A Royal Engagement: The Young Royals Book 1 (34 page)

He stood and stretched and then dropped a chaste kiss on my cheek, "My pleasure Princess," he whispered in my ear.

I watched as he gathered his things together, wanting him to stay, wanting to spend the rest of the day wrapped in his arms, wanting to kiss him.

He slid his suit coat on and tucked his overcoat over his arm before picking up his briefcase. He reached out and cupped my cheek, a soft look in his eyes.

"Call me," he said, "After...everything.
 
This afternoon or tonight, whenever, it doesn't matter what time it is."

"I will," I said.

He dipped his head and brushed his lips over mine.
 
It wasn't a kiss, not really, but it was enough...for now.
 
He left, waving over his shoulder as the door closed behind him.

"Your Ladies in Waiting will be here soon," Bridgette said, interrupting my wayward thoughts about Will, "With Alex and Meredith.
 
Would you like to freshen up?"

I let them lead me into my dressing room where they had laid out several outfits for me to choose from.
 
I had to face the full press corp and I needed to present a confident and stable front.
 
I'm sure the rumours and speculation was running rife through the social media outlets.
 
When they next saw me, I needed to be at my best.

I closed my eyes as Bridgette worked on my hair and Annette worked on my makeup.
 
I chose the simple black dress and black Jimmy Choo pumps.
 
This wasn't an occasion to be flashy, this was an occasion to show my serious side, to show Merveille that I could be relied upon.

I took my time dressing, not just pulling on clothes, but pulling on the royal persona.
 
I was walking out there, not as Alyssa, but as Queen Alyssabeth and they needed to recognise me.
 
I refused to be a figurehead or a puppet and I wanted everybody to know that.
 
Up until now, I had let the faceless 'they' determine my course, today I was taking the reins.
 
I was going to be the driving force behind my own future.

Dressed to impress, I walked with confidence back out into the sitting room.
 
Alex and Meredith were waiting for me, as was my entourage.
 
They all had very solemn looks on their faces and I slowed my steps.
 
Benjamin was also waiting for me and I couldn't help the shiver of dread that crawled over my skin.

"What happened?" I asked immediately, "Is Jordan still in custody?"

"Yes, Your Grace," Benjamin answered formally, "But we've received reports that the Major General is dead."

I sucked in a breath and held it.
 
Jordan's father was alive when I was held captive in the cabin.
 
Had he resisted arrest?
 
Had someone else gotten to him.

"Tell me," I said.

"It looks like suicide," Benjamin said with a resigned sigh, "We will investigate further, but the early reports are that he
 
died from a gunshot wound to the head.
 
The weapon was recovered at the scene and at this early stage, there are no suspicious circumstances."

"Did he leave a note?" I asked.

"No," Benjamin replied, "But the disgrace that was about to befall his house was more than likely too much for him.
 
He held his honour above all."

I snorted, "What honour?" I asked rhetorically, "The man had no honour.
 
He would have been more concerned with losing face and reputation.
 
Neither of those things constitute honour."
 
I took a breath and shook my head.
 
"Keep me apprised of the situation."

Benjamin nodded and I turned to the rest of the people gathered in my suite.
 
"Anything else I need to know before I face the jackals?"

"The palace has responded to the photograph of you and Jordan that was leaked and the story about the elopement by saying it was a ploy to discredit your appeal for ascension," Jeanette said briskly.

"The news about the kidnapping has been leaked, probably by one of the police officers," Meredith said, "And they have a general idea that the House of Lords is involved in some sort of corruption scandal, but no details."

"Are there details for me to give?" I asked.

"I'll brief the press before you take the podium," Jeanette said, "We've stripped the story down to it's bare bones to save on confusion or being distracted by tangents.
 
Your brother had been investigating the House of Lords prior to his death.
 
You discovered his investigation and were taken captive to try to hide the findings.
 
Your security team recovered you, unharmed and charges will be laid."

I nodded.
 
No doubt I would get questions about Jordan and those photos, but if I stuck to the issues at hand, maybe I could avoid the messiness of being romantically involved with my brother's murderer.

I stood at the podium and looked out over the sea of faces assembled before me.
 
The palace had it's own press briefing room, complete with family crest on the wall behind me and feeds to the major news networks.
 
I was flanked by the nation's flag and the royal family flag and the podium in front of me was also branded with the family crest.
 
There would be no doubt to anyone watching this where we were and who I was.

It was an oversight on my part that this was the first time I had been in this room, the first time I had addressed the palace Press Corps.
 
My life had been played out in Social Media and gossip magazines and to the serious journalists before me, it appeared that I had shunned them...and I needed to make amends.
 
I needed these people on my side.

I smiled confidently at them and began to speak the prepared remarks.
 
I had a speech writer, who knew?
 
I had done so many things wrong up until now and I really needed to pull it together.
 
Our nation was in crisis and in a power vacuum, someone always rises to the top.
 
I wanted that someone to be me.

I had studied the effects of a power vacuum in developing and third world countries.
 
Far too often when there wasn't a strong political force leading a nation, it was susceptible to militia rule or dictatorship.
 
We weren't a third world country and we weren't prone to militia, but in the absence of power, chaos reigned.
 
I needed to show the country that I could take control and steer us through this political crisis.

Jeanette had gone before me and had given them the basics of what had happened.
 
I started to fill in the blanks, assuring them that I would step in and take control of the interim government.
 
I may not yet have had my coronation, but for all intents and purposes, I was the highest ranking official in the country.
 
The Prime Minister had been stood down pending an investigation, several of the Lords and Members of Parliament had been tainted by the discoveries of corruption and misdeeds that my brother had uncovered and the government was in disarray.

I had discussed the options with my core team and decided to seed some of that into my speech.
 
I was putting the country on notice, change was coming.
 
The detractors of my ascension were scattered and my claim on the crown strengthened.
 
When I took power, the 'male only' mentality in government was going to change.

The barrage of questions volleyed at me when my address concluded surprised me.
 
Not the amount, but the direction they were going.
 
These journalists were not distracted by the gossip and rumours, they were intrigued by the potential shift of power and despite their disenchantment with the previous government and Head of State, they seemed keen to explore the possibilities I presented.

It wasn't all good news, of course.
 
There were still those that held on to the old ideals and traditions.
 
We had never had a female in power and the questions were raised about the legality of it.
 
What was written in our constitution regarding female heirs?

I silently thanked Priscilla and Dominique for drilling me on the finer points of our constitution.
 
I was able to answer my critics with knowledge and facts.
 
There was no law against a female Head of State, there was no law against a female member of Parliament or a female member of the House of Lords.
 
These things had been tradition more than anything else...because that was how it was always done, then that must be how it will always be done.
 
I challenged that assumption and extended the invitation to all eligible women, if you want to be an MP or considered for the vacant positions in the House of Lords, then have at it.

By the end I was exhausted.
 
I answered as many questions as I could but when I started repeating myself and questions became the same, only worded differently, Jeanette stepped in and shut it down promising more details at a later date.
 
I smiled as I left the podium and then when I was out of sight of all the cameras, I sagged against the wall.
 
My head hurt and my body ached.
 
I wanted my bed and I wanted to sleep for a week.

But that was not to be.

The rest of my day was filled with meetings and briefings and I barely had time to eat.
 
I finally sat down with some of my father's and brother's staff and advisors, who I was ashamed to say I had been avoiding.
 
Some of them were nearing retirement, others wanted out and still others wanted to stay on.
 
I granted each one their wish and handed the ones staying on over to Alex.
 
If I was going to take control of the country, I would need a bigger staff than the one I had been using.

In all the chaos, Will managed to email me and his words of encouragement helped me get through the day.
 
I hadn't even gotten around to explaining the photos of Jordan and I or the elopement rumours, but he took it all in his stride.
 
We made plans to get together, but working out our schedules was challenging and it would be a couple of days before we could sit down together.
 
In the meantime we had email and Meredith had sneaked me a very basic prepaid phone so that we could text and call.
 
For now it would have to be enough.

The glaringly obvious absence from all the activity and the one I tried to ignore, was my mother.
 
I knew she had been updated on the happenings; my kidnapping and the like, but she was yet to come and see me or offer any support.
 
I knew she was opposed to me taking the reins, but I thought she would at the very least be concerned about my well-being.

I tried not to let it get me down and buried myself in work until I was finally able to fall into my bed later that night.

Chapter Twenty-Four

The next few days and weeks were busy as I met with the remaining Lords and Members of Parliament.
 
Due to the corruption surrounding my denial of ascension, the ruling was overturned and I no longer needed to plead my case.
 
I would be the one to ascend to the crown and take up the mantel as Head of State and I wouldn't even need a husband to do it.

Lady Isabella had been a tremendous help in that respect.
 
She had scoured the constitution and discovered that what the Lords had tried to do was, in fact, unconstitutional.
 
There were provisions for female heirs, but they had been long buried.
 
It also opened up the doors for female members of both the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
 
Lady Isabella, herself, was currently petitioning for the House of Lords as the only heir to her father's duchy and his seat in the House.

A lot of women had come out of the woodwork after hearing my invitation to them, more than I thought there would be.
 
Our Mastermind group was inundated with requests for help in establishing businesses and advice about education and training in various sectors.
 
A very enterprising group of women had come up with a plan for a state of the art university that would be open to all women, and men, so that they no longer needed to travel to receive the education they needed.

My popularity in the polls soared and my confidence in my abilities grew.
 
I may not be the charismatic leader like my brother, but I had my own strengths and I surrounded myself with good people.
 
It wasn't all sunshine and roses and not everybody was open to the great sweeping changes I wanted.
 
It may only take a small rudder to turn a ship, but it still took time to get it on a new course.
 
I was willing to put in the time it required.