“Yes.” I swallowed, bending my legs into a curtsy. “Your Majesty.”
I just broke what was probably a family heirloom, cursed, and looked like I peed on myself all in a matter of seconds in front of the Queen of Great Victoria.
Way to go, Spencer. Way to not be awkward…
Queen Catherine, in all her gorgeous and flawless splendor, stood there watching me, not a gleam of what she might be thinking or feeling near the surface.
Dressed in a deep blue knee-length silk dress and tan heels, she was tall and lean, with the most delicate swan neck and dainty wrists. Her long, silky brown hair was coiled into a low bun. She possessed a wide mouth, green eyes, and high cheekbones, and she oozed elegance like it was a perfume she put on. She looked nowhere near her forty-three years. It was like the king ordered her straight out of a magazine.
As a daughter of a duke and duchess, she was raised to be a queen. I wanted to believe her and King Alexander had fallen in love, but I knew too much about the real world behind the scenes to be such a hopeless romantic. There were stories that he had loved someone else, many rumors about affairs they both had, but it was all just that. Hearsay. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the truth.
Whatever personal relationship they had, they were a great team. A front that had grown stronger in their reign. And made freaking perfect babies.
“I apologize, Your Grace.” I dipped my head again, cursing silently at the water mark right at my crotch. Fucking perfect.
Her head stayed perfectly still, her eyes gliding to the mess on the table, the sound of dripping water flooding more embarrassment into my cheeks.
“That was a present from the queen of Norway, over a hundred years ago.”
Oh. God. Of course, it was.
“Always thought it was hideous.” She nodded at it, twirling back for the sofas, no emotion in her declaration. “Please, come sit, Spencer.” She gracefully perched herself on the furniture. “I was hoping to have a few moments alone with you before Theo was finished with his business.” She patted the spot next to her. “To get to know you.”
I was in hell, right? I think I woke up in a cold sweat to this nightmare a couple nights ago.
Wobbling on my heels, I strode to the sofa, trying to sit down elegantly, the dress crushing my legs together and cutting into my stomach. Forcing a small grin on my face through the discomfort, I folded my hands on my lap, feeling like a child being drilled by my mother in proper etiquette. Deciding the safest thing to do was keep my mouth shut until she asked me something, I pressed my lips loosely together.
She took a few seconds to look me over; she was good at hiding what thoughts she had about my appearance.
“Spencer, do you mind me being direct?”
Oh. Feck. “No, of course not, Your Grace.” I gulped, trying to keep my lungs breathing.
“You are a slight surprise. Until a week ago, when Theodore returned, I had heard nothing of you. Though he tells me you had been dating in secret for seven months.”
“It wasn’t really in secret, but we didn’t want the paparazzi to find out about us. We weren’t ready for that.”
“Yes. I can understand that. I am quite surprised he kept you from us as well.”
As long as I dated Theo, he barely talked to his parents. They didn’t seem that close, but it still stung. My parents had known about him.
“I’m sure he did not want to mention me until he knew we were serious.” I cupped my hands together on my lap.
She nodded. “Since he has returned, he has spoken of nothing but you. He tells me how smart and funny you are. Different than the rest of the girls at school.”
And there was that word again. Like Charlotte, I doubted the Queen meant it in a good way either, but she was a lot better at hiding her meaning.
“He seems quite smitten with you.”
“And I feel the same about him.” My nerves were starting to ease a bit, my response to feeling threatened lashing up my spine, straightening my back. You can get through this, Spencer. Theo is worth this.
“I would hope so.” She tipped her head just a hair. “I want you perfectly aware of what comes with dating the Prince of Great Victoria. What will happen once we announce you are an item. Not just the pressure from the outside world, but what is expected of you here as well.”
Panic pumped at my heart, rattling inside my ears, but I forced myself to nod.
“Dating a prince is not like dating an ordinary boy at school. Believe me, I understand this more than anyone, but I always knew what was expected of me. I spent years watching and preparing for it. You have not.” I couldn’t tell if she was trying to scare me or honestly warning me.
“I know. Theo and I have talked about it. I’m not a complete stranger to the world.”
“Almost,” she replied evenly.
I swallowed back the irritation flowering in my stomach. I was very much aware my family was the last layer, the fringe on the noble rug, but if you insulted my family, I was ready to throw down. Probably not very “royal,” but I could pick on our standing and my family, but anyone else? Oh, hell no.
Theo. Think of Theo. Just get through this for him.
“I want to be honest with you, Spencer. My son seems to suddenly be living in a cloud and will not listen to reason. I want one of you to have feet on the ground.”
“What are you saying, Your Highness? You want us to break up?”
“I want my son to be happy, which right now seems to entail being with you. However, if you want me completely candid, I would say that would be for the best. His father is not quite on board with you two. He has other ideas of who Theo should be with.” She gently placed her fingers on my arm. “I think you are a very sweet, beautiful girl, and I can see why my son is drawn to you. However, I do not think you really comprehend what is ahead of you. I dislike that my son will never get to date or experience the world like others his age, but he is a prince. That is our way of life. He understands this. He also knows announcing you two are together…” She swallowed, showing the first sign of any kind of emotion. “Society will treat this as an engagement.”
I froze, air gluing in my throat, my stomach turning over. Engagement? We were eighteen and nineteen years old.
“What?” I muttered.
“I’m not saying you have to get married in the near future; we’d actually prefer if you didn’t.”
I blinked. Blinked again. My head spun. Was she speaking English?
“Mother…” a familiar voice sighed from the door, shooting me to my feet. “Are you scaring the crap out of her already?”
“Theodore.” The queen rose, every move she made graceful, purposeful. “Watch your language. Ever since you have come back from the military, you have been speaking so vulgar.” There was barely a note of a reprimand as she glided to her son. “Very unbecoming of a prince.”
“Sure, Mother.” He rolled his eyes. He looked unbelievably handsome, his shorter hair combed perfectly back, wearing dark pants and a pinstriped button-down shirt, though I always preferred him on the rare occasions he wore jeans and a T-shirt. The sling that held his arm a week ago was now gone, but he still appeared to be favoring it.
She shook her head, a boys-will-be-boys gesture. “I must get ready. Your father and I are dining with Prime Minister Joseph and his husband, Paul,” she said, devoid of any emotion. A fact… something she didn’t even think about. She just did.