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“…but this? This is a step too far. You have brought shame to the royal family. And by extension, the country of Charcieux.”
All for a little gambling? Emile wanted to protest. It was deeply unfair that his actions were so under scrutiny; what other man had the reputation of an entire nation resting on his party plans? Other than his brothers, of course. Not that they complained. They wouldn’t know how to party even if you paid them.
“I’m afraid, Emile, that we have no choice.” His mother’s voice was grave as she looked at him.
“No choice for what?”
“The monarchy is in a precarious position right now,” his father continued, as if neither one of them had spoken. “We cannot afford for these kinds of scandals to keep hitting the front pages. And since you seem incapable of behaving in a manner appropriate for royalty, we have taken the decision to exile you.”
“Exile me!” Emile shouted his surprise. What year was this? Did they even have the power to do that in this century?
“Only temporarily, Emile.” He could see the concern in his mother’s eyes, but it did nothing to placate him. She had been his ally many times before, but now she was as complicit in this as his father.
“We must be seen to be taking action, for the sake of Charcieux, for the sake of the family.”
Emile may have been living a charmed life, but even he was aware of the position the monarchy was in. In this day and age, there were more and more calls to abolish the tired traditions. Another reason why he had always felt adrift in his life; if the people didn’t even want him to be a prince, then why did he have to tow the line as one?
“And the action you’ve chosen to take is to exile me?” He could barely get the words out. Exile. It sounded so final. One step away from execution.
“Temporarily exile you, until the scandal dies down. And you’re ready to get your act together and take some responsibility,” his father confirmed, his mouth a grim line.
“Fuck that.” Emile said, turning to leave. They wanted to exile him? Fine. The blood was pounding in his ears; he could barely control his anger.
“Emile! Let us help you. We can set you up with somewhere to go…” His mother was on her feet now, pleading with him, but he couldn’t bear to look at her. They wereexilinghim.
“No, I know when I’m not wanted. I’ll do as you wish. Your Majesties.” He gave a sarcastic bow, watching his father’s nostrils flare in anger, before striding out of the throne room. Their word was law and so he was banished, all for a little partying.
They’ve not seen anything yet.
CHAPTER2
KATE
Kate’s head felt like it was full of cotton wool as she made her way downstairs to the cafe. She’d been tossing and turning all night, worries and anxiety plaguing her and stopping her from slipping into the deep sleep she so desperately needed. She’d had more nights like that recently than she cared to admit. Already, her brain was buzzing with her to-do list for the day.
Running a cafe was more than a full-time job; when the customers were in, she didn’t stop, and then at the end of the day she still had to sit down to do all of the admin tasks that had been neglected all day. Sometimes she felt twice as old as her twenty-five years; especially when she was complaining about her back or her aching feet at the end of a long shift.
Although she complained, she loved her job. In fact, just the sight of the brightly painted interiors and the little vases of flowers on each of the tables made her smile as she unlocked the door. Her sneakers caught on something as she walked in through the door, and she looked down to see a piece of crumpled paper that had clearly been shoved underneath. Her heart sank as she read the words scribbled on it.
Kate, sorry for the short notice but got an opportunity to play at Rockapalooza this week so please take this as my notice. This is my big break, hope you can understand!
Margot
Kate groaned. Margot had been her only employee. Although she was a little dreamy and flighty, she was a good pair of hands and Kate had just gotten her up to speed with how everything was supposed to run at the cafe. Margot had always talked about pursuing her dreams as a musician, often singing — rather out of tune — as she went about her day, but Kate hadn’t realized that she meant sooner rather than later.
What was she going to do now? Kate’s head began to pound. She already worked all hours. Even with Margot, she’d either been in the kitchen or serving customers all day. She was grateful, of course, for how well the cafe was doing and how many loyal customers she had — this place was her home and her everything, so when other people loved it too, it gave her that warm fuzzy feeling — but someone had to serve them all coffee and make them all sandwiches and wash up all the plates. And that’s without all the bookkeeping, inventory, and all the other miscellaneous tasks that seemed to be never ending.
She was jolted from her thoughts by a knock on the door behind her.
“Are you open?” The familiar face of Tom, one of her regulars, appeared at the window. He was always first in line in the morning on his way to work. He was a general handyman, and liked to get his jobs out of the way as early as possible so he could spend the afternoons hiking with his dog.
“Yes, yes. Sorry, come on in. Coffee’s not quite ready but I’ll get it sorted for you now.”
Kate bustled him in and he took a seat at the counter while she busied herself putting on the coffee. A task she would do what felt like a hundred times that day. There was so much of her work at the cafe that felt like it was baked into her bones now. She could do almost all of it in her sleep, it was basically muscle memory. A far cry from when she had first started and had messed up everything she touched. Now, it was like a dance. One she enjoyed, when she wasn’t stressing about how she was going to get everything done.
“You seem a bit off this morning, Kate. Something on your mind?”
Usually, Kate loved the idle chitchat with her customers. It was how she had become a part of this community. How she had made friends. She didn’t agree with people who said they hated small talk. Small talk made her world go round. The little tidbits of information people shared with her all built up over time into solid relationships, the minutiae of everyday life knitting together into something bigger. She’d lent an ear to almost everyone in this town, pouring them a big cup of coffee while they griped about their woes, but it was always so much harder to stomach when it was the other way around.
