Chapter Fourteen
Just as Janet had predicted, we got to the airstrip several minutes before we were supposed to arrive; the plane was sitting there looking altogether smaller than your average plane. Maybe I'd been wrong to get so excited about it.
I took to counting clouds rolling by when, ten minutes after our scheduled departure, we were still waiting for Clarence.
"Well, this is off to a great start," I said to Janet as we slowly paced near the car and waited for Clarence.
"I wish I could say I was surprised," she sighed. "But I'm just not. Here, can you hold this so I can call him?"
I held her purse and watched while she dialed his number. She covered the phone with her hand while it rang. "Remind me to give you his number so you can help me keep track of the man."
I laughed, but it felt weird to get a guy's number from your friend. I guess, when it's for work it isn't weird. Or at least that's what I'm going to tell myself.
Janet waited until the phone went to voicemail before slamming it back into her purse, "That's it, I'm going to have to kill him!"
She was still ranting about how inconsiderate he was when a shiny black car pulled around the corner towards us. I turned her around and pointed, "I think we should calm ourselves unless we want to lose our jobs."
She glared at the car before turning back to me, "I'm not worried about losing my job, but you're right, this plane ride will be awfully unpleasant if I'm yelling the whole time."
She took the opportunity to hold on to my elbow and drag me towards the plane.
"Shouldn't we wait for him?" I pointed back at the car that just arrived.
"Probably, but we're already so late, and I don't want to push us back any further. That might actually cost me my job. He's supposed to arrive for the press," she stopped me right before we climbed the stairs and turned my shoulders to face her. "Do you have any idea how awful the press are when they get bored?"
"I'm guessing very," I couldn't help but laugh at the earnest expression on her face, trying to keep myself from worrying about what an awful press would mean for me. "But come on, let's get on the plane and you can help me learn the proper procedure for getting off this plane. I've only got six hours to learn, so we better start now."
When we stepped through the door of the plane, I really got a glimpse of what 'royal plane' actually meant. All the planes I'd been on looked a bit like buses, but this one looked like the lobby of a very fancy hotel. Well, if the lobby of a very fancy hotel had seatbelts.
The cabin was decorated in lush, deep blue carpeting and some kind of shiny tile around the edges. The walls were covered with what looked like it could be wallpaper, and the chairs made me want to curl up and have a nap.
"Nice, isn't it?" Janet must have noticed my expression. I was still taking in all the luxurious furnishings as the various staff members on board bustled about their duties.
"Nice?" I couldn't find the words. "If there's some flight attendants with champagne, I might fall out of the plane."
"Let's get you sitting down, then." She smiled. "And we can talk about what to do when you arrive in Montalivet."
"There's a flight attendant with champagne, isn't there?"
Janet just shook her head and pushed me towards one of the chairs. "Genevieve, please be serious. We have less than seven hours to figure all of this out and you'll need to practice once we're in the air."
"Good." I tried to lighten the mood with a goofy face. "Because I don't think practicing during takeoff is a good idea. And I think mocking the king would be a terrible start to the whole 'fixing the image' concept."
"True." She dug into the fruit salad she had packed for the trip. "Probably wouldn't be the best start."
Janet and I were still chatting when Clarence stepped onto the plane dressed in the fanciest suit I'd seen outside of a wedding. I could feel my eyes dart across his strong shoulders and up to his smiling face. Did I just do that? I could feel my face heating up, so I turned my head away and focused on what Janet was telling me about curtseying.
"So, right foot behind the left, keeping your knees together," Janet repeated. "And when you bend your knees-"
"I keep my head straight so I don't look like a chicken or lose my hat," I parroted what she'd been teaching me for the last ten minutes. "I know that part. What I'm struggling with is keeping my knees together while moving my legs."
"You'll get there." She patted my arm.
When the pilot came to ask us to take our seats, the whole plane listened. Even Clarence. So we were only half an hour delayed when we finally took off. It was only when we were in the air, flying away from everything I'd grown up with that I realized I was headed for a job in a country I'd never been to and probably would never even have heard of if it weren't for Janet.
Good thing I was only going to do something easy like pretend to be their future queen.
* * *
By the time the plane landed, Janet had taught me everything there was to know about meeting the king, greeting the press, and arriving at the palace.
I still didn't have a handle on everything that would happen in the palace, but if there were as many things to remember as there were about getting into a car, I might be in trouble. At least there would be no media there, so that was one less thing to worry about.
"You ready?" Janet packed away her books into her briefcase and stood up. "It looks like they're just about ready to let you off this plane."
"If I say no, will that change anything?" I asked her, trying to swallow the lump that had formed in my throat and keep my breathing even.
"Not really," she shook her head, "Just asking as a friend."
"Then, as a friend, I'm not sure. Ask me again in a couple days."
"Are you ready?" Clarence approached us and repeated the question I'd been asking myself all day.
I took a deep breath and accepted his hand to help me stand up, "Yeah, I'm ready."
He kept hold of my hand and guided me over to the door of the plane. He used his hands on both of my shoulders to put me in the spot I should stand as the door opened and Montalivet's press caught its first real glimpse of the new royal couple.
"Just remember, one step behind me. We'll stop at the bottom and my father will approach us. Speak only after he speaks and address him as 'Your Majesty.' When that's done, you can address him as sir, but I'd just avoid talking to him unless he talks to you. Makes it easier not to mess up."
The more he talked, the more worried I became. I knew all of this, but for some reason, hearing it out loud made me feel like I didn't.
"You'll be fine," he reassured me as he stepped to stand between me and the door. "Just follow my lead and remember, we know each other, so you don't need to be scared or shy."
Right, because that's totally normal. I pulled my face into a smile and stared straight ahead as the pilot opened the door.
Clarence turned back to look at me and smiled. "You can do this. Just follow me out the door. We'll wave at the crowd and get you out of here as fast as we can."
The crowd was cheering his return, and the cameras were flashing as reporters with microphones stood with their backs to us. Two men in dark suits stood on either side of the staircase, watching us descend, while countless others milled about the crowd, keeping everyone a safe distance from the aisle marked on the ground.
I stepped out of the plane and into the sunshine of Montalivet. Even if I wanted to, there's no going back now. By this time tomorrow, my name would be splashed all over the headlines in every country you could get to by train. And maybe a few others.
The best part is, I forgot to tell my mom. If I didn't find a way to call her before she found out through the media, I was going to be in big trouble. My smile faltered for only a moment when I thought about it, but I quickly put it back on and waved to the crowd before following two steps behind Clarence.
When we got to the bottom of the staircase, the two men in dark suits followed closely behind us, but I didn't have time to worry about that when I noticed a man walking towards us who had to be the king.
He couldn't have been taller than Clarence, but something about the way he carried himself commanded attention. I felt the need to bow just looking at him. His steps were sure as he glided towards us, stopping a few feet in front of us.
"Welcome to Montalivet," he smiled and his booming voice carried across the crowd. "We are pleased to have you here." He was regal, but I couldn't tell what he actually felt. Meeting a king was nothing like meeting any parents I'd ever known.
Clarence bowed, and I curtseyed, struggling to keep my knees together, but remembering not to look like a chicken.
"Thank you, Your Majesty," I stood to my full height and put my feet together. "I am most pleased to be here." Why am I speaking like this? What does most pleased even mean?
I force a smile onto my face and wave to the crowd. The dark suit men back away slightly and then the cameras start flashing more than they were before. A mass of questions flew at us all at once, and I felt my head start to spin.
"It's okay," Clarence whispered in my ear, his hand gently resting on the small of my back. "You don't have to say anything to the reporters. Just say hello to the people and follow my lead. You've got this."
Do I, though?
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top