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“I’m sorry to interrupt your schedules, but this is important.”
His mother and father were sitting, as they always did, on their opulent thrones at the front of the room, his brothers flanking them. He had never felt more like the black sheep than he did at that moment, standing alone, facing them and telling them that he was going to leave. But if anything, that only strengthened his resolve. This life wasn’t for him and there wasn’t a place for him here. He’d found his own place and he needed to go and reclaim it.
“Go on, Emile,” his mother said, kindly. He gave her a grateful smile.
“I haven’t told you much about my time away from the palace, but something very important happened to me. I fell in love. With a beautiful girl, called Kate. She was kind enough to take me in and give me a job, and over the months I spent in Arizona, we fell in love. I made her a promise that I would never leave, and then you recalled me here. I’m grateful to you for asking me to return, but the truth is I’ve made a huge mistake by coming back to Charcieux. I want to be with her, so I have to leave.”
His family stood in stunned silence for a few moments and Emile could hear his heart beating in the quiet of the room. He thought about all of the important events that had happened within these four walls in the hundreds of years that came before
“You’re leaving?” Jean-Luc was the first to pipe up. “When?”
“As soon as possible. I have to try and make things right with Kate.”
“So, she’s not just waiting for you to come back?” Henri asked. A pertinent question, but one which felt like a sucker punch. Emile kept his cool.
“No. When she found out you had asked me to return, she was upset and told me to leave. I went back on my word when I should have stayed and found a way to make things work. I still want to keep my word.”
Emile braced himself for his father’s verdict
“I’m proud of you, son.”
Emile felt tears stinging his eyes. He had never heard those words before from his father’s mouth.
“You… you’re not angry?”
“Of course not,” his mother said. “All we wanted was for you to mature, to learn to take some responsibility for your actions. It seems that where we have failed, another may have succeeded.”
Emile held his breath as he awaited his father’s next words.
“Yes. Keeping your word is a noble endeavor. We cannot stand in your way,” the king concluded.
“Thank you,” Emile said, his words coming out choked. This was the most support that he had ever received from his family, and somehow he felt like he had Kate to thank for that, too. “I’m not sure when I’ll be back.”
“We shan’t expect you. You have our full support, for as long as you need,” his mother said, getting up off her throne and coming over to embrace him. She seemed so small, now that he was an adult; they hugged so rarely that he hadn’t noticed. But she held on tight to him.
“You are welcome home anytime, but I hope that you do not need to return if this woman is as incredible as you say she is.” The queen beamed up at him as she pulled back from their embrace.
“Yeah, good luck, bro.” Jean-Luc clapped him on the back and pulled him into a hug.
“Sounds like you might need it.” Henri followed with a firm handshake. He’d expect nothing less from his staid eldest brother.
Finally, the king arose from his throne and walked over. He, too, pulled Emile into an embrace. It was only for a few seconds, but it was enough.
Emile had never expected such unconditional support from his family, and to have it at this moment meant more than he could express. They were not an overly emotional family, all of them holding back their tears the way they had been taught to do through years of press scrutiny, but as he said his goodbyes, he was glad to have come to an understanding with them.
He only hoped that he wouldn’t have to return in a few days, even more broken than before…
CHAPTER27
KATE
“There has to be another way,” Laura insisted, as she placed a plate of pancakes on the table in front of Kate. It may have been Kate’s job to cook in the cafe but she’d not had to lift a finger in her own home for weeks thanks to the girls in her book club, who had taken it upon themselves to feed her up now that they knew there were triplets on the way.
“I really don’t think there is.” Kate paused in her perusal of flight times so she could tuck into the pancakes; they weren’t quite as fluffy as the ones she made herself but she certainly wasn’t going to complain about having a helping hand. Her back was already aching, she was exhausted, and she still had months to go before the babies made their arrival.
“I just don’t like the thought of you going such a long way on your own.” Laura gave her a concerned look as she sat down with her own plate.
“I don’t love it either, but what choice do I have? I’ve tried to write. I’ve tried to call. I’ve tried to email. But I’m getting fobbed off at every turn. At this rate, the babies will be here before I ever get in touch with him.”
