Chapter 58: I Was Bribed

As the wife of the forgotten prince, nobody cared what I wore during my free time as long as I was 'properly dressed' during meals, morning tea with the queen and other princesses, and on the rare occasions where Al and I were required to make public appearances.

They would dress me up like a Barbie but as soon as I was free it was back to my comfy casual wear.

One day a week later as we were curled up in the library reading in adjacent chairs, Al reached over and rubbed my sleeve on his cheek.

"What are you doing?"

"You seem so happy in these. I want one too. You're right, it is soft…"

I laughed. He was jealous of my sweaters? Well, they were probably the least stiff article of clothing he had ever seen as a royal. Poor Al.

"You can order one when we go back to pick up the rest of my things. These are mine."

"I can't even borrow one?"

"I'll think about it."

"You're cruel, Katie McLeod," he said as he dramatically draped himself over the arm of his chair. "Not letting your poor husband wear something nice with you."

"Stop," I laughed, bopping him on the head with my book.

He sat upright and grinned at me. "So you'll do it?"

I had an idea. "I'll let you borrow my black sweater…if you come with me to meet your brother this afternoon for a strategy meeting."

Al instantly stopped smiling. "That's not fair!"

"That's my deal, take it or leave it."

In the end, his desire to wear one of my sweaters won out over his dislike of getting involved.

As predicted, the black sweater went very well with his overall aesthetic. Black hair and sweater, gray eyes and pants. He looked good and I told him so, which made him blush.

I wore my white sweater with a blue skirt that flared out around my calves, showcasing my favorite maroon knee-high socks and the slippers I normally only wore in the bedroom but lately had been a constant fixture because they were the most comfortable shoes I owned.

Al and I technically matched but had completely opposite vibes.

Mariela was used to my fashion choices at this point but I hadn't worn a sweater around Franz yet so he was quite surprised when I walked in the door, especially since Al was in tow.

"What are you doing here, wearing that?" he asked in astonishment.

Al crossed his arms and scowled, stepping behind me. "I was bribed."

I could tell Franz wanted to pursue the matter further but he wisely let it drop rather than picking a fight.

I had a feeling Al would throw hands with the next person that said anything to him so I subverted the danger by hugging his arm and leaning my head against his shoulder. He wouldn't do anything if I held him back.

"So, Franz, how have things been progressing?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Quite well, it seems," he said with a raised eyebrow, obviously alluding to the two of us.

It wasn't like that! I was just trying to save you from getting punched because that would ruin all future chances of collaboration!

"Franz," Mariela said in a warning tone. "Stay on topic."

"Yes, dear," he replied brightly and shuffled the papers he was holding before reading off of one.

"Using your idea as incentive, we have managed to get a third of the lower nobility on our side, which is pretty good considering the time frame. My contacts have begun talking the plan up to their usual allies so there is a good chance that number will grow to half within the next few weeks."

"Nicely done," I commended as I sat and yanked Al down into the chair next to me. He still did not want to be here. "What do we need to do next?"

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"I was hoping you could draft a simply written version of your proposal that could be shown around to the commoners that the lower nobles interact with who could become representatives," Franz said.

"Would you be willing? I would need at least a dozen copies to start but I could have Mariela and a few of my aides help rewrite further copies to be passed on."

"Sure, I don't mind."

"I do," Al interjected. "That's a lot of writing in a short period of time. Her wrist could cramp."

He turned to me with a sigh. "If you write the first one, I'll help with the others."

My eyes shone with excitement. He was finally participating! I felt like a proud PTA mom.

"That would be great, thanks!"

"Yeah, well, I know it's important to you," Al said wearily, picking at the sleeve of my black sweater and not meeting anybody's eyes.

"Besides, I won't have anything to do if you're busy anyway. But afterwards we need to build card houses, alright?"

"Deal," I said happily, holding out my pinky. He linked his without hesitation now.

Mariela smiled knowingly but Franz watched us with total bewilderment.

"What are they doing?" he whispered to his wife.

"Bonding," she whispered back.

Back in the library I had a hard time writing my draft. It reminded me of a project I did in one of my political science classes where I had to explain a difficult concept on a video meant to be shown to middle schoolers.

I knew nothing about the common people here. What vocabulary words would they know or not know?

"I'm stuck," I lamented, crossing and uncrossing my ankles behind me as I lay on my stomach on the couch and tapped my pen against the armrest.

"Why not go talk to some commoners and try to get a sense of their ways of speaking? You could use a snack break anyway."

Al offered a hand to pull me up and I brushed my skirt down before we headed out.

Marcy was baking gingerbread when we arrived. Cookie cutters weren't a thing here so they were in boring old square shapes rather than gingerbread men.

I was suddenly reminded of a family tradition where we would decorate a gingerbread house before Christmas but weren't allowed to eat it until New Year's Eve.

I would probably never make another gingerbread house again unless I figured out how to cut and connect the pieces myself and I was no engineer.

"Prince Alpheus, Princess Katie, nice to see you!"

"Please don't call me Princess," I muttered.

Al elbowed me. "Just accept it."

"Never."

Marcy ignored me. "What brings you here today?"

"I was hoping you could read this for me and tell me whether or not you understand all of it," I said sheepishly. "And maybe give us some of that gingerbread while you're at it."

"It's good, I've had it before," Al praised.

Marcy looked it over briefly. The confusion in her eyes turned to alarm and she lowered her voice so no one else could hear.

"You're trying to add commoner representatives to the court? Do you really think that any of the upper nobility will allow that?"

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