Page 54 of Royally Drawn (Resplendent Royals #3)

Unavoidable

INGRID

I sat with Alexandra as we reviewed a list of royal attendees and their sleeping accommodations. We had a palace and a castle worth of people to house. While Celeste may have been a monster to us, she was well-liked among people who never had to be told that despite their D-cups at twelve, they weren’t permitted a bra because “it gives men ideas” or that “no man will want a girl who eats bread in public.” People wouldn’t speak to the scars on my wrists or the beating I endured the day I started my period at age eleven and dared use the tampon Astrid gave me. They couldn’t know about all the times she slapped Alexandra across the face for daring to speak out of turn or knocked Astrid down for standing up for us. It was as if Celeste was two people—the kind old lady people knew and the abusive tyrant controlling us.

Alexandra quietly declared this would be our chance to celebrate. We’d call our afterparty a “celebration of life,” but it would be a celebration of death. We were finally liberated. It was so sweet for Alexandra, who had been worried for years that something terrible might happen to the girls at Celeste’s hands. Even after she left our house, her existence hung over us. This was a sweet relief .

Royal funerals were fussy and demanding. Alex was trying to plan a royal death celebration, and I was her only lackey. Odette was off in la-la-land about something, and Astrid was pregnant in her “oh, isn’t life beautiful” phase—one I’d never seen coming. Everyone expected me to be happy, too, since our jailer was now in the sod. And while I was, I also resented that I’d given up a surefire placing in the top ten at a world-class event.

“Here’s a list of Heads of Government,” Alexandra said. “I’ve made decisions about where to put them.”

“I will add them to the spreadsheet,” my sister’s personal secretary said, taking the paper with Alexandra’s scribbles. “The UK and Norway are coming here the day before. They will miss the luncheon but make the royal attendees dinner.”

The UK and Norway . That struck fear in my heart. I knew Cici wasn’t coming. She couldn’t.

I glanced down at my list of attendees to assign to rooms at the castle in the countryside where Celeste expired. I flipped to a list of names for the palace, listed by designation. On the back of the page, under “United Kingdom”, was “The Duke of Inverness.”

“Fuck!” I declared, interrupting Alexandra.

“Ingrid!”

“I’m sorry, but why is The Duke of Inverness coming?”

“Queen Natalie chose him. I understand she is abroad, and the Prince of Wales is on a tour of New Zealand. Someone had to come.”

“But Keir?” I winced.

“You will be seeing him off and on for the rest of your life,” Alexandra said. “It will be fine. You must need to learn to live with it.”

I checked the other names. Lars would represent Norway, and Edina would come from Denmark. I pictured a terrible world in which Lars hit on me and got offended when I turned him down. Even worse, I imagined getting drunk and sleeping with him to get back at his brother. Then, I thought about Keir sleeping with Edina—or anyone, really. My life would be over. Tears welled.

“I need a minute.”

“Take all the time you need. I’ve got this,” Alexandra said.

I fled from her office, down the hall, and past Rick and his mother, Karolina. They managed the children like a barn hand might manage horses coming into the stables for the evening.

“Ingy, are you okay?” Rick called after me.

“Nope!” I called back.

I rushed to my room to let it all out. I pulled the curtains on my canopy bed tight as I had done in childhood when I needed to feel safe. I wished Odette was here. The door opened.

“Ingrid… come outside.” Rick’s voice rang out. “The kids could use some time with you.”

“I just need a minute. I’m a mess.”

“That’s okay. I have a baby here who might cheer you up.”

I poked my head out to see Manon crawling towards me, her blonde curls framing her face like a halo. She was adorable. When she reached the bed, she pulled up on the bed frame. She blew a raspberry to melt my heart.

I hopped down, picked her up, and held her on my hip. Taking in that sweet baby smell, I kissed her head. She was everything I needed.

“See, you need to come out with us. It’s a beautiful day. You can play with the kids in the creek.”

I relented. Karolina sat in the back garden, watching Linny ride laps on her bike. Odette gave all the bigger kids a new bike. My favourite was Chris on the balance bike. He would ride everywhere with no pedals at an alarming speed.

“What is bothering you?” Rick asked as we sat on a bench by the creek banks that passed through the garden.

“Keir is coming, and I just… I haven’t spoken with him since the day. I’m not ready to see him.”

“Oh,” Rick said. “Well, you’ll see him forever. It will be fine. And maybe you two can… talk.”

I glared.

“What? You still loved him when we last had a brotherly-sisterly heart-to-heart.”

Chris jumped in the creek, now wet head-to-toe. I smiled.

“See, you’re thinking about him.”

“No, Rick,” I laughed. “I’m watching the little man in the creek. We used to go out there. ”

“I remembered. When I first met you, you were trying to splash Odette.”

“I remember thinking you were an asshole. A handsome asshole.”

Rick snickered. “You thought I was handsome?”

“I was twelve and knew no men. Literally, anyone qualified as ‘handsome’.”

“I cannot believe you are so grown, Ingrid. I miss you when you’re gone, and I also forget you’re a grown woman.”

“Well, I have been for a while.”

“I know. It goes by so fast.” He bounced Manon on his lap. “And with babies, it is gone in a flash. I try not to think about this being our last.”

“Did you hope for more?” I asked.

“Nah. I didn’t. I closed that door. Alexandra took the hysterectomy hard. I don’t know if that was a lack of choice or because she wanted more.”

“Lack of choice can drive you mad. We never had it, and it can be traumatising. She didn’t have it until she was married to you, Rick. Things are so different for us.”

We watched Chris kick water at Kari. She was giggling so hard she fell over.

“If I’d done any of this, Celeste would have beaten me. And I did, but if she’d found out?—”

“I’m sorry for that,” Rick said. “You deserved so much better. But I am pretty sure that’s why you’ll make a wonderful mother someday. It’s what makes Alexandra so fiercely protective of this little pack of dogs.”

I smiled because it was true.

“I dunno. I hope I will be. It’s not all I want, and maybe I shouldn’t even bother wanting it.”

“To be a parent?”

“I’m still so young,” I sighed.

“You’re the same age Lex was when she had Linny. It’s okay to want something. It doesn’t mean you want something tomorrow. In my experience, knowing what you want is the most important bit. The key is to be honest about it, Ingy,” Rick said. “Because when you aren’t honest… everything falls apart. I almost lost Lex over it. I wished I’d been honest with her from the beginning.”

“Hindsight is 20-20.”

“It is.”

Manon fussed in Rick’s lap, reaching her arms out for me. “Maaaa.”

She referred to all of us as “Ma” or “Mama,” driving Alex mad.

“Rid-Rid,” I laughed. “Not Mama.”

“Ma-Ma.”

“It’d be nice if you ever said ‘Pappa’, Manon. It’s not like I spend every waking hour with you or anything,” Rick said.

I took the child in my arms, holding her against me. Taking in the way her fat legs dangled—rolls and all—from my lap and her giggles filled the quiet garden, I was momentarily satisfied. I was grounded like a tree with strong roots. Then, I looked away and realised I couldn’t stay here forever. I knew what I wanted.

“I shouldn’t let anyone take that away from me,” I explained. “I get to live the life I know I want.”

“You do. And no one should. But, Ingrid, don’t get in your own way, either,” Rick said. “Take it from the king of getting in my own way.”