Page 33 of Royal Rising

“Is that what’s bothering you?” I press. “Daphne and Daulton stuff?”

“I haven’t given it a thought until you brought it up.”

“That’s a good thing.” Everything about Kalle tells me to let it go but I’ve never been one to take the easy way out. “What did your father say?”

Kalle glances up at me for a moment before he adds the cheese to the burger. “He knew Odin was stepping down.”

Abdicating. That’s the proper word. Prince Odin abdicated his place in succession. Kalle has never talked about it with me, but I know his brother was Kalle’s safety net if he abdicated. Odin would make a great king.

So would Kalle, but he’s never been able to see that.

“That’s not surprising,” I venture.

“It was to me. And now I can’t… I can’t do that to Bo.”

“Bo would be okay.”

Bo, third son of King Magnus, lacks the gregarious nature of his father and younger siblings, and while he shares the sense of responsibility all of the siblings have, Bo thinks he’s best serving the country by living alone in the middle of the country and setting up nature reserves and animal preservation sites. I’ve always liked Bo with his quietness and soft sense of humour, but I don’t know him well. I wonder if anyone really does.

The royal children of King Magnus are many things, but none of them really have close friends. Spencer is more family than friend, and Gunnar has Fenella, but she lives in the US. Kalle has Jonathon, and me; Lyra has Kate. The Laz sisters, Stella and Sophie used to be close to Lyra and the boys, but things happened there.

They have many acquaintances, but few can be considered close to them. It’s as if there’s an invisible line separating the princes and Lyra from the rest of the town and very few are allowed to get past it. Or maybe that very few try.

My heart warms at the thought that I’m one of them to get past the line into their inner circle.

Kalle rubs the back of his neck. “No one ever told you about Bo, did they?” he asks with a grimace. “About him and Hettie Crow?”

I haven’t heard that name in a while. Hettie is the younger sister of Mabel Crow, and Mabel was the inspiration for many stories and scandals in Battle Harbour, including the allegation that it was her who broke up Gunnar and Kate McKibbon years ago. While unlikely, it wouldn’t be unheard of with both Gunnar’s and Mabel’s reputations. She’s a year younger than I am, and oftencomes into the pub. I don’t think life has been easy for her. Or too kind.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Kalle have a conversation with her.

Mabel’s sister, however, was a different story. Before she left town years ago, Hettie was the complete opposite of Mabel, save the long dark hair and pretty face. Hettie was sweet, soft, and beautiful.

She was like Bo.

I scrunch my nose as I try to remember past gossip. “I knew they were together for a year or so and then they weren’t,” I say. “And Hettie moved away. Just disappeared and no one talked about it.”

They might have talked about it but not when Mabel was within earshot. Because the Erickson family might be loyal and watch each other’s backs but Mabel is a lioness when it comes to her little sister.

Kalle nods. “Yeah.”

“Just yeah? There’s got to be more to it if you brought it up.”

“Well… yeah. But…” He shakes his head and mutters something that sounds like “You’re family.”

I face him, hands on hips. “You’re going to have to tell me now,” I demand. I’m not much for hurtful gossip, but working here, it’s impossible not to hear the talk. And there was lots of talk when Hettie up and left one night. “What happened between them?”

Kalle leans around me to make sure no one is within earshot. “Hettie left.”

“Yeah…” I impatiently motion for him to continue.

“She left because Bo didn’t want her to have to deal with the media scrum that comes when one of us dates. Because he hates dealing with being in the public eye—hates it so much that he went off to live in the woods. You can’t live in the woods and rule a country.”

I watch Kalle flip the burger onto the bun and scrape the grease into the trap.

He’s right. Laandia doesn’t have a president or a prime minister—King Magnus is head of the government, and you can’t run a country from a little house in the forest, as cute and quaint as it might be.

“If I don’t become king, it falls on Bo. And that would be a hard no for him, so then Gunnar. And if anything happened to him, then Lyra.” Kalle actually shivers at the thought as he adds ketchup and mustard to his burger.

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