Lucky Charm (Reverse Fairytales Book 2)(25)

“What, exactly, is he saying?”

“He’s saying that you are having an affair with a kitchen hand. It’s a huge scandal. I don’t know how you are going to recover from it. I wouldn’t have believed it if you’d not told me yourself last night that it was a kitchen hand that helped you escape” She wrung her hands as she fretted, dancing from one foot to another. Ever my nanny, she abandoned her hand-wringing long enough to hand me a hairbrush.

I brushed through my knotted tangle of hair, wishing I’d had a chance to brush it before getting into bed the night before. “I’m not having an affair with anyone,” I replied, making sure not to look her in the face as I said it. Ok, so technically I was speaking the truth. I’d made it very clear to Cynder that nothing could happen between us, but she would see right past my words right into my heart.

“You were seen in his company, Charmaine. Someone saw the pair of you ride off from the Thalian palace together on a black horse.”

“I told you I was in his company. Had I not been, I’d probably be lying dead in a morgue in Thalia right now. Did they also see the man who shot at me as Cynder was saving my life, because I’m pretty sure it was Pittser. The man is a high up member of a group called the Magi Death Squad whose main ambition in life is to see me dead.”

Jenny’s hands flew up to her mouth. “Did someone really shoot at you? I thought you were just so exhausted from the journey back that you were delirious. Then when I saw the news this morning...well I thought that it might be true.”

“Thanks for your vote of confidence,” I replied, pulling a pair of shoes on. “What exactly is the press making of it all?”

Jenny answered by running up to me and hugging me tightly, almost suffocating me in her massive cleavage.

“I knew you wouldn’t have hurt poor Luca. Oh, I hope you get the chance to see him before he hears any more from the press.”

In my exhaustion and haste to get to bed the previous night, I’d completely forgotten about Luca. There was no doubt in my mind that he’d be on his way back to Silverwood right now and any hope that he’d not see the papers or TV was ridiculous. If Jenny was right and it was all over the news, it would be broadcast in Thalia too. If he’d not already seen it, he soon would.

“I’m having a shower. Can you round up all the papers you can find including any from Thalia if you can get them and then set up a press conference for this afternoon at one pm? Tell them not to send Frederick Pittser.”

“You’re going to talk to them?” asked Jenny in astonishment.

“Do I really have any choice? You’d better instruct Xavi to be ready for me in thirty minutes. I’m going to need her help.”

Jenny raised her eyebrows but didn’t argue. “I hope you know what you are doing, child.”

“So do I, Jenny. So do I.”

At one pm precisely, I stepped out onto a hastily built stage that had been erected in the front garden. Hundreds of reporters and photographers had turned up to get a glimpse of the queen who had managed to mess up so badly in her first week. Although the grounds weren’t opened to the public for the occasion, I could still see hundreds of people standing outside the gates watching from afar. It reminded me of last year when I was constantly being brought in front of the cameras to pick a husband, except now, I didn’t hear cheers from the crowd. Instead, there was a collective boo as I made my way onto the stage. I could hear them shouting, and I was thankful I was too far away to hear what it was they had to say.

I’d asked that Frederick Pittser not be allowed onto the grounds, and, to my relief, I couldn’t see him anywhere. Instead, Jenny had picked a woman to do the main interview. The bespectacled lady stood to greet me as I walked across the makeshift stage. Her hair was a nutty brown color with a hint of grey at the temples, and she had a warm smile. She dressed in the same smart way all interviewers did, but she wore a large red bloom in her lapel. There was no malice in her expression at all. I warmed to her immediately as she shook my hand.

“Welcome, Your Majesty, and thank you for agreeing to speak to us today. I’m guessing that this is going to be a difficult interview for you, so I just want you to take your time, ok?” She reminded me of a kindly old lady, although she looked to only be in her early fifties.

“No doubt, you’ve seen the news this morning,” she began. “The people of the kingdom of Silverwood want to know if there is any truth to it.”

“I have seen the news, and I have to admit to being very saddened by it. There was a time that the papers had to print facts, not conjecture. Sensationalist stories have always sold papers, but this is the first time I’ve seen them sold on total gossip and fabrication.”

“So you are saying that you aren’t having an affair?”

“I chose Prince Luca of Thalia to be my husband last year, and nothing has changed in that respect. You all saw him walking me down the cathedral aisle last week at my coronation, and you’ll see him do the same at our wedding. The man that is in the papers was a member of staff here in the palace for a while before he moved to Thalia last year to begin a job there. I can honestly say I had no knowledge of him working there before I went to visit.”

“So, you are admitting you know him?”

“Yes. I know all my staff. It doesn’t mean I’m having an affair with them.”