“I’m sorry it’s been like that for you. I’ll be praying you find someone soon.”
A stray thought flitted through her mind.
It wasn’t very surprising given their current situation and the earlier kiss, but it still seemed so far-fetched.
Why couldn’t she be that person?
3
Would he ever find someone?
The thought had been plaguing Frederick for some time.
There had been whispers in the media. He still had several years before turning thirty - not that he could wait that long. He wasn’t exactly an old man, but he was rapidly approaching the customary age for the monarch or heir to be married. It wasn’t a legal thing, but was widely regarded as something that should be legally enforced.
And as the monarch, he was expected to father at least two legitimate children.
Emphasis on two - and on legitimate.
His twin younger brothers were both dating people - out of the limelight. Much easier for them to do so while attending graduate school in the States. The relatively small, but highly exclusive and academically challenging, school was found in Southwest Missouri of all places - not exactly teeming with paparazzi.
His younger sister - the baby of the family - had all but disappeared not long after her eighteenth birthday. She keptin contact with their mum, but only enough to confirm she remained among the living.
Postcards mailed from around the world indicated she was using a passport - but Frederick didn’t know if it was her official one, her legal one with an alternate name, or a fake one.
Christmas and birthday cards arrived every year since her disappearance.
He chose to believe the fairly generic preprinted message was also a heartfelt one - the use of her childhood nickname for him helped with that.
She’d hugged him.
Though it happened less often after his change in status, it hadn’t stopped entirely.
But it had been four years since he’d last seen her. She’d only left a short note to say goodbye, but looking back he remembered her holding on a little tighter and a little longer than normal the last time he’d seen her.
“What are you thinking about?” Elise’s soft voice brought him back to the present.
Her thumb ran along his knuckles, grounding him.
“My siblings. I see my brothers a few times a year, but they’re studying in the States. I haven’t seen my sister since January 2021. I miss her.”
Frederick had never told anyone how he felt about his sister’s disappearance.
“That has to be hard. I can’t imagine how I’d feel if someone I loved voluntarily left and didn’t come back or didn’t stay in touch more than a couple of times a year. Do you have any idea where she is?”
He finally opened his eyes to look at her. The compassion on her face took him by surprise though it shouldn’t have.
“I don’t. Mum might, but if so she hasn’t said. She sends me copies of the postcards she gets once a month or so. I’dbe surprised if Cap doesn’t know, but he’s not saying anything either way. Each card comes from somewhere different. The only continent she hasn’t sent one from is Antarctica.”
“It is a little harder to get there than most places.” The smirk on her face made him smile.
"That is true, but it's not impossible. There are ways." He shifted his hand until his fingers linked with hers.
Her hand curled around his. "I looked into cruises to Antarctica a couple of years ago. They're incredibly expensive. I don't know how much access she has to funds, but it would probably be a challenge unless she has a trust fund or access to a large bank account."
Frederick closed his eyes and tried to think about his sister's financial status. "I'm not certain what she has access to. Mum or Cap might."
"Cap?" Elise asked, her thumb once again rubbing against his skin.
