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“Sorry, just sitting up properly,” he apologised. “You do? You are ready?”
I could have gotten into everything strange with Celeste or that things were messy. I could have explained that I was defending Alexandra’s honour in a chivalrous way that surprised even me. Instead, I took the easy way out.
“I think it is a slam dunk and we need to make a move. Alexandra is totally on board and her grandmother has offered up her late mother’s ring. I think it’s a go.”
“Well, I will work on a release with the press office. I am proud of you, son. Well done for getting yourself out of a jam. But need I remind you?—”
“Don’t fuck it up again. Yeah, yeah,” I said.
“Alexandra is alright then?”
“She’s very well, Dad. Extremely well. We are getting to know one another. Becoming friends, even. She’s a nice person. I think I got off on the wrong foot with her. These people are boring, but she and her sisters are not. The younger ones are sweet, and she and Astrid are great fun. It’s not bad. I never had sisters. It’s nice to inherit some.”
“Are you running a fever?” Pappa asked.
“Nah, I’m hopeful I’ve made it out alive. Things will settle the minute the wedding band is firmly on Alexandra’s finger. Everyone will get their happy ending.”
Everyone but us, I feared.
Seventeen
Alexandra
“Do not try me,” Celeste said. “Do not trifle me! I know what you are up to, and you are playing a risky game!”
Celeste waited until we were far from Rick to start. She was in a serious mood. I wanted so badly for Rick to kiss me and hoped he might come and rescue me. Still, there was no hope. He had no idea how angry she could be. She’d work on starving me for the next week or send me to my room without reprieve. It was always the same. I was biding my time before I could be free. Even if I didn't submit, I knew fighting did little good.
“Do you know what happens to women who go to bed with men? Do you know what happens?”
“Grand-Mama, I was not doing anything. He was teaching me to dance, which I need to know how to do! I must be able to dance at my wedding.”
“We’ll see if we even get that far. You hope he has your best interest in mind!”
I sighed, frustrated.
“He will get you pregnant, leave you, and take your virtue. It will destroy our family. His will remain just fine because he’s a man. You don’t understand it. He has you under some spell. Wait until the wedding night. No more kissing him!”
“Grand-Mama, if I am to marry him, should we not be close? So what if he kisses me? Won’t he have to do much more on the wedding night?”
“We will talk about that when the time comes!”
“Grandmother, I know what sex is!”
She looked angry.
“Listen to me, Alexandra. You are a little minx as your mother was, aren’t you? She and your father never struggled in that area. He always chose her because she had him wrapped around her little finger. That’s good for you. You have beguiled Rikard. However, you are playing with fire running around with him unchaperoned.”
“I will do as I please! If you don’t believe me, put me on the pill. I would gladly take it!”
A look of pure hatred spread across Celeste's face. The pill was a badge of honour. By taking it, I'd buck all religious conventions and suggest to Celeste I refused to fall pregnant right away. It was me asserting my independence. She wanted none of that. That I had even genuinely solicited Rick’s attention surprised both of us. Celeste found it offensive, but it thrilled me.
She wound up, ready to strike me when a voice spoke from the void.
“If you hit her, she’ll have a bruise, and you won’t be able to cover it,” it said. “Bad for the pictures, yes?”
It was Astrid. She, Odette, and Ingrid stood there, pyjama-clad with crossed arms. They were all here to back me up. Celeste found herself outnumbered.
“And if his family finds out she’s damaged goods, it will cause suspicion.”
