CHAPTER 39

CHAPTER 39

“Markus?” Ingrid asked when she opened her front door.

She’d been expecting Elin, but not for another fifteen minutes. Elin had been in meetings all day, and Ingrid didn’t think it was likely that she’d be early or that, if she were, she’d have Markus knock on the door for her.

“Hello, Ingrid,” he greeted.

“Is Elin… I mean, is–”

“Her Majesty is on her way. I left before she did,” he interrupted her.

“Oh. Why? What are you doing here?”

“May I come in?” he asked. “I promise, I’ll be gone by the time she gets here.”

“Is something wrong?” Ingrid asked, moving out of his way so that he could enter her apartment. “Is she okay?”

“She doesn’t know I’m here. And I’d prefer we keep it that way, if that’s all right with you,” he replied, standing in her living room as she closed the door. “Are we alone?”

“Yes, my sister is at work. Markus, you’re scaring me.”

“I’m holding your seat at the consecration in direct opposition to Her Majesty’s wishes,” he stated.

“What?” she asked.

“Can I drop the formality with you?”

“Sure.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

“Ingrid, she asked me to give your seat at the consecration away.”

“She had a seat for me?” Ingrid asked.

“I have watched Elin the past three years since you became her secretary. I’ve known for quite some time how she felt about you. I could see it in how she looked at you, Ingrid. Anyone could, really, if they were paying attention.”

“And you were?”

“Well, her father asked me to keep an eye on his children as they grew, and I did my job well. I have no family of my own, unlike Steven, and I was never the senior secretary, so I had the time. Elin will make a fantastic Queen. She’s intelligent in a way I…”

“Her father isn’t,” Ingrid finished for him.

Markus chuckled and said, “Yes, quite frankly. She understands the constitution, the law, and diplomatic relations. She’s of the people. She went to a public university and attended law school at one as well. She’s loved by the people, and she’s kind and charitable; she’s not like most royals who have… well, sticks up their you-know-where.”

Ingrid laughed this time.

“I know she preferred you, and I know I’ve made mistakes, but I’ve watched Elin grow, Ingrid. I’ve watched all of them grow, and–” Markus stopped and took a deep breath. “I’m a lot older than you. It wasn’t okay back when I was your age.”

“What wasn’t–” She looked at him with curious eyes. “Oh, you mean…”

“I didn’t marry. I didn’t have a family. Now, I’m too old to do either of those things. I missed out on that part of my life because it wasn’t okay for me – with my family, or with my position – but it is okay now, Ingrid.”

“Markus, I didn’t know,” she replied, uncrossing her arms.

“No one does.” He nodded. “I’d appreciate it if–”

“I won’t say anything to anyone.”

“Thank you. And I’m here because while I don’t know what exactly is going on, I know that today Elin asked me to put someone else in the seat she’d reserved for you.”

“We hadn’t talked about me attending.”

“My job is to protect the sovereign and the monarchy, but I can’t help from wanting to protect Elin as well. And sometimes they–”

“Have competing interests?” Ingrid finished for him.

“Yes,” he replied. “I should go, and it is not my place to be here right now, but I wanted you to know that I’m holding your spot – at least, until I absolutely have to give it to someone else.”

“Thank you,” she said.

Markus nodded again. “I hope it all works out,” he told her and walked past her toward the door, opening it.

“So do I,” she replied as he smiled and left.

Ingrid sat down on her sofa. She hadn’t seen Markus in a while. She’d been to visit Elin at the palace, of course, but she hadn’t had any reason to stop by Markus’s office to say hello. They hadn’t been all that close, and now she was only at the palace because she was with Elin. She had to get a visitor’s badge every time she showed up. Ingrid thought about the courage it must have taken him to show up at her apartment and tell her that; go against Elin’s wishes about her having a seat at the consecration. Then, there was a knock at the door. When she opened it to find Elin there, she couldn’t help but smile at her.

“What?” Elin asked, smiling back and laughing a little.

“I just missed you,” Ingrid replied.

“Well, I missed you, too,” Elin said.

“Come in.”

Elin walked into the room, kissing Ingrid quickly on the lips, and Ingrid closed the door behind her.

“I made some tea, but I also have wine,” Ingrid replied.

“Where’s Sarah tonight?” Elin asked.

“The restaurant,” Ingrid replied. “You can stay over, in fact, because Sarah is staying over at someone else’s place tonight.”

“She is?”

“She packed a bag this morning and everything. The place is ours all night. She’s staying with a friend.”

“Oh, I wish I would have known. I would’ve told her not to bother. I can’t stay tonight,” Elin replied.

Ingrid sat down on the sofa and said, “You can’t? I thought–”

“I have an early meeting with the humanitarian organization my mother is patron of. I’m taking over for her now that she and my father are stepping out of the public eye. I guess I could try to reschedule it… It’s just the only time they could meet this week, and it’s at seven in the morning, so I need to be ready by–”

“No, I understand,” Ingrid replied, interrupting her.

Elin sat down next to her and said, “We can still have dinner and have some time together. I’m just exhausted and need to get some sleep tonight, too.”

“Right.” Ingrid forced a smile.

“I hope you take that as a compliment,” Elin told her.

“I’m supposed to take you not staying over as a compliment?”

“Yes,” Elin replied, scooting closer to her on the sofa. “It means: I don’t think I can keep my hands off of you, and I need some sleep.”

“So, it’s better for us to sleep separately?”

“I’m sorry. It’s been busy and–”

“I just want to fall asleep next to you, Elin,” Ingrid admitted.

“I want that, too,” Elin replied. “Do you want to come to the palace? I can have a car take you to work in the morning, if you want.”

“That might look a little suspicious, me showing up in a palace-issued car.”

“They have other cars. I can even ask Markus to take you in his. I’m sure he’d be fine with it.”

“Do you really want me there?” Ingrid asked.

“At the palace?”

“With you; wherever you are.”

Elin squinted at her in confusion and said, “Ingrid, I always want you to be wherever I am.”

“Okay.” Ingrid gave her a small nod.

“This is about the other night, isn’t it?” Elin asked.

“What other night?”

“The best night of my entire life,” Elin said, wrapping her arm over the top of the sofa. “I had to go to work and left you in bed.”

“With a note,” Ingrid added.

“I didn’t know what else to do.”

“I’m not upset, Elin,” Ingrid replied.

“Okay. It feels like things are off with us, Ingrid, and I hate it. That night was… And I–” Elin stopped and looked down at her hands. “You don’t have to say it back, you know? I think that night, and the morning when I woke up, it scared me that you didn’t say it because we’re finally together. And I was so terrified that I’d messed it up.”

“Elin, you didn’t mess anything up.”

“But I understand now that I’ve been in this for a lot longer than you, so I’m just ahead, I think. And that’s okay. I do love you; I won’t take it back because I’d be lying. But I know you’re not there yet, and I can wait. I’m okay with us being together without the world knowing for as long as you need. I am going to come out publicly after the ceremony, though. If anyone asks, Markus is going to spin whether or not I’m with someone because I don’t want to lie, but I won’t put you in a position you’re not ready for.”

“Elin?”

“Yeah?” Elin looked over at her with those perfect eyes.

“Can I please have a seat at the ceremony?” Ingrid asked.

Elin’s lips parted, and Ingrid watched as she swallowed.

“You mean the–” Elin bit her lower lip. “You want a real seat or one in the back or–”

“I’d like a seat with the royal family, if that’s possible, but I’d settle for sitting anywhere in the cathedral.”

“If you sit with the family, people–”

“Will wonder who I am, yes,” Ingrid finished the sentence, taking Elin’s hand in her own. “And I’d like to tell them that I’m with you.”

“With me? Like, you… You’re with me?”

“Yes, Elin.” Ingrid laughed a little at how cute Elin was sometimes.

“That would mean we come out as an official couple.”

“Yes, I know.”

“There are steps and rules and–”

“I know,” Ingrid repeated.

“But, Ingrid, when you do this – when you tell people as a Queen that you’re with someone – the people will think–”

“That we’re in love and that one day…” Ingrid moved a little closer to Elin. “You’ll propose to me.”

Elin’s cheeks blushed, and she said, “Well, I’m the Queen – I technically have to – but you did ask me out, so you could… I mean, if you wanted to do that one day… with me.”

Ingrid leaned forward, pressing her forehead to Elin’s, and whispered, “I love you.”

Elin didn’t say anything.

“I love all of you, Elin,” Ingrid added. “I know what I’m saying; what I’m committing to. I was scared to, for a while, because I wasn’t sure I could commit to it all, but I know I can now. If we end up taking that step together one day, I’d be your Queen Consort. I’d be involved again.”

“Yes, you would,” Elin replied. “You love me?”

“Yes, sweetheart,” Ingrid said. “I love you.”

“And you want to be at the ceremony, sitting next to Mari?”

“If you’ll still have me,” Ingrid said.

“I always wanted you there. I just didn’t think you’d want it,” Elin replied.

Ingrid nodded, her forehead still pressed to Elin’s.

“Oh, God,” Elin said, moving back a little.

“What’s wrong?”

“I told Markus to give your seat to someone in the family. I need to call him and tell him not to now.”

Ingrid moved into Elin’s lap and said, “It can wait until the morning.”

“What if he–”

“Elin, it can wait. You just got here, and I missed you,” Ingrid told her.

“I missed you, too.” Elin’s hands ran up and down Ingrid’s sides over her shirt.

“Then, let’s make the most of the time we have before you have to head back to the palace.”