God Save the Queen (11 page)

             
I couldn’t believe he just said that. He just jumped over the comfort line and was doing a little dance on the other side. “Produce heirs? Wait what? Okay, we’re done talking about…
this
. Have him stay in another room until we know each other a little better, how’s that?”

             
LaGard pondered on this thought for a moment before nodding.

             
“Fine, I don’t care. Barnes, Antonio, Donnie, bring those bags up to the royal guest room, please.” And with a brush of his hand he shooed them off.

             
Michael told me that he was going to help Donnie, Barnes, and Antonio with his luggage and suggested that maybe I would give him a tour of the castle afterwards. Then he ran off.

             
I sighed as I watched my perfect man make his way down the hall, when I heard a throat being cleared behind me. I turned to see Kevin there, smiling and on the verge of laughter. I shook my head and hid behind my hands before asking, “How much did you hear?”

             
His smile grew a little larger when he replied, “Enough to understand that you hate it when people talk about sex.”

             
The minute he said that word I could feel my body tensing up. It was just such an uncomfortable subject to discuss in front of people you don’t even know. Kevin again started laughing.

             
“It’s really not funny. You think I want to discuss things like that in front of LaGard? NO!” I sighed. “And the fact that Michael said ‘producing heirs’ didn’t help either.”

             
“Oh so that’s what he calls it…
ow!
” My foot had somehow made its way onto Kevin’s foot rather forcefully--one might even have thought I had stomped on it--and he was now hopping on the other foot.

             
“What, did I do that? Clumsy me. Oh, would you look at the time.” I smiled pleasantly and added, “Talk to you later?”

             
A groan of pain escaped from Kevin’s mouth and I took that as a yes.

Chapter 16

Acknowledgements

             
I waited for Michael at the dining room entranceway. I kept going over in my head what I would talk about, and wondering if I had time to change out of the June Cleaver dress and ditch the stupid hat. I was just about to make a run for my room when I felt a hand squeeze my shoulder. I nearly jumped out of my skin and turned to see Michael two inches from my face, looking just as delicious as before.

             
“Hello there!” he said cheerfully, with a wide smile. “Are we all set?”

             
Set for what?
I wondered. Then it came back to me,
Oh, the tour,
and I stepped back and replied rather stiffly, “Yes, I think so, and if we could manage to keep our hands to ourselves for the duration of the tour, that would be appreciated. Thank you.” I turned around and suddenly cringed. That sounded a lot better in my head than it did when I said it. I was glad to hear Michael let out a little laugh to break the tension as we made our way down the hallway.

             
I showed him all of my favorite rooms, Cherub Hall, the Scarlet Room and
La Salle de Délicates, as I now knew French.
After that I decided to show him the palace gardens. We made our way outside and felt the beautiful late autumn day flow over us. The sun was shining and the breeze was just right. The conversation started getting a little slow so I just kind of started pointing out the obvious.

             
“My, the clouds look really fluffy today.” Was that really the best I could up with? Fluffy clouds?

             
Michael nodded then replied with a straight face, “Yes, some of the fluffiest I’ve ever seen. What accounts for the extra fluffiness of the Russian clouds, do you suppose?”

             
I laughed. No question about it, he had a talent for putting people at ease. “It’s a state secret,” I told him. “When I was little, I used to think that there was a factory in the sky that produced all of the clouds. But in first grade, one of my classmates told me that there was no such thing as a cloud maker. So I punched him in the face. Kid went down like a sack of potatoes.” I smiled to myself, remembering those good times.

             
“When I was little,” Michael began, “I’d jump off the porch in hopes of getting on top of one of the clouds. I always wanted to touch one.” He laughed before he said, “I even broke my leg jumping off the roof.”

             
“The roof! You could have killed yourself.”

             
“Kids are more resilient. Their bones are made of rubber.” Then Michael looked up at the sky, eyes narrowed, and said, “What’s that over there?”

             
I turned my head abruptly, expecting to see a skywriting plane or a U.F.O or something worth pointing out. But there was nothing.

             
“I don’t see…” I said, turning back around, but was stopped mid-sentence to see Michael standing there with a daisy in his hand.
              “For you, my dear,” he said, holding it out for me. I took it and again could feel myself blushing. I hated that showed my feelings so openly; some feelings you want to keep to yourself

             
“Thank you,” I whispered. For the first time in my life, my breath had been taken away.

             
As we continued our stroll, I pointed out various flowers and made stuff up about them. And Michael continued to pretend to believe every word that left my mouth.

             
“And that baby’s breath there was planted here during the reign of Ivan the Great. Not to be confused with Ivan the Terrible. They are two completely different people. Perhaps if their parents hadn’t given them those particular names…”

             
“Their parents actually named them Ivan the Terrible and Ivan the Great?”

             
“Yes,” I said, “and is it any wonder Ivan the Terrible turned out to be so terrible?”

“His parents were asking for it, weren’t they?” he said.

I nodded. “If they had just named him Joe the Great or something…”

“You know what I think?” Michael said, leaning in very close to my face. Our noses were almost touching. My instant reaction was to wrinkle up my nose.

              “What?” I asked, trying to resist kissing him right then and there.

             
“I think you’re making it all up.” He straightened up and crossed his arms over his chest.

             
I did the same. “And what if I am? What are you going to do about it?”

             
He stood there and stroked his chin, as though he was actually thinking about what he was going to do about it. “Well, first off, I will start by saying that I am very disappointed in you.” Then he threw me a little look of grave disappointment. “And then…” Again he leaned in, maybe for the kill this time. “I’m going to do this.” I suddenly felt an unexpected breeze on the top of my head, and Michael started running away with my hat.

             
Normally I didn’t partake is such childish behavior. But then I remembered the old playground rule: If a boy teased you, it meant he liked you. Simple as that. Michael was teasing me. That could only mean one thing.

             
“Michael! Give me back my hat!” I giggled as I began chasing him.
              We ran through the walkways and through all of the trees. He almost lost me in the maze as he swerved in and out of each footpath, threatening to throw my hat deeper into the labyrinth--a surefire way to lose it. He gave me one last look of mischief before dashing past me. I turned to see him standing in the middle of the fountain, holding my hat over his head, and smiling.

             
I groaned. “Did you really have to go into the fountain?” I asked, stating the obvious.

             
He nodded.

             
“All right,” I said, reaching out my hand. “Give it back.”

             
He shrugged. “Fine.” He placed the hat in my hands.

             
“Um, thank you…” I was surprised he gave up so quickly. “Now let’s continue…what are you doing!” Michael suddenly grabbed me and pulled me into the fountain next to him.

             
“Oh, like you didn’t want to join me!”

             
“Well actually I wasn’t planning on--”

             
My sentence was cut short by two lips pressing against mine. I was so caught off-guard that I began to fall backwards. But Michael’s arms caught me, pulling me even deeper into his kiss. I felt his fingers running through my hair and I let myself go, submitting to his kisses. We stayed like this for a good two minutes before finally breaking apart. We pressed our foreheads together, just gazing into each others eyes. Nothing else mattered right now, not even the fact that we were standing in a wet fountain freezing our butts off. Then we started laughing.

             
“Um, maybe we should finish our tour,” I suggested.

             
“Sounds like a plan,” he replied as he lifted me up and out of the fountain. We walked back into the palace hand-in-hand.

I finally showed him the Hall of Portraits that I had
discovered only a week ago. I explained how every single tsar of Russia was in this room. And after being silent for so long and listening to me ramble, I was very surprised to hear him pipe up all of a sudden. “So you’ll be joining them here one day?”

             
It was something I hadn’t thought of--that my portrait would be hanging in this room along with the others one day, all dressed up in the finest fabrics and jewels, and wearing the huge crown that was now on display in my room, sitting behind bulletproof glass.

             
“Yeah, I guess so.” I looked at the last portrait of Tsar Nicholas, and wondered how my portrait would look next to it. “You think I’ll look good in the portrait?”

             
I felt an arm drape around my shoulder. I looked up to see Michael looking down at me, his eyes glistening in the light. “They could never capture your beauty. It’s impossible. But even so…” He grabbed my hand, raised it over my head and twirled me, looking me up and down. “I’m sure you’ll look absolutely stunning.”

             
I looked at him and I knew right then and there that he was beyond perfect and he was all mine.

Chapter 17

Giving Thanks

             
Thanksgiving in America came two weeks after Michael’s arrival and I decided that we were going to celebrate it. When LaGard agreed to it I couldn’t have been happier. Not only did I get to have the perfect man beside me as I enjoyed the holiday, but I was also able to have a little taste of home that day. Everyone congregated in the dining hall and for that one night there was a blessed calm over the palace, especially after the meal. The ladies complained of having eaten too much and the men watched some American football on satellite TV. It was actually funny watching Kevin explain the rules to Michael.

             
The next morning though, I found it part of my royal duties to take the remains of our Thanksgiving feast to the local orphanage right down the street. I knew that they had been having financial problems, so I was hoping that this might serve as a kind of fact-finding mission as well. So the next day, Antonio, Barnes, Kevin, Michael and I got up early and made our way to the Children of Mercy Orphanage.

             
Michael sat next to me and was all smiles. “What’re you so happy about?” I asked.

“I
’m anxious to see you work--how you act as a princess.”

             
I laughed and placed my head on his shoulder. “I’m quite different. I try to sound a bit more professional so be ready for that. However, sometimes I don’t sound that way.”

             
We arrived at the orphanage and I was a little shocked at how rundown it really was. It was smaller than I had expected and was in obvious need of renovation. But it wasn’t horrible, and there was definitely a homey feel to it. As the car pulled up I saw a nun making her way over. Kevin, Antonio and Barnes got out and opened the door for me. The minute I stood up from the car I saw the nun take a deep bow.

             
“Your Highness,” she whispered. My visit was a surprise, so she must have been a bit shocked to see me step out of the car. “Sister Tania at your service,” she said. “May I ask the purpose of your unexpected visit?”

             
“We had a Thanksgiving feast last night and had so many leftovers, I thought I’d bring them here to share with the children.” I stretched my hand to Antonio and Barnes, who began taking out the boxes and bags of food from the car.

             
Sister Tania placed her hand over her mouth to muffle her gasp. “Princess, you shouldn’t have…”

             
“Nonsense! I never want anything to go to waste. Please.”

             
Sister Tania nodded. “Thank you, my child, for giving us your good graces. Is there anything I can do for you?”

             
“Yes. I would love to see the children.”

*
              *              *

             
The sounds of children crying, screaming and laughing echoed in the hallway outside Sister Tania’s office. Several children popped out of rooms to look up at us. I wasn’t sure if they knew who we were, but their faces seemed to light up as we smiled and waved at them. The first room we were brought to was the infant room. Their tiny faces were full of curiosity and happiness as we picked up and played with each baby. The next room was full of babies and toddlers between the ages of one and four. A few came over and told Kevin and me to color with them and a few others asked Michael, Antonio and Barnes to join in a tea party.

             
The last room we stopped in was for older children between the ages of five and ten. I knew the minute that we walked in that some of these children knew who I was. We could hear the sibilant whispers of “It’s the Princess!” as I went to the front of the room with a storybook to read to the children. But my plans were steered off with one little hand.

             
I saw the hand fly up the moment I sat down in front of the group. I looked to see a little blonde girl who looked about five staring at me with a puzzled look. I pointed at her and smiled. “Yes, honey, what is it?”

             
In the very direct way that children have she asked, “Why are you here?”

             
I was shocked at the child’s forwardness. Sister Tania tried to hush the child, but I stopped her. “What do you mean?” I asked.

             
“You are a princess. Why are you here? We are orphans. No one cares about us. That is why we are here.”

             
“I care about you,” I said.

             
“Why?”

             
I thought about it for a moment and then I said, “I care because, you may not know this, but I’m an orphan too.”

             
The children’s faces reflected their surprise as I continued: “My parents died when I was very young. However, I had someone who cared about me. My nanny Linda. I was very lucky to have her in my life, so I wanted to show other people that I care, too. And I know how you all feel. I have been there. But now you all know that I care about you. That I am your nanny.”

             
All the children smiled and I was warmed to see their happy faces. I grabbed the book next to me. “Now, may I read you a story?”

             
They all squealed and shouted “Yes!” and I began to read.

*
              *              *

             
After telling the story I went to Sister Tania’s office. She was explaining to me how she wanted to expand the facilities of the orphanage. She wanted to create an orphanage that would be a model of its kind.

             
“I see that as a definite possibility,” I told her. “But the building will have to be renovated. I’m told there is no way that it will pass inspection as it is.”

             
Sister Tania nodded and looked down solemnly. “I do understand, Your Highness. However, it seems that we don’t have the funds in order to meet the regulations.”

             
I smiled and said, “Yes, and that’s the other reason why I’m here. I’ve talked to people at the palace and it seems that we have a bit of a surplus that I’m willing to give to the orphanage for renovations.” I took her hands and squeezed them in mine. “The surplus one million rubles.”

             
Sister Tania let go of my hands and clutched her chest. “Princess, you cannot be serious!”

             
“Would I joke about something like that? I’m sending the money this afternoon. You can begin work tomorrow. I’ve rented out one of the old summer cottages so that you may all have a place to stay as the orphanage is being renovated. I have the top contractors coming to make sure everything is brought up to code. I want these children to be happy and healthy.”

             
“Bless you, dear,” she whispered as she wiped her tears away.

             
I got up from my chair and said, “No, thank you, Sister. I really want to help. Now, I really must be going. But I will make sure that I’m back with the gifts for Christmas…”

             
“Gifts?” Sister Tania questioned.

             
I turned around. “Oh, yes, I’d like to bring the children gifts for Christmas. If that’s all right with you, of course,” I didn’t want to step on her territory.

             
The tears continued as the nun gasped, “My dear, many of these children have never had a Christmas gift in their life. If you were to do that, they would be most grateful.”

             
I nodded and held the weeping nun by the shoulders. “Wonderful! Then I’ll be seeing you in December. Thank you, Sister Tania. I had a wonderful time here today.”

             
Sister Tania nodded, then led me to the entrance of the orphanage where all of the children were lined up to say goodbye. I waved to them all and promised that I would be coming back for a visit. It was just as I was about to open the door that I felt little hands wrapped around my legs. I looked down and saw the little blonde girl who had asked me earlier why I had come. She looked up with her gap-toothed smile and sighed, “Thank you.”

             
I knelt down next to her and gave her a hug. “See,” I said, “I told you I care.”

             
“I like you, Orphan Empress,” she said as I let go. I looked at her and smiled, then she ran off into the crowd of children.

             
I got into the car next to Michael. “How do you do this?” he asked me. “I’m exhausted just from being around all those kids, and I didn’t even do anything.”

             
I shrugged. “You learn how to deal with the fatigue. But it all pays off.”

             
He looked down at me with his beautiful smile, “I can see how. Those children love you now. You know that?”

             
“As long as I’m doing something to help someone, that’s all that matters. Little steps can create big results. A teacher of mine once told me, ‘You don’t need to sprint in order to finish the marathon,’”

             
Michael pulled me close to him and placed his chin atop my head. “That is why, my dear, you are going to be a great ruler.”