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“I have plenty of beer.” He opens a full-sized refrigerator hidden inside an antique armoire. I remember my mother complaining to my father when Eddie had the carpenters tear the family heirloom apart, but the Grand Duchess approved, so there was nothing to be done. “I also have Limonade and a full liquor cabinet if you prefer mixed drinks.” He opens another cabinet to display a staggering number of bottles.
“Only lemonade?” Eva grabs a bottle of spiced rum, then slides the others around, searching. “Grenadine, perfect. If you have fruit juice and Sprite, I make a mean tropical punch.”
“Limonade means any fizzy drink, like soda.” I join Eva at the fridge and unearth a bottle of 7Up. “Will this work?”
She glances at the beverage, then leans forward to dig through the massive collection of beer and soft drinks. “It’s not quite the same, but it will work for punch. Ha! Pineapple. If I’d known we were going to have a party, I would have looked for mango juice in the store.”
“I doubt any place in Freiberg sells mango.” Hans squeezes between us to grab a local Dunkelweizen.
“I can get mango!” Eddie picks up the house phone before anyone can stop him and demands mango juice. He repeats the demand three times, then hangs up without saying thank you. “They don’t have it in the kitchen.” His tone implies this is a major failing of the kitchen staff.
“No, no! We don’t need it!” Eva waves her free hand at Eduard. “I like how it tastes in this drink, but there are tons of variations. We’ll do it with orange and pineapple.” She carries her armful of bottles to the small dining table.
Eduard has to call down to the kitchen again to get a bowl big enough. Eva and Lina find a cutting board and knives, then slice the oranges they found in the bottom of the fridge—fresh and unblemished. Knowing my cousin’s eating habits, I have to assume the kitchen staff rotates his supply of fruit and vegetables regularly.
A knock sounds at the big double doors to the suite, and Eddie hollers, “Enter!”
A uniformed man swings the double doors open, then rolls in a cart carrying a huge crystal punch bowl and a dozen matching glasses. A large glass ladle sits on a red cloth napkin. The man rolls the bowl into the room and asks if he should leave it on the cart or move it to the table.
“Leave it.” Eddie doesn’t look away from the huge television screen as he scrolls through a movie service.
The man bows and retreats.
“This is insane!” Eva wipes her hands on a napkin and pulls out her phone to take a selfie with Lina and the punch bowl. They snap a couple of different poses. “Boys, get in here!”
Hans hurries up behind the two girls, putting an arm around each of them. Lina giggles and throws a flirty look over her shoulder at him.
Eva twists around. “Teo! Eduard, come over here!”
“I’m trying to find the perfect movies.” Eddie throws the remote down and shoves up out of the deep couch.
Before Eddie can take my spot, I slide in on Eva’s other side and put an arm around her like Hans did. Eddie stomps over, looks at the group, then pushes in front of me, crouching between Hans and Eva. He leans back against Eva, and she staggers.
“Dude, you’re going to push us all over,” Hans complains.
Eddie glares. “Dude?”
“Come on, guys, just scoot in.” Eva angles the phone, trying to get all of us in the picture. When she’s satisfied, she takes a number of shots, telling us to change poses between. Lina and Hans mug with the unsliced oranges and the rum bottle. Eddie shoulders Hans out of the way and crowds in beside Eva. I try to look like I’m having a good time, but I probably look constipated.
After a few minutes, Eva drops her phone back into her pocket. “Get out of the way. This punch won’t make itself.”
Lina looks up from her phone. “Hey, you royals are okay with us posting these, right?” Her gaze flits from me to Eddie who has returned to the couch.
Eddie waves a hand as he continues scrolling with the other. “Just make sure you tag me. My handle is @FreibergDuke.”
Lina rolls her eyes at Eddie’s back, then turns to me. “Teo?”
“I don’t have any online accounts.”
“Why not?” Eva drops her knife and pulls her phone out again. “I used to follow you on SnapChat, and I noticed you dropped off my feed. I wondered if you blocked me, but no one else could find your account either.” She flushes a little as she admits she looked for me.
I savor the little curl of warmth that admission brings me. “I deleted my personal accounts. I have the business account, but I don’t want personal pictures on there.” Eddie and Andela have official accounts, but I’m pretty sure they’re managed by the palace PR folks. They probably have private accounts, too. When I turned twenty-one, the PR office told me I’d have to hand my accounts over to them, so I deleted them instead. I rarely posted, and I can keep up on what others are doing through the Feltz Ornaments account.
The same uniformed staff member delivers a stack of pizzas a few minutes later. They’re in Pizza Napoli boxes, so the kitchen must have outsourced Eddie’s order to Freiberg’s most popular Italian restaurant. The smell is heavenly. Eva joins Eddie on the couch, and I take a plush armchair. Lina and Hans sprawl on the thick carpet. Eddie pulls up an action movie—which Hans complains about—but the Hereditary Grand Duke doesn’t offer to switch.
At the end of the movie, when Eddie disappears into the bathroom, Lina slaps Hans’s shoulder. “You’d better tone down the attitude. Duke Eduard is going to have your head chopped off.”
We all laugh, but I make a face at Hans. “He is a bit prickly. You might want to?—”
