“Fine. I’ll do it.” Alexandre climbed onto the dais and stood behind them.
Dree turned, still shocky. People were moving, but she couldn’t anticipate where they were going or why.
Alexandre announced to the room, “I, Duc Alexandre de Valentinois, am calling this meeting of the Council of Nobles to order, again. Miss Clark, could you resume taking notes?”
Dree watched her legs straighten as she stood, and she stumbled back to her chair to gather the pen and paper that had scattered on the floor.
Alexandre sighed and raised his left arm, where a black cast wrapped his hand. “I nominate Prince Maxence Grimaldi, heir apparent to Prince Rainier IV, to be the next Sovereign Prince of Monaco. All in favor?”
Chapter Five
For Life
Maxence
The room resounded with a chorus of“Aye,”some answers strong and eager to be done with it, other voices still wavering.
Maxence sat on the edge of the dais with his back to the throne, listening to the nobles decide his path for the rest of his life.
“Any opposed?” Alexandre asked the room.
Silence.
“The motion is carried,” Alexandre said. “Isn’t that how I’m supposed to say it? ‘The motion is carried?’ Ah, blast. We’re done here. Maxence, you’re the next sovereign prince. Dree, write it down so it’s official. Congratulations, and thank God this is over.” He shook Max’s hand and walked back to where his wife and sister were standing and hugged them to his sides.
Dree picked her way back over and snuggled up beside Maxence.
He sighed and hugged her more closely. “This is not how I pictured this moment.”
She slipped her arms around his waist, and Maxence closed his eyes.
Arthur and Casimir made their way over to him, picking a path between the nobles still sitting on the marble floor in shock.
Max looked up at where they stood. “I’m sorry I got you two into this.”
Casimir shrugged, and Arthur said, “Don’t be. It’s the most fun I’ve had in months. Don’t tell the girls, though.”
His pocket emitted the low tone of a cell phone vibrating.
“Ah, too late. She has better intelligence sources than I do.” Arthur moved away to take the call.
Lady Valentina walked over and sat beside Maxence on the dais. She rested her elbows on her knees and said, “You’ll be a great prince, Maxence. This may seem like an inauspicious beginning, but the two of you saved Monaco. Every person in this room owes you their life and their loyalty. If Marie-Therese had machine-gunned us, France would have invoked their treaty rights and refused to recognize her, which means French tanks would’ve rolled through our streets. Or, more likely, French tax bills would have arrived in our mail.”
Maxence nodded.
Lady Valentina patted his knee, almost affectionately. “You’ll do splendidly. You already were. And just think, it’s only for the rest of your life.”
When she left, Maxence just sat beside Dree, blinking.
She squeezed her arms around his waist. “Areyouokay?”
He shrugged. “It’s only for the rest of my life,” he repeated.
“You can tell them no,” she said, cuddling closer. “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. We can still go to New York or Paris and live out our lives privately if you don’t want to be the sovereign.”
He shook his head. “I was born for this. Though my uncle didn’t teach me as much as he did Pierre, I’m one of the few people in the world who has been prepared to be a sovereign. I already have thirty years of plans whirling around in my head, land reclamation projects, social programs, and using our influence in the UN to combat global warming. I’ve never been accused of not thinking big enough. I used to press Pierre to be appointed as Monaco’s UN delegate so I could be a part of the world’s solutions, but Pierre wanted me out of the picture, one way or another.” Maxence turned, his heart refusing to beat. “Are you all right with it for the rest ofyourlife?”
Dree’s pretty little frown would have been amusing at any other time. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
