A Royal Entanglement: The Young Royals Book 2 (27 page)

She was a vision and took my breath away.
 
The woman standing before me was the most beautiful creature I had ever laid eyes on and she was my girlfriend… for real.

“You look…”

Her eyes clouded with apprehension and I stepped forward to reassure her.
 
Taking her hands in mine I looked deep into her eyes and finished what I had begun to say.

“You look magnificent,” I whispered before leaning down to brush my lips against the corner of her mouth being careful not to smudge her lipstick.

She smiled shyly and tugged a hand out of mine to pat nervously at her hair.
 
The long diamond drop earrings she wore sparkled in the light and I was momentarily blinded by the sight of her, yet again.
 
The dress she wore was… simple, but fit her like it was made for her.
 
The soft black velvet bodice scooped along her collar bones, accentuating the length of her neck.
 
The sleeves were long and the skirt made of layers of some light, floaty fabric, also black, and it fell to the ground.
 
She turned to pick up her purse and my breath caught in my throat as the bare expanse of her back was revealed.
 
The dress skimmed over her shoulders and dipped low, down to her waist, leaving the entire length of her back naked.
 
It glowed with some sort of shimmer lotion and I had to swallow a few times before my throat would start working again.

When she turned back to me, her brow furrowed in concern.
 
“Are you okay Freddie?”

I nodded, not trusting my vocal chords.

“You’ve gone quite pale,” she said, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I am overcome,” I finally said, tucking her hand into the crook of my elbow, “By your beauty.”

She blushed prettily and her eyes darted away from mine and then back again, as if she couldn’t quite believe my compliment.

“You really are beautiful Alex,” I said seriously, tipping her chin up to me and brushing a barely there kiss on her lips.
 
“And the dress is fabulous.”

She smiled up at me and for a moment I was lost in the sea of her big blue eyes.

“You aren’t too bad yourself,” she said, her voice husky.

I smiled at her, drawing the moment out before taking a breath and mentally switching gears.
 
“Are you ready to knock everyone’s socks off?” I asked, and she chuckled.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” she replied.

We walked down the corridor and down the stairs.
 
We joined the receiving line and greeted the Queen and her consort, garnering a cheeky wink from Alyssa and a subtle thumbs up from Will.
 
I felt like I was walking on air with Alex on my arm.
 
I saw the second looks men sent her way as we walked into the ballroom and I felt a surge of pride knowing that this woman was mine.

“Where should we start?” she said, gazing around the room.

“What do you mean?” I asked quirking my eyebrow at her.

“Who should we start with?” she asked again.

I gave her a puzzled look and she rolled her eyes.

“We need to work the room, right?” she asked, “So where should we start.
 
Should we just go clockwise or pick and choose who to speak to?”

I stopped and turned to her, resting my hands on her upper arms.

“We are not here to work,” I said, “We don’t need to ‘work the room’.
 
We are here to enjoy ourselves.
 
We are going to dance and drink champagne and eat and laugh and if people want to talk to us, then they can jolly well come and find us.”

She looked stunned by my words and I flashed her my best smile.
 
“This is our first date,” I said, “I don’t intend to share you with anyone.”

A waiter happened by and I grabbed two flutes of wine from his tray.
 
I handed one to her and raised it in a toast.
 
“To us,” I said, “And to a night we’ll never forget.”
 
She tapped her glass with mine and then we drank.

The band started to play and I took her glass from her hand and placed it on a side table and then I led her onto the dance floor.
 
We had danced together before and I couldn’t wait to repeat the experience.
 
She was as light as a feather in my arms and we twirled around the dance floor lost in each other and not paying the slightest attention to anyone else in the room.
 
I couldn’t remember ever enjoying a Palace ball more and it was only just the beginning of the night.

The music stopped abruptly as the cryer announced the entrance of the Queen.
 
We turned toward the doors and I bowed low as Alex curtsied beside me.
 
The Queen and Will entered the room followed closely by my father and my mother.
 
My father wore the sash of his newly appointed office and I couldn’t help but feel proud and just a little patriotic.
 
I knew my father would make a good Prime Minister and if I was honest with myself, I was quite looking forward to taking the reins of Monticorp.

The crowd on the dance floor separated into two groups leaving a wide aisle down the centre for the Queen to walk.
 
Will held out his arm for her to rest hers upon as they made their way gracefully toward the dais at the front of the room and the throne.
 
As she walked passed us she screwed up her face and I heard Alex cough to cover her laugh.
 
Alyssa hated the pomp and ceremony of her title and tried to relax as many of the traditions as she could.
 
I couldn’t imagine what would be left if she didn’t have Lord Chancellor Dominique and her own Lady in Waiting Priscilla to guide her on issues of tradition and protocol.

Will handed Alyssa up to the throne and she took her seat, Meredith standing behind her on her right and Will on her left.
 
Will was officially the Queen’s consort and the wedding was scheduled for six months time.
 
Once Parliament was stabilised, work on the Royal Wedding would commence, not that it wasn’t already well under way in the background.

My father and mother took their places beside the Queen, a step lower, and a hush came over the crowd.
 
Everybody was aware of my father’s appointment as Prime Minister, but until the words were uttered by the Queen nothing was official.
 
This was the reason we were all here tonight, to make his appointment official.
 
He hadn’t won an election, he was being elevated from Speaker of the House because of what had happened to the previous Prime Minister, but it was an honour none the less.
 
One he took seriously.
 
I knew that my father would seek re-election when the time came and I would bet a tidy sum that he would be successful.
 
For the moment he was charged with taking control of the current Parliament, which was skeletal at best.
 
The next few months would be spent rebuilding from the ground up and looked to be exciting… well as exciting as politics could be.

“Thank you for your attendance tonight,” Queen Alyssa began, “The recent incident that left our Parliament in such a sorry state is regrettable, but I also like to think fortuitous.
 
We have cleaned house and now we can start to rebuild with fresh blood and innovative ideas.
 
The Duke of Monterey has been a dear friend of the Crown for a long time and we are delighted to announce that he has agreed to take up the mantle of Prime Minister.
 
Join me in wishing him well and welcoming him to the hallowed ranks of those who have gone before him.”

The crowd applauded politely and my father stood and bowed.
 
The music restarted and the crowd began to murmur among themselves.
 
The official duties done, tuxedo clad waiters streamed into the ballroom with trays of champagne and hors d'oeuvres.

Alex was quiet beside me and I turned to look at her.
 
She had a sadness about her that tugged at my heart.

“What’s the matter beautiful?” I asked.

She gave me a valiant smile and shrugged her shoulders.
 
“Nothing,” she said, “Just feeling a little melancholy.”

I tucked her hand into my elbow and drew her to the edge of the room where large floor to ceiling glass doors stood open to let in the cool autumn air.

“Penny for your thoughts,” I said when we had found a quiet alcove out of the direct line of sight of the crowd.

“You must be so proud of your father.
 
I’ve always admired him and now—”

I brushed her cheek with the back of my hand.
 
“Of course I’m proud of him and I respect him, a lot.
 
It doesn’t mean we always get on or agree on everything.
 
We are both very invested in our own opinions and aren’t too timid to make sure we share them… loudly and often.”

She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
 
“My father has never stood up for anything.
 
I love him, but he is a weak man who lets my mother walk all over him.”

“Don’t be deceived by my own mother’s demure appearance,” I said, “She knows how to plant an idea in my father’s head so that he thinks it’s his own.”

“Maybe,” she said, “I just wish…”

“Wish what?”

She shook her head and I saw the shutters go down.
 
She smiled brightly at me, “Come on, let’s get something to eat, I’m starved.”

It was a fairytale night, right from the moment Freddie picked me up from my suite.
 
He looked so dashing in his tuxedo and white tie with his sash and star.
 
Freddie knew how to wear
 
a suit and the title of Earl sat well on him.
 
This is what he was born to and it came so easily to him.
 
He was everything you would expect of a modern Peer and more and I couldn’t help but feel that I was just playing dress up.

Being at a function like this with Freddie was incomparable to any other function I had attended.
 
In the past I had been there as part of the Queen’s entourage, not as an invited guest and the difference felt like a yawning canyon.
 
Yes, I had grown up with a title, the eldest daughter of a Viscount’s daughter.
 
My sisters, being second and third born, didn’t get styled a Lady and weren’t eligible to be part of the Queen’s entourage, not that they would’ve wanted it.
 
But I still felt like an imposter amongst the rest of the Peerage.
 
My branch of the family were impoverished, the poor cousins that lived in America without the breeding and class of the rest of Merveille royalty.
 
I felt like the country mouse amongst a whole sea of city mice.

I watched Freddie’s face as his father was officially announced as Prime Minister and I saw love and pride shine in his eyes for a man he respected deeply.
 
I knew both of his parents and they were wonderful people, the whole family was wonderful, and I couldn’t help wondering what on earth he saw in me.
 
Why would he want to sully his family’s name with someone like me, a glorified secretary with a shameful past and an embarrassing family?

What I wouldn’t give to have grown up with a family like his.
 
As a young girl I had tried so hard to be good and my mother had lavished me with her love, or the appearance of love.
 
She had dressed me up like a china doll and had shopped me around to every beauty pageant and casting call she could find.
 
I hated it, but did it because when I won or got a call back, she would heap praise on me.
 
Those other times when I didn’t win were a completely different matter.
 
I learned that to keep her attention, I had to be what she wanted me to be.
 
When I was a teenager, she gave up on me ever winning a pageant and instead turned her attentions to my sisters.
 
Now I had no way to get her attention and I sought it out in other ways.
 
Playing the party girl and getting my picture in the social pages once more had her treating me like her favourite daughter.
 
Meanwhile, my father stood back and let her use her emotional manipulation without once stepping in and protecting me.
 
By the time I met Daniel, I was in way too deep and had no way to get myself out.