The Valois-Montevor royal that impressed me most is Max’s grandmother Gertrude. She’s profoundly melancholic but also a hoot. I can see where Max gets his charisma from.
Her father, Prince Richard VIII had worked behind the scenes to save a bunch of French monuments. Apparently, he was the one who persuaded General Dietrich von Choltitz of Germany to ignore Hitler’s orders in 1944. Basically, Richard VIII saved Paris from being blown into “a field of ruins” by the Nazis, and let others take the credit for it.
Gertrude tried to kill herself when the Notre-Dame cathedral burned, blaming herself for being unable to prevent the fire. When the doctors revived her, the family kept vigil for weeks and took turns at her bedside. They kept reminding her of all the disasters she had prevented with the help of MINDFUCH’s intervention squad, such as when Maoists tried to dynamite Versailles as a punishment for its opulence, Islamists who wanted to bomb the Eiffel Tower as a punishment for its immodesty and heritage purists trying to blow up the Louvre Pyramid for its modernity…
She didn’t recover her joie de vivre until the French president decided that Notre-Dame spire and roof would be rebuilt exactly as they were, and the restoration kicked off.
The other thing I’ve been contemplatingis how Mount Evor has been able to keep its existence a secret for such a long time.
Apparently, the principality was nearly swallowed by France under Louis XIV. But the king’s entourage swayed him to let it be as long as it bankrolled the king’s campaigns and protected the relics in its royal chapel. Louis XV threw into the contract an obligation for Mount Evor to protect the jewels of the French heritage from the kingdom’s enemies.
After the Paris Commune burned down the Tuileries Palace, Mount Evor was asked to also protect the French heritage from the French themselves.
But what really allowed the principality to survive as a sovereign country, albeit under French tutelage, was that throughout its troubled history, Europe needed a sanctuary territory where the safety of financial transactions was guaranteed. Switzerland is the one everyone knows of. Mount Evor is for the initiated only.
Everyone I talked to in Mount Evor is a fervent royalist.D’oh.
That being said, they sincerely believe that the surviving monarchies are the only thing that stands between freedom and plutocracy. Every Evorian I talked to said that the institution of monarchy is what keeps the world from being completely dominated by a handful of power-hungry magnates elected by no one.
Their words, not mine.
To which I typically remarked that the royal dynasties weren’t elected by anyone, either. To which they invariably countered that the royals, tied to a land and to a people,careexactly as much as the magnatesdon’t.
At which point, I always gave up and changed the topic.
I may be a born and raised French egalitarian, but I’mno zealot. You don’t serve vegan steaks to livestock farmers if you want to be their friend.
When I finally reach Max’s apartments in the South Wing, Chloe is waiting for me by the door. Chloe is a lady’s maid who’s been assigned to help me with everything during my stay, and to teach me some royal etiquette. Almost everybody cuts me a lot of slack. Being a first-time guest at the palace and of the country, they don’t expect me to know the rules. But I’ve tried to learn a few so I wouldn’t make too many gaffes. Especially in front of Theodor.
Max’s older brother, the scary Crown Prince Theodor, is the only Valois-Montevor that hasn’t been friendly, benevolent, or even indifferent to me. He’s been unwelcoming.
“The reigning prince would like to see you and Prince Maximilian in an hour,” Chloe informs me.
“Are you sure it’s both Max and me?”
“I believe that His Most Serene Highness would like to personally thank you for helping Max retrieve the first key.” She leans toward me before adding, “I heard he has something special for you.”
Her thrilled expression and the gleam in her eyes prompt me to smile. “I love presents!”
She produces a torrent of gleeful claps, which is more than my inner cynic can bear.
I shuffle closer to her. “Do you think I could ask for a gift card instead?”
She draws back, appalled.
I burst out laughing.
Her posture relaxes with relief. “It was a joke. You make jokes with such a serious face, Lucie, that I can never tell. You should play poker.”
An image of me playing strip poker with Max forms in my mind.
“That’s a great idea!” I say to Chloe.
She beams, stoked. “I have prepared two outfits appropriate for the occasion and laid them out on the bed. You can pick the one you like better. Do you require my help getting dressed?”
“They aren’t some tricky ball gowns, are they?”
She shakes her head.
