“Excuse me?”He shot to his feet, toppling his tea all over the gold emblem on the royal carpet.“We’re what?”
“We’re cousins, MP Fickle.Here’s what I propose.”
* * *
“Stone, I’m in the village of Dalholm as they prepare for the Rose Ball and I’ve never seen such excitement.Nor have the shopkeepers.The mayor tells me this level of tourism and excitement is unprecedented.The weather is fabulous, and shops are open round the clock with free wine, food, and music.String lights crisscross Centre Street from one end to another joining the Old and New Hamlet.The hotels are booked.When I inquired about a room, I was asked if I wanted to join a two-week queue.Something is going on in Dalholm.I just don’t know what, but it feels… Fabulous.”
— Melissa Faris, Royal Reporter, the Morning Show
* * *
“Anyone?Belly of the Beast?There’s a queue!Wells Line to Centre Street.Tables on quay.Ernst, fish, chips!”
— @Dalholm Daily Twitter
* * *
“The Cross PF Youth Football League made tourney play for the first time in twenty years.They bested Club Football at Port Fressa with winger Finn Cross scoring the winning goal.”
— The News Leader Sports RoundUp
* * *
“On the eve of the Rose Ball, the Chamber Office announced Lady Royal will be wearing an original gown designed by Kimbra with a cape from our own Eloise Ltd.What a win from the designer and shop owner in the Midlands who lost in a land deal three years ago.Can’t wait to see the gown but more excited to see the cape.”
— @RoyalWatcherOne
* * *
“I’ve been thinking, my fellow patriots.Her Royal Highness Princess Scottie has a nice ring to it.”
— MP Hamish Fickle on X.com
* * *
“As a final note tonight on News @6:00, servers went down all over Lauchtenland when MP Fickle posted on X.com he thought Lady Royal, the queen’s secret daughter, might make an excellent HRH Princess.We reached out to his office for comment but they’ve yet to respond.”
— Perry Copperfield, Cable News PF
Chapter Twenty-three
Scottie
It was true.There were places on earth reflecting heaven.Or at least a slice of it.Tonight, that place was Hadsby Castle’s Glorious Ballroom—so dubbed by Princess Clemency after the room had been restored from a fire in the 1860s—and now Scottie O’Shay from Hearts Bend, Tennessee, walked in the midst of it all.
Tonight, in this magical place, she allowed herself to feel like a princess in her purple layered gown with the fitted bodice and handsewn embroidery, complemented by Eloise’s velvet cape with the Snow White collar.Choko set a delicate House of Blue diamond tiara in Scottie’s updo, pairing it with a sapphire pendant and earrings from her mother’s personal collection.
“They were my grandmother’s,” Kate said, her voice soft when she settled the necklace on Scottie.“One day, they will be yours.”
Kate’s declaration awakened something in Scottie.The truth of who she was and perhaps, who she’d always been.
Last night, the family had dined with a changed Hamish Fickle, his parents, and sister.He arrived at the dinner clothed in gratitude.
Queen Catherine of Lauchtenland changed the fate and history of the Fickle family with her wisdom, embracing the truth and correcting wrongs.
While they lingered for hours over an eight-course meal, Dad called twice.By the time Scottie noticed, she was falling into bed, exhausted.
She awoke late this morning, hurrying off to brunch with the family, melting like butter in the hot Tennessee sun when Gus’s daughter, little Princess Mathilde, spotted her and ran into her arms singing, “Auntie.”
