Page 56 of Royally Drawn (Resplendent Royals #3)

Celebration of Death

INGRID

“ O h my God, fuck her for that!”

Astrid’s voice boomed through the stone walls of the crypt under the chapel at our country house. I followed her voice until I found her there with Alexandra. They were sitting on the floor laughing. I didn’t know what this was about.

“What is going on?” I asked. “Odie and I have been looking for you all day.”

“Sit, sit,” Alexandra said, clearly drunk. “Drink with me. It’s a Celebration of Death, darling!”

She held out a bottle of whisky.

“This is costly stuff. Where did you get it?” Astrid asked, passing it to me.

“Her Majesty Queen Natalie. Keir’s auntie,” Alexandra said. “Good stuff. I stole it before Rick and his brother pilfered it.”

I took a big swig. “She has good taste and an absolutely awful nephew.”

“Oh, fucking stop it! You love that man!”

“I do not, Asti!”

“You two have been eye-fucking all night. I’m stone-cold sober, and it’s painful to watch.”

“I am not interested,” I said. “I am focused on returning to Kentucky to ride in the Three-Day. Even from the grave, Celeste may have sunk me as an Olympic hopeful. I am not interested in annoying princes.”

“Fuck her,” Alexandra said. “Live your life. Fuck all the men—out of spite. I hope that every time I have non-procreative sex from this point forward, it stabs her in hell or something.”

“Alexandra!” Odette groaned. “She was awful, but that’s… more awful.”

“Quote me to The Pope. I could give a fuck,” Alexandra said. The woman was gone .

Odette took a swig and coughed. “Bless you, but I cannot manage that garbage.”

I snickered. “You’re such a sweetheart, Odette. Why can’t I be more like you?”

“Because you’re delightfully devilish,” Alexandra said. “The one who always tells us what she means.”

“Except right now,” Astrid said. “Because she’s not even honest with herself.”

“Excuse me, bitch?” I giggled, taking another big pull from the bottle.

“You’re obsessed with him.”

“I’m dick-blind. That’s not the same thing as being obsessed. And it’s not a reason to fuck him again. It’s not a good reason to let him break my heart again, either.”

“Can we stop talking like this?” Odette asked. “Around the dead!”

“What are they going to do to us?” I asked.

“Someone could… report us.”

“To whom? The Queen?” Astrid asked.

She looked at Alexandra. They both burst into giggles.

“I was dick-blind once,” Astrid said.

“And then what?” Odette asked.

“Well, presently, I get this thing called lightning crotch, and that’s a result of it persisting. ”

“It’s a real thing!” Alexandra said. “The baby is sitting on a nerve. It’s so bad. Pregnancy is awful. I hated it.”

“And did it four times ?” I said.

“I have four beautiful babies to show for it. I wouldn’t change it, darling. I’m still dick-blind. I want to kill Rick half the time but damn if I don’t always let it go.”

“Parker can do no wrong as long as he properly grovels and goes down on me endlessly,” Astrid said. “It’s true.”

“You all are terrible,” Odette said. “A woman died. She was a bad woman, but she died, and here we are talking about sex.”

“Good,” Alexandra said. “I have all sorts of hangups because of that bitch. Fuck her! I hope she rots in hell. I am happy she’s gone. No longer can I worry that she will do something to steal one of my babies from me.”

“You thought that?” Odette asked.

“She did that to our mother, Odie,” Alexandra said. “Rick and I were always prepared to call the authorities to put her on blast. I feel like I can breathe again—for the first time since Mamma was alive. I can only hope our children never feel like that.”

“They won’t,” Astrid said. “Our daughters will be secure in their self-worth.”

“We don’t have to work on that with Linnea,” I giggled. “She got the memo.”

Odette snickered.

“We’re having a little girl,” Astrid said. “I know. She’s a girl. And I’m excited and terrified.”

“That’s thrilling!” Odette said.

“Beautiful,” I agreed.

“Parker is so excited,” Astrid said. He has a list of names a mile long. There are so many scientists, so little time.”

“That’s adorable,” I said.

“What will we tell our daughters?” Astrid asked. “About all of this? Because this was horrendous. We survived. I don’t want to scare our girls, but I want to be honest with them. Because I’m still not completely okay—I never will be. ”

“Be the parent you wanted and needed,” Odette said. “And be honest. See them and let them feel seen. That’s all kids need.”

“But we have more responsibility with the girls,” Alexandra said. “Because they are most at-risk in this goddamn fishbowl.”

“We raise them to raise hell,” I said. “And tell them to choose wisely. And to never sit down because the patriarchy said they should smile more.”

“Damn straight!” Astrid said.

“To raising our daughters to raise hell!” Alexandra said, raising the bottle she’d taken from my hands.

“To that,” I said, pretending to raise a glass.

“She never took our shine completely,” Odette said. “We thrived despite her—not because of her. And let’s never forget that. We love each other hard and always show up for each other. Let’s teach our girls to do that. Well, hopefully, if I ever have one.”

“You will, God willing,” Alexandra insisted. You’re going to be a great mom to a daughter someday.”

“Thanks,” Odette said.

I let out an involuntary depressed sigh.

“Tell him!” Astrid said.

“What?” Alexandra asked.

“Ingrid, tell him. Tell him you love him.”

“Yes, tell him already! Have you even spoken to him?” Odette asked.

I drank more of the bottle than I wished I had, putting it back down on the cobblestone floor with a bit of a clatter. I caught it, eventually.

“Shit, sorry. Uh… I did talk to him—not by choice. Rick released Manon into the wild, so we’d be forced to talk.”

“Cheeky bastard,” Astrid giggled.

“Indeed. He came over and apologised, but I just dressed him down in Norwegian.”

“Why?” Alexandra asked.

“Because she had a plan,” Odette said. “A petty plan in which she learned Norsk properly just to sling barbs at him. Who does that if they aren’t invested in someone? ”

“Who has time?” Alexandra asked.

“I’m lonely,” I sighed. “I haven’t… I cannot just move on. It’s depressing.”

“It’s not. It’s because you love him. Like Astrid once told me, the man is an asshole, but he’s your asshole. He loves you,” Alexandra said.

“I don’t think that was the exact quote about Rick, but sure. It fits. She’s right. You still love him. He’s right here. Just tell him he hurt you; you need to see changes and love him. You’ll regret not giving him another chance,” Astrid said.

“I cannot risk him breaking my heart again.”

“If you don’t risk it, sweetheart, you’ll never know,” Odette said. “The heart is more resilient than you believe. And you’re stronger than you think. We all are. If Celeste couldn’t bring us down, no one could. But living alone forever? Is that what you want?”

“I want happiness, someone to come home to, and kids. I am not sure if I can ever trust him again.”

“Life is hard. You can’t love if you don’t risk it all,” Astrid said. “But you’ve never shied from danger, kid.”

She was right.