By the time he had his shirt tucked in and trousers secured, she'd left his belt where he could easily grasp it and moved to the area of the closet with his shoes.
"Do you have any preferences?" she asked as she looked them over.
"The second shelf, far right." He always wore those with this suit. Fortunately, they didn't even need to be tied. As he maneuvered his feet into them, Victoria held the jacket for him to slip his arms in.
Tugging on the sleeves to straighten them, he looked back at her. "That was quick." A glance at his watch told him they still had a minute before they actually needed to leave the suite. "We work well together."
A genuine smile crossed her face. "I suppose we do." She reached up to brush a bit of his hair back into place.
They did walk a little faster than strictly necessary as they made their way through the palace and arrived at the outer office with enough time to gather themselves.
The Director of Public Relations entered a minute before they would need to step into the public eye together for the first time. "Your Majesties." She greeted them with a curtsy. "Good morning. Do you have any questions before you enter the garden?"
"I don't think so." Enzo gave her a nod. "We've been over the official story. It's close enough to the real story that it doesn't matter." Only a few minor details would be changed.
"Very well. Then whenever you're ready. The press is waiting." She tipped her head then moved to the side, allowing them through.
Once again, Enzo offered his arm to Victoria.
When they rounded the corner and came into view of the press, he could see their eyes widen as they realized the announcement was coming from both of them.
They stopped on the mark Enzo knew by heart though it wasn't visible to anyone else.
"Good morning," he started, talking not only to those gathered, but the people beyond. "Before anything else, on behalf of my family, I would like to thank all of you for your support over the last week-and-a-half. I would not wish the loss of a loved one on anyone, but the outpouring of love made it a little more bearable."
He took a breath. "As often happens in life, news comes in pairs - both good and bad. Prior to my mother's passing, we were able to share with her our joyous news. Princess Victoria of Southern Santiero and I chose each other. We were wed in a small ceremony several weeks ago. I was able to introduce Victoria to Mum as my wife, and she was able to share briefly in our joy before her passing."
From the looks on the faces of the reporters gathered, only their professionalism kept them from gasping out loud.
"As my wife, Victoria is now Queen Consort of Dellisole. As a matter of logistics, she has unofficially removed herself from the line of succession in her homeland where she holds the fourth spot in line after her eldest brother, King Frederick."
Covering the hand gripping the inside his elbow with his own, he continued. "Due to the nature of my mother's illness, and that she wouldn't likely live to see us wed otherwise, we forewent most traditional wedding customs. In due time, we will observe some of those traditions, but for now, we simply want to share our good news with the rest of you."
"Congratulations!" The call came from several of those gathered.
"We will answer a few questions but reserve the right to pass on any of them." He gave his trademark crooked grin, the one he was known for, and the reporters laughed.
"How did you meet?" One of the royal correspondents for the local station asked the first question.
He looked down at Victoria who smiled at him and answered before he could. "I believe we first met when I was four and you were... six? Something like that. Our paths crossed any number of times since."
"Queen Victoria, you haven't been seen in years until a few weeks ago. Can you tell us where you've been?" The use of her name and title was encouraging, but the question was one he knew she didn't want to answer.
"That is a question best saved for another time." Victoria's diplomatic answer impressed him. They hadn't discussed it ahead of time.
They answered a few more innocuous questions then gave a final wave and turned to go back inside.
At least that was over.
10
In the two days since their announcement, Victoria hadn’t heard anything negative about her marriage to Enzo.
She didn’t spend much time online trawling around to see what was being said, but she did have a new assistant who did that for her - and the PR office would have said something if there was an issue.
A solo engagement would be her first foray into the public and would give her a good idea how this was going to go. The events she’d attended prior to the late queen’s funeral had a veneer of politeness that came from not understanding why she was in Dellisole.
As she walked through the front door of the retirement community, Victoria found herself greeted by a man who bowed then shook her outstretched hand.
