Page 44 of American Royals
The palace’s PR office had long ago struck a bargain with the various media outlets: the royal family would conduct an interview at the start of their annual trip to Telluride, in exchange for complete privacy thereafter. It was much like the deal that had protected Beatrice while she was in college, where she did an in-depth interview once a year, and otherwise was able to move around Cambridge relatively unbothered.
Nina still couldn’t quite believe that she’d come on this trip after all. Just a few weeks ago she’d been certain that she would stay in the capital: go to the party that Rachel was planning, have a normal New Year’s Eve for once. But that was before she went out with Jeff, and everything changed.
It hadn’t been easy keeping this a secret. At Christmas with her family, Nina had to constantly check herself to keep from mentioning the prince. She and Jeff were texting nonstop; Nina had even changed his name to Alex in her phone, just in case anyone happened to glance at her screen while she was typing. Who would ever expect the vaguely-labeled Alex was actually the prince?
They’d seen each other alone just a couple of times since that first date, always somewhere public where Jeff went incognito. Nina didn’t dare bring him to campus, where he would definitely get recognized, and she was too scared to hang out at the palace, in case Samantha caught them together.
They kept seeking excuses to attend the same events, if only for more chances to be near each other. Jefferson had even come to the theater for once, simply because Nina had told him she would be there with Sam.
Hiding it from Samantha was the worst part. So many times, Nina had felt herself on the verge of telling her best friend everything, but some innate cautiousness, or perhaps fear, restrained her. It wasn’t that Nina worried about Sam’s reaction. If anything, Sam would get too excited at the news, and end up spilling the secret to the rest of the world.
And Nina couldn’t help thinking that if she and Jeff weren’t going to last, she would rather Sam never find out at all. As weird as things would be for the three of them once Sam knew that Nina and Jeff were secretly together, it would be even weirder if they then broke up—and Sam had to deal with her brother and her best friend as exes.
Being in Telluride as Sam’s guest rather than Jeff’s was equal parts bliss and torture. Sometimes, when no one was looking, he would sneak up behind her and pull her into his arms, or spin her around to drop a lingering kiss on her lips. Just last night at dinner, the prince had taken the seat next to Nina. She’d been so distracted by the feel of his leg brushing against hers that she’d almost forgotten to eat.
He was standing now with the rest of his family, their skis and snowboards carefully posed before them, their boots crunching on the snow. Almost everyone was here: the king and queen and the twins. The king’s younger brother, Richard, Duke of Manchester, and his wife, Evelyn, along with their two small children, Annabel and Percy, who were currently drawing stick figures in the snow with the points of their ski poles. The king’s older sister, Samantha’s wild and controversial aunt Margaret, Duchess of Louisiana, and her husband, Nate. The Hollywood Hottie, the press liked to call him, because he was a soap-opera actor, and ten years younger than Margaret—luckily for her, he also happened to be the grandson of a viscount, otherwise their marriage wouldn’t have been approved. The Queen Mother had tried on numerous occasions to make Nate give up his work; she didn’t want members of the royal family engaged in something so openly commercial, so trashy. But Nate cheerfully ignored her complaints. Nina had always liked him for that.
The only member of the Washington family noticeably absent was Princess Beatrice, who would be joining them tomorrow afternoon.
Nina had observed plenty of photo calls through the years. She was used to being shuffled to one side and asked to wait until the interview was over. Today she had stationed herself beneath the overhang of a chairlift, a few yards past the raucous bubble of photographers and reporters. Jeff’s friend Ethan Beckett stood next to her, alongside Teddy Eaton.
It couldn’t be easy on Sam, having Teddy here in Telluride. Nina worried that it would only get worse once Beatrice arrived at the house tomorrow, and Sam was forced to observe their flirting at close range.
“All right, everyone!” The king’s chamberlain, Lord Robert Standish, shouted over the noise of the photographers. He looked a bit ridiculous in his typical navy suit, his only concession to the cold weather a patriotic striped scarf, but Robert had always been a stickler for protocol. No matter the conditions.
“We’ll take a few questions at this time,” he offered, with all the self-importance of someone who delivers news about people more powerful than himself.
“Who’s the surprise entertainment at this year’s New Year’s party?” one of the press corps called out. The clacking of cameras was like the sound of a million insects.
“If we announced that, it wouldn’t be a surprise.” The queen gave a good-natured smile.
The Washingtons’ private New Year’s Eve party, at local members-only club Smuggler’s, was the event of the year. Nina had heard of noble families who rented houses in Telluride for the week, just hoping that they would run into the king on the slopes and snag a last-minute invite. Someone world-famous always ended up giving a private performance—a pop star or comedian, or once, a boy band Beatrice had been a little obsessed with.
“I’d say this beats being in Urquhart’s lecture right now,” Ethan drawled, sliding closer on his snowboard.
Nina realized, startled, that the comment had been directed at her. She kept forgetting that Ethan was also a freshman at King’s College this year. “Wait—you’re in the World History class?”
“Yeah.” He shrugged. “I assumed you were, too. You don’t seem like the type to leave mandatory credits until senior year.”
Nina nodded absently, wondering why she hadn’t seen Ethan around campus more. Then again, King’s College was a big school.
She and Ethan had known each other for years. It was inevitable that their paths kept crossing, given how close they both were to the twins. But Nina would never have ventured to claim that they were friends. No matter how often he laughed or lounged around with the others, she couldn’t shake the sense that Ethan was holding something back, out of self-preservation or wariness.
“What do you think of all this?” Ethan asked, edging his board a little closer.
Nina wondered why Ethan was bothering with her now, when he’d never paid her much attention before.
“It’s just a press call. We’ve both seen our fair share of them,” she said easily.
Still, Nina couldn’t help glancing back over at the Washingtons, so artfully arranged against that dramatic background. The lights of the cameras flashed over their perfect white smiles and dark hair, their flawless golden-brown tans. When they stood all together like that, there was something sleek and powerful about them, something that left Nina with an unbidden foreboding.
“Jeff!” shouted one of the reporters. “We keep hearing rumors that you’re seeing someone. Who is it?”
Nina’s heart skipped a beat.
The Daily News correspondent chimed in, thrusting her microphone forward. “Is it Daphne Deighton? All of America keeps hoping you and Daphne will get back together.”
“You know I don’t comment on my love life,” Jeff said tightly.
