Untitled

Anna Margaret was shown into the villa by a couple of security men in tracksuits. They had recognised her, of course. George had not even had to act all official. They seemed to know whom she had come to see, because without asking her for her purpose or identification, they took her to something that looked like a crossover between a sitting room and a study. She was glad, because part of her had been fearing during the flight that she would be turned away at the door, which would make her trip to Italy useless and mortifying.

She took the liberty of sitting down and waited. George had made himself scarce with the security men. At times like these, when he was not fully behind her decisions, he behaved as if being her secretary was an insignificant position, with no power and no responsibilities, and certainly no desire to share in the fallout. He had had to obey and come with her, but he was clearly not going to stand beside her if His Majesty King Frederick exploded.

This made Anna Margaret wonder if he was likely to explode because she had come here.

She met him once a week, usually, unless one of them was out of the country, but he had always been rather unexcitable. Of course the topics they discussed could be considered boring and they never really inspired excitement in some people. She could understand that. He could give his opinion on them, but he had no power, so he rarely exerted himself to say more than what was required. But how would he react to something personal? She did not know.

Compared to his father, with whom she had dealt for a few months until he died, he spoke less. Of course contrary to the old man he might not think himself qualified to give his opinion yet. The old king had spoken his mind often. He had had definite ideas on what should be done or decided. Anna Margaret had always felt as if he considered himself the only reliable and well-informed factor, what with politicians changing every so often. And a woman especially had needed to be told what he thought.

His son, on the other hand, had never behaved in a patronising manner simply because she was female. At least, she did not think he would have been involved more if the prime minister had been a man. Not more, not less. He never used his lecturing voice for masculine subjects like military action. He simply assumed it had all been discussed with experts and he did not count himself among those.

Clearly she had not feared anything when she had had George book plane tickets, but now that she was actually here, she wondered. Of course King Frederick could explode politely. That was also an option. Some sort of stately implosion. He might change colour and have smoke come out of his ears. But it was really difficult to imagine.

The next to appear was another man in jogging trousers. He was not wearing any shoes, only socks, and his moist-looking hair stood on end. He pushed his glasses a little further up his nose and addressed her. "To what do we owe the honour, Madam Prime Minister?"

She looked slightly confused as she stood up. "I beg your pardon?" She had not expected one of the security men to come and ask her this question. Perhaps not all reasons for visiting were good enough and they first had to be vetted.

"Is this the yearly 'go forth and procreate' chat?" the man inquired, flopping himself on the sofa.

She decided tentatively that perhaps he was not one of the security men, although he was dressed exactly like them. His tone, however, was far more insolent than they would dare to use. It was stupid of her not to recognise him, but was it really her fault? "You wear glasses?" When she saw him normally, he wore a suit, his hair was neatly combed and he did not wear glasses. He appeared to have changed everything he could change, down to not wearing shoes.

"It is I, LeClerc," he said with a mock French accent, taking off his glasses for a second. "So, you flew all the way to Italy to remind me of my responsibilities to the people?"

She curtseyed belatedly. "Er, no -- Your Majesty." She supposed she should say that, although he had not reacted to her impolite question about the glasses.

He nodded that she could sit down again. "Your father started this, you know. All his successors did the same."

Anna Margaret was at a loss for words. She was not usually struck dumb by the powerful and the wealthy; she had seen far too many of them by now. But they were not usually disguised. Perhaps she had expected him to be studiously casual in his spare time, but certainly not unkempt. It was difficult to address such a person with the obligatory reverence. His hair! Could he not have brushed it when he was told he had a visitor? She decided he either did not care, or he meant to shock her by leaving it uncombed like that. But what purpose could he have with that?

"You've not followed the news, Your Majesty?" Anna Margaret inquired. It would be easier if he had some clue. It would save her unnecessary explanations. And unnecessary explanations, she felt, would not go down well.

He was a bad liar, she decided, or perhaps she was simply good at spotting a lie. He knew very well what she was here for. In spite of nearly always appearing uninterested, he did seem to keep up with the news and he had likewise read about this issue. He knew what had brought her here, although he might not have known it would bring her here. He might simply have expected a mention next week. "There's something I'd like to talk to you about," she said briskly. He might not like her visit, but she was not going away until she had spoken. Unless he called in security, she could and would speak, or else she had come for nothing.

He inclined his head slightly. "They've been giving you a rough time. Who knows, I might have done the same in your position. Nothing like a mini-break to Italy, right? Lovely spring weather and a beach."

"I'd like to get down to business straight away, if you don't mind, Your Majesty. The sooner I'll be in my hotel."

"Oh, you're not staying?" He feigned disappointment. "That's fine. May I offer you a drink?"

She did not think she wanted any liquor or anything else he had to offer. She had to keep a clear head. "No, thank you."

He poured her a glass of water regardless and took one himself as well. She was secretly glad for the water. The few sips on the plane had been the last drink she had had. George was no doubt indulging in as much drink as he wanted, but he would not think of getting her any. "Well, as you know," she began. "There's been some uproar about this young woman who claims you're the father of her child -"

"Weren't there three of them?" he interrupted, betraying at least some knowledge of what was in the tabloids. "Or have two of them seen sense and withdrawn those claims?"

"Three, yes, but only one was underage when it occurred, and as you know, this is a bit of a problem." And it could get worse if the discussion about class justice really got underway. Some people were already suggesting he would not be punished because of who he was. She did not want to have to explain all that to him. Someone had probably already told him already, if he had not read it himself.

"You deny..." She was hopeful, but a second later she realised everyone was likely to start out with a denial. Only when they could no longer avoid it would people confess. It meant absolutely nothing at this stage of the conversation.

His eyes began to gleam. "I was going to say, I never had....and so forth, but that's what they all say, isn't it? And then it turns out they're lying. Though in my case it's the truth. I never."

"You could do a paternity test." In fact, she had never understood why the Palace had not turned to that option straight away. All they did was deny or say no comment, making everyone think he was indeed guilty of whatever they accused him of. And after the first woman, two more had appeared, as if it was contagious. In fact, without serious action against all the claimants, it probably was.

"I could," he agreed. "In fact, I'm not opposed to it at all, in any of the three cases, but my advisers are."

"Why?" she exclaimed, surprised that he was not opposed. She had half expected him to be angry and offended, and reluctant to cooperate. Instead he was calm and, could she say it, rather reasonable.

"It makes one look guilty. Simple denial makes one look innocent, or so they say."

She frowned. "What?" That did not make much sense. Doing a test, especially if it proved he was innocent, did not make him look guilty. "Not wanting to do a test only makes you look guilty if you are guilty."

"So you're saying you had nothing to do with any of them?" she asked, before she could give in to relief and positivity.

"That leaves one problem, though: this doesn't prove you never slept with a girl who was underage at the time." And that was precisely what all the uproar was all about. People would forgive him for affairs and illegitimate children, but far fewer would condone that.

"You do not," Anna Margaret said immediately and she also immediately regretted her insolence. Still, she was sure he was making that up. People who had certain dysfunctions at his age did not wink. They would keep silent about it in embarrassment.

She coloured, even though she knew he was doing it all on purpose. "I can tell you're...not speaking the truth." That sounded more politic than telling him he was lying. She was not very good at tactfully dealing with large egos, which was precisely why she had got her job. People had been fed up with all the manoeuvring. What they did not realise was that she was not carelessly tactless, like the king, but that it always bothered her afterwards. And she blushed sometimes.

"Since when? Last month? Last week? Last night?" She felt he was not taking this as seriously as he ought. He could have any woman he wanted and he was probably more than aware of it. Why should he turn them away?

"I'm not sure you realise the seriousness of the situation." Could she say that to him? Well, no matter - she already had.

"Oh, I do. But damn it, you coming here to question me about it is really making me contrary," he said a little plaintively.

She could understand that, in a way. "I don't suppose you've ever been questioned about anything." She was not sure she had the authority or the courage to question him now either. Their weekly sessions had been strictly about work. He had not always been completely serious or focused, or even polite, but they had never strayed into personal topics. She had never questioned him.

He took up an even more relaxed position on the sofa, pulling up his legs. "I didn't sleep with any of them. I simply don't have the time."

"You go to parties." There were pictures of that. Plenty of them. She was sure that if he showed up at a party, one or more women offered themselves. He did not even have to be attractive if he had a title and money. Today he was more attractive than a few days ago, however, and it was even less believable that he would turn them all down. The way he sat on the sofa, plenty of women would be willing to join him. And he was telling her he would ignore them and push them away?

"And then I go home, because I always get up early. We're running at six tomorrow morning, if you're inclined to join us, by the way."

She was not allowing herself to be sidetracked. "As far as I recall, one of the women spoke of a broom cupboard."

King Frederick looked at her as if he had never heard anything more stupid. "Do I strike you as being so absolutely needy and frustrated that I would consider going into - what exactly is a broom cupboard anyway? Am I supposed to know?" He took out a phone and looked something up. Then he held it out to her.

Anna Margaret had waited patiently. One did not rush a king, she supposed, even if she had already violated etiquette in other ways. There must be limits to his forbearance, however, otherwise protocol, etiquette and the entire monarchy would have been dispensed with long ago.

"This, google says, is a broom cupboard," he said, showing her a photo. "Just exactly where and how...?"

She bit her lip so she would not laugh. This topic was far from amusing and she did not know why she felt the need. Perhaps it was his amazed indignation. "I can't say I have any experience trying."

"I'd be shocked if you did, Madam Prime Minister." He studied the photo again in bemusement. "Really. How?"

"All right, all right, I believe you," she said hastily before he would start speculating. She did not think she could take speculations, especially not from someone in a ridiculously contrary mood. "Not the broom cupboard then. Do you have any idea why they'd make such claims? With so many details? Where do they get the details? Do they invent them?"

"Money? Attention?" he said in a bored voice. "They probably think I'd rather pay fifty grand than investigate the matter. Because, really, if they were truly my children they could get much more than fifty grand out of it."

Anna Margaret had taken out a small notebook and wrote that down. "That's hardly evidence." Although it made sense. Someone who was very certain that he was the father of her child, would aim for a much higher amount. Millions? Yes, probably. There would be millions somewhere. They had not been spent on the inside of this villa, unless there had been no money left after landscaping the grounds.

"It is telling enough, unless you're stupid. The reason is money. I am suspected to have plenty of it."

Then perhaps it really had all been spent on the swimming pool here. "You're also suspected to have plenty of the other it," she pointed out.

"I have never been caught in flagrante delicto, so I'm not sure why anyone would think that. Unless people are simply projecting what they'd do in my position, which is usually strikingly different from someone who lives this life day by day. So many misconceptions." The king shook his head.

"But if you agree to the DNA test, that will be the end of it. Maybe you could sue for defamation at the same time and then women would think twice before they went down this path. But of course that would only work if you really abstained from now on."

His Majesty looked back neutrally. "People who tell me what to do always make me rebellious. They make me want to get some body part pierced, or a tattoo or maybe a gold tooth."

The prime minister was horrified. "You're too old for that," she said. "It's time you -"

He held up a hand to silence her. "--found a woman and produced some heirs? They've been pressing for that for at least fifteen years. Frankly, I think I don't want any children at all."

"What will you tell Parliament?" he asked, sitting up straighter and evidently nearly done with the interview. "Tell them I'm willing to do paternity tests, but that I'm not ready to marry. At least if I'm seventy I wouldn't have to pretend that marriage is a business arrangement; I would now. All the family photos with happy smiles and all. I'd be tempted to - no, I'd better not tell you. So, six o'clock tomorrow morning?"

Anna Margaret had a quick dinner with George. When she had told him the king had requested her presence at six the following morning, he had not looked too pleased. He had refused to buy running shoes and clothes around the corner from the hotel like she did, and he looked extremely suspicious when she added swimwear to her pile of purchases. "What?" she asked crabbily. "He has a swimming pool and a beach. I must be prepared."

"No, but if I have no swimwear, I must decline if I do get invited, and I won't be able to keep an eye on what sort of women do attend." But invitation or not, the beach had looked incredibly tempting. She was sure it was at least partially private and there would not be any tourists snapping pictures of well-known politicians carrying just a little too much weight. She was still a little insulted by that remark. Not that anyone would really care about politicians from small countries, but still.

Point taken. Anna Margaret grumbled a little and took the plastic bag with her purchases up to her hotel room. George had better be ready at a quarter to six or she would wake him - and she would force him to run anyway.

But why did they run so early? And for how long? And why could she not simply ignore the order?

Chapter Two

At five-thirty Anna Margaret took a quick shower, pondered whether to dress in running gear already and tied her hair back. She did not usually go out like that, but no one knew her here.

At a quarter to six, there was a soft knock on her door. George looked awake. He was probably up early at home as well, since he was never late to work. He simply did not look ready to run, but ready for anything else.

"Coffee and a nice view of the beach will do just fine. If anyone calls, what should I tell them?"

She clutched the bag with her other clothes under her arm and wondered who on earth would call so early on a Saturday morning - and why this was different from any other moment since she had been appointed. He had managed to survive not attending meetings she was in, too, by taking notes or asking people to ring back. "If it's an emergency, planes going down, bombs going off, I suppose you will need to come running after us. If it's something else, you can just tell them I'm running and I'll be back eventually."

Oh, so that was the problem. He could not bring himself to say she was running with the king, but he did not have to. "You don't have to mention him. I don't know if he's going. I wouldn't put it past him to let me show up in running tights and then have a laugh at how foolish or fat I am."

George either had no opinion of women in running tights or he chose to keep it to himself. He also did not care about reassuring her.

"I suppose his security staff are going, though," she continued. "I suppose they must keep fit."

"The king implied that I was not fit." She could not keep a small degree of indignation out of her voice and until someone reassured her on this point she might keep bringing it up.

"If he worked as much as you did, Madam Prime Minister, he would also be less fit."

That was not exactly what she wanted to hear. "Damn, George, you're supposed to say that for my age and position in life, I'm exceptionally fit and well-built."

"Oh." They had reached the car park and he unlocked the car. "Do you think the king will serve breakfast?"

"Men only think of food, don't they? He didn't say. Do you mean my predecessor -" Anna Margaret knew George had worked for one other before her, "-- never visited the king in his hideouts with you? What's standard procedure?"

"The previous prime minister would never have flown out to see the previous king in this manner," George said with his lips pursed. He had had to obey this time, but it was clear he had his reservations about the necessity.

"I suppose the previous king never gave any occasion for it," she shot back. He was making it sound as if she was doing something unthinkable. All she had done was arrive unannounced. What was so bad about that?

She had told him that last night. "That's what he says. He says he may not want any at all."

The gates of the villa opened automatically when they came closer. Someone was apparently waiting for them. It made Anna Margaret feel a little more reassured that the run was indeed going to take place. Another man in a tracksuit opened the front door for them. It seemed to be a uniform of sorts around here. She watched him closely to see if he was the king, but his hair colour was different. And of course he would not be opening the door himself.

Then three nearly identically clad men appeared, all wearing sunglasses. They looked to be too fast for her and she tried to come up with a good reason to wriggle out of the running party. "Er..." she began, slightly visually overwhelmed. She spent too much time around older men in suits, if younger men in running tights had this effect on her - and she definitely spent too much time around old men if she considered these men young. "Are you all going? Because I'm fairly sure I'll be slowing you down and His Majesty said I was too fat and -"

There was a suppressed snort from one of the identical trio, but he stepped aside. The middle one removed his sunglasses and squinted at her. "What's this backtracking? They say you've got balls."

So he was the middle one. She saw him smirk, but she did not immediately know what to respond. Surely formality was not required if he began about balls? It was Saturday, of course, and he might be off-duty. "Well, anyway, my secretary would like a cup of coffee and a view of the sea. He opted out of the run."

George looked embarrassed. Or perhaps he was shocked that she did not bow and wait until she was spoken to.

King Frederick, if that was indeed him, put his sunglasses back on. He was completely unfazed by the lack of manners. "Sure. Off we go. We'll be back at eight."

At eight? Anna Margaret did her best not to cry out in protest. That was two hours from now!

She followed the men out of the house, down a short slope onto the beach. Apparently it would be just the four of them. They set out in a slow jog. "Are you really going for two hours?" she asked, trying not to pant already. Having balls had very little to do with managing to run for two hours.

"You can go as far as you usually go and pick me up on your way back," she suggested.

"Now that would be dangerous," said His Majesty. "Leave you alone? All the things that might happen."

"Yes," said two of them simultaneously. They did indeed have bulges in the back of their shirt.

"Not that it would help," said their charge cheerfully. "But it's the idea that counts."

Occasionally the two men in front exchanged some words she could not overhear, but the bodyguard beside her was pretty silent. She was sure they kept their pace down for her sake and she had a good view of their backsides. At the end of the beach there was a high cliff closing in the small bay. She supposed they would turn there.

Arriving there, however, the men stopped. She was glad for the break and rested against a rock. The others, however, did no such thing. One placed his feet on a small elevation and did push-ups. She had to cede her rock to one who wanted to jump onto it - repeatedly. Anna Margaret lay down on the sand and watched. Although they made her feel lazy, they were agreeable to watch.

"Do you do this every day or is this a special performance?" she inquired at some point.

"Both. We have to keep busy. You don't seem ready to run back yet, though for a politician your fitness isn't half bad."

"But I could lose a few pounds." It still stung, even if he was probably right. She regarded her legs in the running tights. They did not look too bad, did they?

"I only meant running wouldn't do you any harm." That was really not an improvement on his earlier statement.

"Well, anyway, don't run behind me on the way back. I don't think I'd be comfortable being watched from behind. How long will you be staying here?" She would offer to walk on ahead, but only if they were not looking.

"Not long. We still have to run to the other side of the beach," he said between sit-ups.

She could not see his eyes. They were well hidden behind his sunglasses and she could not tell if he was serious. She gave a little nod.

"I don't. As you see, I always have two spectators, so I'd rather not. Are you staying for tennis?"

"Tennis? After two hours on the beach, you're going to play tennis?" He was either completely mad or he was provoking her. It was not the first time she had that idea.

Anna Margaret eyed the distant other end of the beach. If she had gone all the way there and back, she doubted she could still play tennis. She might not be able to stand up. "You're pulling my leg, right?"

"Well, I don't manage this at home, no. They have me cut far too many ribbons for me to squeeze in more than two workouts a day." He got to his feet and joined one of the bodyguards who was doing some exercises a little distance away.

She could not hear what they were saying. Maybe they were discussing the way back, or the tennis game, or breakfast. Or, more likely, the exercise they were doing. She got up as well and slowly stretched her limbs. Although she tried to exercise once a day at home, there were days that she did not manage at all. She certainly did not run every day and never on a beach. Since the men were focused on their exercises, she decided they would not watch her backside and she could easily get a head start walking back. She did not want to give up too quickly, but she really did not know if she could run to the other end and then back to the middle.

As she walked, she went over what she would tell Parliament on Monday. King Frederick denied any involvement, he was willing to do a paternity test and she believed he was speaking the truth. Did she? He had been confident that he had had nothing to do with it, so she would have to go with that.

Surely he had not staged this morning run to show her he never had time for women? She glanced over her shoulder. He looked too fit to have staged a run. He would be doing this often. Still, he could have done with other women as he had done with her. He could have taken them running.

And then hidden behind a rock with them while his bodyguards were doing push-ups.

She had flown to Italy energised by irritation and determination. There was not much left of either. She began to feel embarrassed about coming here. "What on earth am I doing here?" she muttered to herself. Was it even professional to parade around in tight trousers? Could she not simply have phoned? Now that she had her answers, she ought to go.

The run, which she completed because she had balls, was killing, and the few steps back up to the garden seemed an insurmountable hurdle. One of the bodyguards had to give her a hand. The other had run ahead. By the time they caught up with him he had showered under one of the two open showers by the poolside and he had a towel around his waist.

Anna Margaret watched in dismay as His Majesty took off his shirt. "Wait!" she said, pointing from him to the shower questioningly.

He stuck his fingers behind the waistband of his running tights and moved it down a fraction.

"Stop!" she ordered. "You're implying everyone is to shower here in plain view?"

"Everyone is covered in sand and sweat. And the cleaning lady has forbidden us to go into the house like that."

"I'd prefer a private shower with hot water," she said, pressing her lips together. The cleaning lady ran the place? How ridiculous.

"You can only have that at night. But if you go last, it will be very private, because we'll be at the breakfast table already."

The other bodyguard had continued to undress and was now stepping under the shower. Defeated, she sat down and looked the other way, checking if the shower was visible from the cliffs or the beach. It did not appear to be, which was a small relief. No paparazzi could see her. When there were no more sounds, she turned around. All men were gone. There was a pile of clothes and towels and a row of shoes. She was not sure what they had changed into. Someone had left her bag with clean clothes there, however, but no one was in sight.

She hated cold showers and she hated being spied on, so she was extremely quick to wrap a towel around her body after splashing a little water on herself. When she was finally dressed she went in search of the breakfast table. It was outside, just around the corner. It was tracksuit time again, she noticed, and she was definitely overdressed. Then again, she was here for work purposes, sort of, and they were not.

There were newspapers on the table, but most were engrossed in their mobile phones. King Frederick was squinting at a tablet he held at arm's length. When he put it down she saw he was reading an online newspaper. He got up and disappeared.

She took the liberty of eating something. Although the men had reached the table before her, they had not waited and they must have started long before her, but they were still eating. After the long run she quite understood their hunger.

His Majesty returned with his glasses. She supposed he usually wore lenses during his public appearances. Either that, or he never had to read much then. No, wait. He did not wear glasses during their meetings and he had to read then. Or was he always on the verge of indifference because he simply could not read whatever document was in front of him? No. He did not appear to be vain.

He raised his eyebrows. "You must have been expecting a lot of trouble here then."

"No, all flights today were fully booked. Although," she added, "I did work in a sort of margin, because I didn't know how accessible or amenable you'd be." And indeed, nothing like a mini-break to Italy with nice spring weather and no laptop.

"Well, you might have partied and not been available until late afternoon," she explained. "Which would be a little problematic if my flight left in the morning. Or you might not be willing to see me immediately."

He sighed and helped himself to two more rolls. He did not speak until after he had cut them open. "Usually prime ministers do not fly over for mere trifles, I should think, although I don't have any experience with them visiting me outside office hours. But the taxpayer would think it a waste of money. Or the opposition would think the taxpayer would think it a waste of money."

"I'm sure I more than made up for it by taking a cold shower. But I paid for the tickets myself."

"So if the prime minister appears, it's fairly logical to assume the matter is serious," he continued.

"I might still think it could wait," he agreed. "Although some people let one get away with that and some don't. In itself, the matter isn't particularly serious, but your taking it very seriously makes it so."

Her father had been a politician in his days. Of course she would never have got this far if she had not been his daughter, but he did not pull her strings and she did not inform him of everything. He had a tendency to think his days were not yet over. And other people had a tendency to think he still ran the show, which was rather aggravating. "Oh, he would like to know, I'm sure. Which is why I don't tell him these things."

"I got the impression, in the past, that my father and your father had quite different notions of what was acceptable. For people like me. I'm not saying your father also applied these standards to himself - I don't know about that - but he would definitely not say anything to others."

She was not prepared to discuss her father in great detail in front of the bodyguards, so she did not give him a reply. He was probably right, when she thought about it. Her father had said he wished the king was more discreet, when her opinion was that he had to give it up altogether. Whatever it was.

Chapter Three

The bodyguards disappeared one by one and in the end only Anna Margaret and the king were left. He kept on eating and he kept on reading. She was long finished, but she did not know where to go. And quite frankly, her legs felt too tired to stand up. She preferred being ignored if that meant she could stay seated.

"So," he said eventually. "You're not here to tell me I must get a move on with this heirs business?"

"No. I'd best get back to my hotel." Still, her legs did not respond to the order she gave them and they failed to lift her out of her seat.

He leant his elbows on the table. "Why? I was looking forward to discussing with you how we can put an end to this interference in my life."

"I'm afraid there aren't many options." She stumbled as she tried to get up from her chair.

He stood up to steady her. "It's not a good idea to walk to your car like that. They might think you're drunk."

"It's Saturday. There might be one or more people trying to catch a glimpse. There usually are on Saturdays. Especially after what was in the paper this morning."

There were loud pangs suddenly, like fireworks. She gave a start. His Majesty did not wait around. "Come," he said, heading for the wooden panelling that shielded the terrace from the wind coming from the sea. One panel niftily turned out to be a door.

She had trouble following. Her legs were stiff. Whatever this was, it could not have come at a worse moment. "What is it?"

"I've no idea, but it's best to assume it's serious." He carefully closed the wooden panel behind them.

"Just so you know, I'm pretty much dead from running. Just leave me here if that's easier for you." She would hide among these thick shrubs here.

While she did not mind sitting or lying down, crawling was a little beyond her abilities at the moment. She followed nevertheless, trying not to make any sounds. All the while she tried to figure out if the action was coming closer.

He had halted at some point and waited for her to catch up. "I suppose you have enough brains to figure out you should keep your head down?"

"Yes." She had heard more of the fireworks in the meantime, which she could only think were gunshots at this time of the day. It could, she thought hopefully, be his bodyguards shooting at people and not the other way around. Her chest had tightened when the pangs did not stop and she was hoping it could all be explained in some innocent way. Maybe people were hunting?

He wriggled out his phone. "Set your phone to silent. This is serious," he said as he seemed to read a message.

Her chest tightened some more and her stomach felt strange. "Who's doing the shooting?"

"We don't have many options. The beach is too exposed, unless we go fast and run towards the rocks. We appear to have a few minutes. I don't know how tired you are."

"Yes, do it," Anna Margaret said without waiting for the other options. She had considered them when they were crawling, but going back in the direction of the house was definitely out. And people might find that door. She preferred to be figuratively dead, not literally.

"We don't know where they are. We'd best stick close to the land." He crawled ahead and slid down the rocky slope.

She followed him and they jogged towards the cliff. Sometimes she glanced back in fear, but the trees around the tennis court were hiding them from view. Only if someone descended the steps by the swimming pool would they be seen. Hopefully they would have a few minutes before that happened, although it had taken them longer than that to reach the large rocks earlier. There was one in the middle of their path and King Frederick dropped down behind it to let her catch her breath. Or maybe he wanted see what was happening behind them. Occasionally they still heard gun shots.

They ran from rock to rock. No one appeared on the beach behind them, but of course people might be watching from the windows. Eventually they were close to the end of the beach. From here they would be able to see everyone coming, but they would not have anywhere to go. To the left was the sea, behind them a steep cliff that protruded into the sea and to their right the same rock, that at this end of the beach was far too steep to climb.

The villa had been built in a nicely secluded hollow. A few old houses had been torn down to make room for the villa, its tennis court and its swimming pool. There had been an uproar at the time, both at home and here, because of the money it had cost, the building permits that should not have been issued, and the people who had been paid handsome sums to sell their land.

But a place that had been chosen because it was difficult to access was also difficult to escape from. Anna Margaret rested her head against the rock and wondered what plans His Majesty had, if any. He had got them here, that was good. But now what? Were they to hide here until the threat had passed? Anyone shooting at the villa would want either him or her and it was unlikely they would not search the beach if they could not find them anywhere else.

He was doing something on his phone, presumably sending messages. Then he looked up. "We'll have to round the cliff through the water."

She was less afraid now, but the numb feeling inside did not go away. "And then? How do you know you won't run into anything on the road? Is there even a road?"

She was glad she had dragged her bag with her, even if it did contain two pairs of shoes. She had taken one pair off somewhere behind a rock. "I can't keep all of this dry. How deep is the water? Will we have to swim?"

"And mine, thanks." Why only his? She got out the plastic bag and wrapped as much in it as she could. Then she put it back into her bag.

He still did not look afraid, but he was much more serious than before. "Does anyone know you're here? In other words, could they be after you and not me?"

"I doubt it." She took off her trousers and blouse while trying to stay hidden behind the rock.

"You said we have to wade. My clothes will be soaking wet otherwise. They would take hours to dry and it would look very conspicuous. Just look the other way if you can't stand the view."

Around the promontory was another beach, but smaller and with more pebbles. Up on the hillside were a few houses and beyond them a road. His Majesty studied the first house. All its shutters were closed. It was only 8:30 of course. He climbed the rocky steps towards it. There were two small cars in front of the house, but the owners seemed still asleep. He pointed at the grassy hill across the road. "Up there."

It was steep to climb, but they made it. On top, out of sight, he lay down. Anna Margaret had followed, occasionally with some assistance, hoping no one in any of the houses had seen them climb. Not that they might interfere with two people climbing hills in their underwear, but they would definitely remember it.

"We need to dry up and get dressed. When I get home I'm going to resign and shag women with impunity."

Anna Margaret had no comment on the first part; she quite agreed. The second part of his remark, however, she could not really let pass. "There's no such thing as shagging women with impunity."

"Then, I'm afraid, that long queue of women will disappear, unless you give it to them."

"I'm still going to resign. What did I ever do to warrant people coming after me with guns?" he asked, as if he really had no idea.

"Why shoot you on an unexpected trip to Italy that no one knows anything about? At least I assume no one knows. You haven't pissed off any Italians, have you?"

Anna Margaret admitted that it made little sense. She had had little difficulties with Italians and she had not informed anyone she would be going here. She was also rarely ensconced in villas with high fences and armed security. At home she had no protection at all. Anyone could get to her there. Why wait until it was difficult?

"Where's your backup?" she asked after a while after willing her underclothes to dry faster. It was not working yet in the early morning sun and she was shivering. Also, she was feeling rather exposed, even if her companion was not the least bit interested in ogling her. Her swimwear might have been better, but she had not wanted to strip completely. "Surely there must be some emergency plan or squad in case something like this happens?"

"I'm serious. We did look at how to get off the beach, but we didn't actually practise what to do after."

"You have no numbers to call?" He had wanted to keep his phone dry; she had assumed he was going to use it.

"I'm not going to call any numbers until I know for certain that it was serious. I'd look a fool otherwise. Suppose someone was shooting pigeons."

While it was true they had not seen anything of the shooting themselves, she recalled him looking at his phone. "Did your security staff send you a message?"

"I don't actually have numbers of useful people," he confessed. "Other people call them for me."

Of course. He was never alone and nobody ever counted on him being alone either. She made a mental note to have this changed somehow. These people should be able to help themselves. "Call someone whose number you do have. Someone useful. Not your mistresses."

He retrieved his phone from the plastic bag and crawled away a bit to make a call. Anna Margaret crept to a point from where she could see the road. It was deserted, as were the gardens of the houses that she could see. The inhabitants still had not come out.

King Frederick crawled back. "I called the ambassador. She said she'd call you. I didn't tell her we were on a hilltop in our underclothes together and that you already knew."

"If she sends a car, where will you leave me? Pretend I just turned up?" How was he going to explain that?

"She's not going to send a car. I told her it was safer if I took the bus to Rome."

She gasped for air. "So she's going to send ten cars, if not more." Such a reassurance was really going to put the ambassador off. Yes, really. What was he thinking? Taking the bus to Rome? On his own? And he expected the ambassador to let this happen?

"Ah!" He smirked. "But you know, I'm more intelligent than most people. We won't be going to Rome, but to France and then home."

Modesty was a delightful virtue. It was a pity people did not cultivate it more. "I'm duty-bound to stick with you," Anna Margaret said with regret. "They'd have my head if I abandoned you in this situation, as you have very obviously no clue how to get yourself to anywhere. And if the ambassador calls me, am I supposed to deny that I'm here? I went to school with her."

"Which means most people would either be completely clueless or ready to do something utterly stupid," he said readily. "Not that I have every solution."

She felt her bra. It was still moist, but she would not feel comfortable speaking to anyone else without her blouse on, even if it was over the phone and someone she knew. "Do you have any money on you?"

"Right." That was something, at least. "But you can't use credit cards on the bus."

"Oh. Well, you know, I am going, whether you like it or not. Either you come with me or you will have to explain to everyone how you let me walk away."

She had been fearing as much, but hearing him say it was nevertheless a bit of a shock. He had some nerve to say it so casually too. But they did not have time to argue. "Listen. The ambassador knows you're in the vicinity of the villa. The local police probably know. Whoever was shooting may also know, depending on whether they managed to gain access and search the house. I'm not sure it would take very long for anyone to come looking this way, be it friend or foe."

"They'd have to search the house and grounds first to make sure I'm not hidden anywhere."

"Yes, but once they've done that, they'll move to that road down there, as it's the only effective way out of the area, isn't it? I don't think anyone will assume you'll be hiking over rocky hills. If there was a way to get over, there would be a path - and a couple of hotels." She looked around pointedly. There was nothing. That meant that accessibility was limited. "And they'll think you're impractical and spoiled, so you'll be on the road."

He looked at her without speaking. Presumably she was making too much sense to be contradicted.

"There's a village after a few more bends. Five minutes by car maybe? The village on the other side is closer."

"And that's where they were shooting, so that's not where we're going. Is there a way out on the other side of your beach, or is it going to be absolutely clear that you're on this side?"

"Basically all anyone would need to do is go down this road in two directions and see where you'll turn up. Great." She crawled to watch the road again. A small white car went past, but it went in the direction of the villa.

Chapter Four

When she came back, His Majesty had got his tracksuit back on and was working on his shoes. She pulled on her neat black trousers and her running shoes. Her underwear was not completely dry yet, but they could not hang around for longer. Then she moved away from the coast, into the wilderness. Just when she was navigating a combination of rocks and prickly bushes, her phone began to vibrate.

Anna Margaret answered it. It was the ambassador, who sounded panicked. As she listened, she still could not decide whether she would reveal her whereabouts once she could get a word in. The ambassador also seemed more concerned about the king being loose on his own than about people getting shot at.

"Could it be true?" the ambassador asked. "Or are they holding him and were they making him phone? I mean, the plan sounded completely daft!"

"Unfortunately, he is completely daft," Anna Margaret said dryly. She made a decision. "But fortunately, I am here."

The other woman paused to process this news. "But what can you do? Can you find him?"

"Oh, I have him here. He's all right. Physically, at least." She could see him glaring at her and she smiled back sweetly. "But that doesn't mean he'll allow himself to be picked up by a car."

"You have him there? I sincerely hope you won't allow him to take the bus to Rome!"

"The thing is, I'm not exactly clear on who is to obey who in this situation." She could tell from his face he had an opinion on that, but this was not the time to discuss that. "But listen, it's a bit difficult for me to use the phone here. I'd rather you made sure things are okay at the villa. We'll talk later." She put away her phone before she dropped it into a crevice.

"That is in part because I do not know our exact location." She slid off the rock she had had to climb over. The terrain was sloping gently downwards. Well, on average - there were rocks and holes that were not so gentle. It was not impassable yet, but they could not see too far ahead. Ahead of them were trees. There was no telling what was beyond that. "She hopes I won't allow you to take the bus to Rome."

"No. She didn't know if you were really free and not saying things with a gun to your head."

It was probably around nine o'clock now and growing warmer. He paused in the shadow of a lone tree. "What time would you expect people to come looking, assuming they haven't all been killed?"

She had no idea. "They could be fifteen minutes behind us, if they first searched in the same direction. But they could not know where we went, so it's probably more. Personally I'd first check the road before I climbed a hill. You'd only have to drive a few minutes to find out that's not where we went, whereas it would take you much longer to ascertain we are nowhere up here."

"Yes, so if anyone is following us, they could be appearing at the top any moment." She looked towards it.

She agreed. "From the size of the villages around here, I doubt the locals have enough manpower to be at work on two fronts. They can't be both at the villa and here. Any more sophisticated manpower will have to travel for a while to get here."

King Frederick was keeping a wary eye on the top of the hill. He rolled behind a stone outcrop. "That is exactly right. Any extra security has always been our own responsibility. They appointed one of their local constables as liaison, but that's it. Whatever they could bring in, it's not yet here."

He hesitated. "I didn't want to have a ringing phone reveal their location in case they were hiding, but they have not sent me any messages since the first one."

"Presumably they do keep in touch with the local police in such cases," he said hopefully. "Since that's where reinforcements should come from. Not from me. I'm merely someone who has to get out of the way. I might have stayed there if you hadn't been with me, though."

"Those breakfast knives are very efficient against guns, I'm sure," Anna Margaret said in a sarcastic tone when she imagined him defending her with cutlery.

"I have a gun. Still, my role is to be a coward and to get out of the way. If I stayed to shoot, I might get shot myself." He sounded a little bitter.

Anna Margaret glanced up at the top of the hill. There was still no one in sight, but she hid behind the same outcrop just in case. They had not come down in a straight line, although that would have been possible. Anyone coming down might not find them right away. She hoped no one would want to look behind every rock. "They're your friends, aren't they?" she asked quietly.

She squeezed his hand and held it for a moment. "Do you have your gun with you?"

"No," he said, exhaling deeply. "I don't generally carry it around. Now I wish I did. Your secretary, are you fond of him?"

"Oh. Would I be sad if he got shot, you mean? We're not in a relationship. He'd fancy you rather than me. I'm probably less fond of him than you are of your men, but I still care." She looked at the green and brown smudges that had appeared on her trousers and blouse. It would be difficult to get on a bus without attracting curious looks, but there was no other transportation out of this area as far as she knew. "I hope he went back to the hotel. With the car."

While she was tapping away, he peered around the outcrop. There was nothing. In the distance a helicopter appeared. He peered at it suspiciously. It appeared to go in the direction of the villa. "But it's not the authorities, I think."

"Who could employ shooters and a helicopter and why?" She moved a little closer, although it was pretty useless to depend on him for protection if he did not have a gun.

"I don't know. Listen. If anyone asks, were we professionally dressed at all times or not?"

She glanced at the smudges on her blouse and then at his tracksuit. Professionally indeed. "I don't think anyone would dare to inquire. By the time the anecdote ends up in my memoirs you'll be too old to care."

"My father is working on his memoirs. He seems to think people will read them. If people read his, they would certainly read mine if I include today's episode."

"My secretary. He's at the hotel. How could he be at the hotel? If nothing is happening, what do they think we are doing?" Would their disappearance not look strange in that case? And how would it look if they came back?

He glanced at the top of the hill again and then at the sky. There was nothing. "Call him."

Anna Margaret did so. "How can you be at the hotel? Do you know about the shooting? No, I don't know. I have no idea. I'm not there anymore. Can you make inquiries, discreetly? No one should know I'm here. No, I can't say. I'll let you know later."

"Yes. Apparently your men told him you'd keep me busy all day and he decided to go back to the hotel long before seven o'clock."

"I don't know what they told him, but he's not the sort to think anyone would say no to you, so my saying no didn't even occur to him and he thought he had all that time to himself."

"I'm not going to Rome." He heard the helicopter again and pulled her further under the overhang.

"I hope they're not paparazzi." They would have a field day with photos of this position. She knew he was probably hiding her because her white and black clothes were more noticeable than his grey jogging trousers, but this was never the sort of practical thing that occurred to paparazzi first.

He kept her pressed against the rock as he tried to peer out of their hiding place. "And hand myself over? This is freedom."

"So effectively you're kidnapping me for the sake of your freedom? You can't seriously be thinking this is freedom. What do you need me for?"

"The helicopter is flying away along the coast," he said. "Good. What do I need you for? Well, for instance you must know how to buy bus tickets and things like that."

She sighed and pushed him away. If the helicopter was gone, there was no need to keep her confined here. "If you are in serious danger, call in serious help."

"I want to go home and I believe the safest way is to go incognito. And certainly not via Rome. Rome is the other way."

"My dear sovereign, I hope you were not thinking you could board a bus in these parts that would take you directly home?"

More than a few, she would say. "Probably, if you insist on buses, at least thirty. Which implies you would have to spend the night somewhere. Probably, if you insist on buses, at least ten. Does it still sound so attractive now?"

He said nothing, stood up and after a glance up the hill, began walking towards the trees.

Anna Margaret groaned and followed. She reached them a few minutes after he did. "I don't like this. You have no idea what you're getting into. I doubt you're equipped for the real world. Show me you really have a credit card and a bank card on you."

She spoke as calmly as she could. "The nice paradox is, if you want to travel incognito, you need ID."

"Of course. And that's why you need someone to book the hotels." She nodded, but his face betrayed that he had not given any thought to either his ID or the booking of hotels. Of course not. He might not even know hotels had to be booked and paid for. "Do you realise that if we disappear, police everywhere will be mobilised? Hardly freedom. You'll be caught at the first roadblock and I'd rather not be involved. The headlines!"

"Then let them know we've not disappeared. Besides, you cannot disappear, because they don't know you're here. Except the ambassador, whom you probably shouldn't have told."

"I told her so she wouldn't mobilise every security agency thinkable. Though she still might." She moved a little further among the trees, to see what the terrain was like. It was secluded, but more impassable. Great. And they might get lost.

'What made you look on Twitter?" She found him amazingly unpredictable. Twitter, of all places.

"I hope you didn't post anything on Twitter yourself." Anna Margaret's phone vibrated again. "Yes?" she answered. "Oh. Yes. He just told me that too. What? All right. Thanks."

She put her phone away again and looked at him seriously. "Three attackers got away on foot. Contradicting Twitter is still a bit premature. What the --" she exclaimed when her phone vibrated again. "Louis? What can he want?"

"He wants to tell you I'm dead." He took her free arm and led her away from the edge of the trees.

"Yes?" Anna Margaret answered Louis's call. "Yes, I heard. But it's not true. He's not dead. I've just spoken to him. Yes, really. I don't know. Perhaps you should try to contact him. He's obviously got his phone with him."

At this, His Majesty turned towards her and grimaced. He seemed to like being dead.

She did not think that was nice of him. "No, I'll leave that up to you for the time being. I don't yet know what would be wise. Er, no. I can't attend. I'm abroad on a private visit, but I'll try to return as soon as I can. Which may not be very, very soon. But you can always contact me by phone."

Helicopter? She listened carefully, but heard nothing. Then she spoke again. "Yes, yes, thanks. Bye."

"He knows your number. He'll have your location in five minutes," said the king. "Was he sad or glad that I'm alive?"

"There you go," he said, as his phone vibrated too. "Yes? Hello, Louis. Yes, I heard. No, I don't want my death to be either confirmed or denied. Yet. You're still investigating. I've no charger with me, so I'm going to have to switch off my phone after this call. I need it later for more important matters. Listen, I was told three attackers escaped on foot, so I'm not going to waste any time persuading you I am me and I am alive, because nobody knows where they might be. No, I can't do that. I don't want to give away how I currently look."

He slid his phone into his pocket after switching it off. "I had the feeling he thought I was a terrorist posing as me. Asked me for a selfie. He's going to call you back, I bet. Do I sound like a terrorist?"

"Where I am, certainly. Now, I don't think he can get any men here very fast, so..."

"I cannot switch my phone off." She was the prime minister, for heaven's sake, and this was an emergency. She needed to make reassuring noises from time to time and make decisions.

"In the interest of my safety, you can. All this phoning costs time as well. And I bet you don't have a charger with you either, so we won't be able to look up anything useful by the time we need to."

Before she could do anything, she got another call. It was Louis again. "Yes?" she answered. "Yes. Yes. I know it sounds dodgy, but - yes. No. I advise you to leave him be. He says he knows what he's doing. Concentrate on the attackers."

They had been moving north, parallel to the tree line, instead of further into the wood. "There's a very steep drop that way," His Majesty informed her when she put her phone away again. "I'm looking for a place where it's less steep. We'll go down there and find a bus."

This did not look a very likely place for a bus, but Anna Margaret was too tired to contradict him or to get him off the idea of buses. Now and then they stopped to examine the slope, but she was glad he kept judging it too steep. At some point they saw something below that looked like a garden. This excited him, because where there were gardens, there were people, and where there were people, there were bus stops. She wisely did not point out there had to be a sizeable population to warrant a bus line. He would simply not understand.

Chapter Five

It was a good five more minutes trekking -- descending slightly, or so she thought - until they reached a narrow, paved road. It could even be someone's driveway, as it clearly was not designed for two cars to pass each other. Still, it was infinitely more comfortable than the wilderness and King Frederick led her to the left. He kept a grip on her arm, because he felt she did not keep to the side of the road well enough and he did not want her to be run over before she had shown him where to buy bus tickets.

After three sharp bends going down, they saw a junction ahead. Suddenly a pavement appeared too, as well as garden walls. They were slowly entering the civilised world.

"I'm dirty. My blouse is all wrinkled, too." She pulled the blouse from her trousers, undid the lower buttons and made a knot. "But now no one will notice." She looked awful, like a sexy tourist showing off her belly button. But at least she no longer looked like she had rolled over a dirty floor in an office.

"Do they have shops in this place?" he wondered when he had gone left onto the wider road.

"I hope so." After another five minutes following the wider road, they hit the main street. In the meantime, they had not seen anybody pass them. The only people Anna Margaret had seen were two middle-aged women doing household chores. It was Saturday, she reminded herself, but she had completely lost track of what time it could be. "Are we actually too early for the shops? It feels like I've been up for an entire day by now!"

She pointed at an ATM. "First, get some cash. It's always useful to have some cash. Then we find a supermarket."

She wondered if he even knew what bus stops looked like. But at least there was a place name. Just when she switched on her phone again to see if there were bus stops at all in this village, Louis rang again. "Yes?" she asked with some irritation, stepping away from the ATM. It was annoying that he was interrupting both her google search and her supervision of how much cash His Majesty was taking out. She did not know if he had any idea of what was necessary. She could stand next to him, but then he would overhear her conversation and she did not want that.

"He turned off his phone, and you turned off your phone. What the hell is this about?"

"He thought this a good occasion to go rogue. He accepts some interference from me, but I strongly advise you to leave him alone, like I said. Leave. Him. Alone." She would undoubtedly have to say it a few more times before the message got through.

There was a pause on the other side of the line. "I understood the bodyguards are all still at the villa and he's not. Where is he?"

"As if you don't know." She did not know if they could be traced. In reality, that was. In films they certainly could be.

"We lost track. There are concerns that he was taken by the three attackers when they got away, because his responses have been quite peculiar. And he has not phoned his mother."

"His mother?" Anna Margaret cried. What on earth did his mother have to do with it all?

She would not expect that at all, as he had theoretically grown up years ago. "Well, he's all right. He was not taken by attackers and he is under my control." She stared at the king's back. She hoped he had not heard.

Louis continued to be concerned. "I could have a team of psychologists fly over immediately."

"Louis, I've said before that I want you to leave him alone. You will be contacted if your help is needed. The same applies to everyone else who's listening in." She did not doubt he had put her on speakerphone in some crisis meeting that she would have been attending had she not been abroad.

"That's fine. Let's find the shops." She washed her hands in a fountain they passed. They had got very dirty from climbing and crawling.

Across the street was a supermarket and on this side a shop with household items. "What do we need?" Anna Margaret said in a low voice, although there was no one there to overhear her. "Water would be nice if you're serious about the bus. Why don't you go in while I google where we are and how far my hotel is from here."

King Frederick looked as if he was six and being allowed to shop for the first time on his own. "Do you plan to go to your hotel? What for?"

She checked her phone, hoping no one would call during the search. The town her hotel was located in was not far. She pondered if it was wise to make a detour to go there, but having her own things would be nice. And she could give George some orders. She could not find any information about buses online. Usually bus stops showed up on a map, but they were conspicuously absent here.

His Majesty appeared again with a large plastic bag. He gave it to her - for inspection, she presumed, because she was not going to carry something as heavy as this. Two large bottles of water, some apples, bananas and grapes, tasty rolls, a notebook, pens, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo and a package with two razors. It all looked surprisingly useful and she was amazed.

She took a sip of the water and handed the bag back to him. "Let's find a place where we could buy underwear."

"Please buy your own underwear." Evidently he did not want to be sent in again on his own.

They walked down the main street and passed a dusty square with a shop, a restaurant and a church. Finally they came across a shop that might sell what they were looking for. It looked to be cheap and limited in its range, but it would have to do.

He followed her inside like an obedient dog. "If you see something you need, put it in the basket," she whispered at him, although it was doubtful whether anyone else would have cared. "I have no idea of your taste and size."

In an old taxi that had been parked in the dusty square, they had been conveyed to the hotel. It was a lot quicker than walking, which she estimated would have taken them over an hour. She was glad she had spotted the taxi just when she had decided to walk. "All right, come on up."

The hotel was large enough for no one to pay much attention to yet another guest coming in and she was not even sure they had been noticed at all. Her room was on the first floor. Her companion was evidently used to larger rooms, because he expressed his amazement at the size of the bathroom.

"It serves its purpose," she said briskly. "Now get out, I've been dying to use it for an hour." When she came out, he was looking out of the window, but he soon disappeared into the bathroom himself for a closer inspection. She did not pay attention. First she had to get out of these clothes. Unfortunately her only other set of clothes was more or less the same as this one and the small shop had only carried things that were not to her liking. She had bought the least ugly top and chose that over a formal-looking blouse. Then she packed everything into her suitcase, except for the food and his clothes.

Only then did she check what he was doing, which was still being in the bathroom. She knocked. "I'm going to see if George is in. Are you going to change when I'm gone?"

"No, I'd do it in front of you, but I don't have to change. I'll have a banana."

"Er... right." She went out and knocked on George's door. He answered after a few seconds and looked very relieved to see her. Before he could say much, however, she beckoned him to her own room.

The king was eating a banana, as he had said. He observed George's instant reverence with a peculiar look.

"Now, I'm going to leave this hotel and travel home," Anna Margaret began. "I won't tell you how, so you won't be able to tell anyone. I don't think I'll manage to be at the office on Monday. Maybe Tuesday. I will occasionally have my phone switched on. Did you find out anything about the shooting?"

"Not much. Two attackers were wounded and a few got away. No one at the villa was killed."

Anna Margaret was not sure George understood that language. He had always been a little weary of social media. She hardly understood it herself. "It says he's dead."

"I advise you not to tell anyone. Louis has a team of psychologists ready to fly over because you've been exhibiting signs of peculiarity." She had an inkling that Louis would think plans to retire were the fruits of a mentally unstable mind.

"I do admit I toyed with the idea of sending him a very peculiar selfie, but I was afraid he'd send it to others. But why are you telling me this only now, about the psychologists?" He frowned in concern.

He got up, set her suitcase on the floor, stuffed his clothes in it and wheeled it to the door. "But we should go before they've really tracked our phones. George, you don't know where she went, should they ask. I'm kidnapping the lady. They always have female sidekicks in films, so I need one too."

George looked about to have a seizure. Even Anna Margaret herself was a little lost. She picked up the plastic bag with the food.

"I'd go alone, but I don't quite trust her not to ask Louis to send the men in white coats. I have to keep an eye on her."

"I know. Bye, George." He walked down the corridor. "What do I call you, by the way?"

"My name would be fine," she replied tiredly. For some strange reason she was looking forward to sitting on a bus for hours. All this moving about was fatiguing. And they would not have to think, sitting on a bus.

She wasted no time in giving him the bag. "I wonder why you're suddenly much saner."

This village boasted of a bus service to the nearest larger town. That did not take too long, but the bus north, going over the winding coastal road, took ages. It had grown grey and rainy, so there was not much to look at either. At first Anna Margaret had enjoyed sitting and doing nothing, but then doing nothing had begun to be boring. Her companion was not talking either. He was simply sitting there, looking out of the window, or at the people who got on at bus stops on the way.

"You took the motorway, I suppose." He leant against her and kept his voice down so the people behind them would not hear. "Will we get to the border before the night?"

"Definitely not," she said pessimistically and got the notebook out of the plastic bag to write things down. "We have several options. First: the bus. Second: take the train to Turin and then into France. Third: take the train to France via the coast. Fourth: rent a car for a one-way trip. I can be at the office on Monday if we do that."

"Do you want to be at the office on Monday?" He seemed surprised that she was in a hurry and not enjoying this freedom.

She sighed. "You've only been thinking of the consequences for yourself so far, but yes, undoubtedly this will have both professional and personal consequences for me. I can't tell you precisely what they'll be. Otherwise I would have known better what choices to make." She had tried to sound neutral, but perhaps it had come out a little more sharply than she had wanted.

Anna Margaret wondered why he was holding her hand. It was strange rather than unpleasant. They could phone Louis from the bus station and pretend they had never travelled away from the villa. That was option five. "Why did I ever fly to Italy yesterday?" she muttered. She tried to think if she should have told someone before going. Would someone think they should have been informed?

"I was a little annoyed when you showed up," he admitted. "But after I've resigned I'll tell you something."

"You can't be distracted from your very serious duty of transporting this sensitive package back home. I can't be distracted either. I'll put it off."

Chapter Six

Arriving in Genoa, Anna Margaret was no closer to deciding what they should do. She disliked this immensely. Usually she was all for swift decisions. "Shall we get some coffee before we move on? We still need to decide how we're going to get out of here."

King Frederick had not become more talkative on the bus ride. In fact, he had napped. Which had been rather annoying, since it had made her the one who had to look out for attackers. And, she supposed, the one who had to act if attackers really did show up. From shoving the king under the seat to throwing apples at the attackers, she had considered all options. Unfortunately none seemed very effective.

They chose the nearest establishment, in case they would need to take another bus. Frederick, as he now wanted to be called, looked at his phone. "So many missed calls," he whistled. "So many voicemails."

Anna Margaret suspected it was much the same with her own phone. She had her charger now, but no way to plug it in anywhere, so she still had to be careful. There was a socket next to their table and she considered using it.

She switched her phone on as well and phoned Louis, since he would probably try again in less than five minutes. His number was among the many missed calls.

"Fine." She could not say he was enjoying himself tremendously. Given the circumstances it would make him look very superficial and more than a little strange. But she thought he was enjoying himself. He was in a good mood.

"I know where you are," said Louis. "I took the liberty of sending some men to watch over you."

"Seriously?" she cried. She did not know if she was disappointed about having been found, angry about being watched or relieved about being safe.

It was worse if she did not see them. It made one paranoid. How many were there? Two? Four? Ten? Her eyes furtively darted around the café. "And how do you know where I am?"

"I have people who are excellent at finding that out. Besides, the attack was in the morning. I've had enough time to get people in place, especially because you took the bus." He made that sound like an utterly ridiculous idea.

She blushed in embarrassment. "Sorry, that was his idea." Nevertheless, she tried to figure out how he could have discovered where they had gone. Had his men spoken to people? Had they tracked their phones? Had George contacted them? It was just like George to think the safety of the king went before everything else.

"The two who were caught will be questioned as soon as possible. I have no reliable information about them yet. We were not aware of any specific threats against the king. Could I speak to him? I know he's with you."

"Yes?" he said to Louis and then listened for a while. "Don't try to pick me up anywhere. Don't do anything I wouldn't like, or I'll do something you wouldn't like," he said finally and gave the phone back.

Anna Margaret checked if Louis was still on the line. He was. "So..." she said, hoping to conclude the conversation, but he could not be pleased with the king's words.

"I wish he would let himself be picked up," Louis complained. "What is he threatening to do? Is he giving you any trouble?"

She was glad for it. There were no precedents, naturally, and she had not known whose orders were to be followed, although she suspected Louis had to follow hers, since he was merely the vice prime minister. "How are your bodyguards?" she asked of her companion. He had not asked about them, as if he was not interested in knowing. He did seem a little self-centred at times. At other times he was not, which made it difficult to read him.

Fair enough, she conceded. He did not have to share everything with her. Presumably the fact that they had exchanged messages meant they were all right and their being men might mean the messages had been very short. "And what did Louis tell you?"

"We're being watched - or will be soon. I don't know if he was bluffing about that. I suppose you're pretty recognisable to those who know." He studied her critically. "Could you dye your hair?"

"You've watched too many films." She glanced around, but there was no one in the café who paid them any attention. Most people looked to be Italian and they could not be working for any of their own country's services. Or maybe that was what one was supposed to think. She could not be very recognisable here. "In films they always cut their hair too, but they never have a job to return to the next day. I do."

"Point. Excuse me," he said, leaning across the table so he could speak softly. "Check if anyone follows me to the toilets."

"Why should they, though?" Watchers were supposed to watch him, but would they really need to follow him to the lavatory?

"And leave me with the bill." She had just gestured for more coffee. "Of course."

"I forgot." She watched him walk to the toilets, but although she kept her eyes on the door, no one followed. Two new cups of coffee were brought to the table and she paid. "I didn't see anyone," she said when he returned.

"There was a man who got there just before me, which is possible because I didn't go straight away and anyone could have guessed my intentions from my looking around to see where I had to go. You know how you can guess where someone is going and then pretend to run into them by accident?"

"I'm surprised you have to run into women by accident." She was also surprised that a man whose every public move was orchestrated even had the opportunity to plan his own private moves.

She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I prefer not to discuss peeing habits, thanks. And don't tell me what standard issue means. I don't think I want to know."

"I've been surrounded by these people all my life." He curled his hands round the coffee cup so that it disappeared from sight.

She supposed that was a reasonable enough explanation. He had always been surrounded pretty much like his coffee cup. And apparently he had watched people as they had watched him. Why not? But it begged a question. "Why would they provide you, of all people, with standard issue agents?"

She touched his hand and spoke gently. "Listen, we still have to decide how we're going to travel on."

"I vote for renting a car and getting a hotel somewhere in France. If we were spotted anyway, we might as well make ourselves comfortable."

She raised her eyebrows. "You know, I was expecting you to suggest we try to escape from Mr Standard Issue." It was almost like giving up.

"No point in taking more buses. I now know how buses work," he went on. "People sit practically on top of you, too. No opportunities to discuss anything private. The ones behind us might be them. Oh yes, and about the hotel...how many rooms will we get if we show up at a hotel?"

She matched his careful look. "Assuming there are rooms available, as many as we want."

"That depends," she answered slowly. "Now that we're under surveillance, that might be a good idea. Just imagine Mr Standard Issue, or his superior, reporting to the crisis meeting. 'They're in room 105, together.' Nice." She cringed. "Speakerphone. Room full of men. Brilliant."

"That's what I was thinking. Even though I wasn't actually planning to sleep with you."

She was confused. "About what?" Change his mind about celibacy, about feigning celibacy, or about sharing a room? Or were they the same?

"Of course Louis might think you flew to Italy to stay with me in the first place," he mused. "You could have sent a man to Italy to question me, after all, since man-to-man talks are generally more open, but you went yourself."

"I know you didn't. But you don't know I didn't." He tapped the table as he was thinking.

"You would think two men would discuss details, but if there's nothing to say, there's nothing to say."

"It doesn't seem to get through." He drank his coffee. That did not take long; the cups here were rather small. The sooner the cups were empty, the sooner the customers would probably make room for other customers.

She shook her head slowly. "I'm going to take a break." She walked to the door with the toilet sign on it. Beyond it was a narrow corridor with walls hung with posters and other notices. To the left were the toilets and at the end a door marked private that doubled as emergency exit. The women's lavatories were clean enough, although everything was covered in graffiti. She wondered if he had ever been to such a place before, but he had not said anything about it. There was no one there already and no one followed her. Female agents were probably harder to come by. Or no one cared about her taking the emergency exit.

The idea of sharing a room was rather more appealing than it ought to be, she admitted, even if the main advantage was just to have company. But if people were watching over her shoulder, so to speak, it probably was not a good idea to become too friendly with this man. It was a pity that she could not say he was unattractive and that if they had not been under surveillance there was no telling what she might have done. In response to some move from him, naturally.

"I've reserved one," he answered. "But now my phone battery is dead, so I really need to buy an extra charger. We can pick the car up in two hours, so we'll have time to go shopping and then take a taxi to the pick-up point."

This sounded surprisingly organised and surprisingly knowledgeable. "You know how to rent cars?"

"I wasn't sure." He got up and picked up the plastic bag that still contained two bottles of water and a lot of fruit. "Let's go."

Anna Margaret had some questions, but she did not ask them until they were driving away in their rental car. After having observed traffic from the taxi, she had decided she would let him drive, after he had reassured her that occasionally he did drive, in Italy especially. At first she thought he did not have his driving licence with him, but it was stuck in the cover of his phone with a few other cards. Not that it would matter - if they were pulled over his last name might get them into as much trouble as if he had not had a licence with him at all. She hoped, however, he had chosen to have something nice and brief for a name.

They had planned to stop somewhere before Lyon and have dinner, and maybe find a hotel. Once they got out of Italy, she could take over the wheel if he liked. For now, she just shook her head at the Italian drivers.

"Have you informed your sister that you're planning to retire?" she asked. Since he did not have any legitimate children, his sister would have to succeed him. The law had been changed in the past year to allow for female succession, but a bit too late for his elder sister herself. His father had always opposed such a change behind the scenes and it had only been possible to put it into effect after his death. The present king had encouraged the change and even, if Anna Margaret remembered well, suggested it. She had not found it significant at the time, but now she viewed that in a different light. He had been working on his successor all right; only it was not a son, but a sister.

"What would she say?" She did not know his sister personally, but his sister and her family were always stereotypically perfect in everything they did - perfectly well-behaved, perfectly dressed, perfectly mannered. "Is she real?"

"Is that what you tried to do with me yesterday? When I arrived well-dressed and you chose to look like a..."

"Maybe. Although I didn't change for the occasion on purpose. I was already in pyjamas."

"They were. That's why I thought I might as well keep them on and maybe you wouldn't notice they were."

She did not know if his fashion sense was deplorable - he had managed to buy a pretty nice jacket at her insistence that he needed something with sleeves, after all - but perhaps it was far too casual for his job.

"I sense you think she doesn't think too well of me," said he. "Or you wouldn't be asking."

"I asked because I doubted she'd be walking around in such casual clothing when she is off duty. But I could be wrong."

"No. My father does, but he was the one who wanted to name me after Queen Anna and yet be unique. You know, your mother."

Chapter Seven

"Do you think we're still being watched?" Frederick asked when traffic on the motorway had slowed down. "I've not kept track of which cars were behind us."

"I haven't either, but they would have had to work really hard to figure out where our taxi was going and no one came into the rental office there after us. Of course they could have had a car ready and followed the taxi, but with that kind of traffic I don't see how anyone could."

He shrugged. "They're professionals. They should be able to do it without us seeing them."

"Wouldn't you like them to be there, just for the sake of safety?" She did not know what she wanted. Yes to safety, no to people seeing too much. She did not even know why there might be too much.

"There's a tunnel. Another toll station, probably." They had already paid toll without any problems. Nobody had been looking out for anything there. Why should they be here? Well, they ought to be, but it was not logical to expect them this far away if they had not been anywhere close to the scene of the incident.

"We don't look suspicious. Don't worry. You're not a criminal," Anna Margaret lectured patiently, although she had forgotten this was the border and he had a point. "If you get stopped and they want more than your driving licence, we have people we can call."

"Why? What did you do?" She was torn between thinking someone ought to be trying to find him and not wanting him to be disappointed. She could not bring herself to say that if some king had gone rogue in her own country, she would have ordered every service to find him. It was simply the most sensible thing to do, whatever he might think and whatever he might have ordered.

However, being stuck with the man himself was clouding her judgement. She was helping him and she was completely on his side, given that she was hoping they would not be stopped.

There were policemen standing by every toll booth, giving each car a cursory glance, but they did not order any cars to stop. Frederick breathed a sigh of relief when they sped up again. "Whew. I really didn't like that."

Already. She pondered that. He was behaving as if he had escaped from jail. He certainly seemed to want to make this last as long as he could. What was worse was that she could not blame him. She even made sure to check no police vehicles were suddenly in pursuit.

Somewhere in France they stopped to have dinner. It was quite busy at the roadside restaurant. The holiday season in Northern Europe had not yet started and there were not many tourists, but with a few busloads of older people the place was rather full nonetheless. Anna Margaret liked the self-service aspect; no one would come to their table, but instead they were anonymous faces behind trays that had to be processed as quickly as possible. Nobody would remember them, she hoped.

"I'm glad you forced me to buy a coat," said Frederick when they were eating their food at a table by the window. It looked rather dreary outside.

"I did think you had clothes other than these, yes. You have suits, for example." If they met for work, he always wore a suit. His wardrobe had to be a little more extensive than this.

"Not if you don't like them." She glanced around. Most of the tables were occupied by older people. "Any standard issues around?"

"No, but if it was my job, I'd grab a sandwich and watch the car. I didn't see anyone grab a sandwich, by the way. These people are too old to be in any service."

"I hadn't planned to dine with the mayor or anything, no. I was only there for a few days."

Anna Margaret frowned. "What do you mean?"
.
"My father often dined with the mayor. She's nice enough, I suppose, but to have dinner with her and to be wondering constantly if dinner was the only thing my father had with her..." He shrugged. "I couldn't. I shouldn't even be wondering."

"Already?" Anna Margaret had thought they would drive as far as they could. She had taken over the wheel after their stop and she had barely driven ten minutes. "Is my driving that bad?"

"It's not your driving," he smiled. "I've been up since 5:30. I just want to lie down."

"And watch stupid American sitcoms dubbed in French." She assumed, at least, that he would not already go to sleep.

"All right," she sighed. They drove past a hotel that he dismissed with a shake of his head. She was glad, because it did not look too appealing to her either. Still, here in the countryside there could not be much else. She foresaw having to find the motorway again to drive to the next larger town.

"There!" he said with glee after two minutes, pointing at a sign by the roadside. "L'Hôtel du Roi."

"Did you know we'd come across that?" she asked suspiciously, ignoring the phrases of surprise and self-praise he was uttering.

"No. No, I swear I had no idea, but now that we've found it, we really have to take it." He looked at her pleadingly.

"Take it? They'll have to take us." But she turned into the car park nonetheless when it appeared a minute down the road. There were four cars and a van in it. "We'll have to check if they have rooms for us. Why didn't you go on holiday to a place like this? Why draw attention to yourself in a huge villa with a fence and a swimming pool? Nobody would know you're here. There's no one around to notice and the landscape is much friendlier, although the houses look worse. At home this building wouldn't even be fit for cows."

"Okay." He lingered behind her when she made for the door, checking over his shoulder if anyone had followed them into the car park.

The building looked as if no maintenance had been done on it since the last French king had stayed here. If it had not been for its name, Frederick would have wanted to drive on, she was sure. The inside, however, was surprisingly modern and neat.

She approached reception and asked if they had any available rooms. First that, and then she would decide whether they needed one or two. It was a decision she would rather not make, as there were advantages and disadvantages to both options.

The girl behind the desk checked, checked again and looked concerned. She was very sorry, but they only had the King Suite available and it was very expensive. Clearly she believed that a couple of which the man was wearing jogging trousers would want something cheaper.

Anna Margaret turned to consult her companion. She was not sure he had heard, but his face told her he had. He was trying not to look absolutely delighted. And she tried to keep her eyes from rolling.

"All right," she said to the girl. "We'll take it. One night." It cost a bomb, but then, it was only once and she could afford it. On top of what she had shelled out for the rental car it did hurt a little, though.

"I can pay you back, you know," Frederick said as he carried the suitcase to the lift. "You lifted your head in shock when she mentioned the price. I gathered it was a lot. It doesn't mean anything to me."

"It's all right. I just don't usually spend that much on a bed. I suppose it would be worse in a hotel that's actually near things." She would definitely have said no to the King Suite in a city-centre hotel.

He contained himself until the doors of the lift had closed. Then he erupted into laughter. "The King Suite!"

"Act your age," she muttered and hoped no one else would come into the lift with them.

On the second floor they got out. It was not a large hotel and on this floor there were only three rooms or suites. The one closest to the lift was merely numbered, but the two others bore names. King Frederick gleefully opened the door to the Suite du Roi. "I wonder who's in the Suite de la Reine."

She thought it was huge. There was a bedroom section, a sitting room section and a large bathroom. There were even doors to a balcony or roof terrace. It was all nice, but wholly unnecessary for one night. She did not even get this much on official trips. Still, there had been nothing else for them.

She eyed the bed. King size, of course. Maybe he would say something about that too, but she would head him off. "I'll sleep on the couch." It looked comfortable enough.

There were gentlemen and there were kings. This one merely said, "okay" and turned on the taps to run a bath.

Anna Margaret inspected the refrigerator. It was stocked. "I advise you not to take anything from the fridge. It's not free." She did not know how much he knew about these things, but she did not want an even higher bill in the morning.

He came to have a look. "I don't eat or drink any of those things anyway." He then took off his shirt and dropped it on the floor right where he was standing.

She watched this. "Whenever you stay in a hotel, do you have someone to tidy up behind you?"

"Yes, I could," he answered, but he did not do it. He went to inspect the bath, which could not possibly be full already.

She realised he was not going to do it because she said so. In fact, he was probably going to leave the shirt on the floor on purpose because she had said something about it.

Then his phone rang and he came hopping out of the bathroom, jogging trousers half off. Anna Margaret groaned and looked away. He insisted on provoking her. When he thought jogging trousers were not shocking enough, he simply took them off. She walked to the window and looked out.

"Yes?" he said into the phone. "Hi, I have to warn you, I'm running a bath." He kicked his other leg out of his trousers as well and left the trousers on the floor, of course.

She kept looking out of the window, but she was wondering who was on the other end. It was someone he liked, she decided. He sounded friendly.

"Oh, you heard? No, don't worry. I'm absolutely fine. I wasn't injured. I bumped into a few rocks, that's all. Now? Ah well, I don't know if I should tell you. We seem to have lost our tail and I rather like it that way. If I told you, you might tell them and they'd be back."

Anna Margaret half turned. She was listening, of course, although she feigned interest in a plant.

"But -" he then said, looking more serious. He did not seem to be allowed to speak, however.

This was definitely interesting. The person on the other side was saying a lot and he could not answer. Who was it who was not letting him speak? Definitely not Louis. Louis would not dare.

"What do you mean, love me?" he asked in irritation. "Who? That's not me, that's an image of me. Nobody -" But then the other person cut him off again.

Anna Margaret almost pitied him. She felt she was intruding, and she went to check on the bath. She sat watching it.

He joined her after a while; she had no idea how much time had passed. "Do people love me?" he asked.

"And therefore I don't feel obliged to...er...let everybody know where I am, I suppose. I don't feel that responsibility right now."

She watched the water drip off her hand. It was fascinating. It was also a way to avoid giving a reaction. She forced herself to look away. So someone had been giving him a hard time about his responsibilities and the people who loved him. "You and this other person," she began carefully, "seem to disagree about the number of people who love you?" She did not think she would disagree much with someone saying he was not feeling his responsibilities too strongly.

"I don't want to have to turn myself in simply because someone out there has the mistaken notion of loving me," he said petulantly. "If you love me, you let me stay here. I need this."

She stood up and lightly touched his arm. "Your bath is ready." Then she walked to the door.

Does my opinion count more than hers, she wondered. "I think you should take your bath."

"Listen. She has no authority. She cannot force me to leave." But he did not look too certain of that. "I need a hug. I don't need crap about my responsibilities."

She stepped over the threshold into the suite. Granted, it was backwards and not as rejecting of a hug as it probably should be, but it put some distance between them regardless. "Don't hug me. I'm a really bad hugger."

She took another step back. "Don't do it. It would be a really bad idea." He might discover she needed one as much as he did. And then what? No, it was a really bad idea.

"Unfortunately," she said warily. "You're the king, you're in your underwear, you have someone who loves you and you want me to hug you? I'm sorry, that's just a triple no-go. I might do it if you weren't the king and you weren't in your underwear." And if no one loved him, but she could not say that for fear he would ask her why that mattered.

She closed her eyes. "Oh for heaven's sake! I meant clothes on, not clothes off! Why are you so bloody stupid at times?"

Chapter Eight

Frederick did not admit or deny that he was stupid, or whether he perhaps had other intentions. "Who loves me and what does that have to do with my needing a hug? I mean, it matters to me, but why does it matter to you?"

"She might not like it." She meant, of course, the one who had phoned him. The one she did not like to hear about, for reasons she did not like to investigate.

"Someone phoned you." Who was she? And why could she not simply ask the question? She supposed it was because she might not like the answer.

"Your aunt." Now that was confusing and not quite what she had been expecting. His aunt?

"And why on earth can't kings wear underwear? Did you think I even slept and bathed in three-piece suits?" He raised one eyebrow. "Or is it simply not the sort you'd expected?"

She spoke automatically. "I honestly never gave your apparel any thought until I came to Italy." His aunt?

"I don't think that would be a good idea. First you take your clothes off at every opportunity so that people can become physically attracted to you, and then you ask for hugs. It's only four steps towards that bed!" Well, maybe it was three or even six. She had not measured.

Frederick had the grace to blink innocently. "I didn't know that was why I was taking off my clothes. At every opportunity? One, I was going to take a shower - and if you'd looked you would have seen I kept my underwear on. Two, we had to keep our clothes dry - and it was your idea. Three, I want to take a bath - and I won't have dry clothes tomorrow if I don't take them off. I fail to see where I ever took my clothes off to seduce you."

Anna Margaret blushed. Now it was her fault, was it? And he had kept his underwear on? "You kept your underwear on? Why?"

"Because you're the prime minister and you were there, essentially, on business. And I honestly never gave the shower any thought until we stood right in front of it. And then what? Eat in sweaty clothes? But do tell me about this physical attraction."

She gave a half-cry, because the notion was too absurd. Or perhaps it was not and she was simply afraid he was going to say the attraction was not reciprocated. It would be mortifying. She did not even know if she was physically attracted to him.

"At this point the physical stuff is not going to help me anyway," he said briskly, as if to order himself to get over this problem. "I just need to know someone understands me and has my best interests at heart. Satisfying someone else's lust is not going to help me."

"I have your best interests at heart. I can't say I understand you, though. Now, get into the bath." She closed the door. There was no lust. And he was an inconsiderate oaf. He would not care anyway.

There were about two dozen calls that she had missed. Most, she guessed, could wait. They would be from curious people who could hardly make any useful contributions to the situation. Louis might, but he was very likely wanting to know where they were.

She called him. That it might give away her location was not something that she was concerned about. She did not have a real problem with being followed, as long as they did not see everything. Or hear everything. She cringed as she imagined someone overhearing the conversation that had just taken place.

"In another room." She was glad that was not a lie. The bathroom was another room. If he asked on she might have to be more specific, but perhaps not. He might still be on speakerphone.

"Our men lost you. They hadn't thought you'd rented a car and by the time they'd got a car themselves, you were gone."

He was not personally responsible for those professionals, so he let that pass. "Are you in Italy?"

"No, in France. But don't bother sending anyone over. They haven't got any more rooms in this hotel. Is there any news on the terrorists?"

"For fear of angering certain kinds of people," she said sarcastically. "But that tells me enough. They were Islamists then?"

Louis paused. "We've not researched their backgrounds in enough detail yet to be able to state that with absolute certainty."

"But they have names and appearances that all point to the same thing. Why were they targeting the king?" She had not been briefed on specific threats against their country, let alone against the king. They were small and half the people in the world would not even know where they were.

"Surprisingly he believes no one would give a damn." She looked away from the bathroom door.

Intentions mattered, not how they were carried out. But perhaps people were defending themselves for not having foreseen this threat - because it had come from amateurs they could not possibly have noticed before. She shook her head. They would sort that out later.

They were not being very professional here either. Well, she was trying. His Majesty was trying his hardest to be as unprofessional as possible - and then pretending not to realise it.

She forced her thoughts away from him. "Have there been any statements about how he came through? I know he was pronounced dead on Twitter, but then what?"

"We've not provided any definitive information about his fate," Louis said gravely. "Because he said so and because we hoped it would flush some of the rats out of their hiding places."

"On the other hand, saying he survived might also flush out some rats - the ones who want to finish the job." It was not an appealing prospect, but, she thought, not the most likely one.

"Yes, but that's more dangerous, especially when we have no idea where he actually is. So far, a dozen arrests have already been made. Haven't you been watching the news?"

"At the risk of you calculating where we are precisely, we haven't yet had time to turn on the TV. Besides, it probably only has French channels."

"We need your approval in this matter. Different statements have been prepared and we can broadcast them at very short notice."

"Well..." She ran a hand across her eyes as she was thinking. She did not want anyone to start looking for them here or anywhere else along the road home, even if they only wanted to take pictures. Security services were all right, but making public that they were in France would also attract the media. "Just pretend you went with the original plan - he was taken to Rome. By the time someone figures out he's not in Rome, we'll have driven home."

"Improving," she said finally. She did not think he would still do something utterly unexpected.

"Switzerland is the fastest route, but the man has no passport. Well, not with him, anyway. And they don't know he doesn't have it with him, so nobody will think we're going around Switzerland."

"We have taken his effects from the villa. There was very little, I was told, so we assumed he took most."

Anna Margaret sighed. "Jogging trousers, a sports shirt, a phone, a bank card and a credit card. That's what we're working with. I think he takes travelling light to the next level."

Louis probably looked shocked, because he was silent for a moment. "His effects have been sent home."

"Good. Listen, given how early he wanted us to look for a hotel because he wanted to lie down, I'm not sure we could do the remainder of the journey before tomorrow evening. It will depend on how tired we are whether we'll get another hotel or drive on until we get there. He seems to have a preference for authentic-style, off-the-motorway places. However, I should definitely be able to drop him off before Monday lunch time."

She would force him to sleep in the car if they threatened to run out of time. She was beginning to feel a little better now that she was talking business. Her confidence returned. She could do this - bring the inconsiderate, childish sports freak home. "Trust me," she said to Louis. "I'm the only one he'll listen to."

"Some department can figure that out, I'm sure. You have my phone number. Can I trust all the people who are listening in?"

Did that mean anything? No. Not all of them took her seriously because of her age and because she was a woman, and the combination was even worse. She liked having the upper hand now, being the one in charge of the nation's most prized object. Frederick would not agree with that description of himself and he would do something rebellious if she told him.

He would probably offer to drive and then take the back roads north if she did that.

"Let it ring," he answered indifferently. "I'm enjoying my bath. This thing is huge. Care to join me? I'm wearing my underwear just in case."

Just in case. Well, in that case, she remembered she had a swimsuit. "I'll be right back." She dug her swimsuit out of her suitcase and pulled it on. "Did you purposely keep something on?" she asked when she got back, hoping he had not lied.

"Yes. And because it gets washed this way, just in case I need a clean one in two days."

"It does not -" Oh, what the heck, she thought. He lived in a different reality and if in this reality his underwear could be washed by sitting in a Jacuzzi, who was she to argue with him? They had two days before it became relevant anyway.

She slid into the Jacuzzi, not yet able to decide whether this was a good or a bad idea. Her muscles obviously liked it. Perhaps she could focus on that.

"I was afraid you'd offer. I know exactly what you'd do." She did not know if that was a gentlemanly offer or simply a very sly one.

"Would I? The back roads are lovely, although I've never seen them in this season. I've been skiing a bit north of here a few times. Or is it east? It's been a few years."

"Yes. I haven't been since I injured my knee. I didn't like being unable to do things for so long, so I stuck to other sports since then with fewer risks. And you?"

"Not as often as you probably think." He looked amused. "Occasionally I find one in a hotel."

"You don't have one at home?" She was curious about his home. She imagined his room to be something like this suite.

"Are you referring to the amount of money that was spent on renovating my apartment?"

"Well..." She had read dazzling sums, although for some people any sum would be dazzling and a good reason to voice a protest against the money-sucking monarchy. It had to have been spent on some luxuriousness at least.

"Installing proper plumbing and heating in a very old building is pretty costly. Then there were some cosmetic touches that I didn't want made public, but I can tell you that I don't have a Jacuzzi. Not even one with gold taps."

"You brought a swimsuit," he pointed. "Why bring a swimsuit if you're not expecting pool parties at every turn?"

"All right, all right," she conceded with some embarrassment. "I did wonder if you threw pool parties and I bought a swimsuit so I could keep an eye on what sort of things went on there."

"And you thought you were attractive enough to be invited if I did?" he asked jokingly.

"I suppose you were thinking I was of the opinion that the more women there were, the better, even women who just told me off for that sort of thing."

"I never throw pool parties of that nature. If I'm invited elsewhere, by the time the half-naked people hit the Jacuzzi, I'm already on my morning run. I swear. I've only ever seen this happen in photos."

"But if I do ever throw a pool party, I'll invite you," he reassured her. "I think you'll be able to handle it."

"What would it be like? Who else would you invite?" She could not imagine it being a formal party. He would not be wearing a suit, but she could not imagine him throwing a party in his underwear either.

"Not a lot of women. I don't know a lot of women who'd be up for beer and water volleyball or something of that nature."

"Not sure. But you'd come to make sure there weren't any unsuitable women, wouldn't you?"

Chapter Nine

She had gone to sleep on the couch, tired enough not to mind that it was a couch. Frederick had let her; he had merely said goodnight. In the morning, she was woken by someone lightly shaking her shoulder. "What is it?"

"A run." It was still dark in the room, but she did not know how it was outside. "What time is it? Is it dark? You'll be run over." There was no room for even cyclists on these roads. Runners without lights would not be seen and they had nowhere to go. Had he not noticed? Did his staff always close off roads if he wanted to go running?

"But even worse to go without telling you." He pushed her back down. "There's a small road leading up the hill behind us. I'll run there, not on the main road. I'm not expecting any cars this early on a Sunday morning."

"Well, if I don't come back, I'll either have been run over or I'll have been kidnapped." He did not seem to care either way.

"That's an uplifting thought. Do you expect me to be able to sleep on?" As far as she knew without having peeked all too often, he had gone to sleep in his underwear - not the same one he had sat in the bath in - but he now appeared to be wearing a shirt. Apparently he was ready to go and she was not.

"I have no idea." He stood up straight and walked towards the door. "See you in an hour."

It was her turn to groan now. She rolled herself into a ball and tried to sleep some more. Not surprisingly she failed. After imagining all sorts of accidents for fifteen minutes, and cursing his stupidity, she got out of bed. The best she could do was get up. The clock said it was close to 6:30. Since he had not come back, the front door of the hotel must have been open and he must have gone out.

She showered and dressed, taking advantage of the undisturbed time. Only then did she think of stepping onto the roof terrace. From there she could see a road, very narrow, that led higher up the hill. He had said he would run there and after a few minutes she could make out a moving figure. There were no cars or other runners following him. That was a relief and she left the chilly morning air to go back inside.

It was almost seven o'clock now. Breakfast would soon be served downstairs. They might be back on the road by eight, although that was probably an optimistic calculation. He was not back yet and he still had to shower. And then he might have breakfast at leisure.

She turned on the television and tried to find a news channel. Whenever there was something like a news bulletin on, they were speaking in too rapid French for her to be able to understand much. Besides, none of the news seemed to be about King Frederick. Either it was no longer newsworthy here or it had never been.

Checking the news on her phone was always a chore, but she had to resort to it anyway. Earlier she had not been ready to read any news, but now she was. Their own national news sites carried more information, fortunately. She scanned the articles to get an idea of how much had been revealed. King Frederick was reported to have been unharmed and taken to Rome, from where he would be flown home. The live blog could not yet confirm his arrival there, although cars had been seen arriving at the embassy.

The live blog proved to be a useful source of information. It mentioned the names of the two attackers who had been injured and arrested. They were Italian students of North African descent and the three other attackers were assumed to be the same. They had so far not been caught, although they had hijacked a car and driven off in the direction of Genoa. It was unclear whether they were armed, but since they had not left any weapons behind, there was every reason to assume that they were.

Anna Margaret calculated when they might have arrived in Genoa given the time of the hijacking, but it would almost certainly have been before she had got there. Yet there had been no signs of police looking for the fugitives anywhere. Either the authorities had information they had not shared with the media, or they simply were not looking. It was rather strange in any case.

She walked onto the roof terrace to check the back road. There was no one running anymore, as far as she could tell from watching it for a few minutes. Unless he had gone over the hill, he must have gone back to the hotel. Or he was doing exercises behind those patches of vegetation.

She went back inside and boiled some water for tea. Most of the bags on the tray with the electric kettle were for instant cappuccino and the like, but she did not like that. As she was busy preparing her tea, the door opened. She turned and saw in relief that it was him.

"Hello," he said cheerfully. "See? I didn't get run over. I didn't even see a car."

But he could have. Not seeing a car did not make it safe. She hid her relief. "Get dressed. I'm hungry."

"The other three attackers hijacked a car and drove to Genoa, before we got there, but we never saw any signs of anyone looking for them. Isn't that odd?"

That was frustrating. She needed someone to say it was odd. And her tea was still too hot to drink.

It took him ten minutes to shower and shave, another few to get dressed. "Maybe we could stop somewhere to buy you some new trousers today," she remarked. "You've been running in those."

The breakfast room was quiet. There were only two men there so far. The other guests were still asleep, which was not remarkable at this hour on a Sunday morning. They were probably the first guests ever to have slept in the King's Suite and to have come down for breakfast this early, too.

"So, did you think about it in the shower?" Anna Margaret asked in a low voice once they had got coffee and some bread. They were seated as far away from the two men as possible, so they would be able to talk freely.

"Yes, I did. You're right, we didn't see anyone. But if they drove there ahead of us, maybe they were already caught? Or they turned around halfway."

"We didn't see anything halfway either." Well, she had not. He had taken a nap at some point.

"If we took it because of that, so could they," she pointed out. "To fool everyone."

"We'll just have to take the absence of police to mean that they didn't get as far as Genoa, or they were already out of Genoa by the time we got there. It's also a pretty big city. There are more ways in and out than people could watch."

"But they don't know we did, so they won't be waiting for us anywhere. They're trying to escape the police, not trying to catch us. Right?"

"Right," she repeated, but she was uncertain. And she also did not understand why he had been nervous about being caught by harmless policemen, but completely indifferent about being caught by terrorists. "They were Italians, you know."

"The supposedly illegally-built villa? I have no idea. Of course they could have been hired by someone else, because they were local. It doesn't mean they came up with this plan themselves. Someone at home might have thought of it and then needed someone to do the dirty work for him."

"In which case there would have been communications." Their heads of the security services would undoubtedly have thought of the same thing. She did not have to do their thinking for them, she reminded herself. "Louis said yesterday that some arrests had been made, but I didn't ask him where or who. The live blog didn't mention them."

"Then maybe the live blog isn't as informed as it would like to be. And maybe no one drove to Genoa at all, but it was simply assumed they did because it's the only large town nearby."

"I wouldn't want to run into them anywhere." She glanced at the two other men in the room, but they were safely middle-aged and not students. At least they were not here.

"We won't. If they're Italians they won't go to France. Let's enjoy breakfast." He covered her hand with his. "Did you sleep well?"

"I thought later that maybe I should have taken the couch myself," he continued. "But you were already on it."

Anna Margaret made a little gasping noise. Where did this belatedly gentlemanly idea come from? Or was it even gentlemanly? "With or without me?"

"Without you. You don't trust me at all, do you?" He was amused rather than disappointed.

"And I didn't even try anything in the Jacuzzi. You're completely brainwashed by the tabloids. They're useful, in a sense, because they can be manipulated, but manipulation works both ways."

"Oh, so am I at times. I think - maybe I don't like all that attention when I really like someone. I don't mind it if it means nothing."

"Do you ever really like someone?" Besides himself, of course. She assumed he did not, or she would have read something about a relationship some time.

She drank a whole glass of milk before realising hers was the other glass. "Me."

"Yes." He reached for the other glass of milk and pushed it towards her. "Why are you shocked? You've been implying all along that I'm not very particular. You must already have been including yourself in my sweeping generalisation of women I'd like to...did I really use that word?"

She did not know if she had been including herself. "You're a cold fish. You're not even embarrassed."

He laughed. "Because you are not. If I'd said I'd like to kiss and you'd have looked back like oh yes, right now, please! I might have run off."

She blushed. "I didn't say anything outrageous. I simply repeated your own words." But yes, he was mad.

"I see what you're doing. I'm always doing it too," he merely said. "Should I refill your coffee for you?"

She was glad to speak of coffee. It was innocent. "Yes, please. How did you know you had to refill it yourself? I'm sure you're always being served."

"I saw that man there do it." He walked away with their cups. When he returned, he said, "move over a chair."

Anna Margaret did so, curious what he had in mind. He sat beside her and set down the cups. That was still all very normal. He laid an arm around her shoulders, which was not very normal. She stiffened.

"Relax," he whispered. "There are two men over there, and a waitress, as you pointed out. They don't want to see much. I'll just kiss you."

"Don't you require my permission?" She hoped dearly that her permission was not all over her face. She was not that easy. She should not be.

He rephrased the sentence obediently. "I'll just kiss you if you give me your permission."

After this more than pleasant kiss, he returned to where he had been sitting before, grinning at her mysteriously.

Anna Margaret felt hot and more than a little embarrassed. Neither of the two men, nor the waitress, showed the least bit of interest in them, however. It even remained to be seen whether they had noticed the kiss at all. She did not want to speak unless she had something intelligent to say, but unfortunately only unintelligent words came to mind.

"Shall we take the stairs?" she suggested hurriedly after breakfast. There was no telling what he might do in the lift. He was still looking like the cat that had got the cream. But then there was the room upstairs. Any casual touch would make her fear he had something in mind. "Listen," she said halfway between the first and the second floor when she had had time to think. "What are your plans?"

"No, I mean with regard to me." Her face felt warm. "I know what your plans are after your retirement. Maybe you shouldn't have told me, because I'm afraid now I think you're completely obsessed with it." Did she really think that, if she evaluated his behaviour? No. He had not touched her in the Jacuzzi. And he had only kissed her so far, but that had been sweet, not seductive. Of course he might have amazing self-control and just be waiting for the right moment to strike. He might find it funny to see her squirm in the meantime.

She nodded. "You spoke as if you couldn't wait to sleep with every woman available and now you've kissed me. Are you now going to try things when we get to our room?"

His eyes widened. "No. And I don't want to sleep with every woman available. Not if I really think about it."

"But..." She needed to hear more, although she did not know precisely what. It would not be flattering to hear he wanted to sleep with everyone except her, but it would be extremely unsettling to hear he was going to try something upstairs. The timing was all wrong. His position was all wrong. Her job was not exactly the most suitable for it either.

Anna Margaret was glad she was standing still. She would have stumbled otherwise. "Oh. And er, when did you single me out for this particular favour?"

Frederick shrugged. "I want to and I don't want to. But not yet." He hurried up the stairs.

She sat down on the stairs as he took the door out of the stairwell. He wanted to and he did not want to. Well, that summarised pretty nicely how she was feeling as well.

He came to fetch her about five minutes later. He held out his hand to pull her up. "Come. We want to travel on, don't we?"

Chapter Ten

Once on the road again, Anna Margaret felt much calmer. He had been correct; her muscles ached today. She had been happy to sit in the passenger seat and after making him promise he would take the first motorway he came across, she allowed him to drive north over the back roads. It was not the most sensible compromise for people who did have a deadline, but it felt good.

"Why should I call her?" Without knowing how things were going to work out, it was highly premature to tell his sister he had met the love of his life and even worse to have her do it. Anna Margaret could not see what else she would need to tell his sister, however. Perhaps it was really bad of her to think of the kiss immediately. He must have something special to have managed this so easily. Something more than merely a good physique. She would not mind exploring what this was, but it was far too early to tell anyone else about it.

That was a relief, but it was still strange. "Shouldn't you be doing that yourself?"

Anna Margaret found the number. It was hopefully no longer too early to phone on a Sunday morning. "Is she up? She's not gone to church or something?"

She pressed the numbers. "Your Royal Highness?" she asked and then she introduced herself. It was a simple enough errand and she could even pretend she was doing this on behalf of her job, and not as a loyal partner of a potential future lover.

The voice on the other end did not sound too annoyed, so she had probably already been awake. Of course someone as perfect as the princess could not possibly betray any signs of less than perfect emotions. She would simply not do annoyance. "I suppose you're calling about the situation in Italy," said the princess.

"Again?" The princess collected herself and then spoke more coolly. "You're forcing him to, aren't you? It's probably because of those women. I can't believe you would actually take the word of those women over his. He would never get himself trapped in situations like that."

"I'm not forcing him," she interjected when the princess was taking a split second to breathe, but she could not say any more.

"But you've suggested the idea to him, because people believe a man in his position shouldn't be engaging in such actions. But let me tell you this - he has never engaged in such actions in his life," the princess said decisively. "But there you are believing he has even gone so far as to have fathered illegitimate children. I am appalled. And now he was shot at and he is traumatised and he needs therapy."

"Therapy," Anna Margaret said weakly, thrown off balance by the leap from illegitimate children to therapy. "But I don't think he was literally shot at."

"I didn't say the therapy was for being shot at. He has more issues. Which I am not going to share with you, if you don't mind. You will not urge him to resign. That is not up to you."

"I told you, I'm not forcing him." And that was more or less the end of the call.

"She's not going to share your issues with me, she said." Which was a pity. She was rather interested in his issues now. "But you have shared them with her?"

"I do have issues," he admitted candidly. "I have issues with women, I have issues with clothes, I have issues with responsibilities. Probably lots more. But they might not coincide perfectly with her impression of my issues."

"Fair enough. I can sort of imagine those are your issues. However, I can say she had issues with being told you were going to resign. I don't think she accepted it."

"It can't have been news to her; I've threatened her with it at least once a month. Maybe she wants to be the one to decide when it's my time to go. I know she has plans. She thinks if I marry someone off her list, I shall magically lose some of my issues and be happy in my position." He grinned wryly. "So my objectives are more or less the opposite: I'll resign and then live in sin with someone who's not her on her list."

"Nobody ever takes me seriously if I say I want to resign. Nobody ever took me seriously when I said I didn't want to succeed my father either. Probably also because there was nothing I could officially do except marry an unsuitable woman to get out of the line of succession and I could never find anyone who was suitable to me and unsuitable to them. You have to become the king before you can say you don't want to be the king. So instead they offered surgery and therapy as cures for everything."

"Surgery?" That was the first she had ever heard of it. She wondered what he had needed surgery for.

"Yeah, they thought that if they fixed my protruding ears, I'd start to listen to them."

"And huge braces and glasses. I was a terribly attractive child." He looked at his own phone when it began to ring. Being on a back road, it was easy to slow down, though not as easy to find a place to park.

"Now let's see what she's sending me," he said when he had stopped the car. Although it was Sunday, they might always encounter a tractor after the next bend. "She's sending me photos that Louis sent her."

"My sister. She's messaging. Messaging doesn't go very quickly; she's always very picky about typing grammatically correct sentences."

"Of me. Proving that I'm alive." He showed her the phone. "Look, that's us shopping in Genoa."

"Why is she sending you that?" So one or more of the watchers had taken pictures and sent them back home. Why? To check whether they were looking at the right people? To reveal what they were doing? She did not like it much. She dearly hoped no one had been present in the breakfast room.

"She's probably typing that right now." He sat waiting. "Ah, there it is. Who is that woman?"

"Yes, I was handing you a shopping bag there. So, Louis thinks he was reassuring her by sending her a photo of me, but she's now going out of her mind wondering who I was with."

"Are you going to tell her?" And if he was, what else was he going to tell his sister about her?

"She's not finished typing, I think. Who is that woman? Why are you out shopping when they say you were attacked?"

"Sounds logical," Anna Margaret commented. "But then, I was there." She was not sure it was all so very logical in retrospect, however.

"Oh, come on. We have some time to play games. Just a few minutes. How many times have I told you to watch out for women? I don't know. Too often to count."

"Has she really?" Did sisters do that? She was the eldest and she never did. His sister was older. Maybe that explained it.

"This is not a game," Anna Margaret repeated. "Let me type. She won't know it's me anyway and at least sensible things will be said."

"She won't know it's not me when sensible things are being said? Are you open to the possibility of me saying sensible things then?"

She held out her hand and her expression showed that she would not accept a refusal. She received the phone, naturally, and checked whether anything new had been written. Where are you now?

Anna Margaret began to tap the letters, carefully, because she had seen he too employed proper spelling and capitalisation. On my way home.

In some aspects they were not very different, his sister and he. Both focused on the less important matters. He was enjoying himself and she was worrying about his chastity. "All right, I'll type that." She began typing, but it was too long and she changed it. I'm unbelievably chaste. She had no idea if he was, but it was definitely something he would say. "But please, we should drive on or we won't make it home tonight. Why isn't she phoning you?"

"I don't know. Maybe she's having breakfast with the family and she doesn't want the children to overhear? That happened the previous time she messaged me. It is of course a very sensitive topic, women. She couldn't possibly voice the things women might do to me."

"It might give her children ideas. But say goodbye. I'll drive on. Why do you want to be home tonight?" There was a slightly disappointed emphasis on the last word.

"I have to go to work tomorrow. They don't pay me to be your nanny. I'm off to South America for a few days later this week." In the consternation she had nearly forgotten about it. Now it was even more imperative for her to get home in time so she could prepare herself, assuming the visit would not be cancelled because of the attack.

"I could drop you off and then make another little tour of Europe," he mused. "On my own. I think I'll manage."

Anna Margaret could only give him her best discouraging stare. He was crazy enough to do it. Or perhaps not crazy. Longing for freedom.

"Okay," he sighed. "I'll have to hand in my resignation and I'm sure it will take a while before it's accepted, so I'd better do it immediately."

"Yes, but it will have to pass through a few uncooperative channels before it gets to you. They might simply decide not to pass it along."

"There's very little they could do to stop it if I announce the news to the press, based on a personal communication of yours."

"I see why you want out. I'll take care of it. Your sister has been informed already. If chooses not to prepare herself, that's her problem." She looked at the road ahead and wondered when they would reach the motorway. "But, this is our deal. You will accept that I can overrule your foolish ideas and I will do that for you when we get home."

"You mean my ideas that you think are foolish. They might not be, objectively speaking."

Anna Margaret looked at the road behind them. There was nothing. "So where are we then?"

"You stayed at a placed called Hôtel du Roi. At some point you're going to have to take the A39."

She had no idea where the A39 was precisely. It was not yet shown on the map of their navigation system. Louis was being rather optimistic. "We're still on a D road. The scenic route. His Majesty is intent on enjoying himself before he gets locked up again."

She ignored it - or tried to. "What are the latest updates? I was reading some sites last night but the information didn't make sense to me. Why, if the attackers escaped to Genoa, wasn't there any evidence of police looking for them there? Nobody was monitoring the motorway there."

"So, not only do they have citizens of theirs attack a foreign head of state, but they also don't make any effort to find them?" Anna Margaret tried not to get worked up about this or about the motives of the attackers. Facts, she should stick to facts, and she did not have all of those.

"No. And by the way, your father has contacted me. He couldn't get hold of you."

"My father doesn't have my mobile number. I hope you didn't give it to him. I also hope you didn't tell him where I was." She feared he was one of those people who looked up to her father still and who could not resist an order. Still, her father had not yet phoned, which he would have done immediately after being given her number.

"Good. And put a little pressure on those Italians. Have Eric contact his counterpart if he hasn't done so already. If you give me a phone number I'll do it myself."

There was some muted conversation on the other end. Evidently he was talking to Eric. "No, he'll do it again."

They discussed for a while what Eric should say precisely and what he already had, and then Louis thought of something else before he hung up. "What if it leaks out that you actually went home by car?"

She had wondered about that herself, but she had never allowed herself to speculate very much. "May I remind you that the alternative was His Majesty escaping on his own? I can probably get him to confirm that if you like." She glanced sideways, but all she saw was him stick out his tongue. She rolled her eyes. Still not grown up.

That was a good question. "I don't know. Maybe if you mentioned the team of psychologists again? So maybe you shouldn't."

"No." She could say that without thinking. He was a lot of things, but not that. His madness was quite stable.

"I insist that you inform me where you'll have lunch and that you'll wait there until you've heard from me that it's safe to go."

Anna Margaret wondered if she should tell Frederick about this. She did not see how she could keep it a secret from him that they were to wait somewhere until the watchers were in place. That, at least, was the reason they were to wait, she assumed. "What if he does not agree?"

"No, he'll probably spot them himself, like in Genoa," she said sarcastically. Then she wondered if this had led to him renting a car over the phone. He might have suspected it would be difficult for them to overhear what he was doing and that it might take them by surprise.

And then the watchers lost them. She was beginning to think it was not such a coincidence as it had appeared to be. It could not be ascribed to chaotic traffic alone, in any case.

"Listen, maybe we should give you a specific Aire," Louis said, perhaps in response to what someone else in the room was suggesting. "On the A40 not long after you get onto that road. It only has toilet facilities, so you'll be easy to find. There's a second one a bit further on and you could have lunch there if you're hungry."

How was she going to explain that they might have to stop twice without revealing why? She ended the call without making any promises.

"Listen," she then said to her companion. "If you're too skilled at losing the surveillance team, nobody's going to think you were always too well guarded to have intercourse with women in broom cupboards. If you give people the slip now, you could have given them the slip then."

"So they're sending another team our way and you're afraid I'll give them the slip?"

"Your argument is compelling enough. Once is a coincidence, twice is a habit. But I'm not sure I like it. If they take pictures of every time I touch you, I might have been better off giving them the slip."

Anna Margaret pondered that. Every time. That certainly sounded as if he had not finished.

Posted on 2015-05-28

Chapter Eleven

Once was a coincidence and twice was a habit, indeed. “So if you’ve touched me more than once, it’s a habit?” Anna Margaret asked.

“Yes, I’m now in the habit of touching you. I think, though, that now that they know what I look like without my disguise, they may not feel the need to take pictures anymore.”

“I hope so. Being watched is one thing, being judged is another.” She wondered about what he called his disguise. Was it conscious? Or had he never really noticed until she had initially failed to recognise him on Friday evening?

“You’re always being judged.”

“But never my private life.” Nobody had ever cared much about her private life before. Certainly, they had investigated it when she had been put forward as a candidate, but when she had turned out to be single and boring, they had soon stopped following her.

“Our situations have reversed then. But what was your private life like before they started judging?”

“Private. Sorry,” she said when she heard his groan. “They never took pictures of me shopping, as far as I know. Or maybe they did and the pictures never got published. I never check either.”

“Because you were never shopping with men.”

“Not in the last few years anyway. And before that, I was quite uninteresting so nobody was watching.”

“You don’t have to provide an heir, of course. A partner in your case would be considered exactly that: a partner. Whereas in my case a partner would be considered nothing but a womb,” he mused. “Although if you got pregnant they might worry about your ability to continue doing your job, which is exactly the opposite for me.”

“Yes, that’s what they always worry about if you’re still in the danger zone,” Anna Margaret sighed. “I told a few of them that fat old men ran equally great health risks, but that they were absolutely right: when the first handsome man crossed my path I would let him impregnate me immediately and I’d resign to take care of his triplets and cook his meals.”

“You would?”

“I think they thought no one would ever take me with that attitude, so they didn’t bring up the subject again.”

Frederick smiled a little. “Yet you absolutely don’t recognise others doing this.”

“Doing what?”

“Think about it.”

She tried to think about it, but she really had no idea.

“But,” he said after a while. “Would you?”

“It’s called hyperbole. I really cannot say. I reserve the right to change my situation at any time.”

“Isn’t that logical?”

“You’d think, but no. People have opinions on women, jobs and babies. Women without jobs with babies. Women with jobs with babies. Women without jobs without babies. Women with jobs without babies. I’m not trying to set an example for others. I also don’t necessarily let job and babies be dependent on each other – as in, you can’t have one without the other. Or, if you’ve chosen one thing, or that one thing has chosen you, you’re then stuck with it for the rest of your life because you’ll otherwise disappoint people who are using you to justify their own choices.”

“Er?” he inquired.

“Pet peeve.”

“Oh.”

“Of course your job involves procreation and there’s dependence there. Is that why you’re going to resign?”

“My job does not involve procreation. The images!”

“You know what I mean. Is that why you’re going to resign?”

“Not entirely, but the thought of being in a sort of three-sided marriage with a wife and the entire country, and then having children with the same threesome just wasn’t very appealing to me.”

“They’d be in the delivery room with you.”

“Urgh, yes. And then the baby would resemble me as a baby and be…er, shall we say, not exactly pretty, and everyone will lie how it’s the most beautiful baby they’ve ever seen, and if it’s a boy, baby girls all over will be groomed to marry him later.”

Anna Margaret snorted, although she sympathised with him too. “I’ll have to take your word for it, although I really don’t believe it, but I’m told you wouldn’t notice the baby is ugly, because it’s your baby.”

“Right.”

Frederick pulled up into the aire . With a full service station a few minutes ahead, it was relatively quiet despite the hour and the weather. He took the parking spot that was closest to the small building that housed the toilet facilities.

“I don’t want to leave you alone,” said Anna Margaret.

“Is that because you’re afraid something might happen to me, or because you think I’ll drive off?”

“You have a hidden agenda.”

“It’s not all that hidden. I’ll come with you, so you’ll know where I am. Besides, I’m a normal human being and I also need to go once in a while.”

“Normal?” She raised her eyebrows and got out of the car. From behind her sunglasses she could inspect the other cars. Four were French and one was Italian. There was no one in the Italian car and there were no picnic tables, so its occupants could only be in or next to the building. Then there were some cars further away of which she could not see the number plates.

Frederick took her arm. She was not sure it was wise to walk arm in arm, but she could not bring herself to pull her arm back. “Do you think they’d drive an Italian car?”

“We’ll see. I’ll wait out here for you, all right?”

Anna Margaret did not see anyone inside. When she was finished he was already waiting for her. It was sunny again today, but not hot, and it would be pleasant to sit somewhere while they waited. Either they would have to sit on the ground or on the bonnet of the car, because there was nothing else in sight. They walked back to the car and got the food they had bought in one of the villages they had passed through. She decided the grass looked safe enough and sat down.

“This is the good life,” he said as he lay down. “Picnic in the sun.”

“You’ve completely lost your mind,” she observed. “We’re sitting on grass that every traveller probably lets their dog piss on and –“

“You have such a bright outlook on life.” He rolled onto his side to help himself to some food. “Enjoy the simple things.”

Life was not about picnicking in the sun. It was about getting home safely without delays and without anyone questioning them once they got there. “Have we already picked up that tail?”

“Yes, we have,” he said as if it was wholly uninteresting. “They won’t bother us.”

“What do you mean by that? Is it the Italian car? Were they waiting in the toilets? How do you know? And why didn’t you tell me?” She cast a look at the building and then at the car. A middle-aged couple was smoking by the car next to it and a lorry driver was coming up from the lorries parked on the other side. Two cars with French plates were just leaving. She ignored those. Where were those watchers? In one of the parked cars? Had they come with more than one car?

“Relax. Enjoy the picnic.”

“I can’t if they’re watching.” She had thought it would be all right, but now that she heard they were there and she did not know where, it felt different. It was the kiss, she realised. It had changed matters. She now had something to hide.

“They’ll see us eat. So what?”

“It looks too couple-y.” It might look too real. It worried her what she might be capable of if she let go. It might look even more couple-y then.

“How horrible.”

“It’s not good for my credibility if I appear to be completely taken in by a Casanova such as you. It makes me appear susceptible to blackmail and manipulation. They will think the only thing a party with less savoury intentions will have to do is send some Casanova my way and I’ll give in – the country will give in.”

Her phone rang. It had been surprisingly silent for a while. It was Louis, of course. “Good, good,” he said. “They found you. Now don’t try to shake them off, please.”

“No, you can have him.” She got to her feet and walked away a bit to where Frederick could not hear her. “I have had enough of his attitude. He’s treating this like some sort of adventure. He is thrilled. I think he doesn’t even want to go home at all and certainly not tonight. And worst of all you have people taking pictures of us that make it look like we’re a couple on a holiday. And you are forwarding them to others! I’m being manoeuvred into a position I don’t want to be in.”

There. She felt better having got that off her chest. Louis was not responding. Perhaps he was thinking there was more to come. There was, if that was what he wanted.

“I seem to be the only one taking this situation seriously,” she continued. “Why is that? Is everyone else just waiting for me to trip up? To see how long it takes for any Casanova to --”

She had been walking in small circles, focusing completely on the phone call and not on her surroundings. Consequently she had not noticed Frederick coming up behind her. He took her phone, calmly. “I’ll take over,” he said. “You sit down.”

She did not know if she wanted to sit down. She would have preferred to blow off some more steam. It was unthinkable to get into some sort of physical fight over her phone, so she merely looked irritated and made sure he noticed. Then she slowly walked back to where their food was. Only because birds would otherwise eat it. Not because she allowed herself to be sent away.

She was not aware of what she was eating or if she was eating anything at all. At last she became aware of drinking some water. The grapes were now gone, but he might have eaten them before. It was all possible.

He returned.

“What did you say? I hope you told him you’re going to take life seriously from now on.” She wondered why it mattered. Did she care, just a bit?

“I asked him what they thought I was doing. That was a difficult question for them, as they do not have your directness. It took them some time to give a proper answer.” He sat down and handed the phone back.

“And?”

“Some thought I was mad, some thought only a little bit. I told them I wasn’t mad.”

She raised her eyebrows in doubt. They could not have believed that. They could not even had said it. That whole conversation had not taken place like that.

“And I asked whether they thought you were easily swayed by hot men.”

She gasped. “Do you think you’re a hot man?” And how could he ask such a question of people convened in an utterly serious meeting? There had been an attack on his life.

“What I think is irrelevant. The question is, do you? And do they think you do?” He winked. “But after some stuttering they said you’re not easily swayed.”

“And you think they don’t think you’re mad? You did not ask about hot men. I cannot believe it. You’re only saying that to wind me up.”

“No. And I requested they put an end to photographing me and forwarding the photos to all and sundry, since it might give people the wrong ideas, because obviously not only are you strictly incorruptible, but should you wish to, I don’t know, go shopping with me, that ought to be your private business.”

“They’ll think you’re madder than ever.”

Frederick shrugged. “Nah.”

“How can I ever go back? Or is this your master plan? Keep me from going back, so we can travel around Europe in a rental car, sleep on couches and pee in dirty roadside toilets?” She looked a little desperate.

“I’m sorry your toilet was dirty.”

She got up. “Excuse me.” She went back to the toilet building and walked around it. There was one man on the other side. He looked up when she passed, but turned back to his phone soon enough. It was the only side of the building that offered some shadow and that could be the explanation for his being there. She came back to the front and considered checking the men’s toilets, but since a bulky lorry driver was just going in, she decided against it.

The smoking couple was still leaning against their car and Frederick was eating something. She went into the women’s toilets to wash her hands. Two women came in shortly after her. Their car had arrived a few minutes before, but they had first opened the boot before approaching the building. She had considered them harmless and unsuspicious, being women and middle-aged.

Maybe they were not harmless. “Excuse me,” said one after a good look at her. She had first used the lavatory and then looked again. “Are you our prime minister by any chance?”

Considering that she was a prime minister, there were no colleagues she could think of who looked like her, and they spoke the same language, she probably was. “I suppose I am.” Her mind raced as she tried to guess at the consequences of being found here by ordinary citizens. When she had seen the woman look, she ought to have left the building immediately, not waited. But she had not yet been ready to face Frederick again. It would not do to strangle him in a car park.

“How lovely to meet you. Isn’t the weather nice here? You must be on holiday.”

“I’m on my way home.”

“I hope you had a lovely time.”

She could mention the attack on the villa and all the subsequent phone calls, but there was a chance that she would tell this lady too much. “Yes, thank you.” She shuffled towards the exit.

There were two women, however, and when one had finished talking, the other continued. “I am so pleased we have a female prime minister at last!”

“I am pleased to be the first one.” Although that had never been her ambition exactly. It was more of a coincidence.

The lady patted her arm. “You’re doing very well. Don’t let those men tell you otherwise.” They shuffled towards the exit with her.

Frederick was standing right in front of the exit. He was clearly waiting for her.

“You must be very proud of her,” said the same lady.

He looked baffled.

Oh, shut up! Anna Margaret wanted to say. Just smile and nod.

“She’s the first female prime minister.”

“Oh. Yes.” He was clueless as to how he had contributed to her election.

“How nice to have finally seen you. You must be very modest.”

Anna Margaret bit her tongue.

“And behind every great woman…” nodded lady two knowingly.

It began to dawn on Frederick what they were suspecting him to be. There was a rapid succession of expressions on his face.

“We have so much coffee, you must have coffee with us,” lady one said invitingly.

“That’s very kind. I could do with some coffee,” he replied with his most charming look.

Anna Margaret hoped he was being genuinely friendly and not trying to delay their departure because he knew she wanted to be home tonight. He was possibly seriously thrilled at the prospect of drinking coffee from plastic cups on a chequered blanket. It might be part of the good life. She tried to be equally friendly herself. It was not the fault of the two women that she was not able to enjoy herself fully.

Lady one held the cups and lady two poured the coffee. “We also have sugar and milk if you’d like,” lady one said brightly. “I always take the sugar home if I order coffee or tea somewhere, in case I ever meet someone who wants it,” said lady one. “But there’s too much sugar in our food as it is.”

“What did your father think?” lady two asked of Anna Margaret. “His cabinet was not exactly known for taking measures in favour of women. I hadn’t pegged him as a supporter of equal opportunities.”

“I don’t think he sees me as a woman, actually,” she said after having wondered how much she could say, but she could not very well lie to them and say her father was a staunch feminist. She also did not want anyone to think she was his puppet. “More as an extension of himself. He would, if he had my mobile phone number, try to tell me what to do, so that’s why he doesn’t have it.”

“Oh, good, good, good. You can do it yourself,” said lady two. “Though there’s nothing wrong with asking advice now and then, I hasten to say.”

“All boards and governments should have an equal number of men and women ideally,” said Frederick.

“Are you angling for a biscuit with your coffee?” Anna Margaret inquired.

“There’s too much sugar in biscuits.”

“So you want two.”

Of course the two ladies were completely enamoured of him now. He was for equal opportunities and for less sugar.

Posted on 2015-05-31

Chapter Twelve

“Did I hear you say you studied at the same university as her son?” Anna Margaret asked when they drove away.

Actually she did not doubt at all. She had heard it very clearly. One of the women had mentioned her son and he had replied that he had done the same. It could of course have been a lie – she had come across people who made things up to impress others or to keep the conversation going – but she had never caught him doing so. He had also been detailed enough to confuse her.

“Yes.”

“Why then, if you’ve apparently studied and even had professors supervise your thesis, do they always write you still hadn’t passed your first year after four years?” She did not know exactly; perhaps it was two or three years, but at any rate he had either taken a long time or he had never passed it. That was what they always wrote – that he had spent his time on anything but studying.

“Because in cases such as mine, they would either make me out to be inhumanly brilliant, or they would gleefully write that I’m inhumanly stupid. Depending on their personal needs, naturally. It doesn’t in fact have to do much with me at all,” he said matter-of-factly.

She could imagine. “But if you’ve actually got as far as a thesis, why would they not write that?”

“Because they don’t know any better.”

She no longer knew what to think. “Why don’t they?”

“I was registered to study for some sort of academic special Olympics, but I had it changed.”

“And nobody knows?”

“You can’t study without anybody knowing. I’m sure you can imagine how it went. Look, do I really have to explain these things to you?”

“No, I – never mind. Oh. But how did it go? How did you study?”

“Did you study? Then you’ll know how one tends to study.” He nearly sounded annoyed.

“I meant, how did you switch without anyone knowing? All eyes were on your nephew when he first went to university. I just don’t see how it could have gone unnoticed.”

“I went in the pre-internet age. My grandfather had me registered –“

“Your grandfather?” She had not realised some grandfathers might be involved in such decisions, but of course his family was not normal.

“Who was still alive at the time,” he nodded. “But when I got there – at the university, I mean, I found out I could just walk into another department and then I asked to see the leading professor. My grandfather had arranged it all, but he could not actually imagine anyone not following his orders, so he did not in fact check up on me too closely to see whether I was still doing what he had ordered me to do.”

“And the professor saw you immediately.”

“Yes. I explained the situation and he was very helpful. I enrolled in his department.”

“But how did this professor know you could do it?” Certainly they would not accept anyone?

“I suppose because nobody had yet written that I could not pass my special Olympics courses? Or maybe I sounded very intelligent. It’s even possible he checked with my school, but he never told me.”

“What about your grandfather?”

“He didn’t find out until I didn’t pass the first year of the special courses. But instead of accepting it, he reregistered me. But by then I had a good understanding with the professor and it was all sorted under the table.”

“Aren’t you afraid that this woman’s son will ask his professor about you and find out?” What if the son said the prime minister’s partner had studied there and the professor, after a description, would know who he was? It was unlikely, but stranger things had happened.

“Woman. Son. Professor. Me. You. That’s really too far away to be interesting, don’t you think? Besides, when I had that age I really couldn’t care less about people my mother met.” He paused for a second, “I still don’t. I really wouldn’t tell my professor that my mother met someone on a French motorway who studied with him in the previous century, because I’d have an inkling that my professor wouldn’t care.”

“Do you actually have a degree?”

“Oh, you kiss only people with degrees, do you?”

Anna Margaret felt slightly insulted. “No! But I meant, if they write things that aren’t true, wouldn’t you want to correct that?”

“Oh. I usually don’t mind. Most people who think I’m stupid never get to talk to me anyway. And people who don’t know whether I’m stupid until they know whether or not I have a degree are –“

“Thank, yes, I get the message,” she said hurriedly. “But wasn’t there a ceremony?”

“I don’t like ceremonies.”

That was a fair enough response. She supposed he had been important enough to arrange something other than a ceremony if he had had also managed to change his studies. “All right, so your father and grandfather were not invited and the media weren’t either, but they did know, did they? Why didn’t your grandfather or father have the impression corrected? I mean, part of their and your life is getting people to admire you.”

Frederick looked amused. “Because it would then come out that I’d been disobedient.”

“They’d rather have you look stupid than disobedient?”

He shrugged. “I suppose it was a worse blow to my grandfather’s pride to have everyone find out his grandson cunningly misled him, than to have everyone think I might not be interested in academics. But that’s just my guess. Maybe he wasn’t very interested in academics himself either? I don’t know.”

“But your father? And your mother?”

“She didn’t get a say in these things,” he replied curtly. “It was my grandfather and then my father.”

She was completely convinced he had come from a really strange family. “What sort of special courses were you registered for at first?” she asked.

“Courses with fashionable, empty names that didn’t require any work. With ‘international’ and ‘communications’ in the course titles and things like that.”

“Are you sure you didn’t take Feminism in the 21st Century? At the picnic you spoke as if you did.”

“Pretty sure. The 21st century hadn’t started yet when I was a student.”

“Those women probably thought you did.” They had loved everything he had said. She had mostly listened, since none of it had required interference.

“No, they thought I was a natural. Or maybe that you had trained me really well.”

“I don’t know if I’d want to train someone,” she mused.

“I’ll leave my shirts on the floor then.”

Anna Margaret ignored that. “They didn’t know who you were.”

“Yes, that was nice.”

She suspected their not knowing who he was had accounted for a lot of his friendliness. He seemed to like people treating him normally. “And are you really all for equal opportunities or was that just to make friends?”

He stared at her. “Hello? What did we accomplish on the succession front in the past year?”

“But wanting women to be able to succeed to the throne is mainly selfish. It’s not because you think women are disadvantaged. It’s because you think you are disadvantaged.”

“Well, I am. There are a lot of things I can’t do. And, apparently, there are people who hate what I stand for and who try to take it out on me personally.”

She had been focused on his conversation with the two women so much that she had forgotten to think about the watchers, who were supposed to protect him from people who tried to take their dislike out on him personally. “Are we going to stop for lunch? I don’t think it’s necessary. Do you?”

“No. We’ll probably have a brief stop in two hours.”

“All right. Is anyone following us?”

“Yes.”

She had to look in the mirror immediately. “How do you know?”

“I recognised one. They don’t have an endless supply of them, you know.”

That made sense. He would have seen some at some point, especially where distance was not required. Not all days were like this one.

Louis, now that he had a proxy eye on them, did not call anymore. Anna Margaret wished no one would call. Foreign leaders began to do so, however. “You’re my secretary,” she said to Frederick. “Direct them to Louis. I really don’t have the time to answer them all while I’m driving.”

He rather enjoyed that.

Around one o’clock she stopped again. “Now tell me where they are.” This was a pretty empty car park again. There was a lorry in the distance, but nothing else ahead of them.

“Quite obviously, they’re right behind us.”

She looked in the mirror. There was a car there indeed. “Isn’t that too obvious? Do you know them?”

“Yes.”

“If you know them, you can talk to them. I won’t mind.”

“Very kind of you. I do want to talk to them, actually. They were at the villa.”

Her mouth opened. “Ooooh.” In that case they might have some information about what had actually happened.

He waved and one man came up to them immediately.

“Park the other way around,” said the man. “Just in case.”

Anna Margaret had already given the keys to Frederick, since he would be driving next. She studied the man, who had spoken without special forms of address. He might be the one who had let her in on Friday night. Maybe. She had not paid close attention. “If you were at the villa,” she said when Frederick moved the car. “You won’t have to take pictures of us to check if you’re shadowing the right people.”

The man looked puzzled. “No, that’s right, madam. We know what you look like.”

“So who sent the other photos?”

“Which photos?”

“In Genoa.”

“Oh, that would be guys from Rome, I guess.”

“I didn’t even know we had guys in Rome. Do we also have guys in France?” she asked, but he did not look as if he could help her with that. She wondered if anyone was going to send the guys in France their way to help out. This would be a perfect justification for the expense of having them, she supposed. “So what are we to do here?”

“I don’t know. It was you who stopped.”

“Right. I needed to –“ She gestured at the little building. “Will you trust me to be safe on my own or I will I from now on always have to take one of you with me?”

“No, you can go alone. We’ll keep an eye out.”

She had not stopped far from the toilets and it was only a short walk. When she emerged, the three others came out of the men’s side together. “And they say women always go in groups…”

“I want to run around the car park,” said Frederick.

“Oh Jesus,” Anna Margaret muttered when he took off his shirt.

“You don’t have to come with me.” He tossed his shirt onto the car.

“I’m talking about your shirt. Why do you always take your clothes off?”

“What are Michael and Max to think of that comment?”

“I don’t know. They sort of live with you. They’re probably used to the sight.”

Michael and Max let out a snort.

“Nothing happened,” Frederick called out as he sprinted away.

Anna Margaret could appreciate athletes, but there must not be any aggravating circumstances. “He’s an exhibitionist,” she muttered to Max and Michael who had installed themselves beside her.

“At least no one in passing cars will realise who he is,” said one of the men.

“No, never. How is this possible?” She pointed at Frederick vaulting over a hedge.

“He’s a blast. But once you’re used to it, he’s just normal.”

“Normal,” she repeated. “Sorry, I have a hard time believing that.”

“Yes, you know, normal. Not, what’s it called, regal.”

“He’s jumping over a hedge without his shirt on.”

“Are you very prudish? We could advise him to dress up.”

“It wouldn’t be any more regal with a shirt.”

After a few sprints, Frederick disappeared into the building to splash some water onto himself. Anna Margaret saw the other two men look closely at other cars, but the only new arrivals were families with small children. There was no danger there.

“Yes, you look good for your age,” she said to Frederick when he reappeared. “Now cover up.”

“Thanks, glad you like it.” He grabbed his shirt. “Do you really think I look good for my age?”

“But your behaviour is bad for your age.”

“Don’t be silly. Would you prefer to sit next to someone in a sweaty shirt then?”

“There wouldn’t be a sweaty shirt if you didn’t run around the car park.”

“Would you prefer to sit next to someone with excess energy then?”

There might be no winning this argument. She looked away when he winked. He would do so in front of the other men, too! One of the men walked away and Frederick leant against the car beside her.

Extremely beside her. “I hope you won’t suggest we split up now there are two cars.”

Her heart was beating too fast to speak at first. Having his shirt back on did not make him any less unsettling. She closed her eyes.

“She’s going to faint,” he said in concern, grabbing her around the waist.

“Yes,” she muttered with her eyes closed. “The idea of separating, it’s just too much.”

“Too much of a good or too much of a bad thing?”

The other man exhaled loudly. “I’ll leave you to your flirting then, shall I?”

Anna Margaret kept her eyes closed. She did not want to check how the man looked or how far he went away. She was pleasantly pinned between Frederick and the car. “Flavour of the week…” she said, trying to stay conscious and keeping her awareness on a place above her neck and not on any of the areas where their bodies touched. She must not forget he had probably done this type of flirting a hundred times before.

“Am I your flavour of the week?”

“You seem to be applying for the position.” She would expect his hands to stray, but they did not. She opened her eyes.

“You still think I do this every week?”

“Now that I’ve seen your men simply step aside when you start, yes. Because it was your excuse that you couldn’t because of them.”

“They can’t hear what you’re saying, but they can definitely see you. They’re not gone. There’s not much I can do.”

“And they don’t have cameras?”

He looked over the car. “No.”

She slid her hands around his waist, pressing her fingertips lightly but insistently into his back. “So, what is your plan, exactly?” she asked, keeping her voice low.

“I don’t know. There is no plan. I can only imagine two options and they’re both bad. One, I don’t resign and I abuse our weekly meetings for seducing you. Two, I do resign and I never get to meet you again.”

She blinked rapidly as she envisaged either option. “Hmm. Could we please meet in another room in that case? It’s not really seduction-friendly.”

“Seduction-friendly? I fear you know much more about these things than I do,” he said, frowning. “Are you talking about the chairs?”

“Oh, don’t be so modest. You managed to kiss me at the breakfast table of all places, not because I am easy, but because I was worked on by an expert.” It was all his fault.

To her surprise he laughed hard.

“But option two,” she continued, slightly unsettled by not knowing why he was so amused. “Why would we never meet again? And why would you want to meet again?”

“Suppose I become an untitled ordinary person, would you be allowed to meet ordinary persons?”

“Nobody forbids me anything. I could give you my key and you could simply enter my flat. Unless you came with two bodyguards. You’d have to leave them outside.”

He brightened up. “Really? That sounds easy enough. Oh, but would you actually want me to meet you?”

“We could always give it a try. Imagine coming home from work to find you’ve cooked,” she said dreamily. Her days were usually long and her meals easy. “That would be so wonderful – and so unlikely. Bang. Back to earth.”

He smiled and stepped back.

“You must be the first guy who lets go when he’s given some encouragement,” she observed. To her surprise he blushed. It was cute and she smiled involuntarily.

End of the away game

Posted on 2015-06-03

Chapter Thirteen

Anna Margaret had been happy to see the familiar streets, even if they were now dark. It was Sunday evening. Few people were about apart from some walking their dogs. They passed a bus letting its last passenger out. It was all normal and the adventure was over. She was home safely – well, almost.

Behind them, the car with Frederick and Michael took a turn to the left. Theirs drove on. She felt the parting keenly, although they had of course already parted when they had changed cars – but one did not kiss if there were two bodyguards looking on. She was glad Frederick had not even tried, but she regretted it all the same.

And she had simply changed cars without knowing when she would see him again. He had not said. They always met on Wednesdays. Until he truly abdicated or either one of them was out of the country, that would continue. Except this Wednesday, because he had, quite contrary to his usual practice, looked up the engagements of the coming week in his phone and he turned out to be opening a school that day.

She was curious how it would be when they next met. Would he remember? Would he acknowledge what had happened during the weekend and how they had interacted? Would he receive her differently now, as a friend? Would he kiss her before they sat down?

Or would he be distant? Would she have been a mere diversion? Fun while it lasted, but back to real life now? It was difficult to predict all of a sudden. She had felt they might be friends, but France already seemed so far away.

He had her keys. She could not imagine him using them yet. There would not be any opportunity, since he was not yet free to go where he liked. She tried to understand why she had given him the keys already. Of course there were aspects she would like to explore. There was the undeniable attraction, for one, and they had got along. However, in spite of that all, she still had trouble reading him and she really did not know whether he would still seriously be considering abdication once he was back in the safety of his palace. She thought he would, but she could not know .

Max pulled up outside her parents’ home at her request. She got out. “I won’t be long.” And she ran to the door.

Her mother opened it after having peeked through the small window to see who was at the door. “Anna! Why are you coming around so late?”

“I need my spare keys. I can’t find my keys,” she lied. She still had all of them except two.

“Oh, of course.” Her mother hurried back into the hall. “Come in.”

She did not follow. Undoubtedly she would be stalled if she did. “Thanks,” she said when her mother returned with the keys, having stayed away rather longer than expected – presumably to inform her father. “I can’t stay; I should go to bed.”

“Your father would like to talk to you about –“

“Yes, I know. But I really don’t have the time.” She tried to sound regretful. “I was away for the weekend and I’ll have a lot to do tomorrow. Bye, Mum!” She jogged back to the car before her father would appear in the hall. He was undoubtedly in his chair waiting for her to be brought in, or he would have come to the door.

Max drove her to her flat. “I’ll need to check the street and your flat,” he said. “We don’t know if this failed attempt gave anyone any ideas.”

“Seriously?” She got out and looked up and down the street. Two people were walking their dogs and someone else had just parked. Nothing dangerous about that. And really, if someone intended to do her harm, Max on his own could do little to help her.

She unlocked the door and they went up the stairs. Her flat was on the first floor. She shared her landing with three other flats, but no one came out. Max checked all the rooms of her flat, but she was not surprised he could not find anyone there. Why would anyone target her anyway? But of course everyone would have thought the same about the king. And her address was not all that secret.

“Thanks,” she said to Max as he left.

She opened her suitcase in the corridor and took out the dirty laundry. Only then did it strike her that they had not taken Frederick’s clothes out. Oh well. He was not likely to miss some underwear and a shirt. It would look rather odd if she took it, washed and folded, to the Palace next time. On top of a pile of documents.

What would he do with it? What would the staff think?

Would he even know where they kept his underwear? She contemplated the matter. Did he stand naked waiting for people to dress him up at home? No, that could not be. She had not actually seen him get dressed, but she had not been far away, and he had not asked for assistance. Which meant that he could do it himself. He might even know where to find his clothes at home.

She stuffed the clothes into the washing machine so they were out of sight and they would no longer remind her of kings looking good in their underwear.

The following morning she reached her desk an hour later than usual. Some of it was intentional, because she had tried to sleep in, but at least ten minutes were due to staff asking her questions or trying to inform her about the weekend’s events, and another few from having to take another entrance due to a minor media circus outside the front doors.

George knew she would be late; he had phoned right after her alarm had gone off to ask her if she had ever arrived home. There were therefore no questions from him as to why she was late. She had been glad to hear George had safely travelled home, but since she had only just woken up, she had not asked him if he had spoken to anyone about it.

The entire morning was spent on matters regarding the attack on the villa. Talking to people, listening to people, reading things – it was difficult not to correct some of people’s assumptions that she knew to be wrong. From Louis she had obtained a list of people who had been present at the crisis meetings, but it was sometimes difficult to remember who knew what.

She could not say too much and she could not say too little. The latter involved the danger of appearing incompetent and indifferent. They would say she did not care if terrorists shot at the king. They would say she did not care about bringing them to justice. At the same time, if she was too outspoken about punishing them, there was a whole contingent of others who would feel personally insulted and persecuted, and who might then act upon their feelings. She resisted the urge to want everyone with the least bit of sympathy for the attack to be wiped off the face of the earth.

Although that was exactly what some citizens wanted. She had been shown some interviews with them that had made her frown in concern. Fortunately, no supporters of the ‘other side’ had been found. That did not mean they did not exist – Louis had claimed some were arrested, after all – but that they had not been given a voice. And it was a blessing that the perpetrators had been Italians.

Or not. Because people were already pointing at the dangers of all the boats crossing the Mediterranean filled with migrants waiting to shoot foreign kings. It gave her a headache and she wished she had lived in a time when rows about fishing quotas had been the worst problem. If such a time had existed at all.

After lunch a delegation came to inform her that His Majesty was considering abdication. “Let him have it,” she said tiredly, falling prey to a rather serious after-lunch dip. “Start the process.” While they had never dealt with an abdication, less than a year ago they had had to arrange an inauguration. She was sure the planning of the public part could not be too different. And then of course after the abdication came another inauguration, with which they were already familiar.

“But –“

“I don’t think it’s our duty to dissuade him.” Yet she felt that was exactly what they were expecting her to say. In other circumstances she might indeed have felt it necessary to try and figure out if the step was really inevitable, but not in this case. The fact that he done this first thing in the morning made her pleased. It meant that he was serious about it.

“I think, given the circumstances under which he came to his decision, it is,” said one of the men. “He suffered a traumatic experience. Will he still think so a week from now?”

“I think he will, but why did you say he was merely considering it? Was that his choice of words or yours?”

“That was ours, yes. He did appear decided, but given the circumstances…”

She shook her head. “It’s his life.”

“I think we should allow for a cooling-off period. He should realise there’s no going back.”

“He’ll be aware of that.”

“He’ll no longer be the king.”

“That’s the point of the abdication,” she replied. “Find out what’s required. You can do that without already setting things in motion. I’m sure you’ll need to look up who need to be present at such an event and what needs to be done. Do that. I want a brief outline of that in two days. In the meantime you can continue to ask him. Once a day or so.”

“Two days!” protested the man.

“Brief outline. It’s not going to take someone two days to read through all the relevant legal articles. Or do you mean two days is not long enough for him to come to his senses?”

“That.”

“Did he sound deranged?”

“No.”

“In two days, before I go to South America, I’d like to know what needs to be done, who needs to do what, and where. The basics. I imagine it would be something like persons A and B sign a document in the presence of persons C and D. I do not yet need to know about the clothes, the cars, the guests and the route.”

She thought back to the previous inauguration. That had gone pretty much by itself. There had been a usable roadmap from the previous time – Frederick’s grandfather had died not many years before his father – and that had simply been pulled off a shelf. It was, however, a rather thick volume and browsing it for relevant passages was not something she had time for.

“I know there’s the document we used last year,” she went on. “But the basic idea would be different, since it’s based on a funeral. That is not what I meant by a brief outline. It’s about 200 pages and while I know that is in fact some people’s idea of a brief outline, it’s not mine.”

She had made a list of things she needed to check or be on top of, but apparently so had her parents. They phoned.

“Were you with someone when you picked up your keys?” asked her mother. “I thought I could see you were not driving.”

“Yes, that was the driver.” She hoped they had not seen the foreign number plates on the car.

“Oh.” That was a disappointment. “What about Italy? Wasn’t it terrible? The terrorists got to us now and –“

“Working on that. Listen, Mum. I’ve got so much on my mind. You really shouldn’t use this phone to ask whoever was in my car.” They really did watch her too closely whenever she gave them the opportunity. Because they did not have her mobile number, they had her work number, because, or so they said, they would never be able to speak to her otherwise. She was never home, they claimed. She disagreed with that, although she did concede she was rarely available for long chats.

“Your father would like to know your official point of view about Italy.”

“It’s in the media. I believe Eric spoke on TV on Saturday evening.” Well, she did not actually believe it, she knew it. She had even watched the recording of it. There had been nothing to add to what Eric had said and she had told him so, which had seemed to please him. “What more could Dad want?”

“Your father says you should have been on TV.”

“Next time,” Anna Margaret promised. She had not been at hand and there was no point – except for people who really loved to be on TV – to repeat everything Eric had said. As if the people would not realise she was repeating everything!

She returned to her list. Italy. Several items on the list had to do with that. What had been discovered by the Italians? What was going to happen to the perpetrators? Would security have to be scaled up?

And then there was South America. It did not look as if the trip was going to be cancelled and she did not see why it should be. Before she went, however, she would have to make sure she had her fingers in every pie.

Thankfully the abdication seemed to have been set in motion, albeit it hesitantly and slowly. Frederick, at least, had taken action the morning he got home. It was the other people who were trying to keep him from rushing ahead thoughtlessly and doing things he might regret.

She would not be able to evade the media forever, so when she left she made sure to leave through the front doors to answer questions. By then she knew exactly what her answers would be. The usual suspects were there. It always took too long, though. They could never get enough of asking the same questions over and over again. At long last she had to cut them off and say she was hungry.

One fellow even asked her out to dinner, but this was definitely no longer an option. Years ago she had done this sort of thing, but these days, she thought as she escaped by boarding a bus for a useless tour, it was definitely a bad idea, mixed feelings towards the king or not.

When no one got onto the bus with her, she got off two stops down the line and walked home.

Posted on 2015-06-06

Chapter Fourteen

Anna Margaret never checked from the street whether there were lights on in her flat, because her flat was at the back. She lived alone and she forgot to turn off a light once every three months or thereabouts. It did not strike her as odd that she could see a light behind the frosted glass panel of her front door; she must have accidentally left a light on before she left, which would cost money but it was otherwise no big deal. The services had checked out her street during the past week and noticed nothing suspicious. She had been informed of that. It therefore did not even cross her mind that it could be anything but a forgotten lamp.

There was something odd, however, when she opened her door. There was a smell that definitely had not been there when she left, yet she had been gone to South America for a few days and any smells ought to have disappeared by now.

She was tired from the flight and dropped her suitcase in the hall. Then she kicked off her shoes, hung up her coat – and failed, but she left it lying on the floor. The smell was still there, but she did not immediately investigate. She must have left a window open and the neighbours’ cooking smells were wafting in.

First she went to the bathroom and replaced her clothes with pyjamas and a bathrobe. It was imperative to do that first. After she had eaten something she might be too tired to change. Then she walked slowly to her living room and kitchen, glancing at her suitcase and wondering when she would feel up to unpacking it. Not any time soon, she suspected. When she had not been kept busy by her hosts in South America, she had been on the phone or emailing back home. She had not got as much rest as she had needed.

Stepping through the door, she halted again almost immediately. From there she could see part of the kitchen and it was a mess. There also seemed to be someone in it. She peered around the corner to see if it was not a burglar.

“Frederick?” she cried.

She had not seen or spoken to him since France. The best she had been able to do was to look up pictures of him opening the new wing of that school. He had continued with his own activities, but he had not held any interviews, except that he appeared to have told a girl at the school that he was fine. That, for lack of any other information directly from him, had been repeated and analysed in the media until every possible meaning had been inferred.

“I heard you come in,” he said matter-of-factly. “I wondered when you’d find me.”

“What are you doing?” She observed the worktops. Every pan she owned was on them, as well as several egg shells, vegetable waste, knives, spatulas, spoons, cups, and something was even dripping onto the floor.

“Cooking. I’m glad you weren’t delayed.” He allowed himself to smile a bit. “It’s almost done.”

“How did you escape?” She glanced around, but there did not seem to be anyone else with him.

“Oh, I simply walked out.”

“Why?” She had not missed the abdication already, had she?

“I thought you might be hungry.” Because she was still staring at him as if he was a strange apparition, he dropped the wooden spoon he was holding onto an untidy pile of pans and stepped towards her. “I hope you are.”

Well, perhaps not so much for a meal. Anna Margaret fell into his arms. He was surprisingly accommodating. “I don’t know,” she mumbled between kisses. Any hunger she might have felt had been replaced by this other sensation.

She found out that he had not really escaped, but that the compromise was that a car would pick him up at ten. Until then they could do as they liked. They had even eaten, but she could not tell if she had actually tasted the food. It must have been all right, but her mind had been on other things.

It still was. Snogging and more snogging on the couch. She would not have minded going further, but although he had taken the initiative to come here, it had soon become clear that he would not take the initiative to go further any time soon. There were sensible arguments in favour of that, certainly, and she had refrained from running off to the bedroom. This time. She supposed the fact that someone was going to pick him up was not helping either. It seemed he could live with people knowing he had had dinner here, but not yet live with people suspecting something more.

Which might not have anything to do with not being attracted to her enough. She watched as he pulled on his jacket at 21:58. “Are we now involved?” she asked. It was like being eighteen again. She had been wondering for half an hour at least, but she had not been sure if someone her age was supposed to know.

He focused on his zipper and it took a few moments before he answered. “I suppose, but only secretly.”

“Thanks for letting me in on the secret. I wasn’t sure how you felt.” This was probably not the wisest conversation to have so shortly before his car would arrive. It might take long. Once one question had been asked, others might follow.

“I wasn’t sure about you either.”

“It would not be clever if I asked you to stay, would it?” But she needed to let him know he was at least welcome.

“Do you think I don’t want to?”

She shrugged.

“I didn’t come prepared.”

She shrugged again.

“People might notice.”

She shrugged.

“No, you’d care about that,” he decided. “Once you’ve got a clear head.” He opened the door and gave her a kiss. “I do want to stay, some time.”

“But you’re hurrying out of here now so it won’t be today?”

He smiled and stepped out. Anna Margaret followed as far as the threshold. She froze when she saw her neighbour staring at them interestedly. He was a secretary of state and although his portfolio was agriculture, and therefore he could not possibly have been present at the crisis meetings of a week ago where photos had been shown, she was sure the king had met with all the secretaries of state and ministers a few months ago.

That meant there was a possibility of recognition, even if Frederick was wearing jeans – he had dressed up for this date. She crossed her fingers behind her back. Patrick was only a few years younger; he might actually be observant and notice this was the man he had met a few months ago.

Frederick gave the man a polite nod and bounded down the stairs. She watched him disappear and quickly retired into her flat.

They were not entirely in the same boat privacy-wise, Patrick and she, because nobody could care less what he did in his spare time as long as it was sort of ‘normal’. She got a lot more exposure and that nobody had cared until now was because she had never done much until now. He might actually tell someone she had had a visitor, although she had always believed these flats had been made available to them partly to reduce that risk.

Of course she had had visitors before, but they had been in groups and she had never said goodbye to anyone in her pyjamas.

Perhaps she was worrying too much.

Frederick had been so right, though. If he had been caught leaving in the morning she would have worried even more.

The next morning there was no one who asked her about her visitor. Patrick did not seem to have talked, or at least not to people she encountered. She hoped he was decent enough not to talk at all. Of course he might ask her something at the next courtyard party, but she would be able to handle that. Summer was coming. The next barbecue might be soon. They had them sometimes, with as many residents of the building as wanted to come. It was always an excellent occasion to find out more about people.

Work was the same as before she had left. Everything had been communicated to her across the Atlantic, so there was relatively little news, she thought at first. The only things people had not informed her about had to do with the king, but he had told her some the night before.

Except that her meeting with him had been cancelled. She wondered if he even knew. Or if he was as disappointed as she was. It should have been the day before, but she was not back yet then, and now it would only be next week.

Then, a surprising new thing was that he had flown to Italy in her absence to speak with the men who had been arrested over the attack.

“What?” she cried. “Why wasn’t I told?” He had been at her flat! And he had not said a word about it!

“Because we’ve only just heard about the trip. We’re only just processing the findings,” said Eric apologetically. “Which is why we hadn’t informed you yet. I’m informing you now.”

“There were findings?” She tried to think logically. There was no way she could have pretended she did not know anything if Frederick had told her something last night. She hoped that was why he had not told her. “There were things they told him that they hadn’t told the authorities?”

“Exactly.”

She was even more stunned now. “I need to speak to him, but our meeting was cancelled.”

“Yes, he’s speaking to us.”

“Why not to me ?” He could have told her today, at the same time, yet he had cancelled their meeting. Was he afraid of her reaction? He would have to be even more afraid now. This was important!

“I don’t think he’d have any objections to your being there,” Eric said cautiously. “But I was told you are meeting the crown princess at that time at her request and as such you were unavailable. I’ll fill you in later.”

She did not want to press too hard. It might look as if she really wanted to see the king. Why had he gone to Italy and had he really discovered something? And why had he not told her immediately? She could understand, however, that he had not wanted to place her in an awkward position and she clung to that explanation for the time being.

That, and he avoided possible confrontations by simply not telling anyone he was about to do something of which they disapproved. Perhaps he thought they would dissuade him. When he did not tell them until afterwards, there was very little they could do. Just like his studies, she thought. But who had been there to dissuade him, though? She had been away.

That day she was indeed, unexpectedly, seeing the princess who was due to become the queen hopefully soon. The last time – and perhaps the only time – they had spoken, was over the phone from France. Anna Margaret admitted to being a little more nervous about the conversation because she was now secretly involved with the brother.

There was also the fact that the princess would be nothing like her brother – she would actually have to mind her words and make sure she was extremely polite – and very controlling.

It was unclear where this desire to meet her came from all of a sudden, unless the princess was already taking over the weekly meetings. Frederick could not have talked – he had not said so. On the other hand, it had been days since they had returned from Italy, so it would have given anyone enough time to probe, someone close to him especially. Perhaps it was simply to do with the abdication.

The request had come in early that morning. It was in fact more of an order, as if the princess had known she was available. Of course, if she knew about the weekly meetings with Frederick, she would certainly know that time slot was free for the taking – certainly with a brother who was not very strong.

Surprisingly they were not meeting at either of their offices, but at an exclusive and overpriced lunchroom. It was within walking distance of her office, so she left a little before the appointed time. It was long before people would actually have lunch, so its top floor was still closed. It opened when it got busy, or if princesses requested a table there. One of the waitresses saw her and immediately led her upstairs.

There, it was quiet. Two bodyguards were having coffee near the stairs, but the princess had chosen a table near the back.

“I’m glad you could meet me, Madam Prime Minister,” the princess said as she extended a cool hand.

“Your Royal Highness,” Anna Margaret acknowledged. She passed her order of coffee to the waitress.

“We’ll be meeting much more often in the future, I understand, if my brother has his way. I didn’t think it was wise to meet professionally until everything has been sorted out. There’s a chance, of course, that he’s simply confused.”

There were a lot of people who thought he was simply confused, traumatised or in need of psychological help. Anna Margaret did not respond. The princess was about ten years older and she knew her brother much better. At least, she had known him for far longer. She might not accept Anna Margaret’s opinion that none of these things applied to him: he knew he wanted out.

“I have tried to speak to him about Italy,” the princess continued, but she shook her head. “I’m not getting much out of him, as if a lot happened that he doesn’t want to tell me about. But what is pretty clear is that this time he seems absolutely certain he wants to give up. He never wanted the position in the first place, you see, so that in itself does not surprise me. What does surprise me is that he sometimes smiles.”

“He does not usually smile then?”

“He smiles as if something good is going to happen afterwards.”

“He will have much more freedom?” Anna Margaret guessed.

“No. That was already the case the previous ten times he mentioned giving up. There’s an added dimension now. Something even better.” The princess held her gaze.

She was glad the waitress brought her coffee and an elegant étagère with pastries. It hopefully got her out of reacting. Something even better. She would not speculate on that out loud, even if she could make a guess.

“You will have spoken to him about the abdication,” his sister continued.

“I was in South America.” And, she supposed, Frederick had been to Italy for a short while. Would his sister know? She would not mind hearing if he had managed to do this against his sister’s wishes.

That seemed to make little impression. “Not for long. What did he tell you? You phoned me about it, remember, so he mentioned the subject to you some time ago already.”

That was right.

“So in the middle of escaping an attack on his life, he phones you tell you that you must phone me to say he wants to abdicate? I don’t know if that really makes any sense. Why involve you? He managed to tell me directly all other times.”

Anna Margaret squirmed. She suspected his sister was on to something.

“What you tell me will not go any further,” said the princess. “I should like to have the true sequence of events. I’m not likely to take it to the press.”

Posted on 2015-06-09

Chapter Fifteen

She contemplated one of the pastries. Chances were it would make her fatter and then she would have to run again. She had done practically nothing lately. But it was also likely to be extremely delicious. She transferred it onto her plate. “I…” she began and decided she had best stick to as much of the truth as would be wise. “I had flown to Italy on that Friday to hear from His Majesty whether there was any truth in those rumours.”

“On Friday. The attack happened on Saturday.”

“Yes.”

“When did you see him? Did he allow you to see him?”

“On Friday night, but he invited me for a run the next morning.” She looked at the other woman cautiously. This was the truth, but would she believe it? Did she know her brother invited women to run with him? Would she say he always did, or would she say he never did?

The princess seemed not to care about the run. “Did you stay at our villa?”

“No.” Our villa. Interesting.

“And you came back in the morning and then what…”

It was best to summarise. “We ran and then there were gunshots when we were at breakfast.”

“You were there ,” the princess said almost accusingly.

“Yes, I was there.”

“I take it you and he got away.”

“Yes, together.”

“Were you taken to Rome?”

Anna Margaret pursed her lips. “Er, no. That is why it wasn’t revealed that I was there. He…er…refused to go to Rome and he told me that I either I was to go with him or he would escape on his own.”

The princess, who had been in the process of lifting up a pastry, froze. “He…what?” The pastry dropped onto the table.

“He did not want to go to Rome.”

“Why not?”

“The freedom.”

“And you?”

“It was not about me. I could have gone to Rome, but then what? He didn’t want to come.”

“Surely he had no say in the matter,” his sister said incredulously.

It was now Anna Margaret’s turn to be incredulous. “No say? A grown man? Was I to tie him up until the cars arrived?”

“Surely he would have –“

“Surely he threatened to run away. You will see why I had little choice. Or rather, why at the time I felt as though I had little choice. I was rather tired from the run and he would have been able to leave me behind without any trouble. And then what? I thought he didn’t have enough practical knowledge to get anywhere safely.” Surprisingly it was a great comfort to be able to tell someone about it. She could even take a bite of her pastry. It was always good to render oneself blameless in retrospect.

“And you did not go to Rome either?”

“No. We took a bus.”

“A bus.”

“Public transport,” Anna Margaret could not resist explaining.

“Why on earth would he want to use public transport?”

“My guess is because he’d never done it before.”

“Midlife crisis,” muttered the princess. “Did you take the bus home?”

Occasionally one could feel superior to Princess Isabelle. “Buses run on fixed routes that are usually short. They certainly aren’t long enough to cover the entire trip home, although my former colleagues and I did try to promote long-distance and cross-border bus lines, but they’re not public transport.”

The princess looked as if all travel by bus was undesirable transport, public or not. “Which means?”

Another summary was in order. “We got off the bus, rented a car and drove to France.”

The princess narrowed her eyes. “Ah, that explained why the photo looked like Genoa.” Evidently she had been shopping there as well.

“It was Genoa,” Anna Margaret affirmed.

“And it was you in the photo.” The princess took her phone out of her handbag and looked it up. “I see it now. So why did you really fly to Italy?”

“To ask him about those rumours.”

“Were you jealous?”

“Of what exactly should I be jealous? I was annoyed that people were giving me trouble for something he may or may not have done, but that he was completely indifferent and silent about anyway.”

“And he? The prime minister flies over to bother him about stupid rumours and he invites her for a run?”

Anna Margaret shrugged. “He said I could lose some weight.”

“There are a lot of people who should really lose some weight and he would never invite them at all.”

“Then I don’t know.” She had not asked him again, afraid that he would indeed bring up her weight again, even though he had since then not mentioned it.

“What did he have to say about those rumours anyway?”

“He said they weren’t true.”

“Of course they weren’t. You didn’t have to fly all the way to Italy to find that out. Common sense could have told you. Or anyone in our family. We could all have told you he doesn’t do these things. Did you want to see him personally? Privately?"

"I wanted to hear his version. I suggested paternity tests to him.” She wondered if the princess belonged to the advisers who had not thought those necessary.

“And then suddenly you became the best of friends?” the princess inquired in a sarcastic tone.

“Whatever gave you that idea?” Anna Margaret wondered as innocently as she could.

“Oh, don’t play the fool. You have some sort of rapport, or he wouldn’t have asked you to phone me.”

It was still unclear what his sister understood by a rapport. Anna Margaret was not keen on making her very much wiser if she could avoid it. “Not immediately.”

“But you did later. Aha. Of course, he didn’t return until Sunday. You spent the night somewhere. I am beginning to see why there was so little information about this trip. The things you’ve discussed and done are quite beyond the imagination.”

Anna Margaret decided she wanted another cake. She took her time choosing one, avoiding the inquisitive gaze of the princess. She had no idea whether it was wise to say nothing had happened. The kiss had. Perhaps that was enough. “You’ve just said he doesn’t do these things, so why do you assume he did them now?”

“Well, that is exactly my problem.”

Anna Margaret could only look blank. There were worse problems in the world, she would think. And what was this problem exactly?

“Are you free this evening? We’re having a barbecue tonight. It would be an excellent occasion to practise your poker face.”

“My poker face?” Anna Margaret did not know why she would need that. She certainly did not have it now.

“We start at six.”

That was definitely a similarity between Frederick and his sister. They both started at six and expected her to attend. “Will he be there?”

“Probably.”

She still did not know why she would need her poker face and why she was invited at all.

When she returned from the brunch, Eric was out, but he had left a time when he would be able to see her. She waited for that impatiently.

“Sorry,” he said. “I thought you’d like to be there, but the princess decides, it seems, and she had first dibs on you.”

Maybe, like her, Frederick had not wanted to appear too eager to see her and he had yielded too easily. But still, his sister seemed to have some power.

He continued. “So, it appears they were nothing but common robbers.”

“Seriously?” Had anyone even considered that angle? “That’s what they told him?” And he had believed them?

“Yes.”

“And does that fit the facts?” As she spoke, she tried to see if it fit.

“That is still being investigated. Including why shortly afterwards someone posted on Twitter that the king was dead. That’s a bit that doesn’t quite fit a robbery scenario.”

“They could have thought that such a scenario would give them a lower sentence than a terrorist plot.”

“Undoubtedly.”

“But why wait until Frederick spoke to them?”

“It’s quite possible that they had already said this, but that we were simply not told, or that it wasn’t taken seriously enough.”

“Are there any facts that support this scenario, though?”

Eric checked his notes. “Two of them were suspected of another robbery, also a large villa. There has been a number of thefts from large houses in the past year. Furthermore, their car contained that sort of equipment and very few weapons were found.”

“There’s no reason why they couldn’t do both – no reason why they couldn’t branch out.”

“No,” he agreed.

“And a lot could be wishful thinking on the king’s part.” She thought she should refer to him less personally now, although she was not sure Eric had noticed.

“Yes, that too. It’s always nicer to think it was your possessions they wanted and not your life.” He paused. “It didn’t seem to affect his decision to abdicate.”

So the news had spread. She was not surprised. Frederick might even have told him himself.

“How lovely to see you,” the princess greeted her when she was taken to the garden by a member of the staff.

“I came straight from my office,” Anna Margaret said. “I hope I’m not too late.” As far as she could see there was nothing on the barbecues yet and two men in catering uniforms were still getting them going.

“Oh no, not at all. Not everyone is here yet. I try to space them out a little so I can welcome them all individually.”

Of course. She did not like, however, that her parents appeared to be among those guests. Her parents and her new secret boyfriend. Great. Assuming he was really going to be here, of course, but why else would she need a poker face? She was too tired to play games, yet the princess seemed to have got some game going on.

“Yes,” said the princess, following her eyes. “You will know some people.”

A waitress circulated to provide everyone with their first drink. Anna Margaret took the first glass that was available. It proved to be red wine. She could handle that; she had come on foot and planned to leave the same way. Rather than making a selection from among the drinks on the tray, she had been scanning the other guests for familiar faces. He was not yet there, as far as she could tell. The fact that so many others were made her wonder if she had been a last-minute addition. This could not possibly have been a last-minute event, unless so many people were willing to alter their plans at the last moment because a princess invited them.

She decided that perhaps there were.

“My brother is not yet back. I sent him back inside to change, because some ladies were wondering why I had invited the tennis instructor.”

Anna Margaret looked at her in surprise, although she did not know what surprised her most: the fact that he allowed himself to be sent inside, or that he had been mistaken for a tennis instructor. Or perhaps the fact that the princess might have been humorous.

“You would allow it,” said his sister a little questioningly.

“Yes, probably.”

“Oh my god,” said the princess. “I was hoping a woman would at least put an end to that !”

“I’d pick my battles.”

Princess Isabelle excused herself to receive some new arrivals.

Anna Margaret walked on to greet Louis and his wife Fabienne, who were standing nearest to her. Her parents could wait, especially her father. She could tell Louis had gone home to change before coming here and Fabienne had probably booked an emergency appointment at the hairdresser’s.

“Very nice, this saves me some cooking,” she said to them. “I hadn’t been here in the garden before, had you?” She looked around. The garden was surrounded by a high wall, hiding it from the rest of the town. Beyond the wall might be other official buildings. No high ones, at any rate. The garden was divided into a few sections by high hedges. She supposed one also hid a tennis court.

“No, we’re here for the first time as well,” said Fabienne. “Out here for a barbecue, that is.”

She looked at the barbecues, which had now been left alone by the staff. “Do you think we’ll be allowed to do it ourselves?” Otherwise it was not really a barbecue, was it? It would then simply amount to eating barbecued food.

“I’ll let some man do it if Louis won’t. They tend to like it.”

“I don’t find it particularly riveting either, but I wondered.” She had also wondered how long it would take for her parents to come in her direction. As it turned out, not very long. She kissed them on the cheek.

“I didn’t know you were invited,” said her father. “I hope you didn’t invite yourself.”

“It’s not as if I have a long history of doing that.”

“I didn’t know you were personally acquainted with Princess Isabelle.”

“I am personally and impersonally acquainted with a lot of people. I can’t keep track of them all.” She took a sip of her red wine. Hopefully it would help her sleep tonight. She was still exhausted from her trip to South America and perhaps it would have been better simply to have gone home, but one did not turn a princess down. “But since I most often get invited by people who don’t know me personally at all, I say it’s a moot point.”

“You never said where you’d gone on holiday,” said her father.

“Didn’t I? Oh, yes. Maybe I didn’t.”

Posted on 2015-06-12

Chapter Sixteen

Louis had walked away with Princess Isabelle’s husband and Anna Margaret’s father had decided that His Majesty was a better source of information about anything at all than his own daughter who did not seem inclined to tell him anything spontaneously. Or perhaps the king simply needed to be greeted as soon as he arrived. She noticed he had barely set two steps outside when her father made a beeline for him. It was so utterly embarrassing that she downed the remainder of her wine in one gulp.

She turned away on purpose, though not before noticing that Frederick looked pretty chagrined. That was understandable if his sister had sent him inside to change his clothes. A suit and tie for a barbecue? She would personally not think it necessary, but all the men wore it and even Isabelle’s sons were dressed like that. Poor children, she thought, to have to spend a few hours among uninteresting adults, although they were old enough to behave themselves. The eldest were already in their twenties. Isabelle had started young and it might be a source of vexation to her that her brother had not. Even her children might marry sooner than Frederick.

Anna Margaret did not have to wonder whom she would speak to next. She had gravitated towards the salad bar – trays with salads that were still covered – when a woman who was also inspecting the food addressed her.

“Isn’t it lovely weather for a barbecue?”

“It certainly is,” Anna Margaret agreed.

“Did you leave work early? My name is Emma, by the way.”

Anna Margaret shook her hand and introduced herself, although she was not sure it was necessary to say who she was. “Did you notice I’m still in my office clothes?” she asked wryly. She seemed to be the only woman who was not in a dress or skirt.

“There’s nothing wrong with them,” Emma hastened to say. “But yes, I did. I’d been wondering if this summer dress was good enough. I’m afraid I’ve been comparing myself to what other people are wearing.”

She smiled. “I usually wear trousers to work, but I didn’t know what would be a worse offence: coming like this or being late because I’d first gone home to change. But Her Royal Highness didn’t send me back inside, so I suppose I’m all right.”

“I think,” Emma said slowly, looking around. “This is pretty much it. I think it would get noticed if you arrived very much later. She told me it would be a small party. Any more people and it would be big. By my standards, anyway.”

“How are you acquainted?” Anna Margaret assumed that this was her first time attending such an event.

“I’m a musician. I sometimes perform here, but today I can just eat. I’ve just never performed at barbecues before, so I have no idea what these people wear to a barbecue.”

“I’m not one of these people,” Anna Margaret whispered. “Although my parents are here, but that is probably because my father was in the same line of business. I don’t really know what they’re doing here.” She had walked slowly to the drinks table and picked up a glass of orange juice, setting down her empty wine glass. “Or what I am doing here, for that matter. I met the princess exactly once and that was this morning.”

Emma looked relieved to hear it. “Are you alone? I brought my boyfriend, but he’s found some old lady to talk to.”

“Yes, I came straight from work.”

One of the catering men walked around to announce that the barbecues were ready and everyone was free to prepare their own meat. This broke up most conversations and people mingled to choose what they might like to eat.

Anna Margaret tried to catch a glimpse of Frederick, but he was not the only one wearing a dark suit. At last she spotted him by the farthest barbecue with her father talking to him again. He looked like a statue and moved like a robot, if he moved at all. She wondered how anyone could think how such a stiff man could ever have seduced three women. He moved particularly robotically in his suit. She was almost tempted to coax some emotion out of him. What was wrong?

She moved up behind them with her orange juice, trying to hear what was being said. Her father looked at her, but Frederick thoughtfully poked some sausages.

“I want to keep an eye on my meat,” she said with a saucy smile. She was not exceptionally hungry and had not picked anything out herself yet.

“It will be in good hands until you can have it,” said Frederick stiffly.

“Not too long, I hope,” she said.

“Anna, really,” said her father, looking shocked at her impertinence. He probably thought she should bring her own meat to the barbecue, rather than commandeer someone else’s. Especially if that someone was the king.

“I haven’t had any sausages in years,” Frederick said gloomily, looking at what he was poking. “I wonder if I even like them.”

“Just give it a try. I find they grow on you.” She could see her father really was not getting why the king had loaded four sausages onto the barbecue if he was not going to eat any, because he looked at them in confusion. “Dad, why don’t you get yourself a drink? I’ll look after your meat for you.”

“You?” He sounded incredulous, but he gave in when he saw her look. ”I’ll get a drink. Your Majesty, is there anything I might bring you?”

There was a slight hesitation. “No.”

“Did you actually notice what you put on your plate?” she asked Frederick when her father had walked away.

“No.”

“Did your pet goldfish die?”

“No.”

“Are you annoyed because our meeting was cancelled?”

“In part.”

“Are you upset because you had to change your clothes?”

“In part.”

“It’s warm. Take off your jacket, I’ll take off my jacket and I’ll hang them over a chair.”

“My sister…” he began.

“Your sister,” said Anna Margaret, pricking the barbecue fork a little too viciously into a sausage she wanted to turn over. “If your sister says anything about that, I’m going to take you behind the hedge and do something to you she’s not going to like.”

He took off his jacket. She took off her jacket as well and walked to the tables and chairs, hanging them both over an unoccupied chair. Princess Isabelle clearly pulled the strings here. Not only her well-behaved husband and children’s, but also her brother’s. Of course it was her home, but her brother was not her property. It was not that she did not like Isabelle – she had been rather friendly – but it was Frederick who should show some spine and she would gladly help him with that. It seemed she had gone from being the prey to being the hunter, but if they alternated that was not a big deal.

Emma and a man brought some food over, since their barbecue still had the most room. Apparently Frederick had been a forbidding figure, but less so now that he had removed his jacket. Anna Margaret was introduced to Emma’s boyfriend, Daniel, but she could see they had no clue what to do about the king, who was studiously inspecting one sausage after the other. She supposed any further introductions fell to her now.

If Emma was good enough to have played for the princess, she had very likely met other well-known people as well and she had certainly not appeared awkward talking to a prime minister. Meeting a king might not be too great a step up from there. Anna Margaret tried out a few introductions in her head, but she had to choose one fast or it would be odd.

“This is the brother of your hostess.” She thought that might not be too daunting a description for either side.

Frederick exerted himself to speak. “That describes exactly in which capacity I’m here.”

Anna Margaret was pleased to have hit the mark. “I thought you were here to eat. Now, this is Emma and Daniel.”

He shook their hands. “I’m not sure I’m here to eat. Do you see my mother and my aunt over there? They have not bothered to get anything to eat for themselves, but just when I’ve done all the hard work and will be settling down with my plate, they’ll be homing in on me and scooping the plate out of my hands before I can take a bite. Either that or they will call out across the terrace to ask me when their meat is ready.”

“Either that or you could just stop being a doormat,” was Anna Margaret’s advice.

“I didn’t say I always give them my food,” he protested.

“No, you didn’t, but you do apparently always give them the space to try and commandeer your food.” And, apparently, he barbecued extra sausages for them as a precaution. Why else could he have four?

“I don’t give them the space, I see the signs and know what they’re going to do.”

To illustrate his words, one of the elderly ladies yelled, “Freddie?”

Freddie? Anna Margaret mouthed at him. Freddie? He gave her an apologetic shrug in return that infuriated her. “Are you going to let them take your food?”

She would almost tell him what to do. However, there was some danger in becoming the one making up his mind for him instead of his family – it would still not be him doing it. She had not felt this as strongly in Italy or France. Perhaps it was only when he was the king.

“I’ll just go and see what they want,” he said, perhaps before she would go and ask them what they wanted.

Anna Margaret glared at his back. Of course they would not be so secretly involved any more if she spoke to the old ladies and gave them a piece of her mind. She disliked not being able to say anything to them, however.

“I first thought he was very arrogant,” Emma confessed. “But all the other barbecues are full and we had no choice but to check here. I think he might be all right. He seems quite…tame.”

She contemplated answering that, but she did not want to give too much away. “I don’t think he’s unapproachable, no.”

“Don’t we have to speak to him in a special way?”

“Intelligently would be nice, I suppose.”

“We are usually briefed on how to address people if we perform,” said Daniel, who was a little confused.

“I’ve had that briefing once, so I know what you mean. But,” she lowered her voice, seeing him turn back, “I think he likes it better if you’re less formal, but his sister might not.”

“I told them it was your right-wing politics,” said the king when he returned, “that made you prejudiced against doling out sausages to the helpless.”

“Right-wing?” she exclaimed. “I call that right of the centre.” Tame? Not really. There were some claws there. It pleased her, even though he should really apply those claws to the older women. Who were not helpless by any definition, she was sure.

“You don’t know what I vote,” he pointed out. “You don’t know what the old ladies vote. We might all be right of the centre .”

“No, but – urgh.” She suddenly felt rather sick. She wanted to sit down, but there was no chair nearby. The ground would have to do. “Did you tell them I forbade you?”

“Are you all right?” asked Frederick, who could evidently be distracted from his sausages if something was interesting enough.

“No. Must be the jetlag.”

Emma took her around the hedge. “It would be a crime to vomit on this lawn, but if you must, better do it behind the hedge.”

Anna Margaret choked back a laugh. The lawn looked perfect indeed. Too perfect to spoil. “I think – I don’t know, a bucket or a bag?”

“I’ll look for one.”

She lay down on the grass as Emma went away and Frederick peered around the hedge.

“Are you sick?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Had you eaten something already?”

“I had some wine, but that wasn’t it. It’s probably the jetlag and not enough food.”

Emma returned with a cardboard box. Amazingly an unused cardboard box had been present at a royal barbecue, but it came in useful.

“Thanks.” It was not bad enough yet, so she put the box beside her. “I’ll be all right. I’m sure it will pass.”

“Should I get you a chair?”

“No, I’m fine.”

Frederick returned to the barbecue for a moment and then came back. Without sausages. “I’ll take you inside to a quiet spot.”

“Do you have your sister’s permission?” She touched a nerve, she saw.

“I had my reasons for not opposing the meeting switch,” he said curtly.

“I thought as much. But she still decides too much for you.”

He led her inside past the other side of the hedge, so that few people would see it. Then, through a few corridors and doors, he showed her into a bedroom. She had not objected at any point, because she knew she would throw up some time. It was best to do it out of sight.

“Here,” he said.

Anna Margaret responded by vomiting, half over her clothes, half over the floor. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “I didn’t take that as an order. It just happened.”

“It’s all right.” He set her on the edge of the bed and undid her buttons. He disappeared with her clothes and returned with a bucket and a towel.

Anna Margaret hung over the bucket and did not pay attention to what else he was doing. She sat up when he handed her a glass of water and let herself be dressed in some shirt.

“I’ll be back later,” he said. “Lie down.”

Posted on 2015-06-15

Chapter Seventeen

The next time she woke, the alarm clock said 2:42 and she stumbled out of bed to find a bathroom. Fortunately someone with foresight had left the bathroom door open and the faint light coming in from the window showed her all she needed to see.

Only when she got back did she notice there was someone in the bed with her. She guessed it was Frederick, since he would not have left her in someone else’s bed. She was too sleepy to mind. He gave her a questioning rub and she gave him a rub back, not inclined to speak in the middle of the night. She left her hand in his, to indicate she did not mind being there.

She fell asleep after wondering why he had taken her to his own room and why she had not realised that this was in fact his own room. As far as she recalled it was bare and devoid of personal touches, but she had been focused on her stomach too much to wonder where he had taken her.

In the morning she was shocked to see 11:12 on the clock. There was no one with her anymore. Frederick had left without waking her. Evidently she had needed the sleep. But where would people think she was? They might think she had gone missing.

Where was her phone? She swung her legs out of bed, pleased to note only a small degree of queasiness now. But her clothes were gone. She remembered vomiting on them and Frederick taking them away. But where to?

She peered around in the room, but it was still as bare as the night before. The spot where she had vomited was clean. At any rate she could not see where it had been. She now spotted closets and a look in them revealed they held clothes. He must have taken a t-shirt from there, because she was now wearing one.

Her clothes were not in the bathroom either. She looked around for a bit and rinsed her mouth with toothpaste. Then she went on to the other rooms. Surely he did not think she would leave in her underwear? Two other rooms were practically empty. Then she found a sort of laundry room. It held a washing machine and a dryer, at any rate. There were things on top of the dryer and she checked them. Yes, some sports clothes, her clothes and two towels. That was nice, although the fact that he had a washing machine and knew how to use it was mind-boggling.

She returned to the bathroom and contemplated taking a shower. Then she remembered her phone and needing to report sick. Where had he left it? It had been in a pocket of her jacket, but that had been hanging over a chair when she had been taken inside.

She walked to a window to see if she could see the terrace. No. She could not see if her jacket was still outside. There was also no landline in any of the rooms on this floor. But then, if she had been reported missing, another half hour would not matter at this time of the day. She would rather shower first and get dressed, than go downstairs in her underwear. Who knew who might be there. There had to be staff down there, because there was no one up here.

Washed and dressed, she descended the stairs with extreme caution. This was not simply the Palace, this was the king’s private apartment. Well, she guessed it was anyway. She practised what she would say if she ran into someone. Hello . Without any explanations. Perhaps she could also ask for food, depending on how friendly she was being treated.

Downstairs, however, there was no one and looking into the kitchen made her realise she was starving. She had not had a proper meal since yesterday’s brunch. Make that yesterday’s breakfast, since the brunch could not exactly count as a proper meal.

Her jacket turned out to be in the kitchen, slung over a chair, the phone on the table – with a note. Called George and said you were ill, x F.

She sat down and read it again. He had called George. What had he said? Had he said who he was? He had called George! Frederick had called to say she was ill.

She called George too.

“Is that you?” George asked warily.

“Yes, it’s me. I’ve just got up.” She hoped he would now say he had already been called that morning, and by whom.

“Someone phoned me. I didn’t know what to do. I was hoping it was a genuine call this morning.” He sounded relieved. “And not someone who’d kidnapped you. He was using your phone and said he would not take a picture of you sleeping, because you wouldn’t want that.”

“Quite right! The places such a picture could go! I was really asleep. I’ve only just found out that he called you.” And she guessed from what George had said that Frederick had not identified himself. What had George been thinking about that, a strange man reporting the prime minister ill? But she did not dare to ask. “I’ll just have something to eat and then I’ll come to the office.”

“How long will that take?”

She looked at the kitchen cupboards. There might not be anything in there. If they were just for show, she would have to get some food elsewhere. She had best not give George too early a time or he would fret. “In an hour.”

Then she got up and examined the fridge. Surprisingly it contained food.

Just when she had finished a quick lunch, there were sounds outside the kitchen. She stepped out. Frederick was just coming into the hall. She smiled at him, even though he was in a suit and his hair combed in that completely old-fashioned way.

“Hi,” he said, loosening his tie. “I had to go somewhere and now I have to be somewhere else in an hour, but fortunately it’s just across the courtyard. I’m going to eat something.”

“You have food in your kitchen.” She was still in awe. Would he also know what to do with it? There was no one here to do it for him.

“Yes.”

“Do you go shopping?”

“Sort of. I have it delivered. How are you feeling?”

“I feel better. I just woke up. Before dressing and showering. You washed my clothes.” She did not know what was more unbelievable, that he had washed her clothes or that he bought his own food. It was probably too silly to say she wanted him for it. The hair could be messed up. It did not hold her back.

“I put it in the washing machine,” he corrected. He took her back into the kitchen.

“Yes, but…” Anna Margaret leant against the kitchen table, but he was still holding her arm. She might otherwise have fallen backwards. “It’s so…”

He raised his eyebrows. “…easy?”

“I didn’t know you’d live normally.”

“I didn’t always live normally. You should see the apartments across the courtyard. I spent years arguing my way out,” he said as she wrapped her arms around him. “I have a meeting about my abdication speech in less than an hour.”

She could tell he was worried about that in some way and not because he might not have time to do something else with her. He certainly did not seem inclined to cuddle, although he was not pushing her away. “What’s the problem?”

“How do I not come across as a failure? I’m not writing the speech, mind you, but I just can’t imagine they could make anything of it.”

“Just…wait. Who knows, they might have written something really good. Why don’t you write it yourself?”

He smiled in a self-deprecating manner. “It would be rather short if I did. See, I would leave out all the lines about how grateful I was to have been able to serve my people. I just know there will be some of that in there, but I don’t know if I could read that out loud without feeling an utter fraud. I don’t feel the least bit grateful.”

She smiled. “You’d prefer something like: I’m fed up. My sister’s taking over. Bye?”

“Yes.” He removed her arms from around his waist and gently set her down in a chair. “I need to make some lunch. But you’ll understand that I won’t be able to say anything like that. I’m expected to say something deep and literary.”

Anna Margaret watched thoughtfully as he set some food on the table for his lunch. “What if it isn’t deep and literary?”

“People will criticise it.”

“They’ll do that anyway. Can’t you just say how you really feel?”

“No, that would be considered selfish and shallow.” He sat down. “It’s difficult to succeed my father. He was popular. He could do this.”

She laid her hand on his arm. “He might have been a good king, but he was a worthless father, I’m beginning to think. Should I come with you? Think of the good things you’ve experienced. I’m sure there were some.”

He moaned.

“What does that mean?”

“The good things I’ve experienced lately are all things I cannot possibly mention. Most of them involve you in either inappropriate clothing or inappropriate positions. Not that anyone would believe there was actual clothing involved at all times. I’m stuck.”

“I need to come with you. If I don’t come with you, I’ll be writing your speech in my head all afternoon,” she decided. Since she would then not be able to concentrate on anything else, she might as well devote half an hour to overseeing the actual process. It would not be a waste of time.

Frederick looked worried. “But what would they think? They might find out you spent the night here.”

“Yes, so? You were the lucky man whose floor I vomited on.” If anyone mentioned the night, she was sure to make that absolutely clear.

“I didn’t know you’d fall asleep and stay asleep. I thought you could stay there for a bit until your clothes had been washed and –”

“And then you suddenly had a guest.”

“I came back half an hour later and you were asleep.”

“Sorry.” She imagined he might have been at a loss. Or maybe not. He did not sound as if he had been. He seemed to have happily taken it in stride, because he even managed a smile. It was a little strained still – blast that speech.

“And then when your clothes came out of the dryer you were still asleep!”

“Sorry. You have a very comfortable bed. And I wasn’t cold, because you dressed me up in some sort of shirt.”

“I hope you didn’t mind my undressing you.”

“It would be ridiculous if I did. I only wish I’d been aware of it. By the way, I hadn’t expected you to own a washing machine either.” Perhaps she had expected his laundry to be collected.

“You probably expected a different sort of room as well.”

“Yes. It’s all so modern.”

“I’m fairly modern.”

She had called George from the hall to say she would be later. Then she had met the housekeeper, who could not hide her surprise at seeing a visitor. Anna Margaret showed her where she had vomited, as far as she remembered, while Frederick remained out of sight. He was probably afraid to own up to having a girlfriend, she thought, and she let him be. Besides, what could he add?

“He seems to have cleaned it,” she said. “But I don’t know how.” She figured that being nice to the housekeeper might have some benefits in the future. Perhaps the woman was then less likely to gossip about whom she had found in the King’s private apartments.

“No problem,” said the housekeeper, who did not ask when or why she had vomited upstairs in the bedroom, of all places. “I’ll mop the floor today. Is His Majesty here?”

“In the kitchen.” It was still a ridiculously abnormal place for him to be, she thought. She could hardly say it without sounding incredulous.

“All right. I’ll see to it.”

Anna Margaret returned downstairs. “I met the housekeeper.”

“I heard.”

“You stayed in hiding.”

There was a small smile. “Yes.”

“She’ll clean your floor upstairs and the toilet.” And, she supposed, the housekeeper would do the dishes, since he piled them up.

“You could also not have told her.”

“I suppose. Sometimes it’s better to be friendly than to be secretive, though.”

He was not sure. But then, he was worrying about his speech. “She’s cleaning, yes?”

“Yes.”

“Come here. I haven’t even greeted you properly yet.”

The fact that the housekeeper knocked on an open door told Anna Margaret she had seen enough. She was nearly as embarrassed as Frederick, but since he could only look at the floor, she had to be the one to see if the housekeeper required anything from them or not. She felt sorry for him. Just when he dared to do something, he got caught. The poor thing.

Posted on 2015-06-18

Chapter Eighteen

At first Frederick had been extremely stiff. She guessed he was nervous about bringing her to the meeting, but she had decided that for herself there was no point in being nervous and her calm manner soon seemed to convince the other men she had a right to be there. There was one woman among them, a young one, but presumably she only took notes because she was clutching a notepad and nearly hiding behind it.

When one of the senior officials began speaking about His Majesty’s personal motivations that would have to be used in the template, Frederick began to look slightly panicked.

“If you’ve based this template on other abdication speeches,” Anna Margaret commented, thinking of some other monarchs who had abdicated. “How could you use it? They did it for other reasons.”

“It depends on His Majesty’s motivations.”

“I don’t like it,” said His Majesty with a hint of petulance.

“The template?” inquired the man.

“No, the position.”

“Be a little more poetic,” Anna Margaret advised.

“I can’t.”

“Let’s start with your motivations, Your Majesty,” said the official. “Since we don’t know them, we found it hard to create a suitable template. All your colleagues who retired made room for the younger generation. And the prime minister is right; this makes it difficult to make a similar sort of speech. Perhaps we’ll need to create something original.”

Anna Margaret thought that was the wisest thing to do in any case. She had never used templates for speeches. Perhaps they were talking about guidelines for paragraphs rather than actual stock sentences, but she did not want to ask.

“I…my motivations?” Frederick squeaked when they all looked at him expectantly. “Poetic?”

“They will turn it into something poetic,” Anna Margaret guessed hopefully. “All you need to do is be clear about why you want out.”

“But that is obvious.”

She gave him a stare. No, it was evidently not obvious to everyone. She waved her hand in frustration. “Did you have this much trouble with the Christmas speech?” she asked the official who had spoken before. What were they thinking of him? He was behaving like an idiot, but they really were not looking surprised by this at all. It pained her that he was apparently generally behaving like an idiot. He was sweet. He had taken care of her when she felt sick. He was not an idiot.

“No, madam.”

She guessed they had written all of it then and he had simply read it, without making any contributions or corrections to its contents, much as he had always been during his weekly meetings with the prime minister. “Right. And you have no idea why he wants to abdicate?”

The official shook his head. He might have his suspicions, but he clearly did not dare to voice them.

“I don’t like it,” Frederick repeated.

“Are you always like this?” She began to wonder if it was due to her presence. Perhaps he would manage to be a little more cooperative if she left. She had been thinking her presence would help, but perhaps it would not.

He gave no answer.

“You don’t like it. Good, we’ve got that so far.” She tried to sound as encouraging as she could, without sounding as if she was speaking to a small child. He was not a child; he only needed some help. “And why don’t you like it?”

“You know that.”

“You’re not writing a speech for me . Now get over yourself and behave,” she said sternly. The men all looked shocked, but the young woman bit her pen.

Frederick gave it a try. “I never wanted to succeed my father.”

The young woman wrote something down.

“Good,” said Anna Margaret, encouraging again. “We’re getting somewhere.” Frederick was saying something and the writer was able to use something – she hoped.

“I have always felt that my sister was better suited to the task. But my father believed the title should pass from father to son.”

“Whereas you are modern.”

“The other day you called it selfish.”

“In a speech, it is better described as modern. Although, I don’t know, taking it too far might make you sound republican. Can you make something of that?” she asked the young woman, who she guessed was in charge of turning this information into actual text.

She looked up shyly. “Yes, I think so.”

“Good. So, in fact, he was the placeholder for his sister. Should he be feeling delighted or blessed to have served the people in the meantime, according to your template?”

“The template contains something of that nature indeed,” one of the officials confirmed, but clearly he was doubting His Majesty’s ability to feel delighted.

“He’s delighted the law was changed,” said His Majesty, who for the first time betrayed something other than panic or unwillingness.

Anna Margaret thought this a good sign. “So, you’ll be able to suffer reading up that you were happy to serve the people in those few months.”

“Actually I put my life on hold for the people for twenty years. Though it’s not their fault; it was all my father’s and grandfather’s.”

“We’ll have to rephrase that,” the young woman muttered to herself.

Frederick was on a roll. “I’ve had to fight for my own kitchen for more than fifteen years.”

“Your own kitchen,” Anna Margaret repeated. “And washing machine. It makes it sound as if your sole ambition is to be a domestic god. While it would explain all too clearly why you have some problems with your job, most people will not exactly think it…er…sexy for a king.”

“It would be for the girlfriend, obviously,” he said rolling his eyes.

That silenced her. And the rest of the table, she noticed. She closed her eyes and tried to rewind. “Right. You wanted your own kitchen, because…” It was not for the girlfriend. It was for some degree of independence, she was sure.

“Not for baking pies with an apron on.”

“But you’d like that girlfriend to bake pies with an apron on?” Once she had asked she regretted it. She should stick to the speech, but he had almost sounded like himself there and she had let herself go a bit.

He gave her a long look and then sighed. “Really. I eat often and I eat healthy. I need to be control of that.”

That had to be one of his issues. She nodded. It was a fairly innocent issue, because she had not noticed him being overly picky about food. It had been healthy, but not extreme. Nevertheless, if he felt he could not control anything in his life except his food, it made sense he would try to control that at least. “Still,” she continued. “The kitchen really sounds too domestic. It’s only a symptom of an underlying condition. Kitchens should not be mentioned.”

The men had also been taking notes on the papers they had before them. “So let us summarise,” said the man who had spoken most so far. “You’re making room for your sister because she’s better qualified and you believe the title should have passed to the eldest child regardless of whether that was a boy or girl, and you look forward to…”

Frederick took something from his pocket and removed his contact lenses. He then put his glasses on. They were not the pair he wore in his spare time, but a more elegant-looking pair. “It doesn’t have to be a long speech,” he then said. “Nobody needs to know what I look forward to.”

“People will want to know why, or they will invent things.”

“They have been inventing things pretty much all my life. Can’t I do this together with Isabelle?”

“That might be the most useful thing you’ve said so far,” commented Anna Margaret.

Anna Margaret wondered what Princess Isabelle had thought about her disappearance from the barbecue. Frederick might not have told her everything. He had gone back, though, after he had put her to bed. He must have done, because he had brought back her jacket. And everyone else? Had they noticed her disappearance? And where did they think she had gone?

She had left the writing of the speech, since Princess Isabelle had been requested to come and it would look rather strange if she was still there. However, she had not been told where the princess would be coming from and she was not prepared to be stopped by a car when she was just walking out of the large courtyard through the passage underneath the front of the palace.

“Are you still here?” asked Isabelle in surprise when she had rolled her window down.

“Just leaving.” Anna Margaret checked if she could be seen from the street. Yes. Well, no matter. Everyone would think all the well-known people knew each other anyway and she could have been here on legitimate business.

“On foot?”

“I work nearby.” Although, really, everyone would know that.

“I was told you felt ill last night.”

“Yes.”

“Where did he take you?”

Although this was Princess Isabelle, who was probably used to receiving answers to her questions, Anna Margaret did not feel under any obligation to answer her. “You’ll have to ask him. I didn’t pay attention. But my office is expecting me. Excuse me.” She hurried ahead towards the gates through which she had come in the day before, back to her office.

Her parents did not have her mobile number, a fact for which she was again grateful when she came home at last that evening. It did not take long until the phone rang.

“You were gone from the barbecue all of a sudden,” said her mother. “Dad said you were minding his meat and then suddenly you were gone and his meat was burnt.”

“Could…” She could not mention Frederick here, that would be too revealing. “Could the other people who were there not watch his meat?”

“Oh, they did, but it was still a little burnt.”

Which meant that it was not burnt at all. “That’s awful,” she sympathised.

“And you were gone behind the hedge with the girlfriend of that nice violinist –“

Emma, Anna Margaret supplied silently.

“And she later said you’d been feeling a bit sick and you went inside. I hope you didn’t vomit anywhere. The king would never invite you again.”

She bit her fist. When her mother paused, she removed her first from her mouth and removed a meal from the freezer to place it in the microwave. Her fridge was not as well-stocked as Frederick’s and a fresh meal was out of the question today. She had stayed longer at work to make up for all the time she had missed going to brunches and barbecues. “It was Princess Isabella who invited me.”

“She’s never going to invite you again, you know. I hope you’re not pregnant.”

“Just like that? Without sex?”

“Anna Margaret!” Her mother was shocked.

Which was surprising, since she was the one who had first brought up the subject. There was no understanding some people. “What do you think?”

“I wouldn’t know, since we are always the last to know.”

Guilt-tripping, check. She watched the time on the microwave. Of course her parents would be the last to know. She was no longer eighteen.

“But I think you wouldn’t, because you work too much and where would you leave a baby?”

“There are men without jobs, you know.” Or men soon to be without jobs, although she had never considered the subject in this manner before – and her considering it now did not mean she was really considering it. It was simply a convenient thing to say to her mother. Either she or her father were probably expecting to be asked permission before any babies were conceived. They would expect to be asked if they had time to babysit, too.

“Yes, but – you wouldn’t really get pregnant by a man without a job, would you?”

So, she would also have to have the man vetted? “That a man is not working doesn’t mean his equipment is not working,” she said sharply, wishing the microwave would go faster so she would have a legitimate excuse to hang up.

“Anna Margaret!”

“What’s wrong with men without jobs?”

“You wouldn’t really consider getting pregnant by one, would you?”

“My dinner is ready,” she said when the microwave bleeped. “I’m going to eat and then I’m off to bed. Bye!” She hoped her mother would not discuss this with her father, or completely incorrect conclusions would be drawn. Which would be her own fault; she realised that.

Posted on 2015-06-21

Chapter Nineteen

She changed into her pyjamas and got into bed. When she turned off the light, however, someone rang her bell. This was odd. Since it was the flat’s door, and not the outside door downstairs, she wondered if it was perhaps a neighbour who needed something. When she got out of bed to walk to the door, someone used a key to come in.

Frederick? She was surprised.

“Hi,” he said. “Tomorrow is Saturday.”

“What does that mean?”

“That I have nowhere to go and I’d be all alone. Do you?”

“Not much.” She was still stunned. “So what changed since the previous time?” He did not stay then. Now, he was carrying a bag of sorts, which she could only imagine to contain overnight things.

“Yesterday. I’d rather be with someone who’s sick than be all alone.” He looked at her pyjamas. “I just want some company. Is that all right with you?”

“Of course. I’m just surprised, that’s all.” She was even too surprised to be excited and she told herself to show some enthusiasm before he would leave again. “Because you wouldn’t want us to be found out.”

“I know, I don’t, but…I have no excuses.”

“Will you be picked up?”

He shook his head. “No. Because how would it look if you sent me away before the appointed time? Or if I didn’t want to leave?”

“You’re here in secret.”

“Not entirely.”

She was pleased he had not been entirely irresponsible. He must have told someone so they would not worry. “Until…”

“I have no idea.”

She took him by the hand and led him to the bathroom, although if she had been him she would have checked out the flat when had been here to cook. He would probably already know where the bathroom was.

He shrugged out of his shirt and pulled on his pyjama shirt. “Are you…you know, on the pill?”

“Yes, but I missed two this week due to travelling and not sleeping at home. Don’t tell me you have plans.” She had invited him the other day, that was true, but she had not exactly thought this far ahead yet. Apparently he had and he had probably rehearsed this question on the way.

“I should be prepared in case you have plans.”

“Oh.” She examined herself to see whether she had plans, but such plans could come into existence pretty fast, she felt.

“I’ve been thinking about it, of course, but I’ve so far not yet dared to order condoms with my groceries. I nearly clicked on them several times, but I just couldn’t. What if you wouldn’t want to, what would I do with a box of twelve? And what if you would want to, a box of three seems so few. What would my housekeeper think if I ordered them so often? She puts away my groceries, where would she put them?”

Anna Margaret had to laugh at his predicament, also because it was easier to laugh than to think so seriously. “I can imagine.”

“Will you buy them tomorrow?” he asked without looking at her.

She was taken aback. “Me?” Although people did not usually look at what she bought, a lot of times they did recognise her and then they might look. She was not going out to buy those things. Certainly not locally, where they regularly saw her. “No! What would people think?”

“What would they think if I bought them?”

She wanted to say they might not recognise him, but this was home. They might recognise him here a lot sooner than abroad where no one was expecting him. It would be easy if they could simply not care what people would think, but the fact was that they did care and they would have to work around that somehow.

But this threatened to ruin any plans they might start having.

Frederick brightened up as if he got a really brilliant idea. “No, wait! You can order online as well. Just add a few bananas or something and they’ll deliver it to your door. It sounds awfully desperate, but it’s merely a precaution. I really won’t jump you the moment the box comes in.”

“First the image of your housekeeper and now this.” She hid her eyes behind her hands as if to stop the images from forming. “But get changed. I’ll start up the computer. It might not be such a bad idea. There’s lots more that I’d otherwise have to go and buy tomorrow morning. I’m sort of out of food. And I’m really not ready to have a baby,” she added under her breath. She was not sure if she had intended for him to hear this or not, but he definitely heard her.

It was not long until he joined her. He was far quicker at navigating the site than she was, and she let him do it, only mentioning what she would like to order. “At eight o’clock?” he asked. “Because of the breakfast things, obviously.”

“I didn’t know it was that easy,” she said in surprise. “It would have made my life a lot easier if I’d ever tried to get my groceries online.”

Frederick lifted her off his lap. “Where do I sleep?”

She gave him a strange look. “With me, of course.”

Eight o’clock itself was not much of a problem. Getting out of bed was. Anna Margaret hurried downstairs when the bell rang. Unfortunately her neighbour the secretary of state was just collecting his newspaper from his mailbox as she accepted her shopping.

“So,” he said as he went back upstairs at the same time. “I thought I recognised your visitor the other day, but then I thought it couldn’t be.”

“Oh.” She did not know what else to say, other than that the box she was carrying was really heavy. There was a minimum amount one had to spend before it could be delivered and that made it rather a lot, and although she could have had the delivery man bring it up to her kitchen, she had politely rejected the offer. But now she certainly understood why the option existed.

“The fact that you’re not asking means I’m probably right.”

“Oh.”

“You’re not even curious whom he looked like, because you already know.”

“Oh.”

It was always wise to invest in having some support later on, but she did not know how to go about it in this case. The fact that Patrick had seemingly not yet made the information public in the past two days did not mean he had not tried to or that he never would. She could confirm his suspicions, but what would he do with it?

She moved the box to her hip.

“No wonder you said this week that his security was adequate ,” said he. “If it was doubled or tripled he wouldn’t be able to.”

“Whose security?”

He pointed at her front door. “I saw him from my car last night. He had his own key.”

“Oh.”

“At any rate, avoid the stairwell around ten. Lea’s mum is coming over because she’s pregnant.”

“Lea, I hope. Not her mum. Congratulations?”

He grinned. “Yes, Lea. Thanks. Less happy about her mum, though, but anyway, she reads the magazines.”

“All right.” She set the box on the floor and opened her door. “See you.”

“Patrick, my neighbour, knows you’re here. He saw you.”

Frederick did not look surprised. “Agriculture, right? Although we had talked about football. I recognised him the other day, but I wasn’t sure he recognised me.”

“I’m not sure he was sure, but all I said was oh . Anyway, his mother-in-law is coming around at ten, so we definitely can’t use the stairwell around that time, because she reads the magazines and she might know you. What plans did you have?”

“Actually I had no plans at all.”

“I have to go to an engagement party at around five. You can come, or you can stay here, or you can go running. No, don’t go running on your own,” she decided. “I don’t want to be responsible for anything happening to you.” And even coming with her would be a merely theoretical option.

“Who’s getting engaged and how long will it take?”

“They’re already engaged. It’s George. You know him.”

“I’ve seen him,” he corrected her. “But how long will it take?”

“I suppose I should stay for at least an hour. I could whisper in his ear that you’re waiting for me and he’d understand, but other people might not.”

“What’s the dress code?”

“Dress code? I’ll wear a dress.” She started to unpack the groceries, handing him some items that should go on the breakfast table.

“Are jeans all right?”

She tried to recall if that was what he had been wearing the night before. She had not paid attention. “Do you mean you’d like to come?”

“Maybe.”

“I can’t just get on a bus with you.” There were people on buses and they had nothing to do but observe all the other people on the bus with them.

“You already did once. You don’t have a car?”

“No.”

“Is it far?”

“On the edge of town. But your safety is my responsibility. Where are your bodyguards?”

“Not here.”

She pondered phoning them to come over. “What if someone recognises you?”

“The presence of a bodyguard wouldn’t stop them from taking a picture, which is the most they could do.”

She supposed he might be right. “Still, people might see us together.”

“Then we won’t sit together. Easy.” He carried the things she had pressed into his hands to the breakfast table. Something else required a little detour past the bedroom.

If only it was really that easy. Anna Margaret was not sure. She continued unpacking as she thought it over. There were three parts of this trip where they might get noticed: on the bus down, on the bus back, and then at George’s parents’ house. She did not know George’s parents. There was no telling in what sort of circles they moved and what sort of people were invited, although she expected that most of the guests would be friends of George’s. But there too, she had no idea what he did socially.

“We need to talk,” Anna Margaret said when they had sat down for breakfast. She had been waiting for a good opportunity to say it, because she had not wanted it to spoil the moment.

“I can guess about what.”

“You went to Italy. Tell me about it.”

“I thought I should do something instead of waiting for everyone else to do things with regard to me. Be active rather than passive. I needed to know why they did it, so I could move on. So I went over there to ask.” He gestured as if nothing could be more logical.

She could understand that. “All right. I heard what they told you. They were robbers. Did you believe them?”

He shrugged. “I know why people wouldn’t. But they hadn’t spoken to each other and I spoke to all of them. They weren’t innocent guys, but one even apologised.”

Anna Margaret looked sceptic. “So you believed him.”

“I’m not that easy,” he smiled. “But I’ve passed on my thoughts and now it’s up to others to decide.”

“But you feel different believing they weren’t after you personally?”

“Yes, of course.”

“You could have told me straight away that you’d been.”

“No, sorry. I was afraid what you’d say and the moment never seemed right for it. We were otherwise engaged. I didn’t want to interrupt that. I could finally…” He gestured.

“All right, you feared you wouldn’t get to kiss me if you brought it up?” That made sense. She did not think he had got the opportunity too often before.

“Priorities,” Frederick said very seriously. “Besides, how would you explain knowing about it if you were not supposed to have seen me?”

“You could say you phoned me.”

“Why should I phone you first? What would they think? But all right, I preferred to do other things. And I don’t have your number, actually.”

Anna Margaret stood up and scribbled her number on a notepad. She gave it to him. “I couldn’t believe you’d let your sister cancel our meeting. That was the worst.”

“Working on that,” he mumbled.

“She’s a little domineering, isn’t she? How did she handle your grandfather and father?” There must have been clashes, unless her ideas had coincided perfectly with theirs.

“I don’t know. I’ve never paid close attention, because I’m younger. She was married by the time I’d grown up.”

“But you didn’t tell her where you took me after the barbecue,” she said appreciatively.

“No.”

“Not that she can’t guess, because this morning she saw me leave, but at least you didn’t tell her.”

“Yes, I know. She saw me, immediately asked me what you’d been doing there and then she asked me where I’d taken you last night. I said it was none of her business, but that you were all right now.”

Posted on 2015-06-24

Chapter Twenty

When they were having lunch, Anna Margaret felt they should really decide what to do about George’s engagement party, just in case it required a long preparation such as summoning bodyguards or a car. “What shall we do? I can’t simply not go to this party.” But she did not want to leave Frederick home alone either.

“Of course you should go. He’s only getting engaged once, I suppose. The question is, what will you do with me?”

She looked at him. “Would you like to come?”

“I don’t know. Yes and no.”

“Well, that’s clear then. The other thing you were once so undecided about, you ended up doing after all,” she said with a smile.

“I took the fourth opportunity, not the first.”

“True. I’m afraid I don’t have three more engagement parties lined up. In fact, this is the first I have to go to in my entire life. I could ring him up and ask if I could bring someone, and what sort of people he’s invited?”

“Yes.”

She wondered where she had left her phone, but eventually she found it. She called George.

He sounded busy or distracted. “Yes, madam? I hope there’s no emergency?”

“No, not at all. I was just wondering what sort of people you’ve invited and whether I could bring a friend.”

“A friend friend, or a friend friend ?”

She rolled her eyes in exasperation. She had no idea what the difference was or if there even was one and she was not prepared to specify the precise nature of her relationship with this friend. “George, seriously. A friend .”

“A girl friend or a boy friend?”

“Boy.”

“Is that the same friend you stayed with Thursday night or another one?”

“How would you know I that was a boyfriend?”

“It certainly wasn’t a girlfriend. But is he the same one?”

“How many do you think I have?” she cried. “The same one, of course.”

“Of course you can bring him. It sounds like it’s a sort of serious thing.”

She thought it might be, but it was too soon to tell someone else. Taking him to parties was different. “What sort of people will be there? Are they all from work?” If they were not, they might even accept that George knew Frederick professionally. They might not know what George’s work involved precisely.

“Your boyfriend is from work?” he deduced. “Who?”

“No! Well, not exactly. But are your guests?”

“They’re a very diverse lot, actually.”

“I hope none of them are tabloid journalists.”

“There’s no such thing as a tabloid journalist ,” he corrected her. “But why, the boyfriend is tabloid material? I can’t believe it. He sounded very decent over the phone.”

“Thanks anyway,” she said hurriedly. “I’ll discuss it with him and then you’ll see. Oh, wait. Is there a bus stop near your parents’ house?”

“You’ll be taking the bus?” He sounded like Princess Isabelle would have sounded. “But madam, you’re no longer Minister for Transport. You don’t have to.”

“I don’t have a car.”

“But you’re allowed to have a car now!”

“That’s no reason to get one. I live close to everything. I don’t mind the bus. Really.” It occurred to her that she might even walk or take her bike. She did not need a car at all.

Anna Margaret did not know what would happen, but she was prepared to risk taking Frederick with her. He said expectation was everything and if people were not expecting him, they would not see him. She was not so sure. He might never have been noticed when he had slipped out, but this time he was with her and people might look because of her.

She had tied back her hair and put on sunglasses. Her colourful dress was not something she ever wore to work and she might looked sufficiently different. “I never would have thought I’d have to smuggle a king out of my building,” she remarked. “First we have to dodge Patrick’s mother-in-law, who may or may not have left already, and then the entire population of this city.”

“Does that mean the front door is out?”

“This is your thing, isn’t it?” He was probably hoping for some climbing or crawling. She did not know if she could give him that.

Frederick looked out of the window. “Is there a way out of the backyard?”

“Not unless you climb the wall. There’s a small alley somewhere behind it.”

He studied her dress and thankfully decided it was not practical to leave that way. “All right, we’ll keep it in mind.”

“Are you putting yourself in charge of smuggling yourself out?”

“If you want.”

“Let’s walk,” she decided. “It looks like rain.”

He met her eyes. “Umbrella time!”

“Exactly.” It would be a good cover.

It would take them about an hour to walk to George’s parents’ house, Anna Margaret estimated. They left normally through the front door and had not encountered Patrick or his mother-in-law. Frederick held the umbrella, although it was raining only lightly, and she held his arm. She felt quite excited to be walking around with him. After so much time in a car with him, she did not think she would grow bored during their walk. They would talk.

She remembered that her mother had phoned the day before. “Does your mother ever check where you are?”

“My aunt does that more often. She has the bossy genes.”

“Your aunt is your father’s sister?”

“Yes.”

Then his mother must have the doormat genes. She did not know much about the woman after whom she had been partly named. “What did you really go and tell them at the barbecue?” She did not think it had gone the way he said it had.

“I asked them how I might be of assistance. They wanted my meat, I said someone had been there before them.”

She waited.

“They asked who. I said someone. My aunt asked if that someone was female. I said yes. They looked and saw you and my aunt said ‘oh, it’s her. Tell her that women should do their own barbecuing if they want to be taken seriously.’”

Anna Margaret was baffled. “A woman who refuses to do her own barbecuing says that women should do their own barbecuing?”

“I said ‘exactly’ and walked away.”

“What about my right of the centre politics?”

“I thought of that when I walked away. But I should have said it. Or were you insulted?”

She had felt sick directly afterwards, but there was no connection. “Not really, although…what do you vote? Do you even vote? Your father didn’t vote. He told me so.”

“I know. We’ve had discussions about it because he didn’t like my take on it. He didn’t vote, I do now and then. I can’t tell you what. I’ve been all over.”

He was silent for a few moments. “Did your father understand what sort of meat you were referring to?”

“Doubt it,” Anna Margaret said with an angelic smile. “I’m not that kind of person, you know. My mother phoned because she heard I’d felt sick, but she didn’t mention meat to me. Not in that sense anyway.”

“What,” he said in a more serious tone, “would he think?”

She understood immediately that he was talking about the two of them. “He was annoying you, wasn’t he? Initially he would probably annoy you some more. Once the novelty has worn off, I hope he’ll back off. What was he trying to get out of you? Nothing to do with me, I hope.”

“No, he had no clue you’d been in Italy at all. He was trying to find out how the attack had happened. I’ve talked about if often enough now, so I wasn’t very talkative.”

“I could see that.” She squeezed his arm. “I don’t know what he would think about you as a person. I think he might need to start seeing us as persons first and not as jobs. But I won’t introduce you to them until you want to. And if you want to before I do, not until I want to.”

Sometimes Anna Margaret stopped, ostensibly to check her phone, but really to check if anyone was following them. There did not seem to be and cutting through parks and alleys had made it difficult for anyone not on foot to follow them. Somewhere halfway they had bought some expensive chocolates – rather, she had. Frederick had remained outside the shop under the umbrella.

She had to check the map on her phone for the last bit, but then they arrived at the house of George’s parents. The front door was open. Anna Margaret folded the umbrella and shook her hair loose. They stepped inside, since that was obviously what they were expected to do. George came out of nowhere to greet them.

“Did you really come by bus?”

“No, on foot,” Anna Margaret replied.

“Oh my god,” George whispered dramatically when he perceived her companion. “Is that really him?”

“I don’t know. I ran into him outside. He seemed to be going here as well.”

“Oh, like that. Oh, well. Why don’t you go in already and I’ll take his coat.”

“Now that you’re engaged I suppose it’s safe enough to leave handsome men with you,” Anna Margaret decided. She went into the living room. She had no idea what to expect of an engagement party, but inside it looked as if it simply involved chatting and eating. Not many people were there yet and she recognised George’s boyfriend from the last office Christmas event.

“Congratulations,” she said to him.

“Thank you, madam,” he said and then looked a little horrified. “Did George let you go in alone?”

She smiled. They were well suited in their well-manneredness. “That’s all right. He’s with another guest. I can fend for myself.”

He did not look sure of that. “Let me introduce you to George’s parents.” And he took them to a couple fussing over the hors d’oeuvres.

They were gratified to see her, she noticed. Obviously they felt she was either very busy or very important, and her actually coming was a very special favour. Depending on what George and Frederick were cooking up in the hall, they might be in for another surprise – although she hoped not.

“We’re delighted you could stop by,” said George’s mother. “You must have so many other things to do.”

Anna Margaret could not help but blush, considering she had spent a large part of the morning in bed. It would be far from the important things these people were expecting her to be busy with this weekend.

“Joël’s parents aren’t here, you see,” said George’s mother. “They do not approve. I felt very sad for him. He’s such a sweetheart. So that’s sort of the reason why we’re having this party.”

“I see. I admit I haven’t ever been to an engagement party before, so I didn’t know what to expect.”

“Actually we’ve never been either, but we’re inventing our own party. Please, take something to eat and drink and make yourself comfortable.”

It was unclear whether anyone had recognised Frederick or they were simply discreet. Anna Margaret also did not know if anyone other than George knew they had arrived there together. When they left it was busier, so the sudden absence of two people would not be noticed. It was no longer raining, so the umbrella was out as means of disguise, but the sunglasses could now be used. The advantage of walking was that no one could really study them in great detail because they kept moving, even without the umbrella.

“How did the speech go after I left?” she asked, suddenly remembering.

“Would you like it to have gone worse or better?”

“I hope you arrived at an acceptable speech.”

“Kitchens were not mentioned,” he said in a solemn voice.

“And my attempt at interference?”

“Er…I can’t say there were no attempts at mentioning that. But my dear sister squashed them all. ‘He has no love life, so it plays no role.’ That sort of thing.”

“And that after seeing me outside.”

“Obviously she didn’t know if you’d stayed, or if you’d just come over. It was after lunch, remember, and I’d been out. What could you possibly have been doing? She had asked where I’d taken you, but now how long you’d stayed there.”

“Oh, of course. I hadn’t realised it was so late already when I saw her. I didn’t tell her anything. I don’t know why she doesn’t want you to have a love life if she actively invites me to barbecues where you are as well.” She found Isabelle quite puzzling.

He shrugged as if he had no idea, or perhaps he did not want to try and guess. “Well, I don’t think you fooled the speech girl.”

“How come I didn’t?” Anna Margaret tried to remember what she had said that might give anyone ideas.

“The fact that you were there, I suppose, and annoyed with me.”

“Well, I –“ She coloured because she was afraid he would be angry or disappointed. “I knew you could do better. I didn’t want them to think you were an idiot.”

“I am, occasionally, an idiot.” He was very calm about it too.

“Not with me,” she managed to say. He responded by kissing her. She looked around nervously. The quiet residential area they were in might not have much traffic, but it was exactly the sort of neighbourhood that was lived in by people they encountered during the week.

“Don’t make it look as if I shouldn’t be doing that. Not that there’s anyone to see it. I checked first.”

They crossed a street and passed two cafés. This was a busier area and Anna Margaret kept her sunglasses firmly on her nose, although there was only occasionally a ray of sunlight peeping through the clouds. She had been wondering if they should hold hands or not. Just when she was thinking that she might as well leave her hand in Frederick’s because no one was going to recognise them, a voice rang out.

Posted on 2015-06-27

Chapter Twenty-One

Anna Margaret looked in the direction of the sound. It had been a man’s voice. “I don’t know any men who’d shout obscenities at me like that,” she said. “It’s got to be for you.” It had sounded familiar rather than dangerous, so she was merely curious.

“It was not an obscenity,” Frederick corrected. He waved at someone. “It’s Chris. He can’t very well shout my name across the street, can he?”

“Who’s Chris?”

“Security.”

A man crossed the street. Anna Margaret did not know if she had seen him before.

“When did you escape? Should we chip you or something? I don’t see anyone with you. Or is this a new colleague?” Chris asked as he studied her.

“What are you doing here?” Frederick inquired.

“I live here. Well, some way back you passed my house and I followed you from there. You’re all right? You haven’t been abducted?” he gave Anna Margaret a sideways glance.

“No, of course not.”

“You need to stop doing this,” Chris said, shaking his head. “If you slip out of the gates, it’s us who get fired.”

Anna Margaret wondered what this Chris would do. Was he obliged to escort the king if he saw him unattended?

Chris gave her a look now. “If I may say so, madam, this isn’t smart. It’s going to cost you your job if something happens.”

“How do you know who I am?” She was still wearing her sunglasses.

“We were briefed.”

“Briefed?” she exclaimed. That was horrible. She had never considered that anyone might need to be briefed who had not come from France with them. But of course they would be. It was stupid of her to have overlooked that.

“Listen. Come in and have a drink while I phone the team. Once they’re here, you can walk on.”

She thought Chris might be some sort of team leader. He was a few years older and obviously carried enough authority to tell a king what to do. Not that this was difficult where Frederick was concerned. Chris had a wife or girlfriend, which was obvious from the shoes in the hall, but she did not seem to be home. He invited them to sit on a couch facing a screen showing football matches.

Anna Margaret pondered her future. Would she always have two shadows tagging along whenever Frederick was with her? Could they never spontaneously slip out? She sat down and pushed her sunglasses into her hair. She did not want to be dismissed simply because she was walking with Frederick, but she knew it was a possibility if others viewed it as dangerous.

“I’m sorry,” she said to Chris. “How exactly were you briefed?”

“About you?” he asked as he set down two glasses. “Oh. Let me think.”

She leant into Frederick when Chris disappeared again. “How horrible.”

“What’s horrible?”

“They were briefed.” It was barely two weeks since he had first kissed her. They had been briefed directly after Italy, she assumed, when there had been very little to go on. And they would not know about the kiss. They might have been imagining all sort of other things, however. They had taken a hotel somewhere after all.

Chris appeared again, carrying a tray with bottles. “Just help yourself and pick one. This is all I have.”

Anna Margaret was intent on getting an answer. “What were you briefed about?”

Chris sat down as well. “When the others returned from Italy, we were informed about his possible romantic interest, naturally.”

“I’ll just use your facilities then, eh Chris?” said Frederick and left the room. Apparently he did not like hearing his romantic interest being discussed.

Anna Margaret felt alone. Still, she had to do this and she could. “And exactly how possible was it deemed to be?”

Chris gave a shrug. “The ones who’d been with you were sure of it, the rest of us were just baffled. I personally thought you might see it as a good career move.”

“A good career move. You’ve just told me I could lose my job.”

“If you became the queen instead, would that matter?”

“Except that I won’t become the queen; he’s abdicating.” It was unsettling that some people might think this of her.

He said nothing, appraising her.

“And you think I’d lose interest now?” she inquired.

“It’s possible.”

She stared at him, not quite knowing what to say. He was still studying her and she could not tell if he really believed this or if he had been provoking her for some reason.

Frederick returned. He picked up on the mood right away. “What’s the matter?”

“He…” Anna Margaret pointed. “He think I may have taken up with you because I wanted to become a queen and he thinks I may now dump you.”

“Haha.”

“But it’s just…”

“I know. She’s never tried to dissuade me for a second. And she’s also never hinted that with her wifely guidance I’d suddenly be perfect in the role,” he said to Chris. Clearly he did not believe that he would be perfect with anyone’s wifely guidance.

“Wifely guidance!” Anna Margaret blurted out, even more unsettled. It was early days yet, but he had never alluded to getting married. She had always understood he did not want to be married to anyone, simply because marriage was more or less expected of him.

“Yes, sorry, you know king equals marriage, in most people’s minds, and if you had been so inclined, you would not have settled for girlfriendly guidance. But you’re not so inclined. Well, you’re inclined to guidance, but girlfriendly will suit you fine. Won’t it?”

“So if you’d stayed king, you wouldn’t have married me?” she asked for Chris’ benefit.

“Definitely not,” he said. “I am in principle all for freedom in this regard. The king should be allowed to have a girlfriend, boyfriend, even husband. If he doesn’t want to procreate, he does not. If he wants to employ a surrogate because his partner is a man, he could. Anything that isn’t marrying a good-looking virginal pedigreed girl without too much of a brain and producing at least two children with her. Anything.”

“If in me you believe you found the opposite of that description I’m not sure I should be entirely pleased,” Anna Margaret commented.

He leant sideways and whispered in her ear. “Yes, I definitely failed on the good-looking part.”

Chris was still watching them. “Have a drink,” he reminded them.

Anna Margaret picked a bottle of apple juice. She poured it into a glass. “I thought, Frederick, you had told someone where you were.”

“But you’re not there right now,” Chris pointed out.

“No, we went out,” Frederick replied. He did not seem concerned. “I can defend myself. You only recognised me because you know me. Other people don’t. We’ve just been to a party and only one or two people knew who I was.”

“Listen,” Anna Margaret said to Chris. “I understand your point of view, but how is he supposed to have any sort of life like this? Give the man some training and let him fend for himself.”

“Oh, the worst thing is, I’ve had the training and I’m still not allowed to use it,” Frederick commented. “I can shoot, but I’m not allowed to.”

“Well, I’m – no,” she decided. “Soon you’ll be out and it will all be irrelevant. Because I certainly hope I’m not going to require two shadows for the rest of my life.” She had them during working visits abroad and she accepted that; it was only temporary. It would drive her crazy to have them at all times.

Frederick looked pleased with that somehow. He opened a bottle of water.

“So,” said Anna Margaret. She was not yet ready to let Chris off the hook. “I know you mean well. No, I would rather not be made responsible if something happened to him, but I think some people are losing sight of the fact that we are dealing with a human being here who has feelings and needs. He’s not an object.”

“We do not think he is.”

“Yes, you do. Even your ideas about his possible romantic interest imply that, because you were seriously reckoning with the possibility that I viewed him as a career move, in other words, an object.”

Chris’ eyes widened slightly.

“Did you ever consider the possibility that he came on to me and not the other way around?” She hoped it qualified as such anyway.

“No,” he said immediately.

“Because you see him as an object.”

“No, because I don’t think he would.”

“Well, he did.” She sat back in satisfaction.

Frederick merely took a sip from his water.

Chris only laughed and shook his head. “Cheers,” he said and held a bottle out in her direction. “I wish I’d been there.”

Anna Margaret touched his bottle with her glass. “Cheers. But tell him, Frederick.”

“Tell him what?”

“That we’re two independent responsible entities.”

“I’m hardly independent if I repeat you.”

“No, you’d be sensible.”

He smiled, but he did not repeat her.

The two men arrived ten minutes later. Chris was notified by phone. “Okay,” he said. “You’re good to go.”

“Does he have permission —“ she spoke sarcastically, “—to stay at my flat or does he have to go home?”

“I’m sure your permission will suffice.”

“Wow, thanks.” In that case she would take him home.

On Sunday morning they went for a run. Anna Margaret was not surprised that Frederick had brought his sports clothes, but she could not imagine that his security detail had. Still, that was not her concern.

After showering they were just ready to sit down for a late breakfast, when the downstairs bell rang. She checked the intercom. She could see two people standing outside the door and walked back to Frederick. “I don’t think I’m home. It’s my parents.”

“Won’t they phone you to ask you where you are?”

“Of course they will, but I won’t answer. If I don’t answer my landline, they’ll think I’m out. I don’t feel like explaining everything.”

“I could have come over for a run.”

“And then we showered together. Oh nice. My mum is the sort to check if the other side of the bed was slept in. I’m just not ready for that sort of inquisition yet. Sometimes they think I’m still eighteen. No, I’m not opening the door.”

“All right.”

After breakfast, just when she thought she should maybe clean something, not having a housekeeper, there was someone at the door of the flat. “Someone let them in?” she whispered to Frederick, as if the person at the door could overhear her.

“They can’t still be here.”

That was true. They might be curious and insistent, but they had never crossed the line into the obsessive. She nevertheless hesitated before going to the door. It was only Patrick, however.

“We were all set to play a game this afternoon, but one other couple cancelled because one of them is ill,” he said. “I was thinking you might still have company – do you? And do you fancy coming over this afternoon instead?”

“Depends on the sort of game.”

“Board game. It needs six players to be fun.”

“Ah.” She looked over her shoulder because he was evidently including Frederick in the invitation. “That means there are two people I don’t know.” And two people she might not be able to trust.

“Well, you do know them, but they don’t know about him.”

Frederick might have been listening out of sight, because he was suddenly beside her. He did not seem to care that he would be seen if he was already suspected of being there. “What’s the matter?”

“People I know, but who don’t know about you – do we want to play a board game with them?”

“Have you already asked if those people are not your parents?” Frederick wanted to know.

“Oh!” she exclaimed. “They wouldn’t be, would they?”

“No.” Patrick shook his head. “It’s only Danielle and her husband.”

“Oh, Danielle. I think we could trust Danielle.” But she nevertheless sounded a little anxious. What would everyone think?

“But not your parents.”

“Definitely not. They would tell people. And they would really not like –“ She turned to Patrick. “I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but I’m never going to be the queen.” Once her parents heard about the king, they would expect her to become the queen. That he was planning to abdicate was something her father especially would not understand.

“There was a memo of sorts. Not about your not becoming the queen,” Patrick hastened to add. “Super secret memo.”

“Which means only hundreds of people got it,” she said dryly.

“If they even sent it to Agriculture, definitely. But it seems even we may attend the inauguration, since we were requested not to plan any foreign visits in a particular period.”

“Nobody asked me that. Does that I mean I won’t have to attend?” Frederick asked hopefully.

“Your sister won’t allow you to be absent,” Anna Margaret guessed. “And I have a feeling I should force you too. But will we or won’t we go this afternoon?”

“Wait, wait, what sort of term were they thinking of? A few weeks?”

“Three months,” answered Patrick.

“I’m not going to like that.”

Posted on 2015-06-30

Chapter Twenty-Two

The afternoon was fun. Anna Margaret had never seen Frederick smile so often in company. He seemed to like games, but he did not mind if he lost. He had been introduced only as Frederick and their relationship had not been specified to Danielle and her husband, but it was likely they had guessed everything anyway. They had after all not once asked what he did for a living or where he lived, or even how he knew Patrick.

After dinner Frederick allowed himself to be picked up by his security men, who had probably been outside all day in case he would go for a walk again. He had not said when he would see her again, because he did not know.

Anna Margaret spread herself out over the bed that she now had all to herself. Although usually after work she enjoyed not having anyone else in the house, she had been happy to have Frederick there. He was not completely perfect, she was pleased to note – if she thought he was, she would be too much in love to think straight and it was important to her to think straight – because he had never touched a vacuum cleaner before and he had no idea at which rate dust assembled. Cleaning something up once with a towel was clearly not equal to cleaning an entire flat. She had done it alone.

She nevertheless wondered if and when he could move in. The circle of people who knew about them was rapidly expanding and sooner or later someone would make it public. Although the majority of the population considered it a prime minister’s private business with whom she or he had a relationship, that was different for the king. If the abdication was really not planned for three months and people found out he had practically been living with her for weeks at some point, they might not appreciate it.

She tried to see how it would be a dereliction of duty. Of course if either of them actually stopped doing their jobs it would be. But what if he continued his engagements properly until the end? Then surely it would not matter where he slept or with whom? It should not matter that he sometimes stayed here, or that she sometimes stayed at the palace. Or would it be more professional to put everything off until after his resignation?

Getting her laptop from the living room, she began to look up some matters. First of all, that abdication could be arranged a lot faster. She sent off an email to the committee. Secondly, she found out that even after abdicating, Frederick would still be a member of the Royal Family. It remained to be seen whether Prince Frederick enjoyed more freedom than King Frederick. But she did not doubt that unlike her he would not have to look these things up. He would already be aware of it and perhaps he would be taking more steps later.

It was rather unthinkable that a member of the Royal Family would be allowed to live in this building. She had been applauded for not living above her means or station, but would it work the other way around?

By accident one of the hits on google was on hot, single royals. She could not stop herself from clicking on it. Thankfully they were only a small country, so he was not at the top of the list, but there he was anyhow. Anna Margaret could not help but notice that most of the young men on the list were not hot at all, but being unmarried and titled seemed to be enough to get them onto the list. The description of Frederick was rather odd. Of course they had to make him sound incredibly attractive, but it was clear they knew nothing about him and that they had probably got him off some other list. The website was three years old, but she could not think he had changed so much.

Some research – about which she felt a little embarrassed – showed her that it was mostly their national media who wanted to make Frederick less uninteresting than he really was. They wanted to have someone to write about, so they created someone to write about. If he had been really active on the socialite front, foreign media would have picked up on it. As it was, she could find very few foreign publications that mentioned him at all and one of those few was that list of hot royals.

There were plenty of photos of him talking to women. The national press, hysterically anxious for a bride, had come up with the most fantastical stories, but by now they seemed to have given up hope. Anna Margaret noticed how he rarely smiled in pictures these days, not even at women. Even the gutter press would have nothing to go on.

She wondered what the progress was with the paternity tests. Most people had temporarily forgotten about the fatherhood claims, but it would all resurface with a vengeance once the abdication plans became known.

She looked up His Majesty’s Public Relations Office online and composed an email suggesting how they could go about it, adding that if she was not notified of the results or progress in a week, her own office would do it. They would not like that, she was sure. They would be too afraid the wrong things would be made public if someone else was in charge.

The next morning she was in her office on time. George was late and she teased him. “I’ve been here for hours!”

“Sorry, there was this delivery van…”

“People on foot can just walk around a delivery van.” She knew he came by car and she had often urged him to leave it at home.

“Pfff. Thanks for attending our party, though.”

“You’re welcome.” She hesitated. “Did people…say anything?”

“Most people appreciated your being there, in support of gay marriage and all that, even though you did not represent the government.”

“Oh, you know what I mean.” Frederick.

“Oh, your friend. Most of the other guests didn’t realise you were together. I had to tell my parents and Joël and I asked them to be discreet about it.”

“Thank you.”

“I only told Joël who he really was.”

“Of course, you shouldn’t keep secrets from your partner. But do you mean your parents only think he was my new fling?” Of course that required some discretion as well, but not as much.

“Yes.”

“Good. I’ve requested for the abdication to take place sooner than only in three months. Was that really the plan?”

“I’ll look into that,” he promised.” It seems odd anyhow, because that would be in the middle of summer recess and nobody would be here.”

“Really?” Anna Margaret had not yet calculated when three months from now would be, but he was absolutely right. She had overlooked that they were rapidly nearing the summer. “No, it definitely should be done before summer recess. It doesn’t have to be grand, it just has to be done. Can you get me Princess Isabelle’s email or phone number? She needs to be dissuaded from wanting something grand. I don’t know if that’s what she wants, but just in case.”

George said he was on it and left for this own desk. Before Anna Margaret could start on her usual work, someone else arrived.

“Hello Danielle.” She could only imagine Danielle had come to speak about the day before and she was cautious. It was too much of a coincidence that she would come so soon after seeing Frederick.

“I don’t know how to say this,” Danielle began. She seated herself on the corner of Anna Margaret’s desk and fiddled with a pen that was lying there. “You know, Lea’s pregnant…”

“Yes…?”

“It’s just so difficult.” Danielle heaved a sigh.

Anna Margaret wished to speed things up. “Why? Is Lea pregnant by your husband?”

That question merely met with a look of confusion. “Huh? No. What?”

“Why is Lea’s pregnancy difficult? For her? For you? For me?”

“For me, for me, for me,” Danielle clarified hurriedly. “You see…”

Anna Margaret did not, actually. It was too vague to see anything at all. “Er, no?”

“I’d like to get pregnant as well.”

“Oh. Er, why talk to me?”

“Because it’s not been done before. Our ministers have never got pregnant before. I looked it up last night. How would it be received? The critics were opposed to appointing women in their thirties for exactly this reason and I know it should not stop me, but I do wonder about it. It’s 2015, but the number of socially conservative elements around us is pretty large.”

“Of course I need to say go ahead with it, in any case. Besides…” She thought for a bit. “It may all be overshadowed by socially progressive developments in the lives of other members of the cabinet."

“What do you mean?”

“We need tea,” Anna Margaret decided. “George? Can you get us some tea?” she called to the outer office.

They sat down in the easy chairs in a corner of her room. “What I meant was,” she continued. “Other things may happen that may render your pregnancy trivial to anyone but you. Although, yes, we should be prepared. First, though, what they said when we were appointed may not be what they’ll say when we – I mean, you – actually get pregnant.”

“Just checking, you’re not? Not even secretly?”

“No,” Anna Margaret said emphatically. “And no plans at present. However, I initially used the plural because do think I ought to be free to become pregnant when it suits me, given that there’s no such restriction on men either. Nobody will worry that Patrick will be able to do his job well once he’s a father.”

“Indeed,” Danielle nodded furiously. “And you know what one of my civil servants said to me last year? Danielle, thank goodness you’re not the motherly type. I bet no one ever said something of the sort to Patrick. And we’re all roughly the same age!”

George arrived with some tea. He set it down and disappeared, closing the door behind him.

“And what are those progressive developments you mentioned?” Danielle asked.

“Ah. I don’t know how to put it. I don’t know what people will think of it, but it’s never been done before either.”

That was too confusing to be pursued. “I can’t put it off. What if it takes a few years to succeed? I’d be too old and I’d have put it off for the sake of some sexist old farts. But how do you really view it? I didn’t know what your reaction would be, really. Maybe you were all for giving priority to one’s career.”

“It was always irrelevant to me, not having a boyfriend when I was appointed to these jobs. But I’ll judge case by case – if I have to judge at all. I don’t think I do.”

“You know, yesterday I first thought that guy looked familiar because Alex knew him. I thought maybe I’d seen him in a photo or something.”

“Alex knew him?”

“Yes, he whispered that he’d studied with him, or so he thought. Then after a few minutes I realised why he looked so familiar to me and why he was called Frederick. I didn’t want to look stupid. Either you ask immediately or you don’t ask at all, especially if he seems to want it that way, without proper introductions and etiquette and everything. But…” Danielle checked her tea. “I thought he liked you a lot. Did you know?”

It had not yet occurred to Anna Margaret that only one of them had betrayed his feelings. She therefore looked surprised. “Yes, but how do you know?”

“Just the way he talked to you,” Danielle shrugged. “But you knew?”

“Danielle, what do you think he was doing there?”

“I don’t know. Patrick needed two people for the game? I thought he knew both of you. Do you mean he came with you?”

“Yes.”

Danielle looked somewhat incredulous. “It crossed my mind, as a possibility, but I dismissed it. Unless you invited him to come. Like, as a sixth person?”

“Patrick knew I had company.”

“You had company.”

“Is that very strange?” Anna Margaret was faintly annoyed. It was almost as if she was not nice enough to have company.

“No, no, I suppose not. I’m simply having to readjust my thoughts from oh my god, the king likes Anna Margaret to oh my god, it’s probably mutual and what the heck were they doing in her flat ?”

“I’m glad the door is closed, because everyone would doubt our ability to run the country.”

“But, um,” said Danielle over their second cup of tea. “What about those developments you mentioned? Are they related?”

“Yes, I meant that once that leaks out, a minister getting pregnant by her husband might be extremely responsible by sexist old fartish standards.”

“That’s a relief. But what sort of shocking thing are you going to do?”

“It’s completely unshocking by modern standards. Just going to have a boyfriend.”

“I heard he was going to resign. Is he giving it up for you?”

“No. But someone will probably think so anyway. I merely sped up the progress. And he’s not going to marry me. Would that rate below or above a pregnancy, do you think? Interest-wise?”

“Above, definitely.”

“There is a chance that people will say something about how they could have known appointing young women would lead to this. We’ll have to prepare a good comeback about old men in France.”

“It probably won’t happen simultaneously anyway,” said Danielle. “We haven’t even started trying. But why won’t he marry you?”

“Just rebelliousness. I could always try to talk him into it if I felt it added something to my life, but right now I don’t think it would. Start trying.”

Posted on 2015-07-04

Chapter Twenty-Three

His Majesty’s Public Relations Office got back to her and thanked her for her concern. It was only a little better than the automated reply she had received directly after emailing them. She picked up the phone and rang them. It took some work, but she finally got someone on the line who dared to say anything at all and he eventually revealed that action had been taken.

Satisfied, she then called Princess Isabelle. “Your Royal Highness? I called you to discuss the rough date of the inauguration. We really should try and get this done before our summer recess. There seems to have been a memo saying it would be in three months, but that’s impossible. I think you should prepare yourself for it to be in about a month.” That was the prime minister speaking, of course, and not the woman who was seeing the princess’ brother. The prime minister could say these things, because she had to. Other prime ministers might take a little longer to get to the point, though.

“A month? You can’t have a dress made in a month.”

“I don’t need to have a dress made,” Anna Margaret replied, knowing full well no one was thinking of a dress for her. She would even get a more subdued dress code than the royals did. Such a dress could be bought anywhere, in one afternoon. She did not need a month.

The princess was silent for a few moments. “Why the hurry?”

“Your brother wants it. Is he less important than your dress?” She glanced at the clock and shoved some papers in her bag with one hand. Then she walked out for an assembly. Talking as she walked meant she might have to censor her words if anyone was near, assuming the princess would not hang up in a huff.

“What will you wear?”

That was a surprising question. Anna Margaret had no idea. “I’ll have to check the weather first.”

“You can’t wear last year’s dress.”

“I’ll have to google what that was,” she said as she passed a bunch of interns. No harm done if they heard that. When she was further along, she continued, though not on the bizarre topic of a dress. “But your brother decides on the date. You just have to be ready.” The previous times she had been slightly wrong-footed by Isabelle’s puzzling behaviour, but now she could be equally decisive.

“You mean you decide on the date.”

“Oh, he’s not a baby. He can do that himself.”

“You said it has to be in about a month.”

“Yes, well, he can decide if it’s got to be Wednesday, Thursday or something else.”

“So he doesn’t really get to decide much.”

This was tiresome. So much for Princess Perfection. “He wanted out. He didn’t say he wanted out next year. We’ll have to assume his need is immediate. Please prepare.”

There was another call to make when the assembly was suspended for a short break. “Hi, I’ve arranged a sort of Meet & Greet with you. I knew some people wouldn’t let the subject rest, so I told them they could ask you personally. Ten maximum.”

“What?” he cried.

“Sorry. I’ll be taking down names once I’m out of the loo.” Some were probably already waiting. She would rather not tell them she had promised something she could not deliver.

“When? What about, anyway?”

“Those fatherhood claims. Some people just can’t let that rest. I said I took control of the matter, but that wasn’t enough to reassure them. They seemed impressed that I could let them talk to you.” She had thought she could and she now hoped she had not been wrong. She crossed her fingers and prepared to grovel.

“I’m impressed too, because I haven’t yet agreed.”

“Please. It would help me. I wouldn’t be asking otherwise.”

“When?”

“When it suits you. If they can’t make it, that’s their problem.”

“Ten’s a bit much.”

“Two times five then.”

“All right. I’ll be at your office at four and after that I’ll kill you.”

“Looking forward to it.” She hung up and left the lavatories.

Outside, two men were already waiting. “Were you serious?” one asked.

“I’ll note you down then?” She opened the notepad on her phone. “Today at four, my office.”

“Today? I can’t do today.”

“It’s today or nothing.” She quickly collected ten names. There were more candidates, but she was firm. “Ten’s the max. He wouldn’t even do ten. You’ll just have to ask one of the ten to fill you in.”

When the assembly resumed, no one brought up the subject again, or indeed any other subject that was connected to the king. It was a relief to be able to focus on serious matters without all the nonsensical distractions.

At ten to four, Frederick presented himself at her office. He was not even the first, she saw when George opened her door. The Pitbull, known for his endless nagging on trivial subjects, was already there, unable to pass up this chance.

“I’m going to kill her,” Frederick said rather loudly to George.

Anna Margaret was less impressed by this than the Pitbull. “You can have my desk. George will provide coffee and tea. I’ll stay out there with the second five.” She was glad he had not brought a PR person. Presumably they did not know about this visit or they would have interfered. To appease the Pitbull she let him go in already, so Frederick could kill him if he still felt murderous. He probably did – she expected he had only come here because it was the only chance to see her today. He would even suffer annoying questions for it. She would have done that in his place, anyway.

She kept the second five members of parliament with her, after explaining they would be allowed in in shifts. She had chased George out of his chair so she could sit and try to read, which depending on what the parliamentarians did might not even be possible.

“How did you arrange this?” asked one of the waiting men.

“Phone.”

“And he agreed?” Seemingly this was incredible.

“He might even have said yes had you requested a private meeting yourself. You never know if you don’t try. What are you going to ask?” She was curious if some were going to keep up their bravado. It was one thing to try and unsettle the prime minister with questions about a third person that they knew she really could not answer properly, but another to confront the king.

The man looked at the door behind which five others were now asking questions or listening to explanations. “If he’s got any children. Unless someone else asks it first.”

There were some nervous chuckles among the others. They belonged to different parties, but they were all united in their excitement here.

“And what exactly do you expect him to say?”

“No, of course. He can’t say much else. But I hope he’ll give some arguments.”

After fifteen minutes the others came out. George carried in fresh pots of tea and coffee as the next batch went in. Anna Margaret noticed how all but one of the first five lingered. The fifth was in a hurry to go somewhere and was probably late for an appointment. “Well?” she asked, especially curious about the Pitbull’s opinion.

“I’m satisfied,” he said.

“Does that mean you’ll stop asking annoying questions?”

“I might.”

“Were you interested in the subject or simply curious?” she asked a female parliamentarian who had never displayed any indignation about the king’s possible transgressions, as far as she remembered.

“Simply curious,” said the woman. “We don’t often see him up close, so this was a great opportunity. But it was interesting. He asked the most questions, of course,” she said, pointing at the Pitbull. “But the king quickly showed him his place.”

“No…” Anna Margaret said. Frederick showing someone his place. She could hardly believe it.

“No,” said the Pitbull crabbily.

“It shut you up, didn’t it.” Apparently there were more people who were annoyed by his incessant nagging.

The Pitbull left. The female parliamentarian shrugged as if it was good that he left. “I had no opinion whatsoever on whether he had bastard children. I just wanted to meet him.”

“You’re awfully shallow,” said one of her two remaining colleagues.

“I know, but at least I don’t make up excuses. Although he did look at me funnily when I was asked for my problems and I said I had none.”

“Did you get his autograph? Too bad you didn’t get a selfie with him.”

The woman sighed. “Indeed. I’d best get back to work.”

The two men left with her and Anna Margaret tried to read some more. George returned with two men who had been waiting outside in the corridor. One of them was Chris.

“Keeping the boy on a tight leash now?” she asked him.

He merely smiled. “I figured it might be useful to get a better impression of what is occupying him these days.”

“In other words, you need to assess whether I have dangerous habits.”

“Something like that. After all, you say jump and he jumps.”

She could hear the phone inside her office ring and she jumped up herself. After three rings it would automatically be forwarded to George’s phone. It rang twice and then it stopped. This was puzzling. Although there were people there, nobody would have picked it up. Perhaps it should be reprogrammed.

It took a while before this batch of MPs came out. They looked as if they had had a cosy chat. Frederick followed them. He looked over the heads of the two women in front of him and addressed Anna Margaret. “Your father phoned.”

“Was that really the phone?”

“Yes.”

“You should have let it ring three times and it would have been forwarded automatically.”

“How was I to know? I very politely answered with ’Prime Minister’s Office, how may I help you?’”

“Thank you. I’m sure he’ll call again.” But she noticed that everyone remained around them, looking expectant. “He didn’t hang up?” She quickly tried to assess what this meant. He still sounded casual, but his eyes conveyed something else.

“Your father? Hang up? When he believes he’s talking to the cleaner or some other low government life form?”

She turned red. “Oh no.”

“He didn’t believe I had permission to be there. Maybe I should have called you in, but every time I thought that I had now finally said the thing that would have him hang up, he still didn’t.”

Anna Margaret thought that giving in to her embarrassment would not really look good. She tried to remain calm and dignified. “I’m sorry. I think I can guess what he’s about. I’ll have to speak to him.”

“Everyone now knows what he’s about. I put him on the speaker. Well, I’m late for something. It was a pleasure.” He nodded at Chris that he was ready to leave and walked out.

“Well…” she said, staring after him. Of course he could not stay for a chat while there were other people there, but this was very abrupt. Perhaps he was angry she had forced him to come here. Or the chats had not been pleasant.

One of the women stood beside her. “It was not as bad as it sounded. His Majesty accidentally put him on the speaker when he tried to forward the call. Your father insisted on speaking to you and the king insisted you weren’t there, but that he would write down a message.”

“Well, I’ll just go and check if he wrote anything down then. I hope you found the session satisfactory,” she said, trying to address them all at once.

“Certainly,” said one of the men and the others nodded their agreement. “Thank you for the opportunity.”

Anna Margaret held back the woman when she made to leave. “Sarah, I need to ask you something.” She hoped her father had not let slip why he needed to speak to her, but to low government life forms he probably would not. First something else, however. “I hope he was not too rude? I’ll need to change my phone number if he was, because it would really be unacceptable if he treated my staff rudely, or people he perceived to be my staff.”

Sarah hesitated.

“He was, was he?”

“Let me just say I would have hung up on him.”

“He does tend to pull rank, I know.” Anna Margaret sighed. “I’ll have my number changed, so he can only call me at home. But since they don’t have my mobile number and I often don’t answer the phone at home… I’ll have to apologise to the king. He was already not pleased about coming here, I think.”

“Oh, actually he was merely pulling faces at the phone and replying ridiculous things.”

Anna Margaret stared.

“Yes, he seemed to like that a lot better than talking about women. I noticed he spoke a lot more easily afterwards anyway. Personally I think he could have taken action much sooner with regard to those claims, but he said everyone with half a brain could have known the stories weren’t true.”

“Well, I’ve had to ask him about it too and I have more than half a brain.”

“And apparently his advisers think silence makes it all go away.”

“Yes, he told me that as well. But thanks.”

She saw Sarah out of the office and returned to her desk. There was no note there, so she assumed her father had not said anything worth passing on. Because he would almost certainly bother her just when she had delved into the documents on her desk, she called him. “I was told you called,” she began rather coolly.

“I’m surprised that impertinent fellow actually passed the message on. What happened to your regular staff?”

“Listen, I’m going to have to change my number. I can’t have you be rude to people who work here. If you can’t behave, you can’t phone.” She was annoyed, or she would never have dared to say that to her father. Hopefully it was possible to have the number changed, or it would be a very empty threat.

“You can’t be serious.”

“Well, I’m sorry. If you are rude to members of my staff, I’m simply going to have to make it impossible for you to call here.”

“I wasn’t rude. I simply told this person he had no business being at your desk.”

“And why not? I put him there. It’s my office; I decide who sits where. But what did you want to speak to me about?” She had better ask for it directly, or it might take long. He would have a lot to say on how her staff should behave. While she was curious, she could not allow him to think he had been right.

“I heard some disturbing things from your mother. It seems you would consider having children by an unemployed man?”

Anna Margaret could only be pleasantly surprised by not immediately being thought pregnant already. True, there had been little evidence to go on, but some people did not care. Sometimes she thought her mother had missed out on a brilliant career at a tabloid for all the unfounded conclusions she jumped to. “I would?”

“It would be a very bad idea. Look, I met someone on the golf course the other day. Maybe you should meet him.“ Her father’s tone had changed ever so subtly.

But not enough to fool her. “Meet him?” she laughed incredulously. “Thanks for trying to help, which I suppose is how I should view it, but I have completely different tastes. There’s no need to set me up.” It was even worse than she had thought.

“Your tastes, yes, but if you’d consider marrying someone without a job, then maybe you shouldn’t really let your tastes guide you.”

“Marriage is not a necessity for me, actually.” A wedding would be highly embarrassing at the moment. She suspected it would be rather too much about her father. This seemed to get steadily worse as he grew older, or perhaps she simply noticed it more often.

“He’s coming to dinner tonight.”

“I’m working, but even if I wasn’t working –“ She thought again. Avoidance would not help. Then again, mentioning a boyfriend would not either. They would simply assume she would get rid of him once someone more suitable came along. “Even if I wasn’t working, I wouldn’t be interested. I hope you haven’t given him any ideas.”

The sessions with Frederick and then calling her father had cost her about forty-five minutes. It would be a long day again. A swim would be nice to clear her head, but that would leave very little time for dinner – as usual.

Posted on 2015-07-08

Chapter Twenty-Four

On Tuesday, nothing remarkable happened. On Wednesday, the prime minister was meeting the king. She made sure she was a little early, so they would have more time. Apart from the very first time, she had never been this nervous about meeting him. She had been introduced before he became the king, although she could not remember where, but that had only been brief. Only after his father’s death had he actually spoken to her. Consequently, she had not known what he would be like that first time she had gone here after his father’s death.

She had never wondered if perhaps he had been the more nervous one. These people were not nervous, she had always believed. They were trained to do this from an early age. Only now did she realise he had probably not at all been at ease, being so suddenly thrust into the position he did not want.

Frederick was not early himself, which was disappointing, but it was even worse when Princess Isabelle arrived first. “Are you meeting him here?” Isabelle inquired.

“Well, if you are claiming this room for yourself, Your Royal Highness, I suppose we are not. But the place is large enough. There should be plenty of alternatives that are more comfortable,” she replied airily, eyeing the antique chairs. They would not hold two people. Not that she had plans to try that, but Princess Isabelle might think so.

“Do you always wear trousers?”

“I try to. They’re more comfortable.” And they had a few other advantages as well, naturally.

“What do you think you are doing?” Frederick inquired brusquely when he arrived.

“Nothing,” said his sister.

“Please go and do nothing somewhere else.”

“But you can’t –“

“Can’t what?” He pointed at the door.

Isabelle gave him a disbelieving look, but she left nevertheless.

He closed the door behind her. “Not sure why she felt we needed chaperoning, but I certainly don’t need it. We’re at work. Next month you could hop over to my apartment for lunch after work, but not yet.”

Anna Margaret was torn between feeling pleased he had sent his sister away and disappointed – against her better judgement – that apparently there was no room for a little relaxing. “The weather is so lovely, could we sit outside somewhere? Nobody could even think we were up to something, because they could all see it. If we’re behind closed doors they’ll all be listening at the door.”

“Outside?” He looked as if sitting outside was an incredibly strange, but very appealing idea. “I suppose. But first – I have not kissed you for three days.”

“Mmm,” she responded. “Sorry about Monday. There were far too many people to talk properly. I hope you weren’t angry.”

“I tried to be.”

“I’m sorry.” She hugged him a little closer and was resolved not to spring any more of these annoying surprises on him. It would not be fair.

After these needs were satisfied, he led her out of the door back to the courtyard. They crossed over to the sunny part and he opened a door. “Wait here. I’ll get some chairs.”

She wondered what to expect. Those antique chairs were heavy. He appeared with two modern-looking ones, however, that were almost certainly usually used by staff and not by the family or their visitors.

“I’ve asked for a table, too. They wouldn’t let me carry that myself.”

Shortly afterwards two men brought a table, set it down and went away again. From another door someone appeared with a tray of drinks. It was the same tray that had been sitting on the table in the room they were supposed to meet in. Anna Margaret was not aware of having seen anyone on their way out. How could anyone possibly know where they had gone, or that they were even gone at all? “No movement is secret here, is it? Does that mean everyone knows where I was last week?”

“No, I doubt it. I took you in through the family wing. There are fewer eyes there. Here, there are hundreds of eyes. The public wing is open this morning as well.”

“And you tell me only now,” she said in dismay. The sun was too pleasant to move. She would also not ask anyone to drag the table and chairs back inside so soon. But it might be why they were here and not in the garden – on display on purpose. “Where is it?”

He nodded at one part of the palace. “The public can see us, if they think of looking out of the window at all.”

“That’s directly across from your front door,” she observed.

“They didn’t see us. The public wing closes at twelve. Thank you,” he said to the woman who set down the tray. He picked up the top document.

They could not have been seen by the public then that day. That was a relief. She forced herself to think of work as well.

“They’re lovely, aren’t they, those tourists?” Frederick asked when he checked his phone after they had worked through the pile of documents. “They saw us. Palace staff working in the sun. Wow, so relaxed in this country! Isn’t that nice?”

“What are you doing?”

“Checking Twitter, of course. I look like palace staff.” He examined his short-sleeved shirt. “That must be why.”

“Are you addicted to Twitter?”

“No, I check it now and then to track my unpopularity.”

“You’re not unpopular – I think.” She did not want him to be.

“Thanks, that’s very kind of you, but my public appearances leave a lot to be desired. And now I’m going to wait for the first clued-in visitor. Although they don’t have to be on Twitter, of course.”

“That’s such a waste of time.”

“I know, we employ a social media person to read and post. As do you. Things are being twittered in your name, but they’re never about me, so it can’t be you.” He took a picture of her with his phone, fiddled with it for a bit and then said, “there. My official account may now use it.”

“You didn’t even ask me to approve of the picture!”

“I didn’t think you’d want it deleted.” He showed it to her.

“It’s okay, I suppose,” she admitted grudgingly. “And it does look as if I’m reading and not simply sitting in the sun. Now that we’ve worked through the documents, what about the rest of the news? Have you been informed of any progress with regard to the paternity claims?”

“No. What about Italy?” he asked.

“They’re still looking into that, would you believe it? Everything is taking so long. And then there’s the abdication. Your sister seems to be worrying about her dress. One month is too short to have one made?”

“She has plenty of dresses.”

“Perhaps she means the queen needs a special sort of dress for the inauguration. The three who went before her were all men. They would have worn something else.”

“A mantle over clothes. If I didn’t have to wear a special suit, she doesn’t have to wear a special dress.”

“I forgot I’m talking to the expert here,” she remarked. “I had to wear a dress with long sleeves, but your sister is afraid I may wear the same one. Probably not; I had borrowed it.”

“It was a nice dress,” he said, looking at his phone.

“Do you remember or did you just look it up?”

“Both.”

“I’m chairman of the committee, but they have been operating without me so far. If we have just one month, I’ll need to be more involved. We can only officially appoint a committee after your speech, though. We don’t want there to be rumours beforehand. You have to make the announcement, not the press.”

“Noted. They’re working on the speech.”

“When it’s done, you’ll go on TV?”

“Not alone!” he said immediately.

“Tell them to hurry. The committee has started preparations in secret, but there’s a lot to plan. They will be officially appointed the morning after your speech.”

“Surely if I died they would manage with even less time?”

“If there’s no death involved, there’s no need to be sober and restrained.”

“Oh yeah, let’s celebrate that I stepped down,” Frederick said humorously. “There’s actually less to plan – no funeral and all the logistics that come with it. There’s only the signing of the document that is extra and far fewer people need to be present for that. We also don’t have to drive around town for it, so no roads need to be cleared. Or not as many, in any case.”

“True.” She gathered up her papers. “Darling, I’m sorry, but I should move on. I have a new road to inspect after lunch.”

“Don’t they have someone else for that? Some minister?”

“Yes, we’re going together. It’s a very important road, since we paid for it and mostly Germans will drive over it, but of course they haven’t yet contributed a cent. So the more important people who’ve seen the awesomeness of this road who may beg the Germans, the better. When er…” She did not really know how to ask.

He understood it anyway. “My sister has another barbecue tomorrow evening. I must attend.”

“Is that every Thursday or what?”

“Every Thursday I’m supposed to reward subjects with a dinner invitation, but Isabelle usually takes care of that. I just sit there. Or stand there, in the case of a barbecue. She has a list. She has lists for everything.”

“My father seems to be compiling a list now,” she said. Although she was already standing, she was unable to get away. “Of suitable men he met on the golf course.”

“Oh, is that why he called?”

“Yes. I wasn’t interested.” She took a step back. “I should go. No, wait. I still have to ask you what you said to him when he phoned.”

“Didn’t one of the politicians tell you?”

“No, not much. One summarised it as ridiculous things.” She was curious and hoped he would elaborate now.

“Yes, well, frankly I couldn’t make much else of it. He refused to accept that you weren’t there and that I wasn’t responding the way your staff apparently do. I asked if I could take a message, but he said he could not entrust this message to me. I suggested he code it, so I would not understand but you would.”

“Code!”

“Yes, that’s what he said too. I attempted to explain the concept of coding, but it didn’t get through. It was a really clever idea, but he did not seem to go for it. I even explained how some codes worked. Or I tried to. He merely got angry with me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I didn’t take it personally.”

“What did the other people think?” She cringed.

“That your father can be quite annoying, probably. The easiest thing would have been simply to call you into the room, but I didn’t feel he deserved that. Are you going to tell him who I was?”

“No. What about the rest of the meetings? Were people’s questions all right?”

“Let’s just say they could have been worse.”

When Anna Margaret was being driven to the new motorway with Danielle, who was currently dealing with transport and infrastructure, she tried to check Twitter. “How do you look something up on Twitter? There are photos of me on it.”

Danielle showed her where and she showed Danielle the palace staff photo. Whoever managed the king’s official account had picked up on the photo and retweeted it. It had met with the usual broad range of reactions, as did the photo of her that the official account had also added.

“Not everyone likes my sitting in the sun,” she commented. “They say I should get off my arse and start getting their money back. How would I be more capable of doing that standing up, I wonder? Because this weekly meeting is part of my job. And who has their money, do they think?”

“Greece, the EU, Africa, bankers…” Danielle summed up. “Megalomaniac infrastructure projects only benefitting Germans… But we are hard at work right now. We’re trying to get that money back from those Germans. And anyway, Germans driving over it will spend money, too. When we get there we should take a picture of ourselves working extremely hard. With safety vests on.”

“We should.” She scrolled through posts trying to find if anyone had spotted a romantic development, but that still seemed to be a bridge too far. “Oh, here’s someone who loves how simple he is.”

“What a nice compliment.”

“Because he sits in a normal chair. Well, did this person imagine we’d drag the throne outside? I shouldn’t be looking at this. It makes me want to reply.” She put her phone away.

Intriguingly, on Thursday she was again invited to a barbecue by Princess Isabelle. This time the invitation was not delivered in person, but on a fancy card by a courier. Anna Margaret shook her head at the waste of money and man hours. She was not a simple citizen who was going to be impressed by an elegant card. It would not affect her decision to accept the invitation at all. That was not what decided the matter. Did Isabelle want a reprise in which she did not get sick? Or had Frederick asked her to send this invitation?

She put it aside, to make up her mind later. There were things to do. His Majesty’s Public Relations Office had sent her a message that one of the magazines was to publish a rectification and apology, because one of the women had admitted to have been lying. That left two more women, but she did not know in which magazines their stories had been published. If they had been contacted as well, they too might choose to retract their story before a DNA test proved they had been lying. But she did not know how stupid and greedy minds worked.

“Well, that was easy, wasn’t it?” she said for the benefit of whoever had not wanted to take action before.

The rest of the morning was devoted to her regular work. Not all of it was related to her private life these days, for which she was glad. Towards the end of the afternoon she began to wonder if she should go to the barbecue. When it turned 17:30, she decided she would go and consider it work time. Hopefully she would get enough time to speak to the princess about the upcoming events.

Posted on 2015-07-10

Chapter Twenty-Five

Leaving the building, however, she had forgotten to reckon with the group of reporters who usually hung about waiting for a quote. Contrary to her predecessors, she did not appear on television for a weekly chat. Those sessions had always been too much about older men interviewing older men and she had not felt as if she belonged in such a setting. And contrary to her, none of her predecessors would regularly take the time to answer questions on the front steps. So she supposed it all evened out.

“Listen, guys,” she said, since most of them were men. “I have to go to a dinner party. Don’t keep me long.” It usually worked – if she gave them some of her time, they were reasonable to her.

It was nevertheless close to six when she hurried to her flat. She changed her blouse, packed some things into her work bag in case she was going to stay the night, and then she set off for the Palace. On her walk she wondered if she was indeed staying. It was a bit presumptuous to think she might be if there was no need, but she had to be prepared in any case.

They knew her at the front gates by now and they were opened before she was even there. Not too long, of course, because no one else should slip in. Usually they assumed she knew the way, but last week she had not known where the barbecue would be held and she had asked. Today she assumed it was in the same place, so she could simply walk there and present herself. The other guests would have arrived by car and they would have been met in the courtyard.

Surprisingly a member of the staff was there to meet her. Apparently the guards at the gate had thought for themselves and guessed where she was heading. Perhaps Frederick would just have got the sausages ready – if he was there at all – and he could serve them to her, she mused as she followed the butler.

The butler took her to Princess Isabelle. “How lovely that you could make it,” said the princess.

“I was hoping we could discuss certain things later, Your Highness,” Anna Margaret replied. “It would save me some time to do it now.” She tried to keep her eyes from wandering over the other guests.

“I’m sure that could be arranged.” She gestured at an empty table. “Have a seat. I’ll get you some wine. Red or white?”

“Actually I’d prefer some juice, please. Any kind.” The week before wine on a nearly empty stomach had not gone down well. She would rather not have it happen again. Of course the same might happen with apple or orange juice and her stomach was less empty today, but she did not want to risk it.

Before Princess Isabelle could return with a drink, however, her prospected seat was taken by an older woman, whom Anna Margaret suspected to be Princess Agnes, Frederick’s aunt. She was not so familiar with them as to recognise each member of the family directly. The look on this lady’s face, however, tallied with the bossy genes she was said to have inherited.

“Good evening, Madam Prime Minister,” said the older princess. “You are here again. And you’ve brought a bag this time.”

The way the princess eyed the bag almost made her want to snort in incredulity. Could it be that Frederick’s aunt would actually like a peek into it? But since her few toiletries and bra and underwear were safely hidden away in a secret side pocket, Anna Margaret did not mind pretending to be completely unaware of the shameless curiosity. She zipped her bag open and made sure the collection of files and documents was amply visible while she took out a notebook. What a disappointment – no pyjamas and no toothbrush in view. “Yes, Your Highness, you know it’s far too early to stop working already. I’ll read this while I wait.”

“Have you come to speak with my nephew?”

“Your niece actually.” She did not know how many of the family had been informed of Frederick’s plans and consequently why she would have professional reasons to speak to Princess Isabelle.

“You must have heard he intends to abdicate.”

“I had heard, yes.” She had looked around a little by now and Frederick did not seem to be present. That was a disappointment, although she consoled herself with the fact that he would undoubtedly sleep here – unless he went to her flat. But she hoped he would not do that, considering that he had been the first to say where he would be tonight.

“And what do you think?”

“His life. He decides.”

“They will misunderstand him.”

Anna Margaret shrugged. Undoubtedly someone would, no matter how many explanations were offered. And if he did not particularly care what people thought of him, she should not either. She watched as Princess Isabelle came nearer with her drink.

Isabelle set down the glasses and pulled up another chair. “We’ll have to talk business, Aunt Agnes.”

Princess Agnes made no move to leave. “I love business.”

Anna Margaret had her notebook ready. “You will, I assume, take care of inviting the guests? Again?” She had not wondered last year, having assumed that Frederick did this, perhaps together with his relatives, but now she realised he might not have done much at all. “The location was said to have 1700 places, but due to using other chairs than when your father was inaugurated, we noticed last year that this takes up rather too much space. You could invite the same number; we’ll simply have to cut down on the number of ordinary citizens.”

“Why exactly do we have to hurry?”

“Our summer recess. Most of the ones who have to sign the abdication document will not be there – unless you want them to cancel their family holidays?” Of course they would have to be called back if someone died, like last year, but if it could be avoided, it should. “It’s easier to do it simply before everyone leaves.”

“What about after the summer recess?”

“I think Frederick will become a problem if you do. He won’t be contained anymore.”

“And by this you mean…” Isabelle did not know.

Princess Agnes leant forward. “I know how he gets out,” she offered conspiratorially. “The same way I got out when I was young.”

“Out of what?” Her niece still did not know.

“Out of the building. I’m not telling you how, though, just in case I need to use that route again to visit a suitor.”

Princess Isabelle’s eyes bulged.

“You cannot keep him in until after the summer,” Anna Margaret continued. She did not care about Princess Agnes’ fictional suitors, nor was she shocked by them. “He will try to go out.”

Isabelle dragged her mind back to her brother. “Yes, he would, I suppose,” she said slowly. “We may have to move the attraction elsewhere.”

“We’ll discuss that later. I’d like to know first whether you’d want a plain inauguration or some degree of organised festivities? Mind you, there wouldn’t be a lot of time to organise much. Although you could postpone this until after the summer when you might tour the country to meet everyone.”

“Frederick had no festivities, obviously, due to my father’s death, but he did not tour the country either.”

“No, I stole that idea from one of your colleagues abroad.” When she had read about it, she thought Isabelle would actually not mind doing it, but that it would indeed not have been Frederick’s cup of tea. “I think it sounds good. It will give every town or region you plan on visiting enough time to prepare some kind of celebration, especially if you start your tour after the summer.”

“Going to the people,” Isabelle mused. “That sounds good.”

“I’ll have a subcommittee set up.” Anna Margaret noted this down, reflecting on how ironic it was that Frederick went to the people nowadays without the people knowing about it. “Very good. If we can postpone the celebrations we’ll have less to plan. Is there anything you’d like to do with your out of town guests?”

“Last year we had a dinner party to keep them busy at night. I’ll have to see if that could be arranged.”

“Probably. You had less time last year.” She drank some of her fruit juice.

“True.”

“In the case of a living abdicator, what happens with him? I suppose he attends the inauguration since he’s not dead, but what about the dinner?”

“If he wants to. He might as well, because knows all those people. He’ll be among equals.” Princess Isabelle hesitated as she thought it over. “People will think the relationship between us is damaged if he does not come. But…the dinner party would be here and as long as the media are offered a clear view of the arrivals, they needn’t know what goes on inside exactly. And obviously Frederick would not arrive by car, so he wouldn’t get seen anyway.”

“Where is he now, by the way?”

“He went rowing,” said his sister. “In Germany. He was supposed to have been here by now.”

“Oh.” Anna Margaret looked at her notes to see if she needed to discuss anything else. She would like to know why he went rowing in Germany.

“Oh, there you are,” said Isabelle. “But really, couldn’t you have got dressed?”

Anna Margaret felt a hand lightly brush her shoulder. She looked aside to see if he was dressed at all, which he would be, but simply not by his sister’s standards. Tracksuit.

“I could have,” Frederick agreed. “But I hadn’t brought any other clothes. Would anyone here really care?”

“I’ve got two ambassadors and their partners, two ladies from the Countrywomen’s Association, two –“

“You invite them all in twos?” he interrupted.

“You’ve forgotten to do your hair, dear Freddie,” said Princess Agnes.

He ran a hand through it. “Nobody does their hair on the rowing course.” He walked off to the table with the drinks.

Anna Margaret tried to finish the business before she started eating. “Could you provide me with dates that both you and Frederick will be free or at the most have engagements that could easily be cancelled? Three to four weeks from now. Our side will adapt.”

“Yes, I’ll have my secretary look into that.”

“And how is the speech coming along?”

“Yes, yes, the speech. I couldn’t get a clear answer on why you were there.” Isabelle looked at her inquiringly.

“I suppose because there was no clear answer to give. The morning after the speech the committee will be officially appointed and we can start making more public arrangements. It would be nice to know when the speech will be, so I can inform them.”

“Yes, I realise that. Maybe Sunday.”

“Sunday.” Anna Margaret noted it down. She could warn the other members of the committee tomorrow. That would give them some time to plan for a meeting on Monday. “Great. Are you still in it together?”

“I’m afraid he cannot fill five minutes on his own. Well, not about this anyway. So, yes. I am there to provide some verbal padding.”

“Great. This saves me a lot of time phoning or going to your offices.” She closed her notebook and stood up. “But I don’t want to monopolise you any longer. You have other guests.”

“Thank you,” said Princess Isabelle, who finished her drink.

Anna Margaret wandered off to the salads. They looked so good that one did not really need anything else. From the corner of her eye she saw someone come in her direction, but it was not Frederick and so she did not turn.

She scooped some salad onto a plate.

Frederick approached her. “One of the ambassadors is wondering who on earth I am. I can tell.”

“Well, you’re not really dressed for the occasion.”

“I didn’t have the time,” he said, stealing a piece of cucumber from her plate. “I’ve just had a drink. I was thirsty and I needed to see who were here.”

“And now?” She was curious if he was going to stay in his tracksuit this time. He had not yet been ordered to change, as far as she knew, unless that had just happened.

He turned to her, his eyes sparkling. “I’d like to place an order for eight chicken sticks while I go and change.”

“Eight chicken sticks,” she repeated. “And you want me to take care of that?”

“Please.”

“Well…er…all right.” She was still a little bemused when he had gone. They would not all be for himself, she expected. She lifted eight chicken sticks off the meat trays and placed them on a barbecue.

There, she chatted a bit with an ambassador until Frederick would return. She hoped he would be back before the chicken was ready and tried to calculate how long he would need to walk, change and walk back. He came back before it was ready, but he did not join her. Apparently he first had to walk around and greet people. She had not seen him do that the previous week, but she had been late then, and she could not help but think that he did not seem to be as bad at it as he appeared to feel.

When the chicken sticks were ready, she took four plates and piled them on the top one. This way she was prepared for any eventualities.

“How many would you like?” she asked him.

“Two.”

She gave him a plate and let him roll two sticks onto it. “Who are the other six for?” She could guess, though. Some would be for the older women.

“Two for you, two for my mother, two for my aunt. Will you go and deliver them?” Frederick smiled sweetly.

“Me.” She had not expected that. She had imagined he would take six and hand them out himself.

“Yes.”

She left her chicken sticks on his plate and carried the others to the table where Princess Agnes was sitting. It was still the same table, but she now had different company. Frederick’s mother sat with her. There were two more glasses and chairs, but their owners were presumably away to get something to eat.

“Your Highness,” Anna Margaret addressed Frederick’s aunt, since she had already spoken to her before. She did not actually know what etiquette dictated with regard to the former queen, but since the woman was not looking at her she could be safely ignored, she felt. “Could I interest you in two chicken sticks?”

“That would be nice. I saw you talk to my nephew. Was this his idea?”

“It was.”

“Is he avoiding us himself? Afraid we’ll question him?”

“You’d have to ask him that.” Anna Margaret placed two sticks on a plate and set it before Princess Agnes. The other plate she set before Queen Anna, who was still known as such.

“You don’t seem to be afraid of being questioned.” That was still Princess Agnes, of course. Queen Anna had not yet said a word, although she had by now looked up.

Anna Margaret raised her eyebrows. “Should I be?”

“One of my informants told me you have enough power to summon him to your office to answer nosy questions from MPs.”

“Yes and so I should. The prime minister can be held accountable for his behaviour. But what did your informant tell you?” She was surprised that the princess had informants, or people she called as such.

“My informant was among the happy few.”

Anna Margaret mentally reviewed the ten. She could not think who it was. One of the older ones, who had had ample time to become acquainted with Princess Agnes at some point? Or one of the younger ones, who might still be impressed by her? “I hope your informant was satisfied.”

“Not entirely, because my informant is now confused about His Majesty’s actual personality.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I was asked if what my informant saw corresponded with my image of him or if I thought you had arranged for an actor to play His Majesty,” Princess Agnes said gravely.

Posted on 2015-07-13

Chapter Twenty-Six

Anna Margaret’s mouth nearly fell open. “Nobody seemed to be in doubt.” And the notion of having arranged an actor to play Frederick was simply ludicrous. Her life was becoming crazier by the minute.

“Nobody would admit to it in company,” said Princess Agnes.

“Nobody would admit to thinking it was an actor, you mean, or do you actually mean I would not admit to having hired an actor?”

“The former, of course.”

“May I ask why you have informants in the first place?” Who were they and of what did they inform her? And why? She had been the previous king’s sister only. There was no real need for her to know anything.

“Well, I couldn’t call them acquaintances,” Princess Agnes said as if this ought to be perfectly clear and understandable.

“And did you remove your informant’s doubt? Or did you actually let him or her think I would hire an actor?” To be honest, not much in this family would surprise her. Although in Italy she had thought Frederick was insane, he was in fact the sanest and most comprehensible of the lot.

“He or she was surprised that the image he or she had got from the media was more than a little incorrect.”

“Really? How?” she asked, as if she had not googled Frederick herself the other day.

“Well, now, my informant thought him sharper than he is usually described.”

“Clearly, your informant wasn’t very sharp if he or she thought the best explanation for that was that it must have been an actor, and not the media getting it wrong.”

“I suppose it’s easier to arrange for an actor to visit your office than a king. How did you manage?”

That was easy. “I phoned him.”

“And why would he do what you say?”

“Because I asked him.”

“Well, yes,” Princess Agnes said dismissively. “He nearly always does what you tell him to do, or he pretends to, but my informant doesn’t know that, of course. But what are you eating?”

“I had some salad.”

Princess Agnes looked disapproving. “Salads are for rabbits, young lady. Meat is good for you. But you’re not a vegetarian; you do eat meat. I was told last week that you ate meat. My nephew wouldn’t give us any sausages because you wanted them.”

“Last week I felt sick. I didn’t eat anything.”

“Sick. Hmm. I bet you hadn’t eaten enough. Young women never do, but let me tell you, you can’t live on salads. But yes, we know you didn’t eat them after all, because we got them in the end. I knew something must have happened, because I doubted Frederick would have taken them from you after you had commandeered them.”

She was still standing by their table and did not feel like saying she was not the one who commandeered things. “It was the jetlag.”

“Right. Yes, of course, jetlag. But where did you go when you felt sick?”

“I didn’t pay attention. I was trying not to throw up.” And now she really had to get out of there. “But I’ll take your advice, Your Highness, and see if I can get some meat.”

“Yes, you do that, young lady, because remember that women who eat lots of salads with have babies with rabbit teeth.”

“I can’t have any,” she said, lowering her voice in a confidential manner and trusting she would not be asked for the reason. It was surprisingly prosaic.

Princess Agnes leant forwards. “Does your mother know?”

“I have no idea, because what I say is not always what she hears.” But she wondered why her mother was mentioned. Had the ladies spoken to each other the week before?

Queen Anna said something for the first time, but it was in German, her native language. Anna Margaret understood German well enough, but not when it was whispered. She turned to leave them, but Frederick was behind her. He held out her plate.

“Yes, thank you. I must eat meat, you see. Your aunt says so. I must sit somewhere,” she said. “Any free spots?” Preferably not here, she added silently.

“There?” he pointed.

She sat down with two middle-aged women who introduced themselves as belonging to the Countrywomen’s Association. That, at least, provided an opening for conversation, because she had no idea what they actually did. In the end she had given them a vague promise to speak at one of their events some time and they were extremely pleased with her.

Frederick, in the meantime, had spoken to men and women she did not know. No matter how much he would like to escape, he was managing fine. Of course he might not want to escape from a barbecue, but rather from ribbon-cutting and speeches.

The guests had left one by one – or two by two – and Frederick waited until they were all gone. Then he turned to Anna Margaret, who had been waiting for him to say anything at all about staying. She had read something as she waited, trying not to wonder what others might be thinking of her. They might think it was easier for her simply to go home and read there, or that she was extremely unsocial. Of course Frederick’s mother and aunt were quite near, so he might not be able to say everything he wanted.

“Shall I walk you to…”

She was on her feet before he could finish. Yes, she was so ready to be walked somewhere. “Have a good evening, all of you,” she said pleasantly to those who remained.

Inside, she took his hand. “Where are you taking me?”

“Want to stay?”

“I’m embarrassed to admit that I came prepared.”

“Good.” Frederick led her through the same maze of halls and corridors as the week before to end up at the foot of his staircase.

“Have you got pyjamas for me? I couldn’t fit any unnoticeably in my bag.”

“Of course.”

“So what are your relatives now thinking?” she asked as they climbed the stairs.

“We’ll find out tomorrow. They’re undoubtedly discussing it at the moment, but there’s no other way I could have taken you here. But they know I’m serious.”

Her heart made a jump. “Oh?”

“They would never speak to you otherwise.”

“They…well, your aunt does. Your mother hasn’t said a word. And your aunt, I don’t know what she thinks. She keeps saying peculiar things. That I’d have babies with rabbit teeth if I ate only salads and things like that. It’s difficult to know what she’s about, because that’s not something that someone could seriously think, so there must be another purpose that I’m not seeing.”

“She was probably hoping you’d reveal something. She was more direct with me when you went to sit somewhere else.”

She had not noticed that. “How direct?”

“She asked me if you were pregnant.”

Anna Margaret raised her eyebrows. That was certainly direct. “So she did not even have to ask if we were an item?”

“What I said would answer both questions in one go, she assumed.”

“What did you say?”

“I said I didn’t think that likely.”

“And then what?”

“My mother interfered.” He sounded surprised by it himself. “She actually did. I don’t know what else she said, because I went away.”

In the morning they had breakfast together and then left for their respective workdays. Thanks to Frederick’s habit of rising early and working out in some cellar, it was not too early when she left through the staff entrance. Most people were going the other way, but at least no one was paying attention. She had agreed with Frederick that this weekend she would stay with him, except for the moments he would be doing his speech. He had said it would possibly be on Sunday evening and that a crew would come over.

“Hello?” said someone in a low voice.

She turned. “Hello?”

“We met on the motorway in France? I wonder if you remember?”

“Er…yes. Yes, I do. What a coincidence to see you here.”

“Oh, well, not really. I have been walking this way in the hopes of catching a glimpse of him to see if I was right, which is stupid, because no one ever catches a glimpse, do they?”

Anna Margaret knew it was a bad habit to cut people short, but she could not help it. “Right about what?"

“That the man you were with in France was in fact King Frederick. After we got home and I read the newspapers, I realised what you’d been doing. It must have been embarrassing, really, to come across people who thought you were a couple. And I realised that you actually never confirmed that you were, but that we simply kept assuming it.”

Anna Margaret managed a weak smile. How was she going to handle this? For a few moments she was at a loss. “Er…well…for security reasons, er…” But how did those security reasons explain anything? She could see them covering a lot, actually.

“Oh, I understand. No one knew. He was lovely, though.”

“And why exactly did you think he must be the king?” She had to ask. Had it been so obvious? “Who was in Italy and not in France?”

“From the media I gathered you were hurrying home , but when we saw you, you were not really hurrying. I thought you were edgy because of a new boyfriend, but afterwards it made more sense to think you’d been edgy because you needed to be hurrying. Besides, someone driving from Italy could well be there at around that time.”

“I cannot tell you who this man was.” Her tone was friendly, however, and conveyed that it was more a matter of her not being allowed to tell, than the woman not being allowed to know.

“But is this a Palace building or government?”

“Palace.” That would be telling enough, she was tempted to think. Because why else would she come out of a Palace side building so early in the morning? They walked on. “Which way are you walking?”

The woman pointed. “That way. I’m attending a course there. This is only a slight detour. I have to say, your friend was lovely and seemed to be enjoying the trip.”

Anna Margaret smiled involuntarily as she recalled the relaxed Frederick enjoying the coffee sitting on a blanket. “At a very bad moment. But you’re right – he would have happily driven through Europe for another few weeks.”

Seemingly Frederick could still do no wrong in the woman’s eyes. “How lovely.”

“Was he lovely because he had ideas on gender equality and sugar?” She had always wondered.

“Oh, no. He was very pleasant and intelligent.”

“I have to turn left here,” Anna Margaret announced. She almost regretted having to end the conversation about her pleasant and intelligent friend. “Enjoy your course. It was nice meeting you again.”

The woman wished her all the best

She frowned as she walked on. She tempted to think she had not revealed too much to someone who already seemed to know, but still. It would not have been kind of her to say nothing at all to a friendly lady with whom they had conversed agreeably, however. Hopefully she had come to a good compromise.

In the evening she first went home. All this trekking back and forth might at some point get noticed. She was well aware of that. But leaving her apartment building unobtrusively and entering the Palace unobtrusively ideally required a change of clothes midway. Entering the Palace on a Friday night was especially difficult. Her usual point of entry was definitely out of the question. For some reason there was a small crowd, not entirely composed of tourists. Some people stopped, asked a question and then walked on. Anna Margaret, pausing some distance away, did not think there was anything immediate or acutely interesting the crowd was waiting for, but since she spotted two or three people with large cameras, she deduced that she would have to find another way in.

Staying away from the people with the cameras, she moved to the edge of the crowd. “What’s the matter here?” she asked someone who might not take a too good look at her. She was wearing shorts and sunglasses and nobody would wonder who she was.

“Apparently the king is going to address the people on Sunday,” said the woman.

“Today is Friday.” Anna Margaret tried to sound merely puzzled and not condemning of people who were wasting their time here two days in advance. Besides, he would never address the people standing on a soapbox just inside the gates.

“Yes, but something might happen.”

Since the woman had not bothered to do more than glance aside, she dared to ask another question. “What’s he going to address the people about?” If anyone discovered she was the prime minister, they would never believe she did not already know the answer to that, but nobody would expect the prime minister to come here to ask the question.

“Nobody knows, but everyone has some idea. Me, I hope he’s finally going to marry someone. It’s about time.”

“Thanks,” she said, although the woman would not have cared if she had not been thanked.

The rumours of a public announcement would not go well with a woman in shorts entering the front gates. Elegant shorts, certainly, but shorts and a woman all the same and anything out of the ordinary would be connected to the impending announcement.

“But I’m sure he’s gay,” said one of the other spectators.

“He’d still need to marry. And it would explain why we don’t know who he’s marrying,” said the woman.

“It’s something else. He’s going to pay taxes like the rest of us.”

Anna Margaret walked on quickly before anyone could remember she had said something about the king and paying taxes earlier this year. If they thought of her, they might recognise her sooner.

The staff entrance was out of sight and around the corner. It was a long way, but she did not know of any others. The front one was also used by higher-ranking visitors and, apparently, by Princess Isabelle. Since there were usually no cars in the courtyard, there was probably another entrance for them somewhere. Where would her father have gone in? Phoning him was out of the question if she did not want him to have her mobile number. She could not imagine he had ever walked, actually. He would have had a car take him those few hundred metres.

That morning she had been talking to someone after she left the staff entrance, so she had not paid attention, but today she passed several other gates. They were all closed. The gate to the staff entrance was open. Two uniformed guards stood beside it. That was where she had to go in then.

She showed one her parliament security pass, rather than walking past them and risking a scene. The guard frowned and studied it. “This is the staff and deliveries entrance,” he said.

The other guard joined him and also studied her card. “Is this for real?”

“Can we see some other identification, please?”

She pushed her sunglasses up and rummaged in her bag. Just as she had done with Princess Agnes, she gave them a clear view of all the papers she was carrying. She pulled out her wallet and showed them her identification.

“It’s okay,” decided number two. “You will have to have your bags scanned inside, though.”

“Thanks.” She walked on and at the end of the short driveway she chose the door marked Staff Only . People in the street could not see inside, but she had already come out of that morning and so she knew what to expect. People going in or out were checked.

After she had been checked, however, she had no idea where to go. There was no way she could recreate that morning’s route on her own – corridors, corners, stairs, going outside and back in, hallways. It was not one building; there were several connected ones.

She sat down in a chair and phoned Frederick. “Could you come and pick me up?”

Posted on 2015-07-16

Chapter Twenty-Seven

He answered after a few rings. “I’m cooking. Where are you?”

Cooking. She still felt the impulse to snort at a king who was cooking. “At the staff entrance. Does that mean you don’t have time?”

“I’ll send someone.”

“Thanks.”

The guards here were curious, but they did not ask her questions. After ten minutes Max showed up. She remembered him, but not in the suit he was wearing now.

“Oh, of course, that was your holiday wear the other time,” she said.

“Yes. I have to get a pass made for you. Boss’ orders. Please follow me.” He took her to an office where she had to have her picture taken and fill out a form. Max asked for a Special, showing the young man behind the computer a note.

Surprisingly the Special turned out to be a rather plain-looking card. It did not say what organisation or building it was for either. Even more surprising was that Max took her back outside into the street. “Try any of the pedestrian gates,” he said, walking towards one a little further away.

Anna Margaret held the card in front of the reader and the gate clicked open.

“The green door,” he said.

The green door opened as well. She went inside. “I have no idea where I am.”

“These are offices,” he gestured. He took her up a few steps and at the end of a corridor down a few steps. It seemed they were in a different building now. There, he turned left.

Anna Margaret saw very few people. She supposed they had all left for the day. A few times she had to use her card to open a door. “Does everyone who works here have to leave that way?”

“There are dozens of ways, even an outside route.” He let her go outside into a small car park. There were garages, a few shiny black cars and two wooden benches. He led her past the benches through an alley that led to the main part of the Palace, but he did not follow it completely. There was a door in a wall leading onto a tennis court. “This is not an official outside route, you’ll understand. The Family playing tennis wouldn’t want their game disrupted by kitchen staff going home, but the kitchen staff playing tennis don’t mind the Family passing through.”

Anna Margaret watched two women playing. They did not seem to care about the passers-by, but simply greeted them. “Do they have access then?”

“Not all day.” At the other end of the tennis court he crossed a small stretch of flower garden and arrived at the Palace proper.

She held her card in front of a reader there and they entered a small hallway. It had staircases going up and down and a few doors. One of the doors was open and gave a good view of some kind of command centre. “What’s this?”

“Security and sports facilities.” He peeked into the command centre and then beckoned her. “Say hello so they’ll know you.”

“Hello,” Anna Margaret said obediently. “I hope you don’t have cameras everywhere ?”

“No, there are far too many rooms for that, but it’s best to behave in public walkways.” He left the room again and took her through a large room in which a few men were eating or watching television. He nodded at the door there. “There you are.”

She used her card and found herself in Frederick’s hallway.

The kitchen door was open and so was the door to the dining room. Anna Margaret found Frederick in the kitchen, however. She hugged him. “Sorry I’m so late. I couldn’t go in through the front gates. People are waiting there.”

“What sort of people?”

“There’s a rumour that you’ll be giving a speech. However, since there are some who hope you’ll finally get married, I didn’t think it was wise for a woman to enter the gates right in front of them.”

“No, probably not. I wonder how those things leak out. I’ve set the proper dining table. Might as well use it some time.”

She leant against the kitchen table as he stirred a pan. “This morning I ran into one of the women we met in France.”

He turned. “How?”

“It’s a small country. She had guessed who you were after she read the papers. I said I couldn’t say who you’d been. She still thinks you were lovely, though.”

“You sound surprised.”

She laughed. “Sorry. At the time I thought you might have been saying what she liked hearing.”

“Not really. But how did she guess? And what did she do with it?”

“I think all she did was make a little detour past the Palace to see if she was right. When she read that I had apparently been hurrying home and I wasn’t in any hurry when she met me, I suppose she guessed who you were, because what other man could I have been with? I suppose if you’d been my boyfriend you would have allowed me to hurry home and I, if you were my boyfriend, would not have let you get away with picnicking. So you must have been someone who could get away with delaying me a bit.”

Frederick pondered that. “And who could? Yeah, it must have been me. But you didn’t tell her.”

“I said I couldn’t tell her, but since she saw me coming out of a Palace building…”

“You could be having an affair with a footman.”

“I’d prefer the tennis instructor.”

“But you mean she now knows.”

“She won’t tell. She thinks you’re lovely.”

“Was she the one with the son or the other one? Not that it matters. I can find out who they are.”

“How? And why?”

“How? Well, exactly the opposite of how you thought they would find out who I was.”

“But why?”

“I don’t know yet. Maybe they can come here for a picnic once.”

Anna Margaret imagined him going to his old university, but there she ran into problems. “You’ll ask your professors which of his students have mothers?”

“It shouldn’t be that difficult.”

Dinner was ready. She helped him carry it to the dining room. The table was set there, but there were no candles or anything romantic. Anna Margaret would have been surprised by that anyway. She was not surprised that they were not each sitting at a distant end of the table, but both at the same end.

“How often do you use this table?” she wondered.

“Hardly ever. There’s a perfectly good table in the kitchen. I don’t often have more than four people to dinner.”

“You don’t now either.”

“You’re special. Well, we may use this once and the kitchen table for all subsequent dinners. I don’t know. But I thought I should make an effort just this once.”

“I appreciate your effort,” she said solemnly.

After dinner and tidying up he suggested they go to the pool. She did not know if that was a good idea, since the best she could do was her underwear. “I knew you’d make me exercise, but I didn’t bring my swimwear.”

“I could dig up some tight lycra stuff if you want, but I’d never make you exercise. Besides, right after dinner it’s just active talking and not exercising as such.”

“Well, all right then, if no one will laugh at this tight lycra stuff.” The idea of floating about while admiring his physique was not unattractive.

The sleeveless lycra top was less tight on her than on him, of course, but it was good enough. There was no one else in the pool. She had to admit it was more pleasant to talk this way than across a tennis net or while jogging around the park, and if they had sat on a couch she might have fallen asleep.

Now she was refreshed enough to be able to ask questions. “Where will you be giving the speech? Will you have to travel to the studios?”

“No, they will come here. I’ll be told at what time.”

“Should I leave before then? Or would you like me to stay?”

He responded by seizing her around the waist.

“Does that mean stay?”

“Yes, I may need someone to talk to afterwards.” He paused. “But it may get busy at the gates Monday morning if people are already there right now. It’s not in my best interest to let you go on Sunday evening, but it is in yours.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck. “They may want to interview me about this on Monday, or at least have my comments. I’ll have to decline. I don’t have an objective opinion to offer. What could I say? I don’t want to reveal that I know more.”

“I don’t think you’ll have to say much. It’s my decision, not something you have or should have influenced. Professionally,” he added.

“Going to write my speeches for me now?”

Frederick laughed and threw her backwards so she went under. He pulled her back up when she swam towards him under water. “It’s easier if they’re not mine.”

“It’s his decision. It’s not something I have or should have influenced,” she said dutifully. “Doesn’t it sound, if you were listening, as if I’m glad to see you leave?” It sounded as if she stood by indifferently, as if there was nothing worth keeping. She ought to be more complimentary, yet she knew most of his good traits from private encounters. He had not represented the country in any remarkable way, nor had he become immensely popular with the people.

“Maybe, but someone will think that anyway. The trick, said Isabelle, is to focus on the future.”

“Or to focus on her.”

“Maybe, but shifting the focus away from me made sense – and I didn’t mind. So you could say you look forward to working with Isabelle. I’m sure it doesn’t matter to you anyway, since we have next to no actual influence and you see us for only half an hour a week. So what remains is the ceremonial representation and I’m no good at it.”

“You don’t like it,” she corrected. “Which is not the same as not being any good at it, but being no good at it is a more acceptable reason for abdicating than simply not liking it, is it?” After all, he had not held the position long enough for anyone to say he would become an absolute disaster. He might become good if he stayed on.

“I once spent most of a charity event sitting in the lavatories playing on my phone.”

“Don’t try to find me examples. Even though…are you serious?”

“Unfortunately.”

“I hope you were really young.”

“About 32.”

Anna Margaret swam away on her back. She hoped other relatives of his had been there and he had not been the sole guest of honour shirking his duty. “By the way, how are you going to do this in the future? Will you have to go to events as Prince Frederick?”

He swam after her. “As long as I get paid I’ll have to. If I renounce membership of the Family altogether, I won’t get an allowance anymore.”

“Will you find a job?” She tried to imagine him in an ordinary job and failed. It was not that he could not do anything, but more likely no one would hire him.

“I’ll see,” Frederick said vaguely.

This ought to annoy her and she wondered why it did not. It was probably because his situation was unique. He might need more time to adjust than someone resigning from another type of job.

“If my cousins could find jobs…” he said.

“Will we have to go to events together?” she asked. At least she would know where to find him if he disappeared.

“If you are invited to sports events, I’ll come.”

“You must be glad we tend to leave families out of the campaigns over here.” He would not have to show his face before elections. He would not have to go anywhere with her – assuming she would play a role next time, which she might not.

“Certainly. What if I voted for another party myself? It’s ridiculous to expect a partner to support the same party.”

“So what do you vote?”

Frederick looked amused. “Margaret darling, tactical voting has nothing to do with one’s political ideas. I could, theoretically vote for your opponents if I felt you were better off without a second term.”

Anna Margaret stared.

“Unless it was extremely important to you, but I doubt it would be. You’ve never struck me as that kind of person. You didn’t manoeuvre yourself into this position.”

“How would you know?”

“You’re incapable of lying or scheming.”

“How would you know?”

“Oh, small signs here and there.”

Someone else dove into the pool. Frederick and Anna Margaret broke off their kiss. “Who’s that?” she asked, watching someone crawl away.

“It’s my mother.”

“She doesn’t appear to be shocked. Or she doesn’t see it was you.”

“Or she needs fifty metres to come up with a reaction.”

That turned out to be the case indeed, because his mother stopped near them. “Frederick,” she said.

“Oh, you did recognise me,” he said.

“Do you mind if I swim?”

“Er, no. We’ll behave.”

Contrary to what he was probably thinking, Anna Margaret thought that his mother had likely been in such a situation before. There was Isabelle, after all, who had at some point hooked up with a husband.

“Agnes is out tomorrow morning. You can come to eat then,” said Frederick’s mother.

“Yes, but…” said Frederick, looking at Anna Margaret.

“I assume you do not send her home after swimming? Then you both come.”

“Well, yes, but I don’t want to say if she goes home or not.”

“Frederick,” said his mother in irritation and then muttered something in German, most of which got lost under water when she swam off.

“What was that?” he asked.

“I think it was something like: then you pretend she just came back , but I can’t be sure.” Anna Margaret felt surprisingly relaxed about the invitation. For some reason it did not feel as if she was going to be quizzed relentlessly. To be invited because Princess Agnes was absent was another good thing. “But what did she invite us to?”

“Her apartment. I could go alone if you don’t feel like it.”

“No, I’ll come. I feel as though this may be your only sane relative. Does she share her apartment with your aunt?”

“Yes. My aunt gets no allowance anymore and this way she has the status without the expenses. But they do have separate activities.”

“Shall we go upstairs?”

“No, then she’ll think we came here only for one purpose.”

“All right, we’ll swim some more then,” she decided.

Posted on 2015-07-19

Chapter Twenty-Eight

On Saturday morning Anna Margaret received an email from one of her sisters. None of them had her mobile phone number, about which she had had many an argument, so emailing was the best they could do if they wanted to reach her and she was not answering her home phone.

Hi,
I’m in your neighbourhood this afternoon. What time are you in?
Irene Louise

Anna Margaret blinked at this message for a few seconds. Irene in the neighbourhood? The last time that had happened was at least two years ago. Perhaps she was overly suspicious, but she did not trust it now. “My sister’s in the neighbourhood and wants to stop by.”

“Here?”

“No, at my flat. She doesn’t know I’m here. But we’re not in the habit of calling on each other when we’re in the neighbourhood. I’m a little suspicious about this. My parents may have put her up to it.”

“Just reply that you’re not home then,” Frederick suggested. “You’ll find out soon enough if they’re curious.”

Hi
I’m not home today, sorry.
AM

“What should I wear to your mother’s?” she wondered. “I didn’t bring that many clothes.”

“What you would otherwise wear would be fine.” Frederick was still inspecting his closets in his underwear himself. He finally selected some clothes.

When they were dressed, he took her downstairs and through some doors and corridors to his mother’s rooms. There were ways to get from one side of the Palace to the other without crossing the courtyard, but it was not always the most straightforward route.

Queen Anna was already dressed, in neat trousers and a blouse. This time she did greet Anna Margaret personally and very politely. She had been German once upon a time, which some people had held against her, but by now only a slight accent remained, and if she did not occasionally speak to herself in German no one might ever know.

“I must apologise for Agnes,” she said. “She is so very curious and afraid Frederick will not be able to take care of himself if we do not give him advice.”

“I can give him advice too if he needs any,” Anna Margaret said brightly. They were taken into a dining room where the table was already set and staff were bringing the last food. “I don’t like staff,” she said softly. Staff might talk.

“Don’t worry. They have been with me forever.” And they looked it too.

“Well, all right then,” she said to herself. She laid her cell phone on the table. “Sorry, I’m always on call, so to speak.”

“Yes, of course, what with Greece. I’m so very glad we never got a house in Greece, although I was beginning to regret the house in Italy as well.”

“I can imagine.”

“Oh, if you mean that incident, I was not informed until he was safe. And not by him either.”

“Well,” Frederick said with a shrug. “I was never in any danger.” He held the bread basket out to Anna Margaret.

She picked a roll. “There are other kinds of dangers. Such as having to tell your family where you are exactly and with whom.” She glanced at her phone. She was now in the situation he might have been in then. “My sister has not yet emailed back.”

“Yes, that. I don’t want to lie, so I prefer not to say anything in such a case.”

“Isabelle informed me of some details, not all,” said his mother. “But she had not got them from you, but from Miss –“

“Anna Margaret, please. Or Anna, or Margaret, I don’t mind either.”

“But your family is not allowed to know where you are?” She turned her eyes on Anna Margaret.

“Oh, please, not yet.” She focused on her breakfast.

“I won’t tell him,” said Frederick.

“When would you see him?”

“You never know.”

After about fifteen minutes, her phone rang and she excused herself. She answered it outside the room and returned in low spirits. “I have to go to Brussels tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Frederick did not seem to like it much either.

“Yes, sorry.”

“But not yet today.”

“No, George will book train tickets for our group for tomorrow morning. I knew there was a probability, but I had hoped it would be Monday or Tuesday. It may last until then too. I don’t know yet.”

“Well, at least fewer people will ask you for your opinion on the speech. Which you may not even see live. I don’t know if this is good or bad.”

“I’ll be back. George will phone me later today to say what time we’re going. It won’t be before ten o’clock, I think. People from further away need to be able to fly in as well.” She thought she would be able to stay the night.

After breakfast with Frederick’s mother, he gave her a little tour. “I could email you a floorplan,” he offered. “I made several floorplans with an app.”

“Why? I mean, why did you make them? I thought you knew the way.”

Frederick shrugged. “It’s fun. In 3D. I haven’t done the attics yet, though. They’re complicated to do, because it’s pretty dark up there.”

Of course he would have things he liked to do. She knew about sports, but he could not be doing that all day. There was more and this was one of them. It nevertheless surprised her. “What else do you like to do when you’re stuck in here?”

“Stuck in here,” he smiled. “I read, I watch people work…occasionally I go out.”

She checked her phone. There was an email from her sister, asking her where she was. “Oh, the nerve. Why does she want to know anyway? It’s none of her business.”

“Don’t type that,” Frederick advised.

“She never cares where I am, so why would she do so now? Don’t you think someone put her up to it? I have a busy job, so if I’m not at home, I’m probably working. Just because I threw up at a barbecue once they’re now all afraid I’m slumming with my unemployed boyfriend.”

He paused halfway up the stairs. “Slumming with your unemployed boyfriend?”

“I know that is what they think…”

“But why would they think that?”

“Unemployed men are slumming by definition.”’

“But who pointed them in the direction of the unemployed boyfriend?”

“My mother did that. She’s really good at being pointed in a direction no one ever indicated. I felt sick, so she was afraid I was pregnant…”

He raised his eyebrows. “Is that where Aunt Agnes got that notion?”

“Probably. And she expressed her concern because I work too much, so I got irritated at all the assumptions: that I was pregnant, that I work too much, that I shouldn’t get pregnant, that I couldn’t make my own arrangements as to where I’d leave a baby, that I needed to ask their permission before getting pregnant…and so forth.”

Frederick waited.

“And I told her there were men without jobs.”

Contrary to her mother, he understood right away. “So useful.”

“Exactly. But it didn’t end this train of thought; it started a completely new one.”

“You now have a secret unemployed boyfriend who got you pregnant and he lives in a squat?”

“Yes. Sleeping on the floor, using beer crates for tables. I find it really scary that I can predict this irrational train of thought. And my sister trying to find out where I am fits too perfectly.”

“You don’t have to answer her question.”

“I know.” She put her phone away. “I’ll be off to Brussels anyway and they’ll be able to read about that in the papers. Right. Show me the next floor.”

“You could take a picture of yourself in the attics. They look like a squat. Plenty of broken furniture and cobwebs. I’m furnishing his new place .”

“Noooooo…”

“But you don’t get along?” he concluded.

“I don’t know. My sisters always seem a bit jealous. They often take things the wrong way and they’re insanely focused on what I don’t do right. I don’t know why. It’s never good, whether I contact them or not. They always find something to complain about.”

“Never mind them then.”

“That’s what I’m doing, but they don’t like that either.”

On Saturday night Paul and Eric held a video call with her. She felt sorry for Frederick, but it was only for half an hour and he watched TV in the meantime. It was imperative to know what Finance and Foreign Affairs thought on the subject. She took notes and thought that with some reading on the train she would be fine. Her assistant had listened in as well and would be available to her when it came to finding or processing information, unlike George, who dealt with all the other stuff.

After that she prepared a reaction to the speech that she emailed to her staff. Without knowing what the speech was going to be like, and without Frederick being all too detailed about it, that had been a rather difficult thing to do, but in the end she had come up with something suitably vague. They really would not care that she might be caught up in meetings tomorrow evening; if people wanted her reaction they would want it immediately and she had best have something ready.

Her other sister had by now emailed too, saying it was selfish and rude of her to ignore her family’s emails. “Oh, the drama!” she sighed.

“What now?”

“Another email.”

“Ignore.”

“But I’m being called rude because I ignored the previous.” She was never going to manage a reaction that would be considered acceptable. It was hopeless.

Frederick took her away from her laptop. “Your boyfriend,” he said, “being unemployed, kept you busy.”

On Sunday morning she rose early and went to her flat to pack. She had wished Frederick luck and told him he could do it. At 9:30 she was picked up by an official car to take her to the station. It would have been a fifteen-minute walk otherwise and that was deemed too far.

She found herself in a first class compartment of the international train to Brussels, with George, her assistant Kristina, Paul, his assistant Rob and two security officers. Those who did not have to read anything looked up practical details about the hotel and route.

When they were nearly there and everything had been gone over, George thought it convenient to ask a question. “You know, madam, Joël said it would be great if you know who could come on his show some time. Or you.”

She had vaguely known that Joël did something in the TV business, but not what. “Joël? He has a show?”

“You didn’t know?”

“No. What sort of show?”

“A children’s show.”

“And he wants…” She did not see the connection.

“Who’s you know who?” Paul interrupted. “I think I know this Joël. My children watch a show presented by a Joël on Saturdays.”

George beamed. “That’s my fiancé.”

“And he thinks it’s a good idea to have Anna Margaret on his show?”

“You don’t, I gather,” she said, trying to interpret his tone. This sounded like something she should avoid.

“If you like getting dirty…”

“How?”

“If you get too many answers wrong you’re dropped in the mud.”

She wrinkled her nose when they all laughed. “I see you lot all think it a good idea. What sort of questions?”

“All kinds. My children love it. They keep asking if I’m famous enough to be asked for the mud slide.”

“George, there’s your volunteer. I don’t think I should be doing those things. People may want me to stay serious. And, you know, clean.”

“Then again,” said Paul, “some would like it if you got dirty. Who’s you know who?”

“I’m supposed to lead the country, not engage in mudwrestling.” Yes, she knew nobody had mentioned wrestling, but it was the only activity in mud that she could imagine.

“You keep ignoring my question,” Paul continued. “Boyfriend?”

“What!”

“George’s boyfriend wants your boyfriend on his show. Am I right?”

“Who says I have one?”

“Your face does.” Paul was amused and the others were intrigued.

“May I remind you that we’re in a public train carriage. Anyone could hear you,” she hissed. She would almost stand up to see if anyone was looking at them, but of course if she stood up they would start doing so.

“Sorry,” he said in a lower voice. “But why does George’s boyfriend want your boyfriend on his show? Is he famous?”

“I’d rather be dropped in the mud than tell you.”

Posted on 2015-07-22

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Coming out of the meeting it was seven o’clock and Frederick’s speech had already taken place. Her group took two taxis to their hotel and had dinner there while they discussed the outcome of the meeting.

Kristina checked the news. “The king held his speech. Now let’s wait for the first people asking for your thoughts, though I see André already sent out your reaction. How did you do that?”

Anna Margaret resisted the urge to look up the news as well. She would do that later in her own room, if she still felt up to it. Another meeting was planned at 21:30 and there was no predicting until when that would last. Everyone had been given some time off for dinner and consultations, and for someone to whip up a recap. Then they would resume. “Yes, I prepared that last night. I didn’t know what the speech was going to be like, so I hope it fits a bit. It should have been vague enough to fit everything. But they know I’m here.”

“Do they ever care?” Kristina asked rhetorically. “I’ll send André a message. You don’t have the time to watch the entire speech now anyway and give a substantive response.”

“Entire speech?” Anna Margaret became a little suspicious. “I thought it was going to be short. Just what did Princess Isabelle do?”

“It was a joint speech,” said Kristina, reading. “It doesn’t actually say how long, but I assume it would have been long if they both said something.”

“No, she had to say something because he couldn’t come up with anything to say. The idea was that she would distract people from the fact that he had actually said very little, but she shouldn’t have said so much as to make people forget he had said anything at all.” She hoped Isabelle had thought the same.

“So what was your reaction?” asked Paul.

“It was vague,” Anna Margaret said vaguely. “I couldn’t say I was sorry or happy, because that would sound extremely odd, so basically I simply respected his decision.”

She excused herself and phoned him from the lobby. Although she had first thought she would not do this until after she got back to the hotel to sleep, she had changed her mind. “Can you talk?” she started out.

“Yes, I can talk.”

“How did it go?”

“Well, I don’t know. I read it up. I haven’t turned on the TV since then.”

“I haven’t seen it, mind you. I’ve got another hour until the meeting resumes, but I need to do a few more things until then. Wasn’t there anyone there, apart from the camera crew?”

“Oh, yes. An older man who apparently interviewed my father once. He nearly died when he heard.” Seemingly that had amused Frederick, or he had decided that he had best feel amused about it.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Was it shock, disapproval, pleasure?”

“Shock. He sort of hinted that he could interview me so I could clarify my reasons, but I said no, I don’t care what anyone thinks. He probably thought I was going to be married, although I don’t know why Isabelle would need to come with me in that case. And I don’t know why my reasons needed to be clarified.”

“Would you like sliding into the mud?” And she really could not explain why she asked that. What did it have to do with anything?

“What?”

“It’s apparently on some show. If you get answers wrong, they drop you into the mud.”

“Oh, that one. Yes, I watched that last night when you were video chatting. Why do you want me to do that?” Frederick sounded surprised.

“I don’t; Joël does. George’s fiancé. But you watched it?”

“Yes, there was nothing else on at that time. It was fun.”

“You wouldn’t seriously consider doing that?” she cried, although she still had no idea what was actually involved. It might be as fun as he said. The participants might also look very foolish.

“I so would.”

“You’re crazy. All right, I have to go and see if they served my dessert yet. I’ll probably be late tonight, so please don’t phone tonight or early tomorrow morning. I want to make use of all the time I get to sleep.”

Frederick promised he would not disturb her and said he hoped she would be back soon.

It was four o’clock when they had the choice between spending over three hours on a train and sleeping in their own beds, or taking the first train out in the morning, which might require rising early. Anna Margaret voted for going home, as did everyone else. She reckoned she could be in bed by ten o’clock, which sounded heavenly compared to the night before.

Once on the train, all the men dozed off or pretended to. Bleary-eyed from fatigue, she tried to look up news about Frederick’s speech on the internet. She had her earplugs ready so she could even play the sound. A few times she had to blink to keep her eyes focused. “I’m getting old,” she said to Kristina, who was even older. “There have been worse meetings, but I’m half dead.”

“Men can sleep sitting up. We need to learn that trick. They’ll be completely refreshed when we get home. Bastards.”

After sending Frederick a message that she was on the train, she first checked the newspapers. The initial articles did not take a stand, but more or less described what had been said. Soon after the first articles had appeared, there were pieces that attempted to analyse the situation. Those were the ones she was most interested in, even though they would get a lot wrong. It was a surprise that no one had seen coming. Another paper had not expected it, but speculated that rumours about illegitimate children and the attack on the villa had proved too much for the king. She had expected something like that. People would try to establish links between the bits of limited information they had.

By now, a day later, the Palace had posted the recording of the speech on their Facebook page. Anna Margaret finally dared to watch it, having feared it would somehow mention her. It was surprisingly good. She was amazed. There was no stiff reluctance as far as she could tell and – she felt – the exact amount of emotion. There were also clearly no negative feelings between brother and sister. She would say that was exactly what she was looking at – a brother and sister who supported each other. She sniffed.

“What are you watching?” asked Kristina, who was still the only conscious one in their party.

“The speech.”

“Oscar-worthy?”

“I have to say I’m pleasantly surprised by how Princess Isabelle supported her brother. It could have been so different. He could have been very stiff and she could have made it all about her. She could have made him look like an idiot.” Perhaps she had been afraid of that, rather than of being mentioned in some oblique way.

She moved on to the reactions below the post, which was why she had chosen to watch the speech here and not from a link in a news article. Here, the people reacted. And they were surprisingly positive. Not all, of course there were some who thought he was weak to be giving up at the first inconvenience, but there were at least a few who thought like her.

There was a message from André, asking if she would like to react to a few questions. Well, actually it was more like two pages of questions, but he had sorted them neatly by subject. She groaned.

“Sorry,” said Kristina, looking at her screen. “That may be my fault. I said you wouldn’t have time, so I guess he saved them up. He could have answered a few himself, I’m sure, even if it was just referring them to your interview just after the meeting. I’m sure it was televised already, so they could simply watch that. It’s not likely you’d have a different opinion now anyway.”

“It looks like half of them could be referred to the television interview. That cleans up the list nicely.” She saved the rest in a new document and looked at it. “Now it looks as if half of the rest ought to be answered by Paul. Why is he sleeping? Why is he not answering questions?”

Paul opened one eye. “I’m not sleeping; I’m resting. This morning I answered about fifty questions that were actually mostly the same one but differently worded, but with a slight variation so I could not copy and paste the same answer. Besides, I answered some over the phone as well.”

“I’m emailing you some more homework now,” she decided.

He merely closed his eye in response.

Whatever he did, she would prefer to handle this before she got home, so she could go to bed immediately. I cannot say at this moment covered another handful of questions. She did not have a crystal ball. Very likely they would ask again and ask when she would able to say something, but for the moment it put them off. Or, hopefully, they would realise that the answer depended on too many variables over which she had no control. And please do not ask which variables , she thought, but she knew they would.

Then she was left with the questions that dealt with the speech and the abdication. Or not. Had she used her time in Brussels to ask the Germans if they would consider upgrading the road on their side of the border? “André!” she groaned, because he had thought it necessary to include such a ridiculous question in the list.

What did she think of the speech? Had she known there would be a speech? Did an abdication have her approval? Did she think the monarchy ought to be abolished? Was this good PR for the country? What was the king going to do now? Had he been urged to step down because he had misbehaved? Was he gay?

“Deep,” she muttered, “very deep. Is he gay?”

“But he could be gay,” said Kristina. “It would have been a reason to step down, wouldn’t it?”

“Why? If he were gay, he might not have children legally recognisable as heirs – I don’t know how it would work legally – but he wouldn’t need to have them, because his sister has several children. If your only problem is that you’re into men, there’s no need to step down. Therefore it follows that this is not his problem. It’s simply logical thinking.”

“I doubt that it’s logical to people asking such a question. You may have to give them an another answer.”

“Actually, I was going to ignore that question.”

Arriving at the station, the men opened their eyes. Most got taxis, but since it was still light outside, Anna Margaret did not mind stretching her legs after having been forced to sit for most of the day.

“Where are you going?” asked Paul.

“I live in the centre. Walking is faster than taking a taxi.”

“Yes, but some people won’t be pleased with the outcome of the negotiations. My wife is coming. She’ll drop you off,” he offered.

“I have to be able to handle these people.”

“It would be a waste of time.”

“Maybe. The worst that could happen is that they will still think I’ve stolen their money and given it to the Greeks. It can’t get any worse, can it?”

“Of course it can.” He eyed a few men who were giving them angry looks.

Anna Margaret noticed them as well. They wanted to tell her something, she could see, but if they had really been dangerous they would already have approached her. She walked towards them. “You look as if you’d like to tell me something.”

The dissatisfied citizens made their predictable feelings known, but not quite as vehemently as they would have done had she attempted to ignore them.

“Let me buy you a coffee and I’ll try to explain,” she said. If the two security officers thought this dangerous they would simply have to stay with her.

After one coffee she said she really needed to go. Her critics were sufficiently mollified, but they wanted proof of having met her. “No…” she groaned. “I’ve only slept for four hours and you want to take a photo with me?” But she agreed to do it.

She would have liked Frederick to be at her flat when she got home, but it would not be a wise thing to do after he had just drawn attention to himself. More people might recognise him than before – and the instance with the women in France proved that he was not completely unrecognisable.

When she got home she searched her kitchen for food and had two bananas and some crackers. Before she could phone Frederick, her father called. He wanted to hear how it had all gone, of course. She gave him the briefest of summaries.

“I know, it’s late,” he said. “But if you have time, come to dinner tomorrow so you can tell me all about it.”

So he could hear all about it – there was a slight difference in motivation there. “All right,” Anna Margaret said nonetheless.

When she had hung up she remembered he might invite men from the golf course, although it would distract him from his questioning and so she might be safe. He would not invite them this time.

She called Frederick from bed, but he could tell she was sleepy and he promised not to ask anything about Brussels.

“I thought it looked good,” she said about the speech.

“Did you?” He sounded pleased. “I haven’t looked up what people thought about it. Most of that will come tomorrow anyway. My mother said it was all right, but Aunt Agnes said she didn’t know what to make of it.”

“No, it was all right. I won’t see you until Wednesday. I think Isabelle should join us, so she could see what we do?” she asked tentatively, not knowing how he would react to having their tête-à-tête disturbed. “She may want to. It’s not that complicated. You managed to do it too without ever having sat in, but she may be more conscientious.”

“Oh, you think?” he chuckled. “But when can I see you alone?”

“I don’t know. Let’s just wait what sort of attention we’re getting this week. They might be all over us.”

“I hope not. Maybe you could schedule in some extra time on Wednesday. You could say you need half an hour extra to brief Isabelle.”

That sounded tempting and she tried to imagine it. “What would she say if we…”

“If we went to my rooms?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t know. We could say it was for lunch. It might even be for lunch.”

“I’ll try,” she promised.

Posted on 2015-07-25

Chapter Thirty

Anna Margaret had set her alarm for half an hour later, feeling she deserved to sleep a little longer. Last night’s disgruntled citizens had gone viral. She did not realise it until she got to her office building, however, having skipped her morning reading in favour of extra sleep.

“Will you buy us a beer too?” asked one reporter jokingly.

“Benny, I answered your question by email from the train.” There were some whose names she knew by now. Those were things you picked up after a while – as well as that he did not want to hear any answers over his beer, but something else.

“I wouldn’t mind being taken out for a beer and having everything explained to me,” he said in case she did not understand.

She forced a smile. “What happened exactly? I came straight from bed. I know nothing, but I could make a guess.” Everyone now knew she had treated some men to a drink. That in itself was no problem, if nothing had been added to the story.

“From bed? Alone?”

A withering glare sufficed.

“You talked to people. You bought them drinks.”

“Ah. Well, I’d like to clarify that I will not buy drinks for everyone who gives me unfriendly stares, but once in a while, why not?”

“What did you tell them?”

“I guess it wasn’t as effective an explanation as it was intended to be, if the most important bit of news that stuck in everyone’s mind was the beer. But it was more or less the same as the answers the questions you lot posed, but then in simpler terms.”

“George, would you believe that you know who would do this mud thing?” Anna Margaret shook her head. She could not mention Frederick’s name, because there was a junior civil servant nearby. “I definitely won’t.”

“Do you mean you asked ?”

“Why are you surprised? You asked me.”

“I didn’t think you would. That’s all. I told Joël I’d tell you, but I didn’t think you would actually do something about it. But do you mean he would?”

“He says he knows the show.”

“He knows the show?” George nearly fainted at the honour bestowed on his fiancé.

“He watched it on Saturday.”

“Seriously? But it’s a children’s show.”

“It’s what he said. What sort of questions are they anyway?” They could not be too difficult on a children’s show.

“Things you get in school when you’re about twelve.”

Anna Margaret raised her eyebrows. “And still people get dropped into the mud because they can’t answer them?”

“That’s the amusement. But could Joël ask him, do you think?”

“Do you really think it’s good for him to be subjected to this kind of fun?” There were things he could not do, but she supposed it all depended on how many questions he would be able to answer.

“It’s relatively harmless.”

“That’s what they always say.” She was not convinced. “What if he got too many answers wrong? Wouldn’t that be humiliating? Is it legal? Am I responsible for undignified behaviour? Will they ask me questions again?”

“I’m not sure Joël would want him for the mud slide. Maybe for some of the children’s wishes.”

“Oh, he only thought of me for the mud slide. Thank him. That’s too kind.”

In the evening, she left through the side entrance to save time, went home and changed into different clothes. While she was doing so, she transferred a load of laundry from the washing machine to the dryer and cleaned the toilet. She still had no food, so she packed her wallet so she could buy something on her way back home. Then she got her bicycle out of her storage unit downstairs and cycled to her parents’ house. She was not particularly enthusiastic about going there, but she knew it was best to get it out of the way.

“I expected you a little earlier,” said her mother when she opened the door.

“Work.” Her mother ought to know that this sort of work did not usually end at five o’clock. “And a little housework.”

“You really ought to get a cleaning lady.”

“I don’t want strangers in my house.” She had considered the idea sometimes, but she had never been able to warm to it. As long as he managed to do it on her own, there really was no need to hire someone who might snoop or steal.

“Dinner is ready. Go right through to the dining room.”

Her father was reading a newspaper behind an empty plate. He got up to greet her.

“Hi Dad, hungry?”

“You could say that. How was Brussels?”

“Tiring. In the end it came down to exactly what I had predicted.”

“Long sessions, I read.”

“We’ve had worse, but there were always new ones planned, all about the same thing. I slept for about four hours on Monday night.”

Her father questioned her about the particulars of the discussions and decisions, while her mother brought in the meal. After a while her mother grew bored of the political talk and brought up the topic Anna Margaret did not want to discuss. “You weren’t home a week ago on Sunday.”

“I leave the house sometimes,” she said calmly. There had never been a hundred percent certainty of her being home on Sunday morning. Occasionally she was even away for work.

“And this weekend too, as if you were elsewhere.”

“Brussels.” That was easy. Everyone would know about it. And her father would know she never took as much time before and after as he always had. He would never have taken the first train back home.

“Did you leave on Saturday?”

“I was getting ready for it on Saturday.”

“But not at home.”

“No. Why did Irene want to stop by?” She supposed Irene was the source of their information anyway, unless they had come by themselves and found the door was again not being opened. But it would really be stupid of someone to try that a second time.

“Because she’s your sister.”

“That’s never bothered her before.”

“Don’t be so unkind about your sister.”

“Well, it’s true. She’s never asked to visit before. Well, once when I was living in Brussels and she needed a cheap place to stay, but otherwise no, she’s not in the habit of looking me up.” It was not the way it went between them. She had never minded herself and she had never thought Irene minded. They simply had different lives.

“That’s not true.”

“Oh, all right. I suppose I missed all those times she was outside my door and I was selfishly not opening it.” Anna Margaret tried to keep her tone indifferent, but she was slowly growing annoyed.

“Well, you could devote a little more time to your family. Or…have you got a boyfriend?”

Ah, there was the question at last. “Because that’s the only reason I could have for neglecting my family?”

“It was when you had that Swede when you were living in Brussels.”

“A Norwegian – and that lasted about a month.” It could not have had any effect. The reason she had not gone home often was because she had been abroad and she had not wanted to spend so much time on trains every weekend, but that was perhaps too simple an explanation.

“But do you?”

“Do I what?” Anna Margaret asked innocently.

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

She wondered what would be best, but they really would not like it if it later turned out she had lied. There were some things she could still keep back, but this was basic. “Yes.”

“Yes?” both of her parents cried at once.

“Oh, don’t act surprised. I’m merely confirming what you’ve been hinting at. I might even be lying.” But she was wondering what clues there had been, other than not having been home. It was not the first time she had not been home. She generally went on trips without informing her parents and she certainly would not tell them she had gone swimming on Sunday morning or whatever she might possibly do. Had she been behaving that differently then? She had been rational and unaffected, she believed.

“But you do?” her mother asked.

“Maybe.”

“Do you spend time with him?”

The stupidity of the question gave her pause. All this fuss was because they suspected her of having spent time with someone else.

“Who is he?” her father inquired. “Your mother seems to think he might be unemployed.”

“Would it be a problem if the hypothetical boyfriend were unemployed?” She tried to discern if having a secret boyfriend was the problem, or his possibly being unemployed.

Now it was her parents’ turn to be taken aback by the stupidity of the question.

“Oh, it would be,” she concluded. “In that case I can’t tell you.”

“Does he have a house?”

“He’s got a few rooms in a really big place.” That was not very impressive, she could tell, but it was in fact the truth.

“Please don’t get pregnant by this man,” her mother begged. “Accidents happen so easily.”

“No, they don’t. We’ve all been taught about contraceptives at school.” She sounded confident. “But why would it be a problem?” For them, she meant. She could see why it would be a problem for herself. And that was not because of the man, but because of her job.

“The Swede would have been suitable.”

“Norwegian – and no.”

“Scandalous,” said her father. “Think of your position.”

The irony was that a relative equal would be as scandalous as someone far beneath her. She nearly smiled. “I am thinking of it.”

“You can’t be.”

“You’ll just have to wait and see. As for Irene and Claire, why did you put them up to emailing me?” She still believed that they had been prompted to do it.

“They would like some attention,” said her mother.

“They will not get any attention if they call me rude and selfish. Just saying.” Anna Margaret spoke casually, but she narrowed her eyes.

“You never care about what is important in their lives.”

“I never know what is important in their lives. They don’t tell me more than I tell them.” They had had this conversation before and it was never resolved to anyone’s satisfaction. It was a question of different lives, different interests, different ages even. She was the eldest.

“You did not come to Claire Sophie’s husband’s birthday.”

“I cannot cancel a state visit for that reason. Dad! Tell them.” She looked at her father imploringly. This was ridiculous. The birthday had been months ago and for that reason it was even more ridiculous to mention it now. She had received the invitation and declined politely, because she would not be in the country. As far as she had been concerned, there was no more she had been able to do.

“That’s what I said.”

“You could have phoned,” said her mother.

“I’m sorry. This is ridiculous. He’s not my brother; he’s my sister’s husband. I don’t care about birthdays. I accept that they care about birthdays and for their sakes I try to remember, but they do not make any effort to accept that I don’t give a **** about birthdays and that I may forget. Why does this have to be a one-way effort? And getting passive aggressively angry about my not phoning from where was I – wasn’t it China? – is not going to make me remember the birthday next time.”

“He turned thirty.”

“Wow. So did I a few years ago. Mum, don’t let yourself get sucked into this nonsense, unless you’re fuelling it?”

“They feel you don’t think them interesting.”

“What are we having for dessert?”

Anna Margaret cycled away and put her headset on. She phoned Frederick. “Sorry to bother you. Do you think I’m selfish and rude?” It was a silly question, because he would hardly say yes.

“What’s the matter?”

She exhaled in annoyance. “I had dinner at my parents’ house. I really shouldn’t have gone.”

“Did they call you selfish and rude?”

“Sort of. Apparently there are two issues. My father is afraid I’ve got myself an unsuitable, lower-class man, and my mother is channelling my sisters’ dissatisfaction because apparently I don’t give them enough attention.”

“And now you’ll be giving them even less attention because you’ve got a boyfriend. Why do they need attention? Why are they jealous?”

“Things come easily to me, I suppose. School did, work did… But I never make any comments about people to whom these things don’t come as easily. I could hardly decline a position I am offered because my sisters would never achieve it – and who is to say they wouldn’t? It’s not as if all of our ministers are brilliant geniuses anyway – or stop working towards something because I am beyond the best that they could do.” It was impossible to get it right, she felt, and that was frustrating.

“And now you’ve got a boyfriend,” he said thoughtfully. “What about them?”

“They’re both married.”

“And you’ve acknowledged their superiority in this respect, I suppose? Frequently and humbly?”

Anna Margaret was confused. “What? No. I don’t – why?”

“You don’t even care that they beat you there.”

“What?”

“I’m joking,” Frederick clarified. “I don’t mean that you should; I mean that they probably think you should. I recognise the idiocy from school. I got some of that.”

“But you don’t think I’m selfish or rude?” She rubbed her eye behind her sunglasses.

“Well, you can be rude, a bit, or would it be direct? I don’t mind it anyway. But don’t get upset about it. It’s not about you; it’s about them. It doesn’t mean you are what they say you are. I don’t know, they may simply want to be more like you.”

“Thanks,” she managed.

“I love you.”

That came at an unfortunate moment. “Yes, er, that. I’m waiting for a red light. But do you really?”

“Yes.”

“I do too.” She could safely say that without anyone standing beside her knowing what it was about. She nevertheless blushed.

“What are you doing anyway, that you’re at a red light and you can’t talk openly?”

“Cycling. But what do I do about the problem?”

“I don’t think there’s much you could do, but that’s my experience, which dealt with classmates and not family. It’s easier to ignore classmates or beat them up.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Beat them up?” Had he really?

“Yes, don’t do that.”

“Light’s green.” She pedalled away, slowly, so everyone else would be ahead of her. “So…”

“Just stay polite whenever you speak to them. I don’t think you have to go out of your way to inform them of everything you do – we do. Unless, of course…” he mused.

“Unless what?”

“Unless they would become your best friends if they found out who I am? So it depends on whether you want them to become your best friends, and on whether they would be sensitive to that kind of connection.”

“My father is, but I don’t know if they are. But my father is not giving me trouble about giving them attention; that’s my mother. And anyway, I’m not going to use you. I don’t know, it could get better and it could get worse if they knew I was seeing you. I suppose it might depend on whether I gave them access to you.”

“And you don’t want to give people access to me, unless they’re politicians.”

She cringed. “I’m sorry I had to.”

“I know, but I can still tease you.”

“But what I meant was, it could go either way if I told them about you. They might think my intention was to make them jealous, rather than simply to include them in what was going on in my life.”

“And they couldn’t simply be happy for you?”

“I really don’t know,” Anna Margaret said despondently.

“How did this happen?”

“They’ve always claimed my father favoured me. Maybe he did. But it’s not my fault that I’m the eldest and that I got to do everything first. I wish people would stop being childish and just approach this from a rational point of view. I’m at the supermarket now. I need to buy food, because I’ve run out.”

“Are you eating too much?”

She laughed. “Too little.”

“There’s no need to starve yourself to fit into a dress for the inauguration, you know.”

“Ugh! But you’ll be happy to know that since I didn’t stay too long at my parents’ house, I’ll have time to go for a run later.”

“I’ve already been, or I could have run into you,” Frederick said regretfully.

Posted on 2015-07-28

Chapter Thirty-One

On Wednesday she had a meeting with the inauguration committee first. They had had two days to do things more openly since the speech and she was satisfied with the progress. A date had been set, too. Lists of guests had been prepared and representatives of the media had been informed they could apply for an invitation.

After that André came to tell her she had gone up in the popularity stakes because she had talked to people.

“Wow. I’m so happy,” she said with some sarcasm. “But that’s not why I did it. I don’t only represent people who express themselves in a sophisticated manner.” Not that she could ever say that, because it might offend those who could not express themselves in a sophisticated manner.

She tried to look up where this news was and found that she had gone up, while Eric had gone down over his handling of the attack on the king’s Italian villa. Apparently it had leaked out that the king himself had questioned the perpetrators. She had completely missed that it had leaked out, but it had been inevitable.

Since Frederick’s speech, the papers had worked on portraits of him. Not all were correct. Of course the stories had to fit the facts, which was that His Majesty had apparently been unhappy in his position. The author had then gone looking for reasons as to why this might be the case. It remained a mystery. And clearly there had been a dilemma – be the first to publish, but without depth? Or publish late, but getting more facts right?

This morning an article traced Frederick’s youth. She would have been interested if she had not thought it was probably not even close to the truth. Sources who had attended the ‘prestigious King Albert School’, at a stone’s throw from the Palace, at the time said he was always dropped off by a chauffeur. A former teacher at his secondary school said he was once suspected of setting fire to chemistry lab.

She should stop looking these things up. They had nothing to do with work. Not directly anyway.

When it was time, she walked to the Palace, not seeing why she should now order a car for the short trip, even if it was raining. They had umbrellas in her office. If anyone bothered her, she could hit them with one.

She had done as Frederick had suggested and planned an extra half hour. Both Frederick and Isabelle came to the meeting. Anna Margaret explained what she usually did and what Frederick usually did, since he was just sitting there. Isabelle did not seem to expect more influence than she was allowed to have, so that was good. But then, Isabelle might have closely watched how her grandfather, father and brother had dealt with this and listened what they had said at the dinner table or wherever else comments might have been made.

Anna Margaret would have discussed the speech if she had not been eager for some time alone with Frederick. Because his sister was there he had very chastely kissed her cheek. When they were done, therefore, she wished Frederick would take her away, but Isabelle spoke as if he was not there. “What did you think of Frederick’s speech? I was surprised at how he handled it.”

“Shut up,” said her brother.

“I thought that was your doing,” said Anna Margaret. She felt her hand being tugged.

“No, I didn’t have to do much.”

“Shut up,” he repeated. “Come, let’s have lunch.”

“Lunch,” Isabella commented in a sceptical tone. “Right.”

During the weekend Frederick unfortunately had to leave the country. There was a wedding somewhere in the extended German branch of his family and he had to accompany his mother.

Anna Margaret planned to use his absence to get a dress somewhere. She had rented last year’s dress because she had been in a hurry and had not had time to shop extensively. Besides, she had not wanted too many dresses in her closet that she had only worn once, and having one dress she wore to everything was not appreciated either.

She toyed with the idea of asking a sister to accompany her, but then decided against it. They might not see it as a sign of goodwill, but rather as an attempt to show once again how more interesting their elder sister’s life was compared to theirs.

When, really, sitting in a cathedral for a few hours was terribly boring.

When she had mentioned the dress to George, he had said Joël was good at picking them out. Therefore on Saturday morning she met Joël by the fountain on the central square. Because Frederick had said there might be pictures from the wedding and he might be linked to one or more female guests because he always was, she apped him a photo of Joël and called him her date for the day. People might make something of that as well, after all.

George had not exaggerated. Joël did indeed have a good eye for what looked good. Together they settled on a simple blue dress with long sleeves. Anna Margaret wondered if it was too tight for the purpose, but Joël thought it might be all right.

He furthermore pointed her to a good hairdresser, about which she had her reservations, but she let herself be persuaded. After a chat with the woman she booked an appointment the day of the abdication, before the inauguration.

Frederick messaged that they were taking more photos of him than they usually did and he sent her some pictures of women who had spoken to him and who might consequently be branded as his new love interests. Just so she knew.

Anna Margaret saw Frederick only on Wednesdays, although she did see him for a little longer then. The next weekend after the weekend of the wedding he had to go to France for a rowing competition. “A what?” was her reaction.

“Rowing competition.”

“How can you have time for that?”

He sounded defensive. “I don’t, really. Not enough to do it well, but my entire club is going.”

“Your…”

“Club.”

“Okay.”

“I only train, usually, but given that I may have more time soon, I thought I could go too. Do you think I should stay with you?”

“Oh, no,” she quickly said. “You don’t have to stay home for me. That’s not what I meant. But I’d like to see it some time. I hope this isn’t your only one.”

“The first in about a year and a half.”

“I’m just surprised, that’s all.” Although now they had each other’s phone numbers, they had been communicating now and then and he had messaged her once or twice that he was training in Germany. She had not asked why or what for, but clearly she should have.

“You’re welcome to watch.”

“But how does this go?” She was interested in the practicalities. “Do they know who you are?”

“My teammates? Sure. But they don’t care about titles. They’re Germans; they have a president. Or maybe they don’t care because they’re athletes.”

“But your name.”

“Doesn’t ring any bells for them. Remember, we are small, they are big. They read little news about small neighbouring countries. They wouldn’t know the meaning of my family name.”

“You have an active life.”

“I suppose.”

“I won’t have to worry about your getting bored then. And I shouldn’t be worried about knowing so little about you. We’ve only had a thing for a few weeks.” It was surprisingly short and she could indeed not expect to know everything about him already. Still, it did not feel that short and she might not know what he did, but she believed she did know what he was.

“And I didn’t want to tell you about this, because you might laugh.”

“Er…why would I laugh?”

“Because I actually want to compete.”

“I’d laugh if you really wanted to be dropped in the mud.”

Anna Margaret had not seen much of Frederick in the past weeks. They had decided to play it safe and keep a little distance, given all the extra attention. People would assume their relationship was the reason for the abdication if they found out, when it was not. Of course they might still think that afterwards, but the period leading up to the actual event would at least be quieter.

The last weekend, however, she was resolved not to say anything if he were to come over. Which he did, for one night.

Today was the day. She pulled on the trousers she would wear for the abdication. It would be work, so it did not require any extravagance like a skirt. Later today she would have a dress for the inauguration ceremony. In between the two events she would have to go somewhere to get changed and have her hair done, eat something and then assemble with the rest of the Cabinet.

Frederick and Isabelle would have to do the same, although Frederick might well stick to the same suit. Nobody cared about men’s suits.

She had to be at the location at 10:30. The king and princess would arrive fifteen minutes later and the ceremony was to start at 11:00. It might seem as if everyone had half the day off, but nearly all of them were already busy with something long before. The roads were cleared and the street in front had been cordoned off since the night before.

They had practised the ceremony twice without the royals. It should all go well.

A car picked her up at 10:15. It would take her to the hairdresser’s afterwards, so she brought the bag with her dress. There was someone already in the car and Patrick joined her too. She had stressed they might as well all share cars to keep the costs down. The two others were men and would not change clothes in between. They had teased her for having to do so, trying to find out what she would be wearing.

“Is it a dress?” Patrick asked when he saw the bag.

“Yes.”

“Shocking.”

“I wore one last year.”

“That was shocking too.”

“You’re just winding me up. I have skirts and dresses. I simply don’t wear them to work.” She sighed. “I’ll have to change twice today.”

“Are you going to that grand dinner?”

“No. Are you?”

“I got two invitations.”

“I got none, actually,” she replied. “Although I must be honest and say I was told I wouldn’t get the first because I’d get the second, but I haven’t really got any particulars so far.”

The third person in the car turned. “You’re not going to the dinner party? But you’re the prime minister.”

“I know. It might sound odd.”

“But why weren’t you invited?”

“I was and I was not. My presence is requested elsewhere, I think. Isabelle knows. She even told me. I didn’t know who else would be at this other event.” But she looked at Patrick, who said he had received two invitations.

“What sort of other event? Does she have something against you?”

“No, it’s not a mutual or even one-sided slight. We get along. But I suppose you could say I get along better with her brother and he does not particularly feel up to this grand dinner.”

The third minister was at a loss. “So he’s hosting his own dinner party?”

“There’s a reason why the guest list hasn’t been made public. Some people one would expect to be on it, are not on it. It’s going to be talked about, whether I say it now or not,” she decided. “Because people might notice I wasn’t there. But yes, he will be eating elsewhere. I don’t know with who else, but not only me.”

“Lea preferred to go to this mystery event, actually,” Patrick offered. “Although I still don’t know what time or where.”

“We don’t have a lot of time to be told. There’s that reception too. If I don’t know by that time, I’ll phone.”

Frederick and Isabelle arrived in the same car. Isabelle’s husband was with them as well, since he would play a larger role from now on.

Anna Margaret smiled at Frederick. He looked comfortable enough and was wearing his other glasses, not contacts, as if he was already in transition. He met her look, but he did not smile. Perhaps he thought it would give too much away.

The ceremony itself was relatively simple. It was televised, naturally, since the room held only those who were really necessary and there was no room for spectators. What would be broadcast between the two events Anna Margaret did not know. She placed her signature when it was needed and in the end they all shook hands with the former king and the new queen.

Frederick looked happy. He was not smiling much, but it was clear a burden had been lifted from his shoulders. He held her hand for too long and pressed a piece of paper into it.

“Congratulations,” she said. She did not know what else one could say to a king who had voluntarily stepped down. Her colleagues had been in doubt and she had said this was probably the best. For some reason there had still been people who thought he might not be going by his own choice, but she had stressed that he was and that it was probably all right simply to congratulate him.

“Thank you.”

She moved to Isabelle. “Congratulations, Your Majesty.”

“Thank you, and you too.”

She wished Isabelle’s husband good luck. After all, he was now elevated to prince, but he did not seem to mind. He always went along with everything, like a suitably blank accessory.

There were now two hours until she was picked up at the hairdresser’s.

Outside the room she inspected the piece of paper. 18:00 green entrance corner of Charles Street, wait for A.M. Partners/children welcome. Casual clothing required. Inflatable pool on site. Frederick. Wait for A.M.? Who was to do what, exactly? She looked up, puzzled, and noticed that Patrick was reading something as well.

“You A.M.?” he inquired.

“I guess so. Oh, I have a key card. That must be it.” But she did not know the way from the entrance to Frederick’s rooms. Or wherever he wanted them. This note did not say. She remembered the 3D floorplan. She might manage to guide people, but where to?

Posted on 2015-07-31

Chapter Thirty-Two

Anna Margaret had been hoisted into her blue dress. There had been a particular dress code for them, so they would not draw more attention to themselves than people of higher birth. Her hair and make-up had been done. She had had a sandwich too, so she was all set to go.

There would be other people already at the cathedral; some would be sitting there for a long time. Not everyone could arrive at once and the lowest-ranked guests would be there the longest. The thing she disliked most about these occasions was that nobody ever thought people might need to use the toilet. In any case, the man on the committee who was in charge of this part had looked at her extremely strangely when she had inquired about it.

“We can’t have people walking around all the time,” he had said. “And there are security issues.”

“How? They’ve already been vetted, the building has been vetted. How? My neighbour is attending and she’s pregnant. She will need to go. She told me. I want the hosts and hostesses to take her to a toilet should she ask, before or after the ceremony. Before and after, there are people walking around all the time . That isn’t an argument.”

“I’m not sure that can be arranged.”

“I’m telling you to arrange it. She will be there at least an hour and a half before the ceremony starts and then some time after it has finished. And she won’t be the only one who can’t refrain for four hours or more.”

She had nevertheless not drunk much herself. Walking around when the cameras were already broadcasting was not such a good idea. She was not arriving early enough herself to go in search of toilets, but perhaps Lea would thank her.

Frederick accompanied his mother and aunt in. They preceded the new queen and prince and their children. People craned their necks and whispered, but they might have done that regardless of Frederick’s casual hairstyle. With the signature he had immediately abandoned some formality. Anna Margaret wondered if Princess Agnes had let him get away with it, but apart from walking down the aisle twice, he had nothing to do except sit pretty – and this way he was very pretty.

She did wonder about his giving up his disguise of sorts, but it was clear he felt more comfortable looking like this, regardless of whether he would be recognised more often from now on.

After the ceremony Anna Margaret was transported to the location of the reception, straight into the queue for the lavatories. There was some polite chatter in the queue. Dresses were commented on, positively, as well as the ceremony itself and the suitability of the new queen. Her own dress received some compliments as well.

At the reception there was an opportunity to congratulate Isabelle, but she had already done so and let others have their chance. There were plenty of other people she knew.

At a quarter to six, Anna Margaret met Patrick and Lea in their stairwell. They would walk to Charles Street and see what needed to be done there. She was still panting from having hurried home from the reception and changing into casual clothes. “I didn’t get any other information than that little note. You probably got the same one.”

“What’s the green entrance?”

“I haven’t got a clue. Maybe the door is green? I did have to go in through a green door the other day.”

“I noticed he disappeared from the reception just before we did. Maybe he left to inflate the pools.”

Anna Margaret snorted. “Did you bring your swimming trunks?” And she too had seen Frederick at the reception, but not after the beginning. Before she had been able to make her way towards him to ask some questions about the mysterious party, he had disappeared. Because she could not possibly have pushed people aside to get to him, she had not been able to get close.

Patrick looked embarrassed. “Yes, but I don’t plan to get into any pools unless I’m the only one not going.”

“Children were welcome,” said Lea. “Maybe the pools are for them?”

Arriving at Charles Street, two people were inconspicuously hanging around in the large doorway of a bank. Anna Margaret joined them. “Oh, hello? Are you here for some specific purpose?” They could not be, because she knew them and they had to be here for the same thing.

“No, we’re waiting for you,” said Emma. She had her boyfriend and a toddler in a pushchair with her. “That’s what the invitation said.”

“I know, I know, but I have no idea what I’m supposed to do. Let’s just wait until six o’clock and see who else might show up.”

“Why did we get invited, do you know? I met him only once. And on the day of the abdication?” Clearly Emma thought Frederick should have better things to do than to invite people he had met only once. Yet she had come.

“I don’t know. I wasn’t told much either, except that Isabelle wouldn’t invite me because I was going to be invited by Frederick. When were you invited?”

“Uh, I don’t know exactly. A week ago? But there weren’t any particulars. Just the date. We got the rest later.”

Anna Margaret looked down the street curiously. “Hey, is that Danielle?”

“Yes,” Patrick confirmed. “Is he inviting everyone he met once? You could be waiting for a really large group in that case.”

“I think it might be people he’s met recently,” she said with a frown, “because I’ve all met them as well.” At least she was asked to let only those in whom she knew. There might be others. He could have other acquaintances.

“Hi, A. M.,” said Danielle. “I thought that might be you, especially in combination with the name of our host. What is this about?”

“Amazing how many people come here when they don’t know what they’re coming for.”

“Are these all people who know ?” Patrick wondered.

“Yes,” Anna Margaret answered. “Oh. Is that it? He only invited people who know ? What for?” Because he wanted some more people there and only those qualified? But she did not know how large he liked his parties to be. He could be letting others in through another gate and he might want to tell those about her later. She did not like not being in control here.

“What do I know ?” Emma asked.

“About me…and…” She gestured across the street at the fence. If she could not even say it here, she would not be able to enjoy having it said to a crowd of strangers.

“Oh, yeah, I sort of guessed that it might be a possibility after he stowed you away somewhere at that barbecue and he didn’t want to tell the old ladies where. I mean, he could have said ‘taxi’, or ‘with the butler’ or something, but he didn’t.”

“So what did you think?” She had never really heard what had gone on after she had left the barbecue, except that her mother had feared she was pregnant.

“You were too familiar with him by the barbecue. All the rest just supported that. But where did he take you?”

“His bedroom, so I could lie down. He had planned to take me downstairs later, but I never woke up.”

Emma giggled. “I bet he was really sorry.”

“ I don’t know how he had planned to take me downstairs again, because I had vomited over my clothes and he had put them in the washing machine. I woke up at eleven in the morning and by then he had gone to work. And I should have been at work for hours with no one knowing where I was. But it turned out he had even reported me sick.”

“Hi there,” said George who had approached them somewhat stealthily. He had come with Joël. “What are we doing here?”

Patrick answered him. “We are waiting for Anna Margaret to let us in through the green entrance, but she doesn’t know how many people we’re waiting for.”

“I wasn’t told. Sorry!” she said in a plaintive voice. “I don’t want to leave anyone behind. Shall we wait another few minutes?”

“Anyone threatening to be late would understand they wouldn’t get in without you and they would phone you, wouldn’t they?”

“Not everyone has my phone number.”

“They really liked your dress,” said Joël. “I was watching television to see what they’d say, but they said something about it all right.”

“And they wrote something about our shopping trip all right too.” André had shown it to her, but it had been written by someone who did not know about George.

He snorted. “I saw.”

She waited another minute, but no one else appeared. “Okay, let’s go. Would anyone be watching?” She crossed the street and opened the gate with her card. Then she let them all in and checked if the gate clicked shut behind them. “Right, the green door.” She led the way and let them all in, resisting the temptation to look down the street to see who had watched them.

“It doesn’t look very royal in here,” someone observed.

“We’re not there yet. These are offices.” She paused to look at her phone. “I have a 3D floorplan on my phone and that will tell me where to go.”

“You have a 3D floorplan of the Palace?”

“It’s not that easy to get in and out otherwise,” she said, opening the floorplan. “Okay, straight ahead that way.”

She did not quite manage to recreate the route she had taken with Max the other day, but in the end she came to the tennis court. Instead of going inside to the command centre, she turned right and circled a hedge. “Wow. This floorplan really works!”

“Duh,” said Frederick. “I spent weeks on it!” He grinned at her and gave her a half hug, because he could not ignore the other people she had brought. “Welcome, all! I’m glad you were willing to come and for some of you, to choose this dinner over the formal one.”

This dinner was clearly not going to be formal. He was wearing shorts and they could all see two large inflatable pools. There were also some teenagers playing football a bit further away. Anna Margaret wondered who they were. They could be the children of the security men already seated, although she had not pegged them as old enough to have teenage children. Or, another thought occurred to her, they might be his nephews and nieces. There did not appear to be crowds of people she did not already know.

“Let me show you around,” said Frederick. He led them to the French doors. “Here’s the kitchen, the toilet’s in the hall and there are extra refrigerators with drinks there as well. They’ve even provided extra towels. And that was it, so you can now get something to eat or do whatever you like. Oh, and thank you for not having talked.”

The others slowly trickled back outside and he seized the opportunity to kiss Anna Margaret. “I’m very glad you came.”

“It was good of your sister to allow you to hold this parallel party.” But from the way he was holding her, she wondered if Isabelle had been fearing that he would do this too at her very formal dinner. A parallel party might have been the wisest decision, preventing any under-the-table displays of affection.

“I could have held it a day later, of course, but I couldn’t wait to simply not go to this pompous dinner.”

“You just wanted to skip it for the sake of skipping it.” She had suspected as much, actually.

“I may go next time. Who knows?” he winked.

“But at least you got this sticker for rebelliousness.”

He gazed at her admiringly. “I’m going to throw you into a pool.”

“You may do that later, when I’m in my swimwear. You should talk to your guests and tell some why they are actually here.”

She went outside and looked around. There were tables, chairs and picnic blankets. Emma was installing her toddler on a blanket. Some of the bodyguards were talking to women, presumably their partners, and two children in swimwear were getting into one of the pools.

It was a small step to come out to people who already knew or suspected anyway, but a much bigger one actually let the public know by some accidental or even contrived way, especially when she had no idea where they were going. Would Prince Frederick end his changes here? Or would he do something about the titles and position he still retained?

He could continue to represent the family at events. If he received an allowance for it he would actually have to do quite a few. It would all come down to whether he disliked such occasions or not. And perhaps whether the prime minister was allowed to be romantically involved with a prince. Princes should theoretically not pose a problem, she thought, even if they did not marry. They had no power and it was 2015.

End of the king

Posted on 2015-08-03

Chapter Thirty-Three

It was a few days after the inauguration. There had been some interest at first – was it true she had not attended Queen Isabelle’s dinner and things like that – but nobody wanted to write about that after the first day when there was so much else, so Anna Margaret had got away with some vague answer and she had not bothered to check what anyone had written. Today was Friday and she was surprised by seeing Frederick in her office when she returned from a meeting. He was chatting to George.

He stood up when he saw her. “There are things we should discuss.”

“Oh.” She gestured at her office. “What?” she asked a little concernedly when they were in there. He had sounded so serious.

Frederick was studying the windows.

“Not us?” she inquired when he did not speak and he did not embrace her either. She could not imagine what he could be so serious about.

“A bit.” He looked away from the windows and back at her. “I was just checking if someone could see us.”

“What about us?” But he embraced her and she thought in relief there was not much wrong with them if he could kiss her like that. It must be something else.

“In the past two days I’ve had discussions about my new role. I don’t want to do quite as much as Isabelle used to do. We can’t simply swap. So I’m going to have to ask for my allowance to be lowered – even more – or in fact ended. I don’t want to let Isabelle down and she says it won’t be like that, but the fact is there will be fewer people to handle all the engagements.”

Anna Margaret crossed her arms and sat on the edge of her desk. This problem was relatively easy. It was not about them and not what had been written about either of them either. “I don’t think you need to feel guilty. Most of those engagements are pretty superfluous anyway.”

“They are?”

“Yes, precisely why does a school need you in particular to open their new wing? A well-known former student would do just as well.” The latter would have some bond with the school that he would not have and it would show the students what someone like them could become. It was next to impossible to become a prince.

He smiled.

“You couldn’t think of that?” she asked.

“I did. I said more or less the same thing. Still. Could you have the options investigated? I’m sure you have people who love investigating options.”

“I’ll put someone on it. I mean, I’ll let them talk to you.” They would not take any decisions without him.

“What do you prefer?”

“Me? How?” She did not think she would get a say. They would keep things separate. Each with their own job.

“How often would you like to see me?”

She hesitated and decided to take the risk that he might not agree, but she was too old to wait for it. She did not want to spend months not daring to bring it up in case he had a different opinion. “We need to live together.”

His eyes certainly did not contradict that. “We do think the same things.”

Anna Margaret was relieved that he did not dismiss the notion. If they agreed on this point, they might as well try to make it happen as soon as possible. “Could you have the options investigated?”

Frederick looked a bit surprised. “I could.”

“Meanwhile, where do we go tonight? Shall I come to you again?”

“You’re always welcome.”

There was something else she should not forget. “Were there any reporters by the front door when you came here, by the way?”

“Of course.”

“Did they ask you anything?” They must have, if he had passed them. They would not have passed up the opportunity. They would have tried to ask as much as they could, one of the questions being what he was doing there.

“I’m deaf.”

“They will be there when you leave.” And then they would ask things again.

“I’ll still be deaf.”

“Then I’ll have to answer them,” she decided. They could not both say nothing, or strange things would be invented. It would certainly come out where he had gone. Someone would reveal that. “But that’s good, actually. I won’t have to wonder what you said.”

“No, it’s not good. Nobody expects you to solve every problem.”

Her worrying frown was replaced by a questioning one. “What do you mean?”

Frederick’s tone was reassuring, almost gentle. “There’s no need to feel control over every issue. Especially one as minor as this one. What would really happen if I said something that you didn’t know about?”

“I don’t know.” She guessed he thought nothing would happen. He looked absolutely unworried, both about his ability to appear deaf and his ability to give unsuspicious answers.

“Let it go.”

“But…”

“Really. Suppose I said I visited my girlfriend and you later said I visited you to speak about my allowance, to what horrific conclusion could people jump? That’s one of the worst, I expect, and there are three options. One, they thought I must have been joking to annoy them. Two, they think you lied to cover it up. Two A, you know about my girlfriend but it’s not you. Two B, you are my girlfriend. Three, we were both speaking the truth. Now, that dress was on the sexy side…”

Rationally she knew the dress was mentioned to keep her from refuting his arguments, but she took the bait. “Was it? Nobody said anything about it to me, not even you. I wasn’t even aware that you’d seen it.”

“I caught glimpses at the reception. And why did I catch only glimpses? Because you were constantly surrounded by drooling men blocking my view.”

“You couldn’t see they were drooling if they had their backs towards you.” Anna Margaret tried to remember if she had been spoken to by more than women, but she did not actually recall. What she did remember was that she had not wanted for people to talk to. Never for a moment had she considered that it might have been due to her outfit.

“I overheard some of them. But my point is, I may not have to say anything to get the gossip going.”

“It was not sexy.”

“On your scale it was off the scale,” he said in amusement.

“You make it sound as if I generally wear grey bin liners.”

“No, trouser suits. I don’t mind them, but I think you only vary colours and accessories.”

“Yes,” she said, feeling irritated towards people who might care about something so trivial. “I think I’ve made it clear from the start that I won’t be providing weekly material for the fashion columns, but that I’m concentrating on doing my job. People must be over this by now.”

“Which is why the sudden sexy dress stunned them,” he explained calmly.

“And why do you keep track of what I wear anyway?”

“Interest. But you’re ignoring my point. You’ve suddenly come out as having sexy potential and then I visit you? After I invited you to my private dinner party?”

“I didn’t read anyone was making much of that,” she said with a frown.

“No, because they focused on the age of the participants and decided it must be some sort of training event for my nephews and nieces and the younger ministers. I nearly wet my pants when I read it. As if I was teaching you all which fork to use.”

“Frederick.” Perhaps she should have made the effort to look for it.

“I’m serious. Didn’t you read this? But if I start visiting you more often they will look back.”

“I’m really worried what will happen if you decide to answer questions.”

When she left the building, there were no more reporters left. She wondered if they had given up out of boredom or if Frederick had given them so much that they had returned to their desks to process it all.

She went home, packed a bag and walked to the Palace. There was a small crowd of tourists outside the front gates. Because of the recent changes the interest had increased. She was tired and did not look forward to making her walk twice as long by that circular manoeuvre that even included stairs. If she could go through these gates in daytime and no one cared, why should someone care now? She walked towards the gates as if it was for work purposes and the guards opened them for her.

“Thank you,” she said to the one who was closest to the gate. The other was in the booth, but this one had probably stepped out to make sure she was who she seemed to be. “Is there an event going on?”

“The princess has a few guests.”

She wondered if he actually meant the queen, but it did not matter. Someone had guests and the tourists might have seen an expensive car driving in. They might now be waiting for the car to drive out, or for more cars to appear.

“Should we call someone to pick you up?” the guard asked. “You look unwell.”

“I’m not,” she protested. “Just tired. And if they came to pick me up, I’d still have to walk, wouldn’t I?” It would not make any difference.

“Oh, no. There are golf carts.”

Anna Margaret pressed her hand to her mouth at the ridiculousness of being transported a few hundred metres – if it was even that – in a golf cart. “Wouldn’t it take more time to get someone to a golf cart and to have him drive here than for me to walk to the courtyard?”

“Maybe, but you don’t look as if you might find it comfortable. Have a seat in the booth and I’ll make a call.” He took her inside the small booth.

She could look at the public from there. Some were looking at her, but they soon lost interest. “At least now they think I’m staff and not someone important,” she remarked after a while. “How often is the golf cart used?”

“Daily. Mostly for goods, but sometimes for people. Anything that is delivered at one of the entrances goes in a golf cart.”

“Makes sense.”

“We’ve had a lot of flowers and gifts for the queen being delivered in the past two days, also at this gate.”

“That’s nice.” She mused how there would probably not have been any flowers for Frederick. Had he ever received any and would they have been in his apartment? She had not spotted many things there that could have been ‘gifts’, but there were cupboards she had not yet looked into. Since the kind givers were never going to see his private rooms, there was absolutely no reason to put everything on display.

“Look, there it comes already.”

A woman driving a blue golf cart came around the corner of the building. After taking her on board, the woman dropped her off in the courtyard seemingly without thinking this strange at all. Flowers, gifts, prime ministers, it was all in a day’s work.

The door was closed, so she looked for a doorbell. There was only a knocker and a card reader, so she could let herself in. Surprisingly, Frederick was not in. She wondered if she was late, but they had never agreed on a time.

In the meantime she dropped onto a couch in the living room after having turned on the TV. He was not downstairs and she had been too tired to check upstairs. Nobody had been cooking either and by the time she realised she was hungry, she was too comfortable on the couch to walk back into the kitchen.

She did not realise that the French doors had been open all the time until Frederick stepped in from the gardens. He was carrying a plastic bag with something in it.

“Were you in the garden?” she wondered, feeling stupid for not having checked there.

“No, I was at the delivery entrance picking up dinner.”

She sat up, though slowly. “Delivery?”

“I was uninspired so I ordered something. Are you all right?”

“Why does everyone think I’m not all right? The guard at the gate even called a golf cart for me.”

“You look a bit pale, that’s all. And you sound a bit tame.”

“It’s been a hectic week. Or maybe I’m coming down with something.”

He unpacked the food containers and got some plates and cutlery from the kitchen.

“I do wonder,” Anna Margaret said lazily, “why they immediately call golf carts for me when you have to pick up your own deliveries.” She supposed he would be able to order golf carts if he chose to, but she liked that he did not seem to want to do it. Of course it would be less admirable if the staff here could not be trusted with packed dinners, but she rather doubted that.

“I like walking. Are you hungry?”

“Yes.”

Posted on 2015-08-07

Chapter Thirty-Four

After dinner he took his laptop and showed her a house. “I’ve been looking.”

“At houses?” She could barely sit up straight, but he did not seem to mind that she leant against him.

“Yes. The options. You could move in here if you like. It only takes about forty years to get used to everyone knowing everything, but the real disadvantage, in my opinion, that it’s difficult to get out. It’s in the middle of the city, but it takes far longer actually get to a shop than if you lived in a suburb. And I could move in with you, but that place, I think, is only for government employees and it’s upstairs and not very big.”

“Yes, I’d have to move out if after this term I went on to do something entirely different.” She would not know if it was not very big. It sufficed for one person, but perhaps not for two? He did not actually have a lot of stuff, as far as she could tell. It might be difficult to squeeze a few more bookcases and closets in, but it was not impossible.

“So I was looking at houses.”

Anna Margaret looked at the screen. “With whose budget in mind?” The one she saw was fairly expensive.

“I could buy a few, no problem.”

“It looks huge.”

“It’s pretty small, actually. What do you think of it?”

“It’s lovely – but it’s at the other end of my parents’ street.” She gave a little snort and reached across him for the mouse. The photos she saw were all good. Had he started with this house on purpose?

“But not right next to them?”

“No.” She tried to guess what the distance was, but it was difficult to do from memory because she did not often go down that end of the street.

“Then there’s no problem. I’d like to view it.” He gave her a questioning look.

“You’re fast.”

“Am I? It looks empty, but that doesn’t mean we could move in next week. There might be some work that needs to be done.”

That was true. They would not be moving immediately, even if they bought it immediately. Or if one of them bought it. That would still have to be sorted out. “When did you find this house?”

“Yesterday.”

“Yesterday?” she cried. “That’s even before I said we should live together. How could you know? But why is it empty? Why isn’t it sold yet?” There had to be some catch, but maybe these owners had expected to sell immediately and they had not put it onto the market until they were safely settled in somewhere else.

“It’s only been on there since Wednesday. There might not be a lot of people looking in this price category.”

No, probably not. She scrolled though the photos and descriptions. It was gorgeous. She had always liked the houses on that street, but they had always been simply too big for her. “Viewing it couldn’t hurt. And then you could see why it’s already empty. All I’ve been hearing in the past years is that it’s really difficult to sell your house.”

“I’ll see about that tomorrow. Are you coming?”

Anna Margaret was a little surprised. Did he mean viewing the inside? Or the outside? In either case, going there separately was probably the best option. “Only if I could accidentally meet you there, going to or coming back from my parents or something. Unless you wish to set the dogs loose. And, tomorrow?”

“I figured you wouldn’t object to my viewing it, so I have an appointment. I’m going with someone who knows about these things, so he can advise me if he sees structural problems. It would be great if you could accidentally run into us and advise me about the neighbourhood. Have you ever lived there?”

“No. When I was young we lived in a village. But you’re awfully fast.”

“If we wait it might be gone. It says desirable neighbourhood here. I know all the ads do, but it’s probably true in this case. And there aren’t a lot of actual houses for sale close to where you work. Most are flats.”

“You looked at that? Close to work, I mean?”

“You don’t have a car. Of course you could get one, I realise that, but it would cost us a lot of time driving if we were to live somewhere in the countryside. Why waste that time?”

She would agree with that.

Before going to sleep Frederick had said he would go for a run and he would leave her if she was still asleep. When Anna Margaret woke she was therefore not surprised to find him gone. She got up slowly, enjoying her day off. Frederick came in halfway through her shower, of course, but that was no problem.

During breakfast she felt a lot more energetic about looking at houses and she asked to see the house again. “I’ll just have to find a reason to visit my parents then.”

“Their nagging isn’t reason enough?”

“I’ll figure something out.” She checked a map. “It’s right on my way home, isn’t it? What time is your appointment?”

“Eleven.”

She looked at the clock. “Oops.”

“I suppose the estate agent may want to have some of her Saturday free as well. I think she made an exception for this upscale property. Or for me. But eleven isn’t particularly early for me.”

“It’s a woman?”

“I couldn’t help that. Definitely coming then?”

Anna Margaret wondered if Saturday was a good day to make a visit to a property on sale if one was reasonably well-known. Everyone in the street would be home and looking out from behind curtains or fancy blinds to see if the interested buyers had enough class to live here. A day when everyone was at work might have been better.

She walked to her parents’ house and found they were out. So not everyone was at home. Hopefully this counted for their neighbours as well. This, however, posed a problem, because she now had fifteen minutes to spare before she was due for her accidental meeting with Frederick only a two-minute walk down the street. At long last she decided to circle around the block, timing it so she would ostensibly be on her way back to her parents for a second try just when she was in front of the house for sale and Frederick would drive up.

It sounded like a perfect plan, even it might require sitting on a bench somewhere to spend another few minutes, but some distance from the house she ran into trouble in the shape of her mother. There was no way she could pretend she had not seen her.

She took her time crossing the street, however. Fortunately there were two cars assisting in her delaying tactics, giving her another thirty seconds. “Hi Mum.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I was just coming around for a visit, but you were out.”

“What are you wearing?”

“Running clothes?” She thought that was obvious.

“Were you running?”

“Some bits.” She was not lying about that. She had indeed run some bits, but whenever she had thought she might start looking like an idiot, she had walked. It was imperative to stand here for a little bit longer, so she effectively blocked her mother’s way. “Been shopping?”

“Yes.”

“Where’s Dad?”

“He’s at the golf course.”

That was good. He would not come here and interrupt things. “Oh.”

Her mother made to walk on, obviously expecting her to follow. “At least we’ll be able to talk without him trying to talk politics all the time.”

“Hang on. I feel some cramp.” Anna Margaret stretched her leg. She did not know if it was logical for cramp to appear when one was standing still, but her mother knew nothing about running anyway. A car sounded its horn. “Was that at us?” she wondered. It could be Frederick, letting them know he was here, but she did not know why he would draw such attention to himself.

Her mother looked embarrassed. “Anna, you’re bent over in tight leggings. What do you really think they were honking at?”

Anna Margaret placed a hand on her apparently shapely derrière. “This is hardly the street for such primitive behaviour.” She looked down the street where the car was parking. “Well, damn.”

“Don’t tell me it was someone who lives here. Wait. They stopped at that house for sale. Oh my goodness. I hope we won’t get such people living here.”

“Let’s investigate,” she said briskly, trying not to roll her eyes.

They walked on. Arriving at the car, all its occupants had got out and were studying the house. A woman had joined them, having come out of a car that had parked there shortly before. They had just introduced themselves. Anna Margaret was fairly sure Frederick was waiting for her to join them. That was what they had agreed on, after all.

“Hi! What are you doing here?” he asked Anna Margaret when she was close enough. It did not sound too fake.

“My mother lives in this street. You met my mother at your sister’s barbecue, I think.”

Her mother and the estate agent were equally shocked at realising whom they were dealing with, although the estate agent had a head start and she was probably capable of saying something soon.

“I’m going to look at a house. Why don’t you join us? It’s great – I’ll be able to talk to a local resident without them calling the tabloids. Because your mother won’t, will she?”

“Are you – are you thinking of moving, Your Highness? Here?” Anna Margaret’s mother could hardly believe it.

“I am thinking of moving,” he confirmed. “Since it was in this morning’s paper that my allowance is likely to be reduced by Madam Prime Minister over there. So I’m looking around.”

Madam Prime Minister had not had time to read the newspaper that morning and she had not seen him doing it either. It must have been when she had been changing into her running gear, since that had been the only time he had not been with her.

“Are you all ready to go inside?” the estate agent inquired.

Anna Margaret wondered if she was afraid more people would join them. She hung back with her mother until Frederick would have any questions about the neighbourhood, taking her time to look at the house in detail. One of the men had come in with Frederick and the other remained by the front door, keeping an eye on the street.

“It’s lovely. Do you think he likes it well enough to take it? Imagine him living in our street!” whispered her mother.

It was best not to mention that one of these men had sounded the horn at her backside. It might not be best not to say that if he was living here, she would be too, but at the moment it was the best course of action. Breaking the news gently was the way to go. “That’s starf*cking, Mum!” Anna Margaret hissed and it would be a serious reason to vote against this house should it come to that. It might be the only reason, though. The house itself was great.

“I read that you didn’t go to the queen’s dinner. We were really puzzled.”

“I had another dinner to go to. I went with my neighbours.” Of course, her father would never choose another dinner over a formal dinner at the queen’s, so it was understandable that he had been really puzzled.

“Oh, that farmer’s boy.”

That was quite annoying, since the ‘farmer’ had probably never sat on a tractor himself. “His father has one of the largest and most sophisticated farms in the country. It’s a huge business .”

“But you were all dining with the king – prince, weren’t you? Did the paper get that right?”

“Yes.”

“Did you upset the queen?”

“Not recently. I could have gone to her dinner, but I chose not to.”

“But what did she think of that?” Her mother was horrified.

“She didn’t mind.” She moved closer to the other group, so her mother would not be able to say anything without being overheard.

“— it’s in fact large enough for any kind of purpose,” said the estate agent.

Anna Margaret wondered if she usually asked prospective buyers about children or hobbies to suggest which rooms could be used for what, and if she had done so already in this case. If she had, Frederick had not given her any clues.

“But if you’ll be living here alone you’ll have plenty of space,” the woman continued. “Or will you have live-in staff?”

“I cannot comment on that, really.” He turned to Anna Margaret’s mother. “What’s the neighbourhood like? Any people who’d give me trouble? And by that I mean people wanting to become my closest friends because of my name?”

“I’m sure some people will be thrilled –“

“I don’t want people to be thrilled; I want people to be uninterested,” he cut in, though his tone was not unfriendly.

“They’ve certainly never bothered Anna Margaret when she came to visit us. It’s probably all right,” said her mother. “It’s very much live and let live here.”

Frederick walked to the window and studied the garden. “Is this close to things?”

“The supermarket is about 800 metres away. Then there are schools…” Her voice trailed off, clearly doubting whether he would need the proximity of schools. “And the city centre is a ten-minute walk.”

“Good.” He progressed to the next room.

Anna Margaret looked out of the window as well. She could not see the end of the garden due to all kinds of trees and bushes, but if she guessed the end to be about halfway between this house and the one behind it, it was reasonably large. It was all looking very good.

There might not be any chance to fool her parents into thinking she was out if they lived so near, but she would no longer have to hide the fact that she was with a man, so there would not be any reason to keep them out. If they behaved, she would let them in.

“Why does he need a house?” her mother whispered.

“Ask him.”

Posted on 2015-08-09

Chapter Thirty-Five

“Are you not allowed to live at the Palace anymore?” her mother asked Frederick. It surprised Anna Margaret, who had thought she would not dare. She had been expecting more questions for herself, but perhaps her mother did not trust her to answer any questions properly anymore.

“The things I am planning to do require me to have a real house,” he answered.

There. It had begun. Anna Margaret squeezed herself against the wall as if that made her invisible.

“Oh,” said her mother, although she could not possibly be thinking that answer satisfactory or even comprehensible

They visited all the rooms, the cellar, the garden and the garage. Then the estate agent locked the front door again. Frederick said he would be in touch and she left. He then spoke with the other man for a few minutes, after gesturing at Anna Margaret.

Which meant he did not want her to walk away. Anna Margaret braced herself. He was going to spill the beans, she was sure.

“Where are you going?” he asked her finally when one of them had left and the other had got into the car. “Running back?”

“With a stop, maybe.” She did not know if she was going to manage to run all the way.

“Thank you for the input,” he said to her mother. “I’ll be consulting my girlfriend later. Goodbye.”

Anna Margaret and her mother stood watching as the car drove off. “Did he say girlfriend?” asked her mother.

“Yeah.” Surely this was the moment right before the penny dropped? She a boyfriend, Prince Frederick a girlfriend? She could say these things were connected, but there was a reluctance that she still needed to investigate. Of course it might be satisfying to drop an unexpected bomb, but then they would never know or care why she had a boyfriend. It was that snobbishness of theirs that held her back. They would love it if they heard, but they would never wonder if he was good for her.

“You knew?”

“Yeah. Listen, I need to visit my lover later as well.” That was another coincidence hard to ignore.

“Must you?”

“Yes. I’ll just run home.”

She wished her mother would ask pertinent questions. Such as what they would do together. If they were going on holiday together. If she could bring him to dinner some time, so they could meet him. Anything. But “oh” was all her mother said.

“See you.” Anna Margaret walked away. She hated it, but she would really like to cry. She could not, of course, but she had trouble breathing and her cheeks turned bright red from the effort of suppressing everything.

Around the corner a car stopped for her and she was not even looking. “Anna Margaret?” someone called. It was a woman.

She looked. It was Isabelle. She had a driver and a child, albeit not a young one, in the backseat. Anna Margaret hoped she did not again look as if she needed a golf cart. She could run. She was simply not doing it right now.

Isabelle got out. “You look as if you broke up with Frederick. Tell me you didn’t.”

“I didn’t.” It was uplifting that breaking up with Frederick was apparently a bad thing, but it was less good that apparently she looked bad again .

“You look upset. What is it?”

“My parents live around the corner.”

“Did one of them die?”

“Emotionally they are already dead.” She spoke as indifferently as she could because she was not used to sharing her troubles. She did not even want to do so. “Although my mother does like drama. I can’t seem to tell them about Frederick. Not until they display some interest in his character or why we are together.”

“Surely they would know if they saw…” Isabelle tried.

Anna Margaret shook her head. “Would you believe my mum and I ran into Frederick looking at a house – I hadn’t planned to have my mother with me – and he invited us to look at the house with him and she never picked anything up. Never. I feel as if I don’t know them any more than they know me.”

Isabelle took her hands. “Well, my mum thinks you’re nice enough. And Frederick is developing qualities he never used much.”

“So am I,” she said with a grimace. “But I don’t know if they’re good ones.”

“My aunt’s informants did say you were emotionally repressed.”

Her eyes widened. “That doesn’t sound positive.”

Isabelle probably thought some degree of repression was a good thing. “It means it will all come out. Like, now. Do you need a ride? I’m dropping my daughter off at a party first.”

“Yes, please.” The girl had been at Frederick’s dinner party too, so they had met. And she would prefer sitting in a car over being seen by more people wondering if she was all right.

Anna Margaret wondered who Aunt Agnes’ informant were and what they had said. Emotionally repressed? Quite a diagnosis. She had no idea if it was true.

When young Charlotte had been dropped off – at the beginning of a driveway, no mother was allowed to go further – Isabelle addressed her again. “I didn’t want her to hear. She was shocked enough by the fact that Frederick had a girlfriend when I had always said he wouldn’t.”

Evidently it was not important that the driver heard, even if Isabelle had got into the backseat with her after not being allowed to progress beyond the mailbox. “You thought he never would?”

“No, I meant useless ones, but to teenagers all crushes are the love of their life. I don’t want them to think they could do what he did.”

Anna Margaret did not know if it was going to work that way, but she had no experience raising teens. “It was all very teen-proof. I met him about a year ago.” And she could not understand how for months they had never exchanged more personal comments. Something, though, must have motivated her to fly to Italy. She had thought it was her aggravation, but had it really been only that?

“If you don’t mind, I wouldn’t want my sixteen-year-old to get pregnant by someone she met a year ago,” Isabelle said dryly. “And Charlotte is even younger.”

“The comparison…” Anna Margaret frowned. “It’s really off.”

“Just think about it.”

She leant back. “It’s still off.”

“I’d still be concerned about my sixteen-year-old,” said Isabelle. “Because I know from experience that contraceptives are no guarantee.”

With five children, she had probably never used any, but Anna Margaret stuck to thinking that only; she did not dare to speak the words. It was best not to encourage Isabelle to say more about the subject anyway. “Why does your aunt have informants and why does she ask them about me?”

Unfortunately this led right back to the subject. “Because you’re in a relationship with Frederick.” To Isabelle it was apparently the most normal thing in the world to do such research.

Then it was best not to say anything. She did wonder who the informants were and why they thought she was emotionally repressed. They might be from the world of politics, as Princess Agnes’ other informant was, but those people would know nothing about her private life. Or maybe not letting anybody know counted as being emotionally repressed. And not getting overexcited during debates probably did not help much either.

“It’s a bit nosy, perhaps,” Isabelle conceded.

“Oh, just a little bit, but considering the claims other women make you can’t be too careful. You wouldn’t want him to be snared by a title digger.”

It was another ten minutes in the car until they drove through the gate. She was dropped off outside Isabelle’s door and she thanked her. Isabelle had something to say, however. “You don’t want a title?”

“No, but it’s irrelevant because he doesn’t want to get married.”

“And you?”

“I’m fine with either option. But I have my own job. I don’t have the time for more obligatory appearances, which I would be expected to make if I were married. That is, I’m already not going to half the things I’ve received invitations to, because I’d like to keep some part of the weekend to myself.” She would say that at the moment she leant more towards staying unmarried, but if he asked her, she might say yes. It all depended on the conditions.

Isabelle looked at her in a considering way. “You know Frederick is planning to reduce his ‘workload’? I read that he went to see you yesterday.”

Anna Margaret frowned. “You read? Do you mean he did talk to reporters?”

“I’d have to reread. I don’t know what he wants to do instead, although I could guess. In any case, you wouldn’t have to accompany him all that often. I don’t think it would take as much time as you think.”

“Who decides, anyway?”

“I do. That is, I decide whether to make a comment about it.”

“I think I could handle that.” If Isabelle had allowed Frederick’s parallel dinner, she might not be too strict.

Isabelle read her mind. “But next time Frederick won’t get to play in baby pools when everyone else is being an adult.”

Anna Margaret laughed. “How do you know he went in?”

“Remember, I had no less than five informants there.” Isabelle paused. “The reason I let Florian off the hook is because he had exams, but he couldn’t convince me that he studied there.”

“I did see him look into a book.”

“Well, I’m sure that’s one paragraph more than he would otherwise have managed,” his mother said with a sigh.

Fortunately Frederick was home already. He followed Anna Margaret upstairs when she went to change out of her running clothes. “You don’t look as if you ran,” he commented.

“I got a ride. Your sister saw me and thought I looked too bad to walk. What is it with people? Everyone thinks I look bad.” It occurred to her that she could have said no, but that sitting in a car had been more appealing to her. It was her own fault.

“What did your mother say?”

“Nothing. She didn’t notice a thing.”

“Amazing. I thought as much. Too impressed by seeing me there to actually think. So we can focus on the house.”

“For the time being. She might be phoning my flat, although I did say I was going to see my lover.”

“And she didn’t ask who he was?”

“I suppose she was still in shock about your having a girlfriend.” And she had walked away too soon because she was a coward. She was not afraid of their reproaches, but of the ones she could make herself.

“It will take some time for her to process it. What did you think about the house?” Frederick asked. He looked a little anxious. “I have to say I really liked it. Martin said no work needed to be done apart from aesthetic touches like painting.”

“I liked it. But isn’t it a bit big? Or does your house have to be big for status purposes? Or do you have a lot of stuff hidden away somewhere? Like gifts that were once left at the gates for you?” She looked around, but here in the bedroom there were only clothes. Unless those closets hid more.

“Status purposes? What’s that? And any gifts I couldn’t use have been handed out to people who could.” He sighed. “I’ve had a lot of birthdays by now and there are people who send me a present every year. I could have had a lot.”

“As long as you’ll help me clean.”

“I’ll try. But we’ll find some use for the rooms upstairs, I’m sure.”

“Tennis?” Anna Margaret said as she read the newspaper when they were having lunch. “Right, I had tickets for that.”

“That tournament at the stadium? Tickets?”

“Yes, I often get tickets for events. I put them in a jar on my desk until I go or give them away. I forgot about these.”

“Are they still valid?”

She was already on the next article. “I don’t know. I didn’t look at them that closely. This was a busy period. And certain people distracted me.”

“Oh, give them to me. I didn’t get any.”

“Really?” She looked up. “Would you like to go?” If he wanted to go, she would make sure he could.

“Yes, yes, I would. I’ve read that it’s fun to watch the old stars. I’ve never been. What time does it start?”

She checked if the paper mentioned a time. “The first match starts in an hour and a half.” They would have to hurry if he really wanted to go, but it was not impossible.

“Oh!”

She checked her lunch plate too. It was not yet empty. “You want me to run to my office and get them?” She could walk there and when she got back they would probably call the golf cart for her again.

“I’ll drive you there – and if the tickets are no longer usable, we’ll just go for a drive.”

“But if they are usable, we’re going together?” she asked carefully.

“Yes? Would you dare to?”

“Would you?” She deduced he would. They would have to go through this some time. Why not now? She had been nearly ready that morning, but she could not put it off forever.

“Of course.”

She smiled. “I’m on.”

“Do you need to change?”

Anna Margaret examined her clothes. “It’s Saturday. I’m not working. I think it will be fine.” Now that she knew him better, Frederick did not really have a habit of only wearing tracksuits on his days off either. She judged him good to go as well.

Posted on 2015-08-13

Chapter Thirty-Six

Anna Margaret had gone to her office to pick up the tickets. Frederick stayed in the car. Of course there was a car following them, so he was not entirely alone. He was safe. She studied the tickets as she walked back, but there was no date on them, only that they were VIPs. “Damn, VIP,” she said as she got back into the car. They would probably be on display somewhere. She did not know why she was so ambivalent about that. It was not the first time she would be on display.

“In your name?”

“No, but they may have a VIP list. We may not be able to swap them in the car park. They may keep track of who used them.” And then the innocent people they had swapped them with might not be allowed in. They could not risk that.

“Swap them in the car park,” Frederick repeated approvingly. “But if you go in to ask how it works you could always come back out and swap them. Although if the seats are better, don’t swap.”

“I think it’s a given that the seats will be better.”

“Never mind the swapping then. We’ll manage. We’re there for the tennis. Just watch that. We’re both used to being watched.” He drove to the indoor stadium, where, surprisingly, they also had VIP parking. “So much for swapping in the car park anyway,” he joked.

Anna Margaret presented her tickets at the VIP entrance and she was welcomed by the two hostesses on duty, one of whom even walked with her to show her where she might find the bar and the buffet, and where she could sit. Since they had just had lunch, she opted for sitting down. There was a boy whose sole job was to fetch drinks for the people seated in the VIP stands. Since most of them were still in the bar and hospitality areas, he approached them immediately to ask what he might get them. They asked for water.

It was good to be among the first to take their seats. They had been able to choose a good place and a table that was moreover for two people only, so they could talk undisturbed. Of course it would make people think exactly that, but now that she was sitting here, Anna Margaret found she cared less about that than she had done at home.

They sat through all three matches. Twice they had – separately – left their seats, but not encountered anyone apart from the security guards preventing the normal public getting into the VIP stands. Whether they had been seen by the public, Anna Margaret did not know. She had of course seen a few people she had met before, although she sometimes had trouble remembering which company they worked for.

Although some had probably wondered, none had asked any direct questions so far. It might have been easier for other people if Frederick and she had been all over each other, but both of them had been raised to think one should not be doing too much of that in public. They had also not set foot in the hospitality lounge, because they were fine with their bottles of water and the occasional snack that the boy brought around. People could only speak to them if they passed directly behind them and that suited them fine.

“Oh, not Twitter again?” she asked when she came back to her seat and found him looking at his phone.

“Yes. We’ve been seen.”

“What are they saying?” She was curious in spite of herself.

“Some just mention our presence, some wonder if there’s anything to it. And then there are some who think we’re having a good time. I replied to the nicest of them.”

“Aww!” she cried. “As yourself?”

“No, as you.”

“What?”

“Joking. I don’t have your password. I obtained my password and new user name from our media person this week. He wasn’t sure it was wise and I’m sure it wasn’t.”

“But what did you reply?”

“Well, he mentioned us and asked if it was too boring in the VIP area. I suppose because we mostly sat in the box. I replied that I was here for the tennis and that I don’t drink wine.”

Anna Margaret hated being the practical one here, but there was one thing that came to mind immediately. “Considering that they’re on the third game of this match only, there’s more than enough time for people to come to the stadium to ambush us when we come out. Or you could post a photo yourself to beat them to it.”

It was not a problem as such, she told herself a second later; there were other exits and there was pretending to be deaf. She had done it all before.

Frederick obeyed and took five photos until she deemed his effort good enough to be shared. “Useful friend with tickets to tennis classics,” he said as he typed.

“I’m glad I have some use.”

“Ricorico asks if you will buy me drinks if I disagree with you.”

“Tell Ricorico we need to watch the match.”

“I’ll do that from my other account.”

Anna Margaret pulled an uncomprehending face at her water bottle. How many accounts did he have? She hoped the other one was more private.

Frederick was busy for a bit longer, while occasionally glancing at the court. “There. I said you said he needed to watch.”

“Of course now he will ask you about me,” she predicted.

“Not everyone wants to know about you,” he teased.

“And the rest of the world will now know your other user name.”

“No. It’s protected.”

“But Ricorico now can.”

“He’s got a good profile.”

She wondered what a good profile was and applauded for a particularly good point. Thankfully it brought Frederick’s attention back to the game as well. That was what they were there for, after all.

After the match Frederick took her aside after they had left the stands. “Remember, you’re not obliged to answer questions, should there be anyone there. This is not work. You’re not playing with anybody’s money and you don’t own anyone an explanation.”

“I know.”

They walked outside and ignored the only photographer who was there. “Just one?” Frederick asked when they were in the car. “I hope we’re really that uninteresting, but I always fear there’s more to come if there’s just one.”

“Probably.” She looked in the mirror, but only his bodyguard was driving after them so far. There were no other cars setting off in pursuit. The one photographer had taken pictures, but nothing could be deduced from those, except that they left in the same car.

“Listen. I think you need to tell your parents. Or do you want them to learn about it from the media?”

“No, but…” She did not know what she wanted, but he had a point. Her parents were bound to find out this weekend that they had attended a tennis match together and whatever speculation accompanied the pictures.

He briefly rested his hand on her leg. “You need to do it.”

Inside the tennis stadium he had not touched her deliberately at all and she had likewise refrained. She would take his hand now, but then he could not drive. “All right,” she sighed. “It has to happen sometime.”

Anna Margaret rang the bell at her parents’ house. Frederick had chosen to wait in the car.

“Hi. I’m not staying long. I only want to tell you something,” she said when her mother let her in.

“Oh my goodness, you’re pregnant,” said her mother.

Anna Margaret was more than a little annoyed. “Could you just stop jumping to ridiculous conclusions and let me speak? I am so done with this stupidity. If you can’t behave like a normal, sensible adult, I am out of here.”

“What’s the matter?” asked her father. “You appear to be rather touchy.”

“Of course I’m touchy.” She chose a spot on the couch, sitting on the edge so she could easily get up and leave. She felt tense and hard inside. “I came here to say I’m moving in with my boyfriend.”

Her mother gasped. Her father only looked at her.

“For the time being, that is, until we find a suitable place to live.”

Her father frowned. “Does this have any connection to what you were apparently up to this morning?” It seemed he had been told about Frederick’s viewing a house on their street and contrary to her mother he had no problems adding things up.

“It does.”

“You’re moving in with Prince Frederick?” her father asked, which made her mother gasp again.

“I am.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to live with him.” She studied her mother, who seemed overcome by shock, which was odd given that the clues had been hard to miss.

“With Prince Frederick? Is that why he asked us to look at this house with him?”

“Actually, he was only going to ask me, but you happened to be there. We thought you would get the hint, but apparently you did not.”

“This must have been going on for a while if you’re moving in with him,” said her father.

“Yes.”

“And you didn’t think to tell us about it?”

“No. You might have told someone. And you will realise why that wouldn’t have been a good idea.” She was trying to keep her voice even and detached throughout.

He did not deny that he might have told someone. “And now you will resign.”

Anna Margaret was a bit surprised. “And now I won’t. This is 2015. Why on earth should I resign? Did you manage to do your job with a wife, and even worse, three children? If you did, and everyone else did, why shouldn’t I be able to?”

“You will have other obligations if you marry him,” said her father. “They will cost time.”

“Even if I did marry him, which I won’t, I would not have other obligations.” Neither Frederick nor Isabelle would expect her to go to useless engagements to wave at people.

“You’re going to live with Prince Frederick without marrying him?” He blinked.

“Yes. It’s 2015.”

“But how will you be dealt with in public?”

“I’m not sure I need to be dealt with in public.” Whatever that might mean.

“And if you have children they won’t have titles.”

“If,” she stressed. “And if I have children with someone else they wouldn’t have titles either, so this point is completely irrelevant to me.”

“Are you refusing to marry him out of some feminist misconception?”

She could not believe it, but she actually had to laugh at that. “What on earth is that anyway?”

“Well, you’d like to remain independent and all that.”

“Marrying no more makes you dependent than not marrying makes you independent.” She moved closer to the edge of the couch, feeling she was nearly done here. For self-protection purposes she had best not stay too long. “But now you know. I’ll be off then. I still have things to do.”

“But –“ said her mother.

“But what?” She stood up.

“But at that barbecue where we all were…”

“Yes?”

“What was going on there?”

“I had a jetlag. I threw up. He took me away. No. He took me away and then I threw up.”

“So you were already together?”

“Sort of.” She was getting the timeline confused sometimes.

“No wonder you were so impertinent to the man,” said her father. “And he’s still going to live with you?”

“Yes.” She moved towards the door. “I have to go now.” There was no reason to stay and chat if there was nothing to chat about.

Frederick was playing with his phone when she came back. “How did it go?” he asked, putting his phone away and starting the engine.

“Difficult to say.” She checked whether her parents had come out of the house to see how she was leaving, but they were probably inside behind the windows. She was glad they were not parked directly in front of the house.

“They were not happy for you?” he guessed.

She clutched his hand. “Oh, what’s that? If I’m not married, how will I be dealt with in public?”

“Do you need to be dealt with in public?”

“That’s what I said, but actually I don’t know what it means to be dealt with in public.” Not really, anyway.

“I think mistresses are dealt with in public – or not – not girlfriends. You know, where can they and their illegitimate offspring sit during a wedding and so forth. It’s not the first question that would come to my mind, actually. I only suspect that is sort of what he means because it was an issue at that wedding I recently had to go to.”

“And was I going to resign, because I would have other obligations?”

“If,” he said emphatically, “you will have other obligations, I’ll take care of them, since it will be my fault.”

“You’ll wave at people in my stead?”

“No, I was thinking of something else. But never mind. I’m sorry they didn’t congratulate you. Maybe they first want to ask me to a brunch to ascertain whether my intentions are pure.”

“Did your family think my intentions were pure?”

“What do you think?”

Posted on 2015-08-18

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Joël, who had obtained her number from George, called her on Sunday morning. “Sorry to disturb you, madam, but I have a question.” He paused so she could give him permission to ask the question.

Anna Margaret did him that favour, even if she had thought that since they had shopped for her dress together she had stopped being madam. He had not even called her madam then. “All right.”

“I’m replacing Jules Simon on ‘Time for Coffee’ for a few times this summer and I’ve just been told that tomorrow’s guest was taken to hospital with appendicitis. Do you know ‘Time for Coffee’?”

“I’ve heard of it,” she said cautiously. That meant: she knew it existed. It aired in the morning and usually at a time when she was already at work. Presumably people watched it while they had coffee.

“It’s aimed at people who have time to start their day at leisure.”

“Old people.”

“Not necessarily only old people.”

“And let me guess, you need a new guest?” Did she appeal to old people? Or were they simply desperate to get anyone at all at such short notice? She would not blame him for trying.

“Yes!”

“What would it be about?”

“Oh, just a chat about things, nothing heavy, and viewers can ask you a question as well.”

“Can I check this programme anywhere and think about it?”

“Sure!” He seemed delighted that she was willing to consider it. “It might be on YouTube.”

Anna Margaret checked YouTube and speed-watched a few episodes. There were never any nasty or probing questions, as far as she could tell, only people having cosy chats. She could do that. She glanced at Frederick. “I have a TV offer tomorrow morning. Joël is subbing on ‘Time for Coffee’.”

“Oh, I know that programme.”

“Should I? Go, I mean?” She hoped he would understand she meant that going would also mean saying something.

“Why not?”

She called Joël back. “Frederick says I can do it. Are you asking me because I was seen with him?”

“I did read that, but we’re not the sort of people who’d make you talk about it.” He paused. “But would you say anything about it, if it came up in conversation? Or do we have to be really careful?”

“If it came up, I might. I mean, I might as well.” It had looked as if they were going to be nice about it.

“But we could mention the tennis?”

“Of course.”

“That’s wonderful. Can I call you back with the details?”

“Are you asking Frederick as well?” She thought that perhaps simply sitting there would reduce the need for most of the questions.

“Could I?”

“He’ll come,” she said before she had even asked him. She would talk him into that.

“What?” cried Frederick, who heard some disconcerting things. “Are you talking about me?”

“If I go, you’ll come, won’t you?” Anna Margaret gave him a slightly pleading look.

“If you make me.”

“I’ll make you.” She spoke to Joël again. “He will.”

“Aww,” she said to Frederick after the call, aware that she might have gone too far. “You don’t have to say much. You can nudge me and I’ll speak.”

He gave her a mock glare.

“You could have said no, but you said ‘if you make me’, which doesn’t mean no.”

“I can’t say no to you.”

“I’m not taking advantage of that, really! I said I’d never do it again and now I have. But I thought that if we sat there together and non-verbally conveyed that we are nice, sensible people –“

“You want to sit there non-verbally?” Frederick raised his eyebrows. “On a talkshow?”

“You could! I’ll talk. Until you stop me. But you know what I mean. If we sat there together – and then sensibly, because if we were always touching they’d think I was out of my mind or approaching a midlife crisis – we wouldn’t even have to say much about that.”

“Hmm.”

“And, of course, I’d be afraid of saying too much or too little. I don’t usually talk about myself in public.”

“I don’t at all.”

“Well, then you sit there non-verbally.”

On Monday morning they presented themselves at the studios, where they met Joël and his co-presenter, a woman in her fifties named Clara, who told them how it would go. Then they were prepared for the show. It was not scary; there was no studio audience. Anna Margaret had done this before. Only the type of conversation would be different.

“Good morning,” said Clara cheerfully when it began. “Holiday time is fast approaching and Jules has already gone, so Joël will still be with me this week, like last Friday.”

“Good morning,” said Joël. “I’m still enjoying it and I’m looking forward to this week as well.”

“Today we have two guests for a change.”

Anna Margaret guessed they usually had only one because there simply were not enough interesting people in the country to fill a year otherwise. She listened as they were introduced and gave a polite nod and smile at the right moment, but she nearly snorted when she realised that they were a show item just like the household tips.

Although Clara and Joël had cards, they were not reading anything up. They first took up a newspaper and mentioned what had struck them in the news. Then there was a bit about the weather.

“It’s not looking too good this week, but I suppose we’ve already had some good weather in the past few weeks,” said Clara. “I understand your summer recess has begun,” she asked Anna Margaret. “Have you got plans?”

“It’s only begun for the MPs,” Anna Margaret answered. “I still have a few more weeks to go, but I don’t have any plans to leave yet. I already have to visit lots of places for my job, so I don’t mind staying home.” She wondered if she should say she now had a lot more to stay home for.

“Do you enjoy having to travel so much?”

Anna Margaret hesitated. “To be honest, not always. Usually they have a very interesting programme, but for example I either get something to eat at every turn, or I get nothing at all for hours. I always turn vegetarian on such trips, so I can turn down offers of food if necessary.”

“Like insects,” Joël said with a shudder.

“Instant vegetarian,” she nodded.

“I was going to make that tonight,” Frederick commented in a mock disappointed tone.

She stared at him in amazement. Not only had he spoken, but he had said something unexpected too.

“But, but, but,” Clara cut in. “Do you cook?” She was of course of the age to have sons who needed to be prodded into action and perhaps she had trouble doing that.

“Yes, I cook,” Frederick answered.

“You don’t have a cook? I thought you’d have staff to do that for you.”

“I grew up that way,” he nodded, “but at some point I was always getting into trouble with the kitchen staff, for silly things like misusing dishes after hours.”

“They would dare to speak to you about it?” Joël was stunned.

“I didn’t know my father had a favourite bowl until I broke it,” Frederick said dryly.

Anna Margaret was proud of him. He was actually talking about himself and he did not seem to mind. Of course she had never noticed him having trouble with it; she had only his word for that. At the same time she wondered why on earth he had not simply been allowed to use the kitchen and everything in it. True, that one time he had cooked for her he had made a good mess, but she had not noticed much of that in his own flat.

“And then you were banned from the kitchen?” Clara asked.

“Yes, but my sister told me I could use her kitchen, as long as I didn’t wake anyone up.”

“Did you eat during the night?”

“No, at 5:30.”

“That is during the night! Don’t you think that’s too early?” Clara asked Anna Margaret.

“Oh, if I think it’s too early I stay in bed. If I don’t think it’s too early I go with him,” she shrugged with a smile. She did not know what to make of this conversation. “I usually start work early anyway.”

“And you? Will you still have official tasks?” Clara now asked Frederick.

“Yes, some, but not as many. I still have to go over that with my sister.”

“Or will you now have to act as a sort of spouse at Anna Margaret’s events? Not that I ever noticed we did that sort of thing here.”

His eyes widened. “Are you joking? Can we keep that separate, please ? And we’re not married.” It sounded as if he would like to keep it that way – at least to avoid having to accompany her.

Anna Margaret chuckled. She trusted they would judge it case by case anyway. “If I’ve always done that on my own, I can continue to do it on my own. I don’t receive foreign dignitaries at home anyway – my place is too small – but we go to restaurants. But he’s said he will go to sports events with me.”

“I’m inconsistent like that, yes.”

“But would you go and buy a dress with her?” Joël asked. “I had to do that now.”

“I can’t say.”

“You can’t say?” his girlfriend exclaimed.

“If it’s a short errand, all right, if it’s a long one, I’d better do something useful in the meantime.”

Posted on 2015-08-21

Chapter Thirty-Eight

“And it’s time for an email!” said Clara. “Gertrude would like to know how long you’ve been going out. Thank you, Gertrude.”

Anna Margaret received a nudge from Frederick’s knee. She supposed that meant the question was for her. “I think about five weeks. And we never went out. We only stayed home.”

Frederick hid his face behind his hands.

“What?” she inquired.

“Nothing.”

“But it means,” she continued briskly, thinking this needed to be said. “That we were really doing serious work at our weekly meetings in the past year. Doing something else didn’t even occur to me.”

“But it did to you,” Joël said to Frederick.

His smile spread. “No, not really. I was afraid of her.”

“And then…” Joël prodded. “You weren’t.”

“Well,” said Anna Margaret when Frederick did not seem inclined to clarify. “We happened to see each other on an off-duty sort of occasion and we agreed to meet again – outside of work, obviously, since we already have to meet professionally once a week.”

“But that was all not very long ago.”

“It was long enough for me.” She remembered something that might also be useful to say. “And it was after he told me he was going to resign, so he didn’t do that because of me.”

“Did it play any role for you?” asked Clara. “Dating a king is different from dating a soon to be former king, I would imagine.”

“I can’t say. That he was going to abdicate was a given before I thought anything at all. Well, by the time I was thinking something I knew he had to resign for the sake of his own mental wellbeing. I had seen him exist and I had seen him live.”

Frederick acknowledged this with a small nod. “I had told my relatives before I was inaugurated that I wanted out and afterwards about once a month. It didn’t suddenly occur to me because an unsuitable woman appeared.”

“Unsuitable?” Anna Margaret inquired.

“According to certain people, having a demanding job of your own makes you unsuitable. Also, people would fear for their jobs. You know how many were involved in writing my speech and you know you would have written it alone if anyone had let you.”

“Yes, but – oh, all right.” She saw his point.

“Right, we have another question. This is one is from Cindy,” said Joël. “Cindy would like to know if Prince Frederick now has to get a normal job. Thank you for this question, Cindy.” He looked at Frederick.

“I don’t have to; my girlfriend has a good income.” He really looked as if he was serious, but then he smiled. “It depends on whether my remaining official tasks will count as a job, and if that will leave me time to do something else next to the unpaid activities I already have.”

“I can also imagine it wasn’t one of your priorities in the past weeks,” said Joël.

“No, indeed. It’s not going to be a priority any time soon either. Some people think I get ‘free’ money, but I don’t. I have to attend official occasions in return, I continually have to read lies about myself and I can’t go anywhere alone. If I do, there’s a lot of panic and fuss because I’m missing.”

“Have you ever gone out alone?” Clara wondered.

“Yes. Everyone involved in protecting me could lose their jobs and so forth. So it’s not easy unless you’re really selfish.”

“And you have to read lies about yourself?”

“Yes, try googling him,” Anna Margaret interrupted. “Most of it isn’t true.”

“She thinks I should correct it all, but I’ve never seen the point. As if people out there care that I do have a degree. If they liked it that I didn’t, they’re going to think I didn’t deserve one if I did. I know what is always being written.”

“That you never passed your first year,” she added.

Frederick smiled. “Well, it’s true that I never did pass the first year of whatever courses I was announced to be taking, but it’s sloppy journalism not to investigate what I did instead. I’ve just said that I do have a degree and I’ll add that I pursued it in that same time period at that same university, so anyone interested ought to be able to find out. It’s not that difficult. It doesn’t come up on Google directly, but you can use Google to find out.”

“Intriguing!” Clara remarked. “And you won’t tell us?”

Frederick shook his head. “Not right now.”

“Now it’s time for a little break and after the break we’ll hear which tips Claudia has for us today.”

“That wasn’t so bad,” Anna Margaret said hopefully as they drove away from the studios. She was due back at work, of course, and hoped that she had legitimately done something else. “You even said things.”

Frederick laughed. “I had to. I hope I wasn’t too negative and unambitious. I tried not to complain too much.”

“What will they say at the Palace about this anyway?”

“I let them know I was going, so they will have watched. Some of them think I should have asked their permission first.”

“Good luck. Send them to me if they complain.”

“And you wondered why you were unsuitable.”

The car dropped her off at her building and then continued to take Frederick home. In this quieter summer period she could leave earlier, she thought as she made her way to her office. Now she and Frederick had come out, however, going home might be a little bit more difficult and yet she needed to go there to pick up more clothes. Whatever she had taken to his apartment on Friday could stay there, but she could start taking more things there.

In her office no one had watched TV. André, however, soon picked up the news. “I’m not sure it will be much of a surprise to anyone working around here,” he said. “I’ve already had a lot of inquiries over the weeks.”

“Well, you won’t have to deny things. There is a relationship and it won’t be in the way of my functioning.”

“Good.”

Anna Margaret retired to her office and started work.

At four o’clock she felt it was time to leave. After checking the front door and seeing reporters there, she turned back and went to one of the emergency exits. It was all very well that people were curious and she understood, but it did not fit her plans right now and the country was not going to suffer if she did not answer. Before she had left André had let her know that quite a lot of media contacts had asked if it was really true. What did they think? That she would go on TV with a fake story, just for fun?

There was no one outside the emergency exit, for which she was glad. She hurried home. Thankfully no one had thought it necessary to wait outside her flat. They never had, so she wondered if they even knew her address. In any case they were probably not expecting her to leave work this early.

She changed into jeans and a more casual coat, packed a bag and checked her fridge. There was never much in it even if she was home, but it might be wise to eat here some time later this week. The first days she might be more comfortable behind the Palace walls, but then it might not matter much anymore.

That reminded her they would still need to talk about that house. They had not gone beyond saying it would be nice. What would it actually be like to live there? It reminded her of her parents as well and she checked the voicemails on her landline. Yes, there they were. They needed to talk to her, they said. But she had not been home and she had not seen the messages any sooner. Her hand hovered over the numbers. But no. Not here. It might take an hour and then she would get caught up in the city’s rush hour and be closer to a more logical time for her to leave work.

She shook her head and slung her bag over her shoulder. Downstairs she wheeled out her bike, because she was not sure she could walk away quickly if anyone talked to her. There was still no one out there to bother her, so she could cycle away comfortably. At least today no one would offer her a golf cart, she thought, although she had no idea where she would leave a bike.

She chose the front gates, even if there was a crowd again. Her floorplan did not take into account that the route had to bicycle-accessible and she was definitely not up to carrying it up and down stairs. They knew her, even in jeans and on a bike, and she slipped in quickly with a wave. There were sounds from the crowd, but she ignored them.

She parked her bicycle in the courtyard and locked it, even if it would be unthinkable if someone stole it. But you never knew.

Frederick was not in. She took her clothes upstairs and dumped the bag on the floor. The washing machine had stopped running, she noticed, and she put things in the dryer. Then she thought she had been domestic enough for the moment and she returned downstairs to lie on the couch. Perhaps she needed more vitamins.

Frederick woke her. “Dinner is ready.”

“What?” She felt disoriented for a second.

“Dinner is ready.”

“Did I fall asleep?” She must have. For how long? But she could not see a clock.

“Yes, I came home and I cooked dinner.”

“I didn’t hear anything.”

“I didn’t break anything.”

“I’m sorry. I should have started cooking, since I was here first.”

“Never start cooking when you’re tired. You might burn the entire place down.” He pulled her up gently. “What else are you feeling?”

She did not understand the need for that question. “Slightly guilty. Disoriented. Surprised. How long did I sleep?”

“I don’t know when you got here, but it’s now 18:05. Well, it was when I left the kitchen.”

Anna Margaret got to her feet. At least she could stand steadily. “Monday, right? Don’t tell me it’s Tuesday already.”

“I think I might have tried to carry you upstairs in that case. No, it’s Monday.” Frederick pulled her towards the kitchen.

“I was thinking that maybe I needed more vitamins and I was thinking about that house and I must have fallen asleep somehow.”

“What do you want to do about the house?” he asked as he sat down and filled her plate.

Anna Margaret tried to figure out what she was getting. “Er…oh. It’s a nice house, but wouldn’t we regret that my parents are just down the road? I saw they phoned my flat, but I didn’t ring them back yet. I thought it would take too long and I was just so nice and early that nobody was expecting me to have left work. I mean, you want a house, something that’s only yours, away from your family, and then you’d practically live next to mine?”

“Frankly, I don’t think that would matter. I have no emotional connection to your family and therefore no need to move away from them. I don’t expect them to visit all the time. And I don’t expect them to be as nosy as my relatives. Whom, by the way, you have not all met.”

That sounded ominous and she frowned. “I knew there were more, but I figured you weren’t close.”

“Oh, they will be close after this morning.”

“And exactly who will be close? I’m sure I can handle them. I have no emotional connection to them.” They might look into her bag and think she was seventeen, but she could deal with that.

“I’ll start at the top. There’s my grandmother.”

“She’s got to be ancient.”

“Yes. She’s well in her nineties. She also had a few more children besides Aunt Agnes and my father. And they have children as well.”

“Well, they can’t all have the bossy genes.”

“No, but the nosy genes can be spread over more people without causing conflicts.”

“Okay. We’ll see. But you’d want to buy the house then? What about all that space?”

“Ah. Isabelle thinks it will get filled.”

There was something in his tone that she could not place. “Isabelle,” she repeated. “She who thinks we are comparable to sixteen-year-olds getting pregnant?”

Frederick gave her a funny look. “Did she mention anything of the sort to you?”

“Yes. She must be really afraid her children will get boyfriends just because you got a girlfriend.”

“She thinks I am stupid and she’s afraid her children will be stupid too.”

“Are you stupid because you got me?” She raised her eyebrows. The impression she had got was rather different.

“No, she thinks you’re pregnant.”

Anna Margaret sat still. She stared at him. “Me?”

“Well, not me.”

“Why would she think that?”

“She says she can tell, and besides, she always knew I’d mess up?” His voice rose a little in disbelief. “She says she was waiting for it. She says she hinted at it to you, but you didn’t get it.”

“It makes no sense. We were doubly protected.”

“Not at all times. We were doubly half protected. I looked it up.”

What was doubly half protected? She had no idea. “Why?”

“Because some of it was my responsibility and yes, I did mess up. I’ve known all along that I did; I simply hoped it would be all right.”

Anna Margaret closed her eyes and tried to remember. “When?”

“Shower,” he muttered.

Her eyes shot open. “Oops. But that was more than once.” How could she not have noticed? She was a sensible, sane person who did not get carried away. “And you knew?”

“Yes. So I thought you were fine with it or maybe your pill was working again. I realised I was fine with it anyway. I did remember in time the second time but I said nothing. Sorry.”

She frowned as she tried to work it out. “It should have been working again at some point. I don’t think I missed any others, but I didn’t really pay attention because we had the other thing! And Isabelle thinks…”

“She can tell, she says.”

“Did someone tell her I was tired?”

“No.”

“But you didn’t want any children.”

“I said a lot of things. But you didn’t want any, so I’m sorry. I’ll take care of it if something really did happen.”

She raised her eyebrows again. “This is ridiculous.”

Posted on 2015-08-26

Chapter Thirty-Nine

“What is ridiculous?” Frederick looked confused.

“I can’t be.” Anna Margaret could not even bring herself to say what she could not be.

“But what if you are?” He seemed anxious about that.

“Then I am. What if I’m not? Then you’d like me to be,” she said, studying his face. It felt like a blow in the chest. She was not sure it was good or bad. “How are we going to get it done?”

“We’ll get it done.”

“But it’s still ridiculous that I’d need to do a test because your sister is thinking something.” And she was still not convinced Isabelle had any point at all. How did someone see it when there was nothing to see? It made no sense and she did not like things that made no sense.

“Yes. If you hadn’t been so tired I would have laughed at her and left it at that. Now I laughed at her and I talked to you about it.”

“You wouldn’t let her think that you actually thought she might be onto something?” She might have done the same. “What will you do if she’s right? Ignore and deny until I start to show?”

“That was the plan,” Frederick said with a sheepish smile.

“I suppose that also means you wouldn’t like to send anyone out to buy a test.” She preferred to focus on the practical facts first. Later they could go over the horrific consequences. “But we have to. People who are at work in the shops at this hour were all home this morning and able to watch TV and they may recognise either of us.”

“Why do we have to do that right now?”

“Because…if I’m pregnant, I should not take the pill. I don’t know if that’s harmful. And I cannot simply not take the pill, because then I’d get pregnant if I wasn’t already.” She gave him a cautious glance, to see if he was going to say she should definitely get pregnant.

“Oh.” He was a little awed by all this practicality. “Yes. I suppose.”

“First we need to know. Then we can think about it.”

He looked at his plate. He had not touched it for a few minutes now.

“Finish your dinner first,” she advised. “Before it gets cold.”

“And you?”

She held up an admonishing finger. “ Don’t say it. I’ll eat.”

After she had finished her meal, she pushed her chair back. “I’ll see about sending someone to the shops.” Having staff would have come in useful now. It was a pity that he thought he needed none.

He gasped.

“Frederick…” she began. “Don’t be an idiot. They might think you very virile or something. I don’t know how men work. How would I go about sending someone to the shops for me? How do you do this?”

“I never do this.”

It was a pity that he apparently never had emergency needs, or that he went out himself if he did. She would have to come up with something. “I think Isabelle’s staff is out of the question. Does your mother have staff?”

“Yes.”

“Can you take me there? I’ll talk to someone and I’ll try to avoid your aunt.”

Frederick had taken Anna Margaret to his mother’s rooms. As far as meeting the first member of her staff, that was. She had taken this man aside and inquired whether he might know of someone who was willing to go out and buy a sensitive item for her.

“A woman?” he had asked nervously.

“Not necessarily. Preferably someone who would not tell Princess Agnes.”

The man had thought for a few moments. “All right. I may know someone. Please wait here, Madam Prime Minister.”

Anna Margaret smiled at Frederick. That was how you did it.

He was not so sure. “I’m sure he knows what.”

The man returned with two people instead of one: Queen Anna and another woman. Luckily she was not Princess Agnes.

“What do you need?” asked Frederick’s mother. “Maybe someone has it?”

Anna Margaret coloured. “I think not.”

“Well, I take Frederick to the sitting room. You can tell Yvonne.”

She watched as Frederick accompanied his mother around a corner. Then she turned to Yvonne, fearing she was bright red. “I’d like a pregnancy test.”

Yvonne was well-trained. She obviously had decades of being discreet under her belt and she behaved as if it was the most ordinary request in the world. “Any preferences as to what types?”

“There are types?” Anna Margaret cringed. She had no idea what type. “A normal one?” She took her wallet and handed Yvonne some money.

Yvonne studied it. “How many would you like?”

“I have no idea how much they cost. Maybe two?”

“All right. I’ll be back in half an hour.”

Anna Margaret walked around the corner where Frederick had gone. She did not know the way, but the same man, who had discreetly disappeared before, was now hovering there. He politely gestured at a door. “Thank you,” she mumbled before entering.

Frederick and his mother were there, either talking or staring at a TV screen without the sound on. “Should I,” she said as she sat down beside Frederick, “just say thank you to Yvonne when she comes back? Or do something else?”

Queen Anna looked faintly surprised at the question. “It’s her job. Thank you will be good.” Either she was not curious about the errand, or Frederick had already told her.

Anna Margaret did not think he had. She would have expected a conversation about that to be still ongoing, or to have been cut off awkwardly and insistently, yet there was no sign of either. She looked around the room unobtrusively. There were pictures on the wall – a wedding photo of Frederick’s parents, she assumed, and two large pictures of babies – and more framed pictures standing on side tables. Her eye was drawn to the babies.

“I wish you would take that one down,” Frederick said to his mother, pointing at one of the babies. Evidently he feared Anna Margaret would reconsider if she was confronted with what she might bring forth.

There was nothing to reconsider, she mused, because she had not yet considered anything. And there was nothing awful about the baby. If he appeared to be all ears it was because he seemed to be paying close attention to something, not because he had those protruding ears Frederick had mentioned. She could hardly see those.

“Why?” asked his mother. “There would be an empty spot otherwise. There are more on that table,” she said to Anna Margaret. “In case you are curious.”

“No!” he protested. “I was dead ugly.”

Anna Margaret removed his hand from her arm. She would not be pulled back onto the sofa. “Relax.” She walked over to study the photos on the table. “Your clothes were, you were not.” At some point the boy had got glasses and braces, but otherwise he had remained the same. And the ears were still not really visible.

She sat down again. “Didn’t see anything frightening.”

“You’re just saying that,” he said, unconvinced. “They were always bullying me.”

She placed her hand on his leg. “I’m sorry.”

“They would have tried that in any case,” Queen Anna said matter-of-factly. “No matter what you looked like. Until you hit back.”

“Has Isabelle been talking to you lately?” he wondered.

“She always talks to me.”

“About us?”

“Of course.”

“What about?”

“Mother-daughter confidentiality.”

“You cannot be serious!” Frederick exclaimed. “Do you apply that the other way around as well?”

“You tell me less.” She sighed. “This morning Agnes and I watched TV. We saw you. We did not know you were going.”

“She made me,” he said, but humorously.

“I could see Clara didn’t dare to ask too many questions. But it was all not very surprising. You will live together. Here?”

“I think not. Nothing ever stays a secret here. Not that I have many secrets, but still.”

“Ach, it’s very useful that you can send people shopping.”

“Yes, but it is still making use of people and not doing it on my own.”

“What!” Anna Margaret cried out all of a sudden. “That looks like my father on TV!” The sound was still off, so she could not hear what he was doing there.

Frederick’s mother turned on the sound.

“Well now, Mr Rendinger, that was a surprising morning, wasn’t it? Since when have you known?”

“I did not watch this morning, but I’ve known since Saturday evening.”

“And what did you think?”

He shook his head. “I really don’t understand it. She’d been acting strange and evasive for a few weeks, but I hadn’t expected this.”

“I suppose I wouldn’t inform my parents of every step in budding relationships either,” said the presenter.

“He sounds like a sensible man,” Frederick commented.

“Well, you’re not the prime minister. I suppose it doesn’t matter who you sleep with.”

The presenter accepted this graciously. “Suppose she had told you earlier – even earlier – would you have interfered? You seem to think it matters to her. Because she’s the prime minister?”

“We did try. We suspected there was someone, but for some reason she implied that he didn’t have a job and then when we didn’t react favourably, she stopped answering the phone or she wasn’t even home at all, but probably with him.”

“That makes some sense,” the presenter said carefully.

“I can’t believe my father is complaining about this on TV.” Anna Margaret was certainly in no mood to appreciate it. “Is he so vain he would go on no matter what?”

“Does it? Imagine your daughter having a wonderful career and then throwing herself away on an unemployed squatter.”

“A squatter?”

“He has a few rooms in a really big place, she said, when she knew we were concerned about this. You don’t think this fellow has got his act together if he’s only got a few rooms. Yet she let us continue to worry about this.”

There were snickers from the audience.

Mr Rendinger shook his head again. “It was terrible.”

“Then surely it was a relief when she told you the truth?”

“Doesn’t he know he looks like an idiot?” Anna Margaret was appalled.

“Not really. She wouldn’t tell me a lot, except that she’s going to live with him and not marry him. She didn’t even bring him into the house, even though I think he must have been there. They had been watching tennis, I read on Sunday, so I suppose I had to be told before I read about it.”

“And has it really been only a few weeks?”

“As far as I know, yes. Only a few weeks and she’s already moving in with him. We’ll just have to imagine that they know what they’re doing.”

“He means: if anyone must have my daughter after only five weeks, it’s at least a prince,” Frederick said to Anna Margaret.

The presenter turned to his other guest. “And with us we also have Anthony Muller, our best-known royal correspondent. Anthony, what were your thoughts about this surprising news?”

“It has been a surprising month. Prince Frederick has never been in the news more often than now since his birth. There was the abdication –“

“Because when I was a baby I didn’t know yet that I had to avoid those people,” Frederick said to Anna Margaret.

“Yes, were you surprised about that?”

“Yes, I was. When he announced it, certainly. But if you look back he didn’t always appear very motivated. It now makes you wonder if it wasn’t about a woman after all, but they said themselves that it wasn’t.”

“And what do you think?”

“Doing the math, he probably told her before she says the relationship began, since his TV speech was three weeks ago and she says they started five weeks ago, and anything they do officially takes weeks of preparation. But I don’t see why he would plan ahead so much as to first tell her he was going to abdicate before making a move on her. Do you see what I mean? It would have been easier to wait it out and let her resign, if anyone needed to,” said Anthony Muller. “And it’s always been customary to let the commoner do the adapting.”

“Amazing,” Frederick commented.

“Well, he cannot be negative or untruthful, or it will be the end of the yearly photoshoots,” said Queen Anna. “He knows that very well.”

Posted on 2015-09-02

Chapter Forty

“Do you want to continue to see this?” asked Frederick’s mother. “I can turn it off.”

“Yes, please turn it off.” Anna Margaret would rather not see more of it. She would be able to find out what had been said without having to watch it. People would mention it to her or she would read about it.

Queen Anna switched channels and turned off the sound. “The other two seemed positive, but I think the conversation will be predictable.”

“Did they approach you too?” Frederick wondered.

“No, but I would not go.”

Although she seemed reserved, Frederick’s mother had more insight than her father, Anna Margaret thought. “I’m sorry. I’m not usually this affected. It’s depressing. Suppose I’ve inherited some or I’ll pass this on to my –“ She stopped. There was nothing to pass it on to. Not until she did a test.

She found Frederick’s mother studying her when she looked up and Queen Anna continued to regard her silently.

Apparently it unnerved Frederick. “What?” he asked. “I mean, what is it you’re thinking?”

“You seem to be coping admirably, Frederick. Is there any reason why you couldn’t go out for this sensitive item yourself?”

“No games. If you know, you know. Isabelle –“

“I don’t need Isabelle to add things up. But it will be all right.”

Yvonne returned with a small plastic bag. Anna Margaret thanked her and set it on the sofa beside her. She was reluctant to get up and use it, not that she could do it here anyway.

“Would you like to go?” asked Frederick’s mother.

“No, it’s all right.” She could still hope for the best outcome now. Once she had tested, she was stuck with something. It was silly, she knew, since the outcome did not depend on the test. The truth was already there; she simply did not know it yet. But for as long as she did not know, she could think of either possibility.

“I’m curious,” said Frederick.

Curious? Well, she was closer to being afraid. What if this was something she could not handle? She wondered why she felt that way. Acquiring a boyfriend had not been quite as daunting. It had gone quite naturally. Did this mean she was capable of handling a child also quite naturally?

But she followed Frederick back to his rooms. “Your mother doesn’t seem curious,” she said. “Didn’t ask you to come back with the result or anything.” There was always the chance of it going wrong, she knew, and perhaps some people would not trust in it until three months had passed. She was definitely not there yet; she had not even really known him three months ago.

In the bathroom she read the instructions and then gave them to Frederick. “You do it. The testing.” She looked away when she had done her part. It took ages and she kept studying the tiles, wondering what reason he could have had to pick them out, or if someone else had picked them for him. They were plain white, but he could also have gone for a little colour, she thought idly.

Frederick touched her shoulder. She looked into his eyes and she knew. There was no need to check the test.

Anna Margaret curled up to him in bed. All the while she had not said anything and he had not asked anything. They had touched, though, and the silence had not been uncomfortable. “How?” was the first word she spoke.

He could have misinterpreted her on purpose; with such a question that was easy. He did not. “We’ll work something out. It doesn’t have to be what others do or did.”

“So what do you think?”

“It’s a purpose.”

“We could have got you a dog.”

Frederick laughed.

“But when you said…” In Italy he had said he was not sure he wanted children, which she had then taken to mean he did not want any.

“What did I say?”

“That you didn’t want any.”

He looked thoughtful. “I hardly remember saying that consciously. I suppose I meant I didn’t want any to grow up the way I did, but now they won’t have to. There wouldn’t be any burden on them.”

“I was never really against, but my job…and now my age…” She should, but could not, put it off. She was at the age where she could not afford to wait another two and a half years. Of course now there was no question of putting it off anymore, but she would have to go through with it.

“We’ll see.”

“I hate it when people say that, because it usually means they don’t want to commit to anything. I need to know how and…how and everything.” She needed to be in control.

Frederick had a simply summary. “Well, you continue to work and at some point you go on leave, you have a child and after some time you go back to work.”

Anna Margaret felt that was too easy. “Won’t people think I was away for too long?” If she used up everything to which she was entitled, she could be out for months. She did not know how she would feel about it when that time came. Anything was possible.

“Maybe.”

“And then what? When I go back, I mean. Where would I leave a child?”

“With me or anyone else you’d trust. Or you’d take it with you and put it in a corner of your office.”

“Suppose I have to go abroad.”

“I suppose you’d need to take your family along in the first few months. It’s all right. I have enough money to pay my own way. Unless you’d prefer to hire a nanny.”

“No.” She frowned. “I think not. Unless we cannot do it on our own. But I think we have to try first. Would I be home enough?”

“We’ll see.”

I'll do an epilogue... <