CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 4

“Aunt Elin!” The seven-year-old blonde girl with big blue eyes ran toward her with outstretched arms.

“Sophie!” That yell came from her mother. “We’ve talked about this.” Elizabeth chuckled at her daughter.

Sophia reached Elin just as Elin knelt down to hug her.

“Well, hello, Sophia,” Elin greeted, laughing at the little girl. “How are you doing?”

“Camilla is coming tomorrow. We’re going to go horseback riding,” Sophia announced, pulling out of the hug. “Will you go with us?”

“Let Aunt Elin breathe, baby,” Palmer said, walking up behind her daughter. “Hi, Elin.”

“Hi. Where’s my nephew?” she asked.

“He’s just more well-behaved than his older sister, apparently,” Elizabeth replied as she walked up next to her wife, holding her five-year-old son’s hand.

“Hi, Leif,” Elin greeted, still kneeling in front of Sophia.

“Your Royal Highness,” Leif said and offered an adorable head bow.

“We’ve been going over the protocols with him now that he’s old enough,” Palmer explained. “He listens and takes after his mother. My little Soph takes after me.” She picked up her daughter and put her on her hip. “Right, Soph?”

“Right, Mama,” Sophia said, placing her head on her mother’s shoulder.

“Leif, are you going horseback riding tomorrow with your Aunt Camilla?” Elin asked him, knowing the boy was a little shy.

“Yes, I was invited,” he said, his light-brown hair making him resemble Palmer more than Sophia did, despite Elizabeth giving birth to them both.

While they weren’t technically her niece and nephew, they still called her Aunt Elin. It was widely known that many members of royal families around Europe were all descendants of Queen Victoria in some way or another, so they were at least distant relations. The woman had had nine children. They spread across the continent, marrying other royals, and now, Elin had lost track of how she was related to them all.

“Well, I was just invited, too,” she replied. “Shall I go?”

“Yes, please,” he said, the perfect little Prince that he was.

Elin then stood and reached out her arms to hug Elizabeth.

“Hi, Cousin,” Elizabeth said, because they were likely at least that.

“Thank you for having me,” Elin replied, pulling out of the hug.

“Anytime; you know that. We’ve been at Coburn for a few days now, and the kids have been awaiting Cami’s arrival so she’d take them horseback riding – as if they couldn’t do that any day.” Elizabeth smiled down at Leif and then over at Sophia, who was still being held up by Palmer. “They love their Aunt Camilla. And they love their Aunt Elin, too.” She winked at Elin.

“You’re just in time for lunch,” Palmer added, placing Sophia on her feet and taking her wife’s hand.

Elin turned, remembering she hadn’t arrived here alone, and saw Ingrid standing behind her with her hands clasped in front of her.

“You remember Ingrid,” she said, smiling at Ingrid.

“Yes. Hello, Ingrid. Would you like to join us for lunch as well?” Elizabeth asked.

“No, thank you, Your Majesties,” Ingrid replied, bowing her head.

“It’s technically her holiday,” Elin said. “You probably want to get to those hot springs.” She held on to her lower lip with her teeth. “The car is yours, Ingrid.”

“You’re going to the hot springs?” Sophia asked, excited. “Mommy, can I go?”

“No, baby,” Elizabeth replied. “We’re going to have lunch together.”

“Aunt Elin?” Sophia tried with an adorable puppy-dog expression.

“She skipped right over me and went to you. She must think you’re more likely to give in,” Palmer said, laughing a little. “She’s really good at reading people, Elin.”

“How are you supposed to say no to that face?” Elin asked.

◆◆◆

“So, is this one of those royal meetings where I should excuse myself, or do you want me here?” Palmer asked.

“My love, you are a royal now. It’s been ten years. When will you get used to that?” Elizabeth asked, taking Palmer’s hand and placing it in her lap.

They’d eaten lunch with the kids. Then, their Aunt Victoria arrived with her own two children and took the four of them to the palace, where the children loved to watch movies in the small theater and bowl in the tiny bowling alley. Now, they were sitting in the parlor of Coburn Cottage. It wasn’t much of a cottage, though – it had seven bedrooms after a major remodel in recent years, so Elin wasn’t sure it shouldn’t be called a manor now. Ingrid had retired to the room Elizabeth and Palmer had made up for her. Elin invited Ingrid to join them for lunch two more times prior to them adjourning to the dining room, but Ingrid said she wanted to work instead. Elin worried she shouldn’t have asked her along. Ingrid might have preferred to stay at home. Elin should have asked her if she wanted to go to the hot springs, but she’d wanted to surprise her. Ingrid worked so hard for her – for the family, and now, she’d be paired with Lillian, who wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Elin wanted to do something nice for her, and now she worried she’d made a mistake.

“I kind of wanted to talk to both of you,” she began, sitting across from Elizabeth and Palmer.

“Is everything okay?” Elizabeth asked.

Elin so admired her distant cousin. Elizabeth had been so far down the line of succession ten years ago, when a bomb at a hospital the royal family had helped build went off and destroyed her family with the exception of her younger sister, Victoria. Elizabeth had become Queen unexpectedly, in an instant, and during the worst time of her entire life. While Elin’s ascent to the throne was far from the same, she still hadn’t been raised to be Queen and had honestly expected her brother to rise to the occasion and not put this on her shoulders.

“This hasn’t been announced yet, so it must stay between us,” she continued.

“Of course,” Elizabeth replied.

“My father is going to retire. His health is rapidly declining, and he’s concerned about what it presents to the country. His mental faculties also aren’t what they used to be. He’s been forgetting things lately, and he needs to rest more and more.”

“Oh, wow,” Elizabeth uttered.

Palmer leaned forward and said, “So, Christian is about to be King, and you’re about to be next in line?”

“Christian has decided to remove himself from the line of succession.”

“What?” Elizabeth asked, letting go of Palmer’s hand and leaning forward with her wife now.

“He’s going to stay in the Air Force. He plans to retire from it one day.”

“Elin, you’re…” Elizabeth didn’t finish her sentence.

“About to be named Queen of Norway, yes,” she confirmed.

“Oh, my God,” Elizabeth said.

“You can probably understand why I requested the visit now.”

“Of course,” Elizabeth replied.

“Is this what you want?” Palmer asked.

“I don’t know, honestly. I think I’m okay with it. I’m still a little in shock, though, and I have no idea how I’m going to do it. Most sovereigns assume the throne after they lose a parent.” She looked at Elizabeth. “Not only is my father still alive, but my older brother is, too.”

“Well, you’re twins,” Palmer reminded. “He only has a few minutes on you.”

“That doesn’t matter in our world, does it?” Elin asked.

“No, it doesn’t,” Palmer replied.

“How are you?”

“I’m nervous,” Elin admitted. “I was content being Princess and watching Christian become King, get married, and have kids. They’d take over after him, and I…” She faded out. “I just don’t know what to do now.”

“Because you don’t want children.” Elizabeth nodded in understanding.

“And because I’m gay,” Elin added.

“Well, we’re out. And Alex is out, too. She’ll be Queen of the United Kingdom one day. It’s much more common now,” Palmer reasoned.

“What kind of Queen will I make, though? You two at least have children; you don’t have to rely on Victoria’s kids to carry the line. Alexandria came out as a Princess, so people already know what they’ll get when she becomes Queen. They’ve had time to prepare. I’m just… me. I’ve been hiding behind my twin brother since birth. Suddenly, I’m going to be Queen, and I’m gay, and I’ve never wanted to have children. Do I have kids anyway because it’s the right thing to do? Do I just pretend to be straight and marry that Prince of Denmark my mom keeps suggesting I spend time with?”

“Of course not,” Elizabeth replied, taking Palmer’s hand again. “You must be yourself.”

“What if I’m not what the monarchy needs? What if I bring it down?”

“I remember you saying the same things to me before,” Palmer commented, looking over at her wife.

“And you told me I was exactly what St. Rais needed. I haven’t brought it down yet.” Elizabeth smiled at her. “Elin, I remember the feeling of the loss of my family, but also the confusion over how I would do all this like it was yesterday. I had two older siblings and a niece and nephew above me in line. I thought I’d get my doctorate, and I figured after Teagan divorced my brother and left me for good, I’d end up alone,” she said of her ex-girlfriend and their complicated family dynamic.

Elin watched as Palmer leaned over and kissed her wife’s temple.

“It’s so hard, but even though I wasn’t meant to be Queen of St. Rais – I am Queen of St. Rais. I met Palmer. We fell in love and got married.” Her serious expression changed to a wide smile. “Now, we have two beautiful children, and St. Rais has a lower crime rate, a higher graduation rate for students, better programs for our veterans and seniors, and I’d like to think that at least some of that is due to our hard work,” she said, turning to her wife.

“I just don’t know… I don’t know how I can see all of that for myself or my country right now,” Elin replied, picking up her iced tea glass from the small table between the sofa and her chair.

“Ma’am, may I come in?” Ingrid said, standing in the open doorway.

Elin dropped the iced tea glass onto the carpet.

“Oh, God! I’m so sorry,” she said to Elizabeth and Palmer.

“It’s fine. It’ll come out,” Elizabeth replied. “Palmer, can–”

“I’ll grab the cleaner,” Palmer finished for her.

“We try not to bring staff with us when we’re here when we can. It gives the kids some semblance of normalcy. And my wife, too, I suppose,” Elizabeth added as Palmer stood.

“We’re not too good to clean up after ourselves,” Palmer said, walking out of the room.

“Tell me where it is, and I’ll get it,” Elin replied. “I’m so sorry.”

“Ma’am, allow me, please.” Ingrid walked over and knelt down, picking up the glass, which hadn’t broken. She put the ice cubes back inside it, along with the lemon slice that had fallen off the rim. “Not a problem.” She placed it back on the table. “Would you like me to get you another glass?”

“No, I–” Elin was so caught in that moment by Ingrid’s green eyes that she couldn’t speak.

“I’ll pour it for you,” Elizabeth offered.

“Your Majesty, please, allow me.” Ingrid stood up and walked over to the end of the table, where there was a pitcher half-full of iced tea.

Elin noticed that there was now a wet stain on the knee of Ingrid’s light-brown dress pants.

“Ingrid, you–” She reached out and touched the spot, for some reason, before quickly retracting her hand.

“I have a spare pair of pants, Ma’am. I’ll go change.”

“I’ve got the stuff,” Palmer announced, walking back into the room carrying a rag and a spray container.

“Let me, please, Your Highness,” Ingrid said.

“It’s just Palmer,” Palmer replied.

“My wife is not one for formalities,” Elizabeth added.

Palmer knelt on the carpet in front of Elin and began to clean up the iced tea spill.

“Please, let me do that. I’m the one that dropped it.”

“It’s fine,” Palmer told her. “I’m almost done.”

“Ma’am, I should change,” Ingrid said, looking down at her pants.

“Of course. What is it you came in for, Ingrid?” she asked.

“I wanted to let you know that we received another donation of one million kroner for the foundation,” she replied. “I thought you would want to know.”

“That’s great. Thank you,” Elin said, nodding at Ingrid. “I’ll pay for your dry-cleaning or a new pair of pants… um… if you need them.”

Ingrid smiled at her and said, “It’s only iced tea, Ma’am. It’ll wash out.”

“Right. Of course,” Elin replied.

“Your Majesties,” Ingrid offered with a bow and left the room.

“Okay. What was that about?” Elizabeth asked.

“What?” Elin asked back.

Palmer sat down next to Elizabeth, choosing to put the cleaning supplies away later.

“Yeah, something you want to tell us there, Elin?” she asked.

“I don’t know–”

“I’ve seen you with Ingrid at least three times by now, and I swear, every time that woman walks into a room, you freeze up, drop something, or can’t speak,” Elizabeth noted.

“Oh, that?” Elin asked, shaking her head at herself.

“Yeah, that,” Palmer said, laughing a little.

“I’m in love with my private secretary.”