“There are five courses, then the reception afterwards.”
“Alejandro mentioned he’d been working with his social secretary and the executive chef on the menus.Three different wines, soup, fish, lamb, as well as vegetarian options, salad, and petit fours. I warned him our dinner at the embassy tomorrow will be much less grand in comparison.”
In return for hosting the state dinner tonight, she and Alex were hosting a Return Dinner for the president and his husband at the Vallerian embassy, as their last formal engagement in D.C. Tomorrow, she’d actually arranged a day of fun engagements for their family, with tours around various Smithsonian museums, the Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Gallery of Art, and visits to the World War II and Martin Luther King Junior Memorials. There were so many places she’d love to visit—and she’d love to come back during cherry blossom season in the spring—but a princess isn’t able to sightsee unless it is part of their duties.
She wished she’d realized that before she’d fallen for Alex, as maybe she would have spent much more time exploring the world instead of hiding from it. Yet, she couldn’t be upset things had turned out as they had. Life was about trade-offs after all. She could let go of anonymous sightseeing if it meant she had Alex by her side.
They made their way through the White House and downstairs; she still couldn’t believe she was lucky enough to walk through it, much less stay there overnight. Together with the President and First Husband, they posed for pictures on the North Portico, then followed the president into the State Dining Room.
One hundred fifty guests had been invited, and Rebecca recognized many from stage and screen, from American politics and military, and even some business and community leaders. There were, of course, a number of Vallerians as part of the Vallerian delegation for the dinner.
The tables were decadently set—cream Damask tablecloths with beige fleur-de-lis, a symbol of Valleria. The tableware was a mix of pieces from different collections—Singh China, which was ivory with a silver rim and featured a vignette of theWhite House, flatware from the Obama administration, and crystal, candelabras, and decorations from a collection donated to the White House by a rich heiress in the 18thcentury.
Living in a royal palace and having hosted similar dinners with Genevieve, Rebecca understood how much time and effort went into planning a visit and dinner like this. Even choosing which tableware to use could become a political statement if one wasn’t careful, but everything looked beautiful and all the pieces worked well together.
It suddenly hit her that she wasn’t as fazed by the opulence or lavishness of this life anymore. She was worried about the event, and the cost of the jewelry she was wearing—her nerves would never go away, she was sure—but growing up very differently as a non-royal meant she’d been ‘wide-eyed’ at everything when she and Alex had first gotten together.
Now, though…this was simply her life, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about that. She would be Queen soon—Queen!—and it seemed that more of her had changed than she realized. Was it a good thing to adjust? Or a bad thing to let go of the life she once knew? Maybe it wasn’t about good or bad at all, and it was simply…life. She’d have to think on this more another time, when they weren’t about to lead such an important event.
She gave Alex’s hand a final squeeze before she was escorted to a table and seated next to Alejandro. Glancing around the room, she spotted Ethan and Anda at separate tables nearby as well. They’d be joining them on their sightseeing events tomorrow, which was good as they hadn’t had a chance to really connect in person yet. She knew Alex was still concerned about a possible threat, but she was taking things one minute at a time.
After some remarks from the president, then Alex, both affirming their long relationship and continuing partnership, dinner was served. Rebecca didn’t mind her dinner companions—Alejandro, a famous acting couple, a congressperson, and someone who Rebecca thought may have been some high-level donors to the president’s campaign.
For a long time, Rebecca had worried about dinners like these, about saying or doing the wrong thing, making the wrong step. As a woman, she was always scrutinized more than Alex. Yet she realized eventually that the conversations were nearly always the same. Though she might come across someone who asked more probing questions—which she’d learned to deflect—most of the time, the exchanges were superficial at best. A trick she’d learned from Genevieve was to always keep the focus on someone else—people loved talking about themselves—or to deflect serious questions by asking what another person at the table thought about it instead. Royals were rarely one-on-one with people—it was nearly always a group setting or event—so it was easily done.
Following the dinner was a reception in the East Room, and she heard two famous opera singers cover theFlower Duet, one of her favorites. She hadn’t really listened to opera before Alex, but had fallen in love with it after seeing her first performance ofDon Giovanniat the Valentia Opera House.
After the reception, she and Alex walked slowly back to their room, protection agents and U.S. Secret Service trailing. Once they were finally secure in their room, Alex locked the door, then turned to her with a specific, seductive smile.
“Finally, I have you all to myself.” He stepped towards her, and slid his hands around her hips to her ass.
He kissed her, slowly, softly at first, while he pressed her body against his.
She slid her hands into his hair and gripped, trying to hold on while he claimed her with his mouth.
Eventually she leaned back and pressed a hand to her tiara. “I’ll need to take this off before we go any further. It’s slipping.” While she had tested the tiara earlier, she hadn’t tested it for Alex’s kisses.
“I’ll do it. Unless you want Rose to come?”
She shook her head. “Just be careful.”
He gave her a bemused smile. “I am a prince, you know.”
“I know.”
“And a future king.”
“Sure.”
“I have worn a crown or two myself.”
“Exactly. You’re so used to the crown jewels that you treat them the same as your watch or handkerchief or shoes. Whereas Rose and I have a healthy fear of any harm coming to them—especially me, since I’d be blamed for it, regardless of who was actually responsible, even you.”
Alex seemed annoyed but didn’t contradict her. “Sit down, darling.”
She held back a smile, then seated herself at a small desk. They’d put on her makeup here earlier, but that had all been cleared and the velvet jewelry cases sat there now beside a specially lighted mirror they’d brought from home.
While Alex unpinned the tiara, she got to work removing the broach, earrings, bracelet, and watch. Once Alex had safely tucked the tiara into its case and closed it, she removed her necklace and sash.
