CHAPTER 22

CHAPTER 22

“This is an intervention,” Lillian stated.

“A what?” Elin asked.

“An intervention. I’m your sister, and I love you.”

“I know both of those things,” Elin replied, taking a drink of her coffee.

“Elin, you don’t even drink coffee.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen you drink coffee. One, you tried it the first time and hated it. Two, you tried it again, like, two years later and said you still didn’t like it.” Lillian held up a third finger. “Three, the–”

“So, I drink coffee now. What’s the big deal? I have, like, one or two cups a day. You’re giving me an intervention for coffee?”

“No, it’s more for your overall misery,” Lillian replied.

“My misery?”

“You’ve been miserable since Ingrid left.”

“Ingrid?”

“Yes, Ingrid.”

“You’re giving me an intervention because Ingrid left the palace?”

“It’s been a month, Elin.”

“So?”

“Have you seen her?”

“How would I see her? I’m working twenty-four seven, and she’s not here anymore. It’s not like I can just call her up and see if she wants to grab a drink sometime.”

“Yes, you could,” Lillian told her.

“No, I couldn’t. I came out to her, Lil. I told her I was gay. Admittedly, not my finest moment, and I almost caused her to choke to death, but I told her. She still left. Don’t you think if she were even remotely interested in either more with me or just staying on at the palace, she would have said something then or called here asking for her job back?”

“No, I don’t think that. I think she resigned for a reason; whatever that was. But I’m not here to talk to you about Ingrid. I’m here to talk to you about how you’re not yourself these days.”

“Because of coffee?”

“Why are you drinking coffee now?”

“My tastebuds changed, I suppose. I can stand it now.”

“Okay. Let’s go with that,” Lillian said. “Are you really telling me the change in your overall disposition has nothing to do with the woman you love not being around anymore?”

“Of course, it has something to do with that. I miss her. But I don’t have a choice; I’m Queen now. I have responsibilities. I have Dad still meddling, despite the fact that he’s in a cast and can’t walk these days, and I have Markus in my business constantly. He’s mentioned the Duke of Kent three times just in this past week. Apparently, the Duke wants us to get together sometime, and Markus can find time on the schedule to make that happen for me.”

“If you came out, you wouldn’t have to worry about the Duke, at least.”

“I will, eventually. I don’t know, Lil… I feel like since I took over for Dad, he hasn’t really retired. I inherited one of his secretaries, and I’m convinced Markus and Steven work together to push Dad’s agenda, which they all deny. On top of that, I just… I don’t know… I just miss her. I don’t mean the personal stuff – I do miss her just being around. But I miss her professionally, too. She was really good at her job. And I get why Dad likes Markus, but Markus isn’t here for me; he’s here for Dad and Steven. Ingrid was here for me.”

“Probably because she had the hots for you,” Lillian replied.

“Lil!”

“What?! Wouldn’t that be a good thing?” Lillian argued.

“She deserves better.”

“Better than a Queen?”

“Oh, please,” Elin said, chuckling. “She deserves something with no strings. I come with all of the strings – I come with a country.”

“That she was, apparently, good enough to help you run,” Lillian reasoned. “That would make her a pretty good consort, don’t you think?”

“Don’t you have somewhere else to be?” Elin rolled her eyes at her sister.

“Not really,” Lillian replied. “Although, I am thinking about calling the Duke of Kent – I’ve seen pictures. Plus, I’m Queen after you, right? So, if he’s interested in the throne, I’m his best chance.”

Elin laughed at her sister’s antics. Then, she took a sip of her coffee with two sugars.

◆◆◆

“Now that we’re at Bygdøy full-time, we’re going to announce that we’re officially retired from all royal duties,” her mom said.

“I thought you already were retired,” Elin remarked.

“We were, but we were available for certain duties during your transition. Now that your father is healing from his surgeries, and we’re done with the move from the palace, we’ll release a statement that we will no longer be participating in any official royal duties.”

“Okay,” Elin replied, thinking this was a good thing, both for her father’s health and for her reign.

“That means, I’ll no longer require Steven’s services,” her father added.

“Oh, you’re letting him go?” she asked.

“Of course not. Steven has served the monarchy well for decades. He’s near enough to retirement, but he wants to remain on, which I support,” her father replied.

“I’m confused then,” Elin said.

“You’ll have both Markus and Steven. Steven will be your senior now, and Markus will return to his junior role.”

“I don’t need two private secretaries, Dad.”

“Of course, you do. Had I died and not just retired, you would have had them already.”

“Markus is fine. I don’t need Steven, too.”

“Well, you’ll have him officially starting on Monday,” he replied.

She stared at her father, who looked uncomfortable sitting there in his wheelchair. Then, she looked at her mother, who was also looking over at the former King.

“Fine,” she said.

She could argue more now, or she could just deal with it later. Elin didn’t believe she needed two secretaries. She knew that if she had Ingrid, and only Ingrid, the job would be done well.

“We should have dinner,” her mom suggested.

Elin nodded, and they moved to the dining room where they ate dinner, just the three of them.

“The deal with Finland; where are we with that?” her father asked over dessert.

“It’s almost done. Parliament should approve it without issue.”

“And the Prime Minister?”

“I reviewed the paperwork with him.”

“You reviewed it with him?”

“Yes.”

“He didn’t review it with you?”

“Our Prime Minister has a degree in anthropology and a master’s in business; I have a law degree, Dad,” she said. “This deal is complicated. He asked for a consultation. I gave him one.”

“You gave him a consultation?” her father asked, seemingly confused.

“What would you call it?” she asked him.

“We don’t generally consult on deals, Elin. We’re–”

“Mom, he asked me to take a look at the contract, and I did. I gave him my thoughts on some of the stipulations and on the payments. He’s taking it back to discuss further because there was a section in that contract that would have meant we’d pay ten million more a year when we didn’t have to. I shared that with him. I was a little surprised that it had even gotten that far because someone should have seen it and argued it before it got to me,” she replied.

“We’ve been working on this deal for three years, Elin. You could have just cost us–”

“This dessert is great, Mom,” she interrupted her father.

“Thank you, honey. I made it myself. I’ve been cooking a lot more since we moved out here. It’s been a lot of trial and error since I don’t have a lot of practice, but I have a lot of time to try now.”

Her father grunted and took a drink of his bourbon.

“Should you be drinking that?” Elin asked.

“I’m not on the pain medication anymore. I’m allowed bourbon,” he said.

“He’s allowed one drink per day,” her mother added.

“And how is your physical therapy going?” Elin asked, finishing her dessert.

“Fine. I go four days a week now.”

“The doctor said you might be able to get out of the wheelchair in a few weeks,” Elin said.

“You talked to the doctor?”

“You’re my father. I wanted to check up on you.”

“You didn’t talk to him as my daughter. You talked to him as Queen, or he wouldn’t have told you details of my recovery,” her dad said.

“I asked him how you were doing; I didn’t order him to tell me anything.”

“I know you know that’s not how it works, Elin. I’ve taught you–”

“Dad, why are we fighting right now?” she asked. “I came here to have dinner with my parents, not to fight.”

“We’re not fighting,” he replied.

“Mom, thank you for dinner. It was lovely, but I should be going. Erik is in town, and Mari wanted Lillian and I to spend some time with him tonight to get to know him better.”

“When will we be able to spend time with him and get to know him better?” her mother asked.

“You’ll have to talk to your other daughter. I think she’s introducing her new boyfriend to her sisters first.”

“I’ll call her tomorrow.” Her mom smiled at her. “Let me walk you out.”

Elin stood up, kissed her father on the cheek, and said, “Night, Dad.”

“Good night, Elin,” he replied, still upset about something.

“He’ll be fine,” her mom spoke as they walked toward the front door. “He’s just struggling right now.”

“He’s used to being in charge,” Elin said.

“He went from being King of a country and a father of four to having his daughter as Queen, his son leaving him, and his two other daughters not including him in their lives anymore while he tries to recover from a nasty fall, Elin. Just be patient with him.”

“I’m trying, Mom. But he retired. Sometimes, I think he forgets that.”

“It wasn’t exactly his choice, was it? He did the right thing for Norway, but the wrong thing for himself, Elin.”

“I’m trying to make him proud, Mom.”

“You are, honey. You are, I promise. He just doesn’t know how to express that all the time.” Her mom pulled her in for a hug. “He loves you. You know that, right?”

“Yes, I know. I love him, too.”

“Enough to tell him your secret?”

“Mom…” she said softly.

“Honey, you can’t expect me to keep it forever.”

“I don’t. I just need a little more time.”

“How much more?”

“He’s still recovering. And he’s mad at me right now because I saw something in that deal that he didn’t, so tonight is not the night.”

“I suppose not. But, Elin…” She took Elin’s hand. “He won’t be around forever. I’d hate for you to never have the chance to let him surprise you with how he handles this.”

“Is there something I should–”

“No, baby. He’s doing well right now, but neither of us is getting any younger.”

“I know,” Elin replied.

“So, I’ll keep it for you a little longer, but secrets have a way of coming out; especially, when Lillian knows.” Her mother winked at her.

As Elin sat in the back seat of the car that headed back to the palace, she thought about how she might tell her father that she was gay. Then, she thought of Ingrid that morning at the palace, in those sleep shorts and T-shirt. Tears filled her eyes because she really missed her. She kept them from falling by switching her thoughts to Steven and Markus, who were fine secretaries, but they weren’t her secretaries. Ingrid was her secretary.