into one and quickly finished it just in time for Markus to knock on the door.

“Your Majesty, we’re ready for you,” he announced.

Her smile faltered, wishing it was Ingrid standing there delivering that message.

“Of course. Would you give me just one moment?”

Markus nodded. Elin moved to her small desk in the corner, pulled out a piece of paper and a pen, and wrote her message. Then, she approached Markus.

“Would you please see that Ingrid gets this?”

“Of course, Ma’am. I’ll have someone leave it for her tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Is she not at the palace?” she asked.

“I don’t believe so, Ma’am. But I can have someone check if you’d like.”

“Yes, please,” she said. “It’s rather urgent.”

“If there’s something you need, Ma’am, I’d be–”

“No, I’m okay, Markus. If you wouldn’t mind,” she said.

“Of course,” he said and nodded. “Shall we, Your Majesty?” he asked, motioning toward the door.

She nodded back, and off they went. After an hour at the party, Elin had been introduced or had approached and talked to nearly every guest. She was exhausted, and she hated these shoes. They were pinching at the back, and she wanted desperately to take them off but knew it wasn’t an option.

“Your Majesty,” Markus said.

“Yes?”

“I wanted to let you know that Ingrid is not at the palace tonight. Katrin informed me that she had the day off. I left your note on Ingrid’s desk, though.”

“Thank you,” she replied.

After another hour, a few of the guests had started leaving, which was a good sign because Elin was no less exhausted and still wanted to kick off her shoes. After the third hour, many of the guests had departed, along with her parents since her father needed to take his medicine and get some rest. Mari and Lillian seemed fine and were enjoying themselves; especially Mari, who’d spent much of the night with Prince Erik.

Elin was able to make a break for it with the help of her sisters and quickly moved past the kitchen and toward Ingrid’s new office. No guards or staff were around, so she just opened the door and walked in, closing it behind her. There were two desks in the small, somewhat dark space, and she was instantly angry at the idea of Ingrid being stuck in this office. Katrin had moved into Ingrid’s old one, and now Ingrid would be down here with some new staffer. The note she’d written her was on Ingrid’s desk, but it no longer mattered, so she picked it up and tossed it into the trash can. She’d hoped she and Ingrid could sneak off during the party and have a coffee and tea together in the kitchen, but Ingrid had taken the day off – which she was obviously entitled to do. It just meant that Elin felt even more alone than she’d thought she could.

“Markus,” she said when she left the office and found him in the hall.

“Yes, Your Majesty?”

“Who will be sharing Ingrid’s office now that Katrin’s moved?”

“I don’t know, Ma’am,” he replied.

“Can you see to it that no one does and have that extra desk removed?”

“If you’d like, Ma’am.”

“I would. And maybe get some new lighting in there; it’s very dark. And I’m thinking a small sofa or comfortable chair; whatever Ingrid wants, of course.”

“Ma’am?” he asked, looking confused.

“Markus, she was demoted because my father retired, not because she deserved a demotion. She can at least have a nice office.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” he said, bowing his head.