Page 14 of Falling for the Queen Mother

Instead, both the queen and Queen Mother were also waiting for him.

And none of the three looked happy.

This was not the day Alaina expected to have.

Waking up with her head resting on Nathaniel's chest, should have been the most interesting part, but Frederick had surprised her with news of an unwelcome intrusion on their privacy.

Now, she - and Nathaniel - would have to deal with it.

From the second he walked into Frederick's office, she knew Nathaniel had no idea what the meeting was about.

The look of surprise left his face as quickly as it had arrived. "Good morning, Your Majesties." He bowed from the waist and was able to include all three of them at once.

Alaina found herself grateful he didn't have to decide whether to bow more than once. She always found it awkward when that happened.

"Please, have a seat." Frederick motioned toward the conference table. He, of course, sat at the head of the table. Elise, Alaina's daughter-in-law and Queen Consort of Southern Santiero, sat on his right.

Alaina didn't know where she should sit. It seemed like any choice would appear adversarial to someone for one reason or another.

As she glanced around the office, a solution came to her. "I would prefer sit by the window." Rather than waiting for Frederick to approve the idea, she started for the small cluster of upholstered armchairs near the large windows overlooking the city.

Even with her back to him, she could tell Frederick wasn't overly happy at being questioned, but she didn't care.

He might be the king. Now.

She had always been his mother.

Rarely did she pull rank on him, but she chose to this time.

Seating herself in one of the chairs, she felt gratified to realize they'd all followed her without question.

When they had all been seated, she could see a bit of relief on Nathaniel's face. Rather than a conference table that seated well over a dozen people, there were only four chairs and they all faced each other in a sort of diamond shape.

After clasping her hands together and crossing her ankles to the side, she simply waited for Frederick to start the conversation. She certainly wasn't going to.

"We've been notified by one of the local news organizations that they have a photo they'll be releasing later today. They wanted to give us a chance to prepare a response to the sudden news of your marriage."

Alaina sat straight up, shocked. "That's what they're saying?" She'd known about the picture for a few minutes, but not the story they were releasing with it.

The implications were immediately clear to her.

"What are you talking about?" Nathaniel looked back and forth between them.

Frederick held his tablet out toward him. "This photo was supplied to us by the organization."

Nathaniel took it and stared at the screen. "Where did this photo come from?" He held it toward Alaina, but she shook her head. She'd already seen it. He closed his eyes as though he was thinking it over. "There was a helicopter flying around this morning, but it was a fair distance off. This seems closer, though definitely from above and from a distance."

"It's a very long lens." Alaina had seen similar things before, though she'd never known of any photos taken of people on palace property, much less on the private balconies.

But there it was. In full color. The two of them sleeping on the lounge, or maybe just as Nathaniel woke up since it seemed like he was kissing her head.

Or maybe it was just the way they'd been laying because his eyes were closed and he was right about it seeming fairly close, even with a long lens.

"We were just sleeping. There's nothing going on except sleeping. Where are they coming up with the idea that we've gotten married?" He handed the tablet back to Frederick.

"I believe it's partly based on the assumption that the Queen Mother wouldn't be sleeping with a man, even if they were just sleeping, without being married." Frederick closed the cover and set it on the small table between his chair and Elise's. "She was also seen entering the resort property a few days ago.”

Alaina knew Nathaniel didn't understand what this meant in Southern Santiero. It was one of the few remaining countries that had the applicable ancient laws surrounding someone who married into the royal family, but was now widowed.