by Alex Tryst

Feedback: Drop me a line if you’d like at alextryst@e-scribblers.com.

Dedications: To Alexa, “For it is confronting one’s own beliefs that we truly know ourselves.” My hope for you is that you continue to challenge the beliefs you and others around you have in coming to know who you are. Knowing yourself is the first step to loving yourself, and I know you are well on your way in this lifelong journey. As a side note, the phrase I asked to borrow from you is buried in this book. Enjoy your search for it, if you can even remember what it was. It was the least I could do since you’ve adopted one of mine as a motto of life.

Copyright © June, 2009 by Alex Tryst. All Rights Reserved.

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The sun was shining brightly that afternoon at the Kentucky Derby. Long family tradition dictated that the Washingtons attend the event, and Queen Alexa did her best never to miss it. It was one of the highlights of early summer, and she enjoyed the excursion with her wife and daughters. On this particular day the six of them were able to travel as a family via the royal plane, which was unusual given everyone’s schedules.

At age fifty-three the graying dark-haired queen remained active, providing counsel to the legislature and guiding the country’s policy. She had allowed the country’s Congress more latitude in introducing legislation, which might be to the benefit of the citizens, but she still retained the final word with respect to the law.

Her wonderful wife Lauren, meanwhile, directed her own free time toward improving domestic problems. Her interests in books had remained with her throughout the years, which she had wrapped into larger artistic and educational projects for children. She was intensely interested in the younger generations of the country, but especially their four daughters, the two oldest of whom seemed to be missing from the box at that moment.

“Where are those girls?” she questioned, looking down a row in the box to her youngest. The twins shrugged, obviously not really paying attention. “Let me borrow your binoculars for a moment, would you, Caroline?” she asked.

“Sure, Mom. Here you go.”

Lauren looked around the crowd, and when she thought she saw her eldest daughter, she looked through the binoculars to confirm her suspicions. Sure enough Anastasia, their twenty-one-year-old college senior, was standing at the railing of the track talking to a female jockey who apparently has just finished a race. She watched for a few moments as her redheaded daughter gave a charming smile and said something that made her company blush. She chuckled a little at the sight.

“What is so amusing, love?” Alexa asked.

“Anastasia. She is flirting with a jockey.”

“Let me see,” she said.

Lauren handed over the binoculars and pointed in the general direction of her daughter. Alexa observed for a moment before smiling. “That girl truly does take after me,” she joked. “Beautiful jockey.”

“Yes but her heart is so fickle. Last week it was a volleyball player from school. Today it is the jockey. Who will it be next week?” Both of them laughed a little. “That just leaves one more to go. Where could Victoria be?” Both queens looked around the grounds the best they could without visual aids, but their second eldest could not be found at first. “Are you sure you do not know where Victoria is?” she asked her youngest again.

“Try looking over by the stables,” Camille replied.

Lauren and Alexa looked across the track to where their daughter suggested. Due to where the royal box was located, they were able to see beyond the gates which led to the track to where the stables were. Thinking that she saw something, Lauren raised the binoculars to her eyes again. “Oh my,” she whispered.

“What? Do you see her?” inquired Alexa.

Without answering Lauren just handed over the binoculars, so her wife could look. Alexa could feel the back of her neck tighten and rise in temperature at what she saw. “Who is that?” she asked. Neither of her twins answered. “Matthew,” she called, gaining the attention of her Secretary of Affairs who was sitting several rows down.

He stood from his seat and came to kneel by hers. “Yes, Lex? What is it?”

“Do you happen to know the name of the young man who seems to have taken up residence on my daughter’s neck?” she asked through gritted teeth. Handing the binoculars to him, she pointed toward the stables.

He looked for a moment. “Goodness,” he mumbled looking away. “I believe the young man’s name is Jefferson Keats. They are in college together, and I believe they are seeing each other.”

“Call her security to break it up. How unbecoming of her to act in such a manner in public,” she grumbled. “Then get both of them back to the box now.”

“Certainly, Alexa.”

“Do not be so hard on her, love,” Lauren said.

“That behavior in a public place is totally unacceptable.”

“Have you forgotten what it is like to be nineteen?” she teased. “Was Meredith not nineteen when you married her?”

Alexa groaned. “Do not remind me of that. She was much more mature than Victoria.”

“Was she?”

“And it was an entirely different time in life. We had been seriously involved for quite some time before we even made public overtures. We have not even been introduced to the young man who is groping our daughter.”

Alexa continued to watch as her orders were carried out. Victoria’s security team interrupted the two young adults from their canoodling. She could tell that Victoria was not pleased but began to follow her security back toward the box while holding her boyfriend’s hand. It took several minutes before they appeared.

Both Alexa and Lauren stood as they entered. The sandy-haired lanky young man immediately bowed when he saw them. “Your majesty, your highness,” he greeted. “It is an honor.”

“Mr. Keats, welcome. Please come have a seat,” Alexa said, gesturing to the one next to her.

“There is a seat down here next to mine,” Victoria said, taking him by the hand.

“I insist. Sit next to me,” the queen said a little more firmly.

He nodded. “Thank you, your majesty,” he replied, taking the seat as she had instructed.

“Victoria, you can sit with your sisters.” Her daughter did not look like she was happy but did as directed. When everyone was seated, Alexa turned to their guest. “Mr. Keats, what is your first name?”

“Jefferson, your majesty.”

“Jefferson, how did you and Victoria meet?”

“In political science class. We go to college together.”

“And how old are you?”

“Twenty.”

“That makes you a junior or a sophomore?”

“I’m a sophomore, your majesty, like Victoria.”

“And how long have you and my daughter been dating?”

“About a month.”

“About a month?” she questioned, looking down at her daughter for a moment. She couldn’t believe they were involved in such activities after only dating a month. It was highly against family protocol. “Tell me, Jefferson. Do you make it a habit of mauling women you have just started dating?”

The young man blushed as Victoria screamed, “Mother! How dare you! You have no right to ask him that!”

“I have all the right in the world,” she quickly replied, turning to him.

He was still blushing and shifting nervously in his seat. “We thought we were alone,” he mumbled feebly, not meeting her dark gaze.

“You are never alone with Victoria. She is a princess, and the press follows her wherever she goes. As it was, I was able to see your cavorting from my seat without much assistance. Only these,” she said, lifting the binoculars. “If I could see you with these, the rest of this gathering could as well. I would not be surprised if a picture of what the two of you were doing appeared in the papers tomorrow.”

“I’m deeply sorry, your majesty,” he apologized, still not looking at her.

“Traditionally the princesses do not meet with their boyfriends or girlfriends in public without them first being introduced to us. How did you even get in here?”

“Victoria got me a ticket.”

“That was kind of her,” Alexa mentioned. “Listen, Jefferson. I need you to understand something. Victoria is not your average girl. You may be able to carry on that way with other women, but I will not tolerate it with Victoria. You cannot share any serious intimacies in public lest you risk hurting her image. I will not allow that. She must maintain proper decorum at all times. Is that understood?”

“Yes, your majesty,” he quietly responded.

“Good. I am glad we have an understanding. Now if you would like to remain here in the box with us you are welcome. The seat next to Victoria is available.”

“Thank you, your majesty,” he said finally looking into her eyes again before standing. He gave a little bow before taking his new seat.

“That went well,” Lauren said. “I thought you were going to be much harder on him.”

Alexa shrugged. “You are right. I have forgotten what it is like to be nineteen. I believe my own mother tried to dissuade me from such deplorable behavior at that age, but I never listened. Now I finally understand where she was coming from all those years.”

The redheaded queen laughed lightly. “With age does come wisdom. Hopefully we can just keep them safe. I will feel like we have accomplished something.”

A little while later Anastasia returned to the box wearing a smile. “Where have you been, young lady?” Lauren asked with a chuckle.

“I just met the most incredible woman,” she said with a little sigh as she moved down a few rows to where her seat was. She paused when she saw Victoria’s boyfriend. “Jefferson, hello. I am surprised to find you here.”

“Hey. How goes it, Princess Charming?” he teased.

She and the rest of her sisters laughed. “It is going fantastically. Thanks for asking. I just met the hottest woman. She was one of the jockeys in the last race.”

“A jockey, huh? Well, at least you know she can spread her legs wide enough for you,” Victoria remarked sharply, earning laughs from her boyfriend and younger sisters.

However, her parents were not amused. “Victoria!” Lauren reprimanded. “Have you no sense of decency?”

“Come on, Mom. Stasia knows I am only joking.”

“It is fine, Mom, really,” Anastasia defended her sister as she took her seat. Under her breath where her parents couldn’t hear, she added, “It is not like it is not true.” The siblings and Jefferson all snickered.

Alexa and Lauren both shook their heads at the display. Their two older girls had become wild teenagers as they grew, but both of them were hoping maturity would blossom throughout college. However, it did not appear to be the case with either girl. Anastasia clearly was more interested entertaining women than her schoolwork at the Naval Academy from which she was graduating in a few weeks. She never seemed to apply herself to her studies and instead relied solely on her natural above average intelligence, leaving her with a grade point average below what she was capable. Victoria, on the other hand, seemed to at least be able to keep up with her studies at George Washington University well while juggling her social calendar, which by accounts from her security detail was inundated with college parties. It was their two youngest who seemed the most disciplined in their schoolwork and family responsibilities, but Alexa assumed it was because they were still living within the palace under watchful eyes.

For the rest of the afternoon, the group remained in the box enjoying the horse races. When it was time to go, Victoria turned to her mother. “Mom, could we give Jefferson a ride home?” she asked.

Lauren looked at Alexa, who shrugged. “Sure, honey. He can come with us.”

“I want to stay behind,” Anastasia said.

“Absolutely not,” Alexa replied. “You have finals.”

“But, Mother, I want to see this girl.”

“No. Finals come first. You can come back and see her after graduation. If she means that much to you, she can wait,” she said with a smile.

“Well, I at least have to go tell her good bye.”

Standing, Alexa shook her head. “Call her on the way to the airport. I am sure she will understand when you tell her your overbearing mother would not allow you a chance to be together. Let us go now.”

With that the troupe left for the airport. Alexa and Lauren stayed to themselves as their daughters and Jefferson chatted in the royal limousine. Upon getting to the plane, the fivesome sat in the back while the queens took to the front with various staff members filling the gap. Neither of them spoke to their daughters, as they seemed to be too engaged with each other to be bothered as the entire family headed home.

A few weeks later Anastasia graduated from the Naval Academy. It had been a long-standing family tradition that everyone devote time to the military to gain knowledge about military strategy as well as gain an appreciation for the citizens who made it their full-time career choice, but Anastasia had been the first to combine her military service with her academic schooling. Lauren and Alexa were both proud that she had chosen such a path for herself, for they hoped it meant she had found some focus outside of her family responsibilities. Alexa was personally pleased that her daughter had chosen the same branch she had and had arranged for her daughter to have a part-time job in the office of the Secretary of the Navy to further her education. Furthermore, since she had finally graduated, Alexa and Lauren offered their eldest daughter the opportunity to live anywhere in town that she wanted, so she would not have to remain at the palace.

Anastasia was particularly thrilled by the chance to live away from her parents and chose to live in the home Alexa had bought for Lauren close to the palace when Anastasia was just a little child. The gated two-story, five bedroom home seemed an idyllic place for a new graduate to begin her life as the crowned princess. In fact, she was so ready to exert her independence that on her first night in the place, she held a huge party for all her fellow comrades at the Naval Academy. Victoria had managed to convince her though to invite all her friends as well, leading to a drunken ruckus to which the police had to be dispatched. Unfortunately, Alexa and Lauren didn’t learn about it until the next morning when they were reading the paper over breakfast.

“Those girls are going to put me into an early grave,” Alexa grumbled, seeing the photograph of her two oldest, looking glassy-eyed and disheveled from the party, splashed across the front page of several publications. “I swear I was never like this.”

Lauren laughed. “I think you mother would have disagreed.”

“No. I was a handful. I can admit that, but I played by my mother’s rules.”

“Not always,” she countered.

“Almost always. I even married a woman I did not love if you recall. It took you to break me away from her clutches,” she joked for a moment. Growing serious she said, “These two do not seem to want to listen. Stasia’s reputation as a capable leader is at risk. I have to get through to her, and Victoria is even worse. She is nineteen-years-old, and she is out drinking and partying. I do not even choose to think of what else she might be doing with that boyfriend of hers after what we saw at the Derby. They are going to get hurt if we do not check them. I always thought my mother was too strict on me, but I think we may have gone too far the other way. They have two younger sisters that will follow in their footsteps in a few years if we do not bring them in line now.”

“Lex, Stasia is an adult, but she does fall prey to Victoria’s charms too much. If you want to get to the root of the problem, it is Victoria. We need to bring Victoria back to the palace for the summer instead of allowing her to stay with Stasia. It is obvious those two cannot be trusted to live responsibly together.”

Alexa nodded. “I think you are right. Next week when classes are over she comes home. I cannot put up with a summer of such behavior.”

“She is going to hate this.”

“I will deal with her. I will go to see her directly after breakfast and then pay Stasia a visit.”

“All right. Are you sure you do not want me to talk to them?”

“No. I need to handle this myself.”

When breakfast was complete, the queen took a car over to Victoria’s campus to see her. While everyone observed her walk through campus with her security team, no one dared approach her. She knew from her daughter’s security team that Victoria had not yet risen for the day, so she went immediately to her dorm room and gave a strong knock. Her knock was ignored at first, so she pounded harder. Hearing movement inside the room, she waited for a response. Slowly the door opened.

“Oh God, your majesty,” Jefferson mumbled.

Alexa said nothing at first as she took in his lack of attire, except for a pair of boxer shorts. “Mr. Keats, I suggest you put on some clothing,” she said, pushing open the door to reveal her daughter in her bed.

“Who is it, babe?” Victoria mumbled rolling over and propping up. “Mother!” she exclaimed, clutching her covers over her naked form.

Alexa turned toward to Jefferson, who was scrambling into a pair of pants. When he was dressed, she said, “I would greatly appreciate it if you left my daughter and me alone.”

“Yes, your majesty,” he said.

When he was gone, Alexa grabbed the robe that was hung up on the closet door and handed it to her daughter. Victoria took the silent instruction and slipped it on before the two women looked at each other. “You must know why I am here,” Alexa began. Victoria shrugged. “I have come to talk to you about last night. I believe you were at a party at your sister’s house.”

“Oh that,” she mumbled.

“There was a most interesting photograph of you and Stasia on the front page this morning, one in which you were utterly intoxicated!” she yelled. “How could you be so irresponsible? You are not even of drinking age, Victoria! The police should have arrested you!”

“The police would never arrest me,” she mumbled. “They know who I am.”

“But you seem to forget who I am!” Alexa continued. “I have had enough of this! You may be a princess, but I am the queen, and now I have to enforce discipline on you which you refuse to impose on yourself!” She paused to take a breath and calm herself. “Your mother and I have discussed this, and we have decided that until you can show some maturity and behave in a manner consist with being a princess, your freedom to do as you please has been revoked. This summer you will be returning to the palace to live instead of staying with your sister.”

“Mother, that is not fair!”

“It has become clear to us that you cannot be trusted to behave appropriately, so we are putting you in a place in which we can maintain some oversight. If this trend continues, you will live at the palace with us until you graduate college. This behavior cannot continue, Victoria. Being a princess is not equivalent to being a brat. You are not some spoiled rich kid who can just take whatever they want without regard to others. Our family name is at stake, and your reputation as an heir to the throne is at risk. The position of being a princess has a tremendous amount of responsibility associated with it, but I am not even asking you to fulfill all those responsibilities right now, because your mother and I believe you should be allowed to live your life. You are only nineteen and have plenty of time to embrace your duties once you graduate, but you must act in a manner consist with the laws of this land, including directives from your parents as they happen to be the sovereigns of this country. Is that clearly understood?”

“Yes, Mother.”

“Good. I do not ever want to see another photograph of you drunk. If we must, your mother and I are prepared to take all your freedoms to keep you in line. We have allowed you too much latitude, but you are a young adult now and need to start acting like a Washington.” Coming to her daughter, Alexa pulled her into a hug. “I love you, Victoria, but you girls are single-handedly giving me gray hair.”

Victoria laughed. “I thought that was Mom.”

Alexa gave a pause before saying, “There is something else I wanted to talk to you about since I am here. This relationship with Jefferson seems to be quite serious.”

Victoria shrugged. “It is not that serious.”

“He just answered your door without clothes on. I consider that serious. You need to be careful, Victoria. I do not want to see you hurt. If something were to happen, this would not reflect just upon you, but the entire family.”

“You would never say this to Stasia,” she countered.

“Stasia is different, and you and I both know that. She, like many before her, is inclined toward her own gender, which makes life easier in terms of having an intimate relationship. There are no accidents. I would be a fool to think that my daughters are not involved in such an activity, but you must be more careful just by virtue of your desires to be with someone who can get you pregnant. As already established, you are not an average woman, which means average provisions are inadequate. While I cannot force you to remain celibate, I must ask that you think about the serious repercussions of your actions should anything go wrong. I, as your queen, could be forced to take drastic measures against you to save our family, and that is not something I am prepared to contemplate. Do not put me in such a position, Victoria. Promise me that you will always take the utmost precaution.” She nodded. “Thank you. Now I will leave you to your studies. You have finals next week, so I am sure you are busy preparing.”

“I will see you and Mom soon.”

Alexa kissed her daughter on the forehead. “Good luck with finals. See you next weekend.”

With that Alexa left to head to Anastasia’s house. Her oldest daughter was awake and dressed when she arrived. “Mother, what a surprise. Come in,” she greeted. They made their way into the dining area.

Alexa saw the newspaper on the table along with her daughter’s breakfast. “I see you have seen the front page.” She nodded. “Stasia, I know that party got out of hand because Victoria and her friends were here. Nevertheless, you chose to involve yourself, which reflects poorly on you.”

“I know. I did not realize it was going to get out of control. Originally it was only supposed to be my friends from the Academy.”

Alexa took a seat. Anastasia’s household staff was there to offer her coffee and breakfast, but she declined. “Stasia, I know you have a penchant for adventure and fun. You are quite like me in that way. I used to like to find it wherever I could, and there is nothing wrong with that, but you have to always remain in control. You are first in line for the throne, and people expect a certain amount of decorum out of you. This incident jeopardizes your reputation as a potential leader.”

“I understand. I apologize for what happened.”

“Thank you. I know you can do better. You cannot allow yourself to fall under Victoria’s influence. She has the unique ability to charm people into doing exactly as she wants without any thought to the consequences. You are her older sister, and I would appreciate it if you would take a more active role in helping us give her proper guidance since the two of you are incredibly close. Your mother and I know how much potential you have to be a powerful leader, and Victoria could learn from you. She does not seem to want to listen to us these days.”

Anastasia nodded. “I will try to be more cognizant of that.”

“Wonderful. We would appreciate the assistance. Just so you know, because of what happened last night, we have revoked some of her privileges. She will be residing at the palace for the summer instead of here with you. She is not to stay here overnight at all over the summer.”

“I understand.”

“Good. Now I hope we will still see you often at the palace. You are always welcome home anytime, whether it be for a meal or to visit or even stay. Do not feel you must stay away. Your mother and I have missed seeing you while you were in school, and we hope now that you are close to us again you will grace us with your presence.”

“It seems strange to be alone here. I am so used to being around people.”

“That is why I never left the palace even though I could have. You are not short on company there. If you ever change your mind, you are always welcome home.”

“I know, but I want to try this for awhile. I am excited about having a job, even if it is only part time, and I like the idea of being able to travel more. I have decided to undertake a countrywide tour and visit every state.”

“I think that is a wonderful idea. Let the people meet you and spend time with you. You will endear yourself to them. It is the perfect way to set the stage for your future reign.”

Anastasia shrugged off the comment. “My reign. You have decades left to go. I do not even think about such things.”

“Then you should. Everything you do now influences what you have to work with then. It is best to start with the best possible scenario you can. I made plenty of mistakes when I was younger just like you will. It was not uncommon to see my picture in the paper for excess partying. I was even involved in a fistfight once and lacked some discipline until I was in my late twenties. The only things I really took seriously were flying and your mother. I do not want you to make those same mistakes.”

“You were in a fight?” her daughter asked with a grin. “Over what?”

“Your mother’s honor. It was the night we met. One of my fellow pilots was hitting on her at the bar, and she was not open to his advances, but he persisted. I came to her rescue.”

Anastasia laughed. “I never knew that. Let me guess. It was love at first sight and all that mushy stuff.”

“Actually, no. She got upset with me and had me thrown out of the bar. I had to go back the next day and apologize.” Her daughter laughed again. “It was a foolhardy thing to do, Stasia, and I paid a steep price for that incident and was thrown out of a flight competition. Flying was my life, and I lost my chance to prove that I was the best pilot in the military because of that fight. I was just lucky that the queen never found out about that.”

“That is really funny.”

“My point is that everything you do has potential consequences, and you need to think about those before you act. If you do that, you will quickly succeed in securing your place as a well-respected leader, and at the end of it all, that is exactly what you want. The people want reassurance that they are in capable hands. All right?”

She nodded. “I understand, and I will try to remember that.”

“Thank you.”

Anastasia paused for a moment to sip her coffee before looking back at her mother. “Mother, there is something I have always wanted to ask you. It has to do with Mom.”

“I have nothing to hide from you children. What is it?”

She hesitated again. “Why did you have an affair with her while you were married to your first wife?”

Alexa looked down at the table for a moment. She was always afraid one of her children would ask her about that, and it had finally happened. She had thought over how best to explain the complications that had plagued her and Lauren when they were younger, so she looked back at Anastasia. “The history books would say that my first wife Meredith was unable to have children, and therefore I sought out a woman to carry on the Washington line, but that is not the entire story. From the moment I met your mother, I thought she was the most amazing woman in the world. I loved her from almost the very beginning. Everything about her called to me, stirring something deep inside me that I never knew existed. I knew I could never love anyone else the way I loved her. However, I had made my mother Queen Faith a promise to marry Meredith Adams, who was my girlfriend at the time. Your mother was not an acceptable option for a wife, because the laws were written in such a way that I had to marry someone that was born into nobility. Meredith was pretty much my only choice. She had been raised as my future bride, and I had committed myself to taking her as such. I was so in love with your mother, though, that I offered to abdicate in order to be with her, but she would not allow it. Instead she asked to never see me again, and I respected her decision.”

“How did you end up together then?”

“Well, Meredith and I got married as promised. We were not unhappy, but we were certainly not blissfully in love or anything. It just so happened that your mother came into my life unexpectedly again, and that time I vowed never to let her go. I would have given up everything to be with her, even the crown itself. Because of our age difference and our mutual desires for children, we opted to have the four of you before the divorce with Meredith was finalized. One of the first things I did when I became queen was to change the law, allowing us to marry and ensure that you and your sisters would never be placed in the same position. We just want you to follow your heart, wherever it leads you. We do not care from what class the woman of your deepest dreams comes as long as you love each other. Your queen needs to be totally devoted to you, Stasia, and if she is that is enough. The people will accept her if she shows them how much she respects and adores you as the queen.”

“So it was not because of Meredith’s infertility?”

“No. I have loved your mother deeply and profoundly for almost thirty years, even though we have only been married for fifteen of them. Never doubt that, Stasia. We want the same thing for you and the rest of your sisters.” The two of them chatted for a little longer about other things before Alexa asked, “So when will you be starting your tour of the country?”

“Next month. I am hoping to spend at least a week in each state, so it may take me awhile to get through the whole country. My staff is working on setting up venues for me to visit.”

“Sounds great. Where are you starting?”

“In the South. Florida and then Texas. I figured we could hit the most populated areas first. I am hoping to get to California as well before the summer is over.”

“What about work?”

Anastasia smiled. “I will be doing that novel thing called telecommuting. The Secretary of the Navy understands my priorities, and he and I have come to an agreement. We will see how long this job lasts. It is already inhibiting me from my other duties.”

“Well, your mother and I are proud you have chosen to try to work, at least for awhile. You are the first in our family to try to have a normal job. I know it will not be easy, and over time you will have to fade out of it, but embrace the normalcy of it while you can. I must be going but before I do tell me. How are things between you and the jockey?” she teased.

“That was over before it even started. I have already met half a dozen ladies since then. You really must try to keep up.” Both of them laughed as they stood. Anastasia walked her mother to the door. “Thank you for coming by.”

“I am always happy to see you. Remember our talk now,” she instructed. The two women embraced. Alexa combed her daughter’s red hair back from her face for a moment before kissing her on top of the head. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Mother.”

“Stop by and see your mother sometime soon.”

“I will.”

Continued in Chapter 2

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