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“But Martin was trained,” Elizabeth continued. “He was groomed for this. Alexander was, too, just in case, until Martin got married and the kids came along.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more relieved face than our brother’s when Lyla announced she was pregnant.” Victoria chuckled. “Alex didnotwant to be King. If anything, he would’ve wanted to be Queen.” Her laughter continued.
Elizabeth joined in softly, letting the sound and the rumblings from it in her chest take away some of the pain even momentarily.
“As modern as Dad was, he wasn’tthatmodern,” Victoria added.
“Right,” Elizabeth mumbled mainly to herself. “Hey, do you think that if Alex would’ve been born first and he would’ve been the future King, Dad would have–”
“Let our gay brother be King?”
“Yes, I guess that’s what I’m asking.”
“I don’t think so. There’s a reason Alex never came out to Dad.”
“Trust me, I know,” Elizabeth replied, sighing.
“How areyou, Lizzy?” Victoria asked, placing a hand over her sister’s in her lap.
“I’m okay,” she said.
“Are you, really? It’s bad enough that we lost everyone, Lizzy. You lost…”
“I don’t really want to talk about it,” Elizabeth said as her sister faded out.
“Okay. We don’t have to talk about that, but you’re also about to be named Queen Elizabeth at your coronation. It’s a lot, Lizzy.”
“I meant to talk to you about that: I’m not using Elizabeth as my name.”
“What? Why not?”
“There’s been a couple of them already, and they’re pretty well-known.”
“Well, you’re not going to be Queen Louise. Or, Queen Victoria – there was one of those already, too, and she’s pretty famous. Plus, Victoria is mine; you can’t have it,” her sister teased.
Elizabeth smiled and replied, “I know. That’s why I’ll be Queen Antonia.”
“After Mom,” Victoria said softly.
“She was a far better Queen than I’ll ever be.”
“She was a Queen Consort, Lizzy. You will be the very first Queen of this nation. Do you realize that?”
“And I’d give it away in a heartbeat if it would bring even one of them back.”
“I know.” Victoria nodded. “That’s why you’ll make a great Queen.”
???
“Ma’am, we can have someone take care of this,” the palace staff member said.
“Victoria’s already been through here, right? Teagan’s family, too?”
“Yes, Ma’am. They’ve removed the items they wanted to take with them. Whatever remains is for you to decide what to do with,” he replied.
“Thank you,” she said.
The guy bowed slightly and opened the door for her. Alex and Teagan’s house was a manor, located only about twenty minutes away from the main palace. It wasn’t an old property; it had only been built in the nineties. The manor was also fairly small as far as houses for royals went, but it was what they’d wanted. The four-bedroom modern house used to be one of Elizabeth’s favorite places in the world. Now, it only reminded her of what she’d lost.
