Page 59 of Royal Darling
“Big fan,” Oscar says, shaking my hand.
“Never heard of you,” Adrian quips.
I laugh. “That’s fair.”
Adrian grins. “No, seriously, I’m a big fan too. Very cool to have you as our guest.”
“Where’s Phillip?” Emma asks. That’s her brother too. She gave me the rundown earlier.
“He’s spending Christmas in Tampa with his fiancée’s family,” Adrian says.
“Traitor,” Lucas says.
“To the dungeon,” Oscar says.
Lucas and Oscar grin at each other.
Adrian gestures to the chapel door. “I guess we should go in. We were waiting to meet you.” He looks right at me.
Emma waves that away. “I know I’ve gained some notoriety as a runaway bride, but you needn’t fanboy over me.”
I laugh, and her brothers stare at her.
“Emma, is that you?” Oscar asks, peering closely at her. “Did you actually make a joke?”
“I told you she cracked,” Lucas says. “No more proper Emma, though Jackson says she has the voice of an angel, so maybe there’s some extremely good girl lingering in her.”
Adrian smiles. “Emma used to sing when we were little. I always liked it, but she stopped singing when we got older.”
Emma tilts her head. “You know, I’d nearly forgotten I used to sing out loud. I suppose I stopped around nine years old when I first started etiquette lessons and understood my place in royal life.” She smiles brightly. “And now I’m back to it.” She opens the chapel door and steps inside.
I follow her in, my eyes widening at the imposing space. It’s worse than the grand entrance hall in terms of royal greatness. It’s one of those soaring ceiling, gilding on everything, hand-painted, carved stucco kind of places that make you feel insignificant. Along the sides are alcoves with multiple marble apostle figures and hand-painted royal markings. At least they have music. Maybe too much music. Three enormous gilded organs with long silver pipes. I bet a commoner never set foot in here before.
“Oh, everyone’s here, even Mother,” Emma whispers to me. “That’s a very good sign.” She points out her mum sitting on the end of the front row. Anna, sitting next to her mum, turns and waves to us.
Gabriel glances over and inclines his head. Some other older people are in the row as well. Relatives? I have no idea.
Emma leads me to the second row, stopping to greet her mum. “Mother, it’s so good to see you at service. This is my boyfriend, Jackson.”
I offer my hand, and her mum stares at it like it’s a smelly dead fish.
Her gaze rakes over my casual outfit and she sniffs. “I’m glad to see you’re home, Emma. I would like to speak to you after service.” She faces front, dismissing us.
Emma’s expression is tight as she shifts further into the second row. Her brothers join us, Adrian taking a seat next to me. He leans over me to whisper to Emma, “You’re in for it.”
“Shut it,” she whispers back.
We sit there for a long time in the quiet of the chapel as more people arrive. “Are these the servants coming in now?” I whisper to her.
She shakes her head and whispers, “These are relatives on my mother’s side. They’ve travelled a distance to support her in her grief. She’s from a small island kingdom near Australia. Not that she asked for their support. I suspect Anna had a hand in this. She’s forever forgetting royal protocol. We keep our emotions and personal needs quiet. Always the kingdom and our people above ourselves.”
“What about your father’s side?”
“We don’t talk about that.”
Adrian quietly fills me in. “My father’s older brother abdicated the throne to marry a commoner. He was exiled. His family has no connection to ours, except through our sister Silvia. Now that she’s living in the US, she looked them up.”
Lucas leans over. “The Rourke riffraff.”
