Royal Holiday Romance: The Christmas Queen

3 - Henrik

Henrik narrowed his eyes at the bartender, as if seeing her for the first time. Her hair was pulled into a braid that fell to her waist. Her eyes were large and dark, rimmed with long eyelashes. Her warm, brown skin seemed to glow, even as the winter season was setting in.

It would be a lie to suggest he had not noticed her lips earlier when she refused to show appropriate deference to his title - they were full with a sharp cupid's bow - but they were particularly distracting now, pressed into a tight, defiant line.

She raised her chin almost imperceptibly under his scrutiny and he found himself restraining the sort of withering stare he reserved for errant footmen.

"You?" Josef broke the silence with a quiet question.

"I wrote three letters to His Majesty earlier this year." Her voice hinted at contempt as she used his title, which did not accord with the contents of the letters. They had been supportive of the Monarchy, and of Henrik in particular.

The first was an impassioned philosophical essay, emphasizing the need for the monarchy to balance its traditional historic duties with a more modern approach that valued equality and embraced the diversity of all of Wynterra's communities. It is in this spirit, the letter had concluded, that I presume to write to my Prince and future King.

The second had thanked him for a speech he gave recognizing the efforts of community organizers to respond to a flood that damaged property and left families homeless. It went on to detail options for implementing an expanded relief package that advocated for temporary housing in large estates and manor houses that were largely empty. He had not bothered to share that one with the Queen or her Council, knowing exactly what the noble classes would think of their homes being opened to the urban poor.

The last had come on the heels of the Queen's announcement. A treatise on modern social reform initiatives being implemented in other kingdoms, in the guise of a congratulations. It displayed an exuberance that moved it from the realm of intriguing correspondence to innovative advice.

And all of them had been sealed with the emblem of the Earl of the Meadows.

The fact that such egalitarian views had been championed by an Earl had made them notable - they struck a different chord than did the progressive critics, or the condescending advice of the royal courtiers.

If they were the rantings of a commoner...

"The letters bore the mark of a noble," Henrik heard himself saying before he could temper how patronizing he sounded.

"I can read and write, you know," Rani lowered her voice. "Despite my low birth."

"That is not what I meant," Henrik felt his cheeks warm. He looked between her and Reginald, and felt his heart sink at the truth of it. Between the two of them, it was not the slow-witted drunk that would be capable of writing a liberal missive. He changed his tack: "They were sealed."

"We have an arrangement," Rani said.

Henrik frowned at Reginald. "You allowed this misuse of your house's seal?"

Reginald looked up at Henrik with watery eyes. "It is how I settle my tab."

Josef smiled. "Creative."

Henrik glared at his brother. "Illegal. I think. If it's not, it should be." He turned back to Rani. "But they were written by hand," Henrik enumerated on his fingers, "with a fountain pen, on expensive paper."

Rani crossed her arms, making it difficult for Henrik to keep his eyes off of the low neckline of her shirt. "Perhaps you are unaware of the value of a dollar, but I can afford stationary."

Henrik frowned. It wasn't what he meant at all. In fact, it was becoming more and more difficult for him to find the right way to express how shocked and confused he was. He was expecting to find a quiet, thoughtful Earl who eschewed attention. Instead, he was engaged in a heated, whispered argument in a public place with a firebrand of a woman who would never enter his social circle, let alone get to speak to him, otherwise.

"If you mean to insult my intelligence, I must remind you that I was educated in the public school system that your family governs," Rani didn't miss a beat. "Your Highness."

"On the contrary, the one who has been insulted is I. You have both conspired to dupe me." Henrik's voice was a quiet but harsh reprimand. "Though it may fall short of treason, I must ask what your aim was. I cannot accept the Earl as an advisor given his..." Henrik waved a hand in the air. "State. And I cannot invite you to join, as you are..."

"A commoner?"

"And a woman."

Rani licked her lips. "When you are King," she ventured, "You can change that."

"Not before the coronation," Henrik said.

"Right, right," Josef interrupted, clapping his brother heartily on the back. Henrik blinked at the sudden contact, realizing that he had been staring at her lips again.

Was it wrong to be attracted to her?

Now that he had met her and faced her brazen wit, he recognized an undercurrent of defiance. And God help him, obedient public servant as he was - he found her impertinence sexy.

He could almost hear his favorite sentences from her letters in the unique lilt of her voice. I have been told wisdom lies between the ideals of philosophers, and the realism of scientists.

"I think we all agree that the whole Advisory Council idea is a no-go," Josef paused, "Until the law is changed."

"Agreed," Henrik and Rani said at the same time, and then exchanged a leery look.

"Yes, quite," Reginald sniffled loudly.

"And you feel strongly about the ideas espoused in your letters?"

"Yes," Rani said, in a low but heated voice that sent a chill up Henrik's neck.

"And brother, you must still meet the Queen's final requirement before you can proceed with your," he hedged carefully, "foreign policy plans."

"Yes," Henrik said slowly, remembering the sting of the Queen's rejection of his marriage to Celine.

"Well that settles it, then!" Josef clapped his hands together. "Congratulations, lovebirds. You're getting married!"