“It was the best way I could think of to try and find my dad again,” I finally say.
Friedrich is sitting on the other side of his father, who is next to me. He’s stopped eating and leans in a little closer. We’ve never talked about my father before. “And did you? Find him, I mean.”
“It took a little time. He didn’t reconnect with his family when he returned.”
The prince’s gaze is now unwavering. “But you were able to reconnect with him?”
“In a way. But relationships are rarely ever the sameafter something like that.” I return to my meal, and the queen senses the need to turn the conversation.
“My husband tells me you work for Dietrich Maier and his wife. How is dear Rebecca? She and Fritz were such close companions as children, you know?”
Thankful we’ve left my family life behind, I’m more than happy to talk about my found family. I fill in Queen Jacqueline on the goings-on in the Maier home. After all my time with Friedrich and watching him interact with people, I shouldn’t be amazed at her memory of people who many would think well below her noticing. Yet, the queen asks about the children by name and recalls information like she speaks with the Maiers daily.
“And what plans do you have for the future, Miss Sumner?” the king asks from my other side.
“My hope is to stay with the Maiers until the children are too old for a nanny.”
“I always found it so difficult to hand any of mybébésoff to a nanny,” the queen says with a wistful look in her eyes.
“Yet you were more than happy to send us all away to boarding school at the tender age of thirteen,” Claus calls from further down the table. The hint of sarcasm in his voice is softened by the playful smile he shoots his mother. I can only imagine the trouble he must have gotten himself into as a child with a grin like that.
“Do not pin that on me, my son,” the queen defends. “That was all your father’s doing.”
The king gives a noncommittal shrug. “The sooneryou lot were out of our house, the sooner I could have your mother all to myself.” He raises his eyebrows suggestively.
All their children make fake gagging noises and roll their eyes. I can’t help but laugh at their antics. It’s surprising to find how close they are as a family. I always imagined growing up in the spotlight, with a father always being pulled in one direction or another and spending so much time apart would have strained their relationships. But the banter and laughter and ease around the table makes my chest constrict and my eyes begin to prickle. In spite of being the most powerful, influential, busiest family in the country, these people truly adore one another.
