She nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I will see if we can make that happen.”
I turned back to Erik, “Let’s move you down there with everyone else. It’s basically a kiss and cry… like they have with the ice skating. We do the short interviews. Well, Astrid does. I just sit there and try to look pretty. I’d rather have you closer to me, if that is okay?”
“We’d love to be close to the action!” Erik announced, ever thesocial butterfly.
Hildr appeared nervous, but didn’t debate Erik. She wasn’t going to steal his shine.
Brita returned. “They will move seat fillers in, and we can take them down in a lift. Let’s follow along.”
“Great,” I said. “Let’s go.”
I pushed Mary’s father down to the orchestra pit where a few Swedes waved, probably recognizing him as the national treasure he was. Her father’s notoriety never occurred to me. She downplayed everything about her past. They were humble people, but Erik was a legend in his own right. I noted that Max and his entourage were nowhere to be found, which was curious. All the other committee reps were there.
Rather than put them with the Swedes, I settled them into the British section, taking time to chat with Nate who had been stuck for an eternity without explanation.
“Oh, Christ, good, you’re back!” He hugged me. “You didn’t answer my texts!”
“My assistant has my phone,” I said. “I am on a leash.”
I turned to Erik and Hildr. “Nate, this is Erik and Hildr. Hildr and Erik, this is my brother, Prince Nate.”
“Hi,” Nate said, still confused.
“Erik is Mary’s father. Hildr is her aunt.”
“Oh, the front woman?”
“Yes.”
“You are her brother?” Erik asked, confused, overly familiar.
I wondered if he assumed my family knew about Mary and was about to spill the beans.
“Well, we’re half-siblings, but yes. Our genetic tree is mostly a stick, I think,” Nate joked. “I’m here today, but you’ll get to meet my much more notable older brother, Keir, and his wife, Ingrid, tomorrow.”
“It is nice to meet you,” Erik said. “We appreciate Betty doing this for us. I asked when we arrived, but they kepttalking about the wheelchair and space. It was all a blur getting here.”
“I know,” I said. “I heard you were stranded in Oslo.”
I tried not panicking as I noted that was too familiar. Now, I looked like I knew everything about Erik’s travel plans. Wasn’t that unusual?
If Nate noticed I was being friendly with the opposition, he didn’t respond.
He turned to Erik, “You’reThe Zamboni, right? Which is why they named themselves that?”
Erik puffed his chest. “Of course!”
I left them refocused on sports, returning to my handler to sort this problem with a long-term solution.
I said to Brita, “Tomorrow, Mary Jensson’s family is to be seated with my brother and sister-in-law or I will walk. And the wheelchair? We should prioritize wheelchair users, not isolate them, okay? If that story got out, my uncle would be upset.”
“Yes, Your Royal Highness,” she responded. “I apologize.”
“Well, fix it and we’re good.”
“Your Royal Highness!” Astrid streamed over. “We’re on in five.”
And that was all she wrote. The show was back on sooner than expected. We took our places and picked up where we left off. We read the teleprompter and pretended like the big crash never happened and that my heart wasn’t still backstage with Mary. I went through the motions until I introduced Mary. During the commercial break, we waited for our call as the roadies assembled the Zamboneys’ set.
