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I wanted to tell her that’s what she gets, but I just laughed and went to pick up my phone. I also didn’t want to tell her something Winnie had said, something that had stuck with me. I was enjoying the moment now.
Family…it was like cherry blossoms. Eventually, people would die, but then you’d gain a new person. I’d lost my father, I’d lost my brother…but I was going to have a child, and maybe another one. We’d keep going just like we’d done for hundreds of years.
It hurt losing them. But I still had a family.
The Morning Eagle
Friday, May 17th
“The Heroine Betrays Her People”
Since she arrived on the scene, the queen has been seen as a beacon of inclusivity and change to Ersovians. With many hailing her as their role model and contrast against the prime minister’s desire to create a more nationalistic country.
However, with the announcement today that the queen will be happily joining hands with the prime minister for her Nationalism Reform Act identification…all her fans seem to have turned on her.
Or better yet, she has turned her back on them. After all, the queen has always lived above others, first as a rich heiress in America and now as a queen in Ersovia.
“How could anyone think she would relate to them?” Royal biographer Lucienne Darlington-Whit asked. “The queen has always been part of the elite class. And never showed much care to the struggles of anyone else but herself.”
Chapter 29
“They are calling me an elitist, uncaring, out-of-touch traitor?” I gasped, staring at the paper in my hands. “That is bull…ugh!”
“The prime minister pretty much threw oil on the fire this morning,” Wolfgang said, sitting across from me, clicking away on his tablet before showing me another article.
“Prime Minister says Queen Odette is excited to get her new identification,” I read and cracked my jaw to the side. “I’ve barely spoken to the man directly in months. Yet he knows what I am excited about?”
“There is a scheduled protest for this afternoon, and there will be another about two blocks from the ministry office tomorrow,” he said to me.
“So now I’m being protested personally?” Just when I thought more people were starting to like me.
“The heightened anger has made the king want to call off the whole thing. But this was supposed to happen last month. We’d already confirmed. If he were to call it off now, it would look like he is directly going against the prime minister.”
“But if we go along with it, then it looks like we’ve abandoned half of the people who are against it.” Dammit. “Is there really no way out of this?”
His face bunched, and he shook his head. “Sorry, ma’am.”
“It’s not your fault… I’m guessing this is what is taking Gale’s attention today,” I replied, glancing at my watch. Our appointment was ten minutes ago.
“He and Iskandar are going over security for it. The prime minister assures us that everything is secure, but still…he’s worried about you, ma’am.” He smiled, and it made me smile. Even with his new serious persona, Wolfgang was still my biggest fan.
“How are you doing, Wolfgang? You are always with me, but I don’t feel like I’ve checked in with you personally for a while? Is everyone used to you now?”
He tilted his head and winced. “It’s good.”
“That is horribly and obviously a lie, Wolfgang.” I laughed. “Is it still that bad? Tell me, honestly! I mean it. In fact, I order it as Queen.”
He chuckled. “It’s gotten better. Truthfully…”
“Truthfully?” I pressed.
“It’s just mostly family stuff, ma’am. Don’t worry. I’m good. Should we get going?” he asked.
That wasn’t a real answer, but I didn’t want to push him on his personal business. As I rose from my chair, he opened the door for me. I don’t know if it was because I was American or if it was because this was my first pregnancy, but when they told me it was a tradition for queens to give birth at the palace, I was completely against it. What if something went wrong? What if they needed more equipment or people? It was the one tradition I was completely ready and willing to break if it weren’t for my doctor explaining that no one would be taking this lightly. She spent time showing me how much equipment the palace had for births. It was so much I wondered why they hadn’t brought me there after the first time I had needed to go to the hospital. She explained that there was no live-in palace doctor under King Lionel. He’d cut the funding for it. It was Gale who had brought it back…and he had done it for me. There was now a general practice doctor, and when I got pregnant, he’d personally hired an obstetrician. I felt bad because I didn’t think about it. I found myself relying on him to take care of things because I was too busy still learning to be queen, trying to manage events and the palace. It reminded me of how sweet he was.
“I’m here!” I turned to see the man in question as he rounded the corner. “Iskandar just kept going on and on.”
I glanced behind him at Iskandar, who looked at the back of Gale’s head for a moment and blinked, which for him was basically an eye roll.
