“You’re right, I don’t understand,” shot back Violet. “What about your ‘family duty’ to the boys? Why haven’t you reached out?”
And at that, Georg looked ashamed.
“You’re right,” he said, looking off into the distance. “I tried to contact them a couple times when they were kids, but you had them in Nowhereville, USA, home-schooling them as if you were in a cult,” he said bitterly. “I never heard back so I gave up after a couple years,” he continued. “Maybe I shouldn’t have.”
And a shocked silence descended.
“Mom,” I said slowly, “Is what he’s saying true? I don’t even know where to start, what the fuck this is so messed up.”
“Don’t try to understand,” said Violet, bitterness lacing her voice. “I never got it myself. I just got that I wasn’t good enough, that was loud and clear,” she said, her voice accusatory, still looking at the king.
And Georg sighed then, his shoulders slumped, his air defeated.
“Haven’t you heard anything I’ve said?” he asked tiredly. “I couldn’t marry you, I had to marry for money. It had nothing to do with power, prestige, family name, or ‘the blood royal’ as you love repeating. It had to do with money, and my wife’s family had plenty.”
And now my mom looked like a trapped animal, her face sheet white, turning rapidly in different directions, panicked, fidgety.
“There’s not true,” she said quickly. “Did he tell you that was true? Because it’s not. I did what I thought was best for my boys, I didn’t want you to grow up cloistered here, princes of some small country I’d never heard of, with no future.”
And here, Kristian snorted, interrupting not so gently.
“I’ll have you know that St. Venetia is an up and coming hub of financial services,” he stated. “Small size doesn’t matter when your trade is digital currency and international banking,” he added pointedly.
But my mom just looked frozen.
“Well that wasn’t around when I gave birth to the twins,” she said, her expression rigid. “I did the best I could,”
And here Tina interrupted in a gentle voice. “I’m sure you did, Violet, I’m sure you did. But even if you were stifled here, if St. Venetia wasn’t your place, why didn’t you let Karl and Kato see their father?”
And here, Violet got really nasty, turning on a dime.
“Who are you to tell me?” she hissed. “You scheming slut! You spread your legs for anyone and look at my two boys now. Right back where I started, in this good-for-nothing cesspool.”
And before anyone could add anything else, she turned and screamed at all of us.
“Stop ganging up on me, I know what you’re up to! This is why I left St. Venetia in the first place, I feel so trapped, like everything was set up so that I’d fail. And now look what’s happened … I’ve lost three sons!” she screeched, her voice going higher with each word, literally finishing an octave above her starting pitch.
And here, the room fell deathly silent. After a pause, the Crown Prince spoke.
“I think you mean two sons,” he said smoothly. “Karl and Kato, the twins, that’s two,” he reminded gently, holding up two fingers.
And the woman just looked at him, a crazed expression in her eyes before bursting into peals of laughter, high-pitched, demented, the sound echoing off the walls, ringing so hard it hurt my eardrums.
“No, Highness,” she said sarcastically. “I didn’t miscount. Because I’m including you.You’remy firstborn.”
And with that, Kristian stepped back, tall, imposing, a harsh look in his eyes, face dark and stormy.
“Guards!” he called as troopers stormed into the room. “Arrest this woman for treason,” he ordered coldly, and turned his back on the hag as they dragged her out of the room.
TINA
My head spun. I could hardly believe what had happened, the conversation in the past ten minutes dizzying, switching tacks on the drop of a dime, accusations and epithets hurled every few seconds. What was going on?
But there was one part I’d caught: that Georg at one point had acknowledged his sons. He’d acknowledged Karl and Kato and tried to be a part of their lives, but he’d been barred from legitimizing them because he needed to marry for money.
And that’s what got me now. It was like some sick, twisted nightmare that keeps coming back, rearing its ugly head no matter what you do. Because I’d been shipped off to Miss Carroll’s for the same reason. My parents could no longer afford their lifestyle, our family fortune squandered over the years, and I’d been the last hope, launched into the world with a directive to find a rich husband to save our flagging estate.
Even crazier, it seems that once upon a time, King Georg had been in these very same shoes. The King himself, with the world at his fingertips, had had to sacrifice and give up a woman he was entranced with, who’d borne him three children, in order to marry a woman with a hefty inheritance.