Foreign Affairs ❥ lrh

Chapter Three: Cordially Invited

Violet hadn't spoken to anyone about the Royal Family since she'd gotten home other than a 40 minute conversation with Michael two days ago, before he had gone home to Crys. Sage had been working incredibly long hours and Violet's parents would still be in Vancouver on business until later that night after Violet and Sage would be back from the gallery opening. It was driving her mad; six thousand square feet of empty space was simply too much for a single person. It didn't help that her brain was on the verge of imploding, either. For the past twelve hours, she had been sitting at her desk in the study poring over every word in all of the magazines and newspapers she'd brought back from La Gracía. She thanked the heavens above for remembering to get them before they boarded their flight because there was no way they would've been able to find these resources anywhere else.

As the paragraphs droned on and on, Violet understood more and more all of the rules they'd been given. And why the Royal Family jumped at the opportunity to have a new lens of international interest and coverage, almost regardless of who was doing the writing.

As it turns out, the engagement between Prince Luke of La Gracía and Duchess Valentina of Whindchester was very real and was signed by both families in a 1989 strategic military effort to protect both minuscule territories since neither had their own army. The Australian government certainly wasn't a fan of the idea but didn't attack either of them, on the grounds that it involved the second prince not the first, in line for the throne; they used the old fashioned and cold logic of "the heir and the spare."

That's all Prince Luke was born to be. Just the spare.

Unlike his brother, Prince Ashton wasn't required to marry any specific person, and from her research, it didn't seem like he had anyone in mind either. He'd been seen leaving restaurants and hotels with a few different faces here and there, but usually he was photographed unaccompanied by anyone other than his security guards and occasionally Bella. Violet knew there was nothing between them so those rumors, which had laced themselves into two of the articles she'd read, were DOA.

She stretched her arms high in the air over her head and let out an unstifled yawn as she leaned over the back of the lilac velvet upholstery covering her office chair. As she did, her scrunchie slid another inch so she pulled it out and shook her hair free and left it down. Her desk was cluttered in her tape recorder, handwritten notes, a muffin wrapper, two empty cans of Diet Coke, every single magazine and newspaper they'd brought back, and some extra bits she'd had faxed over to her when she got home.

It felt like her scalp was bruised; the amount of hours she'd abused it by just continuing to tighten up her buns and ponytails without a break in the past two days was reaching a record high. She took a deep breath and ran her hands through her hair. Counting down from four, three, two, one... she exhaled all the way and readjusted her posture to look at the clock. She hadn't left herself the usual amount of time to get ready, but she definitely had enough to be presentable.

After spending 20 minutes shuffling through various outfits, she ended up in a cream colored mini dress, black stilettos, simple diamond earrings and bold red lipstick. She fixed her hair in a long, pearl hair clip and wrapped a black ribbon around to cover any tangles. All the while she thought of the rumors. The number of women Prince Ashton slept with, the number of nights Prince Luke and Duchess Valentina slept apart, the hands-off approach Queen Lizabeth had toward governing and whether her son could do any better...

Violet went to the phone and dialed Pablo to let him know she was on her way down, to which he responded that the car was already running and waiting at the doors. She thanked him and hung up, stopping to wrap herself in her favorite Marc Kaufman white fox fur jacket, grab her favorite cherry red YSL mini purse and her walkman on her way out.