From off to Flicka’s right, her father snort-laughed. “No, Pierre. You can’t do that. Flicka, you should not go back to this sniveling rodent. He is not worthy of you. Hisentireprincipality,which is not even a kingdom, is not worth one moment of your unhappiness.”
Flicka gaped at her father. That was new.
Pierre stepped toward her and shouted, “I’ll sue you for everything, the crown, the kingdom,everything!I’ll make sure you have nothing!” Pierre yelled at her. “You’ll be nothing and nobody without me!”
“That’s not how it works!” she yelled back.
“You’llhave nothing without me! You’ll be on the street, helpless and destitute! I’ll sue you for every cent of the Hannover fortune!”
“That’s patently insane,” she said, standing straighter. “If these last few months have taught me anything, it’s that Icanlive without you, without my family’s money, and without being a princess. I can stand on my own two feet and provide for myself. You can’t doanything to me.”
“I’ll put you in jail!” Pierre screamed, the cords standing out on his neck. His finger jabbed the air toward Flicka and Dieter. “I’ll put you in jail, and that blond, hulking brute of a sham husband of yours, and everyone in the whole House of Hannover! Everyone with any royal connection to you willrotin a Monaco prison!”
Her father asked, “Flicka, what does he mean,husband?”
She yelled back at Pierre, aghast, “You said that if I listened to what you had to say, that you’d withdraw the arrest warrants! You already told the police that you did.”
“I thought you’d do what I need you to, if I told you I was sorry. I’ll reinstate the goddamn warrants. I’ll draw up new ones, one for every Hannover in the world. I will takedownthe entire House of Hannover,every last oneof you!”
From his seat, Phillipp snorted and crossed his legs. “Please, control your actions, Pierre. You’re embarrassing yourself.”
“You couldn’t do that,” Flicka said to Pierre. “You’re not the Prince of Monaco.”
“I will!”Pierre shouted, but he grew calmer, grimmer, angrier. “Whether or not I am confirmed as the prince, I swear to God,I will,Flicka. I will hunt you down. I will hunt downanyone you’re associated with and every last prince and princess in the House of Hannover. You saw that the police were ready to do anything I wanted becauseI am Monaco.We have treaties with every member of the EU, and through the EU, with most of the world, including America. I’ll use Interpol and the FBI. I’ll hunt down every last one of you and put you in jail for murder. I’ll make sure thatbastard daughter of yours grows up in foster care or juvenile detention.”
When Flicka glanced at her father, one of his eyebrows had dropped, and he looked troubled. “The House of Hannover has extensive legal representation. We will fight you.”
He didn’t sound sure.
Images of Wulfie and Rae, and their baby, and everything that an actual monarch could insist that other governments do rose inher mind. Pierre could put people in prison on trumped-up charges. He’d almost had her arrested right there, that day, by German authorities.
Trembling rose in her, fear for Wulfram and Rae and everyone she loved.
She whispered, “I renounce.”
Beside her, Phillipp said, “Flicka, think about what you are doing. We will fight this.”
Dieter took her hand again. “I’ll protect you. He can’t takeyou. You don’t have to do this.”
But it felt right.
Scary, butright.
“I renounce!” she called into the room, yelling it at all of them. Her eyes felt huge on her face as the enormity of what she was doing rocked through her, and her lungs fluttered in her chest. She couldn’t quite breathe.
Dieter glanced at her but looked back to Pierre. “Flicka, don’t do this. You don’t need to do this rightnow.”
She stated at the top of her voice, “I married Mr. Dieter Schwarz, a commoner, without permission either from the head of the House of Hannover or the sovereign head of the House of Welf. I made a non-dynastic marriage. I’m out of the line of succession. I broke the House rules, and I renounce my position in the House of Hannover.”
Her father asked, “Flicka, what is the meaning of this?You married someone?” He looked up at Dieter, standing beside her with his gray eyes narrowed at Pierre. Phillipp asked, “You marrieda bodyguard?”
She called out, “I renounce my position as princess in the House of Hannover and all my associated titles,forever.”
She gasped, and no one spoke.
The air seemed too thin to breathe.
“There.” She spun to face Dieter. “I said it. I’m out. My endowmentwill all go into my charities. I can still control where the charities go, but nothing is mine anymore. I always said I was going to burn it all down,and I did.The world doesn’t need any more princesses. The world needs doctors, and scientists, and artists, and social workers, and help for refugees who shouldn’t have to be afraid that their child is going to freeze or starve, and help for working-classpeople who shouldn’t have to choose between medicine and food.”
