What right do we have to stereotype anyone?
I say, trying to keep my voice from shaking, “I’m not out to trap your son, your Majesty. We just happened to fall in love with each other.”
He waves a weary liver-spotted hand.
“I did not love Alex’s mother when I first married her. Nor did she love me. Love came later and stayed throughout our marriage of twenty-eight years. Had I followed my heart when I was younger and not my parents’ advice, I would have missed out on a wonderful family.”
Not to mention a wonderful fortune.
I know I’m being cynical because I’m on the wrong end of the interrogation, and maybe I’m too young and inexperienced – but I do believe in true love, not marriage contracts.
He studies my crestfallen face.
“You are a nice girl, Elizabeth Turner. There’s nothing wrong with you as a person. But no matter how hard you try, you will never be one of us. This is not your fault. Meanwhile, I will not interfere with your relationship with Alex, as I have never interfered with Alex’s relationships in the past. I will merely let it run its course.”
Unease stirs inside me. “What do you mean?”
“It means that I know my son a lot better than you do.” His still sharp eyes regard mine. “I’ve seen them come and go, Elizabeth Turner. I’ve watched him declare love for a woman time and again, especially when he wants to defy me for some inexplicable reason known only to the young.
“Mark my words. Yours is a fling, nothing more. He will do his duty to his family and his people in the end.”
Chapter Five
The King’s words continue to clang in my ears like a haunted bell as I leave the hospital suite. Alex is waiting outside for me. He stands up.
I immediately put on my ‘happy smile’ face.
“How did it go?” he says in concern.
“It was a good conversation,” I say honestly. It was good in the manner in which it revealed unspoken truths. “Your father is a good man who cares very much for you.”
That too is true. I harbor no ill will against the King, much as I would like to. He is a father, just like any other father, looking out for his son in the only way he knows. The only way he has been brought up to know and to believe that it’s all that matters.
I see that now.
It’s the same with the Queen. They are both not bad people. (Though I can’t say the same about Claire.) They are just trying to be good parents.
“That’s good then.” Alex hugs me.
I melt into his embrace, wishing all my troubles would melt away that easily. My mind tumbles with possibilities. I keep seeing images of Alex entwined with Amber Valetta and all the supermodels he has previously dated.
Are Claire and the King right about him? Am I just a brief fling?
I love Alex. There’s no doubt about that. But I’m also aware of the ups and downs in a relationship. People fall in love, people get married, people break up, people get divorced. It’s all part of the relationship cycle. Sometimes it works out forever. Sometimes it doesn’t.
Of course, Alex is unaware of all this going on inside my head.
“You’ve had a rough week,” he murmurs into my hair. “Let me take you someplace nice.”
I nod enthusiastically.
Chapter Six
Moldavia is basically the sea, the flatlands and a mountainous region which blends into the border of Nuernberg. It is to this mountainous terrain that Alex takes me to.
We drive to the foothills of the mountain range and park at a base camp site. The vista is breathtaking. All around us are snowcapped peaks streaked with green and crimson, topped by the overpowering blue sky. The air is crisp and fresh and a lot cooler than in the valleys, and everything smells of honeysuckle and grass.
There’s a nip to the wind as it rushes down the mountains, carrying with it the scent of snow. I’m glad we came. Out here, I feel attuned to nature once again. Nature doesn’t judge people. It just is.
A few other cars are parked there as well, indicating there are other hikers aside from us.
“I come here a lot,” Alex says. “Especially when I need to chill out and be alone.”
“Oh, do you want me to go?”
“Ha ha. Funny. I brought you here because I wanted to share it with you and because I think we can both use a break.”
I get that. Alex is never one for city life. He much prefers nature and indigenous peoples. I find it hard to reconcile the relaxed, happy man I see before me here with the emotionally irresponsible playboy his parents and sister are trying to paint him to be.
Then again … how long have I known Alex?
I try to banish these niggling doubts as we strap on our backpacks of supplies. We begin our trek upwards. The mountain foot path is narrow and winding, and slopes gently up at first to fool us into thinking the going is easy.
“You doing OK?” Alex says. He’s always solicitous, slowing down his pace to let me keep up with him.
I’m relatively fit, thanks to hours of cleaning as a maid.
“No problem,” I assure him.
I desperately want to talk to him about what his father said, but something keeps me mum. How do you talk to a man about his torrid past? How do you ask him if you are the one he intends to have for keeps – to love, honor and cherish until death (not family) do us part?
How do I even begin?
Darling, is the sex we are having the best you’ve ever had?
I really want to know how I compare with Gisele Bundchen, and yes, you’re allowed to lie.
I’m saved from having to talk too much as we ascend the mountain because the path veers steeply up from a point onwards. I have to use all my strength just to keep going and not stop, as I’m tempted to. My calf muscles start to ache something fierce, and my breaths come in short, sharp bursts.
“Anytime you want to rest, just holler,” Alex says, seemingly unaffected.
I shake my head stubbornly. I’m going to prove to myself I can climb this mountain by sheer willpower alone. In fact, not just this mountain.
I’m going to climb every mountain.
Bring them on!
“You know, you don’t have to push yourself so hard,” Alex says after a while.
“I can make it.”
“No need for mock bravado.”
“Shut.”
My shins start to feel the strain as we hit the halfway mark. The view here is incredible, and the wind stings my cheeks as it rushes down the mountain. Even though my chest is bursting and I’m starting to see the green stars of oxygen deprivation, I’m happy. I haven’t felt this carefree and relaxed in the longest time.