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“We may know that, but the public cannot,” she reminded me, and my mother nodded. “Always, we must act and stand with the king. His way is just. His actions are right. That is why he is King. No, none of us can dare to project otherwise. This is why we must catch him before he acts. Which is why kings who are rash are problematic…problematic kings need strong, wise queens, not pretty-faced, easily dazzled, royal novices.”
“It is too late to change queens now, Arabella,” my mother shot back.
“I told you months ago she was not right for him.”
“He is in love with her.”
“Princes and kings fall in and out of love all the time. It is what they do. Galahad would have been fine with any other pretty face like always.” My grandmother scoffed. “You all were blinded by her money of all things.”
“Odette is different for him, Arabella. Don’t you think I tried to find another rich, pretty woman from a noble family before she came? He did not want anyone but her,” my mother snapped…and this was what I was used to.
“Again,” I cut in carefully to avoid stepping on a mine. “There is no changing it now; they are married.”
My grandmother frowned unhappily. “At the very least you should tell her—”
“I told her as you told me—be the rock that sharpens the sword—and I believe she will do it. We merely need to give them time to adjust.”
“Instead of recycling my speeches, you should have, maybe thought he was better off with mud instead of a rock. Galahad is already a sharp sword; all his life, Arty, or his father, or you, have held him down to protect him from harming himself. Now, I fear, our new queen, with her limited knowledge of our world, will end up making him worse.”
God, how I wanted to get out of this car and was ready to dance when I saw we were arriving at the abbey.
My mother sat up, picking up her purse. “Again, Arabella, what will you have me do? Lecture her on how to control my son? Lecture him on doing things our way? All that would serve to do would make them doubt themselves more. Or worse, cut me out completely…like we did to you. And I do not want to be banished to Donaè Castle.”
I clamped my mouth shut, my eyes wide as all the air was sucked out of the car. I definitely could not referee this at all.
I liked living.
Luckily, the car came to a stop, and everyone adjusted their faces, placing our smiles on for the people who lined the entrance inside.
My mother exited first, the cold November air rushing in, followed by my grandmother, both waving side by side for a moment before walking behind Gale and Odette, who held hands, smiling at and nodding to everyone.
“How was it?” my cousin, Florence, asked, coming up beside me as we started our walk. “Who won?”
“My mother came in with the finishing blow, and it was vicious,” I said through a wide smile. No one would ever guess what we were speaking of. We were just a happy family going to church.
“Well done, Queen Elspeth; it’s only taken thirty-plus years.” She laughed.
“Yeah.” It was all I could think to say as I looked over to Sophia, seeing how she could smile even just a little bit now, how the royal family broach on her coat jacket looked. No matter what Grandmama said, she was smart. She’d been with us all these years. She had to know what it meant to be a princess. The sacrifices…the loneliness. She could have asked not to be bestowed a title. But instead, she seemed so happy about it.
Some people were born into this life…wanting to free themselves, others…others seemed to cling to it for dear life no matter what.
“I’m never going to remarry,” I whispered, staring up at the stained glass of the church.
“What?” Eliza hushed back to me.
I smiled, glancing over to her, meeting her eyes. “The just Queen Mother and Dowager Queen…they aren’t pleased with the king’s decision to make me a princess, are they?”
Her eyes widened, giving it away. She did her best to keep her composure, as we were always being watched. “How did you know?”
“I saw their faces.” And they were avoiding meeting my gaze, too.
“It’s not you…”
“I am a widow with no children,” I whispered, glancing back to the Virgin Mary on the glass. “My connection to the family is now broken. Or it should have been. I was dreading it—the day someone would tell me to move on.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I don’t want to move on, Eliza. I love this family. This is my family. Arthur…” The words hurt. But I didn’t want to cry, not in front of all these people.
She placed her hand on mine, and I held on tightly. “You are family to me. And to Gale, obviously. Everyone just wants you to be happy one day.”
I nodded. “I’m going to be. But I don’t want to get that happiness through marriage. I want to get it through keeping Arthur’s spirit alive. I don’t care if I’m referred to as his widow for the rest of my life. At least when they say my name, they will say his and remember him. I’m going to be happy. I’m going to be a princess devoted to all the things he was devoted to.”
