Royal S.O.B. (A Bad Boy Romance) (10 page)

She'd
finally chosen a poem.

It
was, according to her, the most hard-hitting among all eight, and most
faithfully reflected her precarious position just then. She was handpicked, as
it were, from her comfortable existence and placed inside this palace, which
was fit for royalty, but where a commoner like her felt suffocated in it.

It
was as if the gods were envious of her and the comfortable life that she'd been
leading. They wanted some cruel fun to kill time, and they chose probably the
happiest girl in all of the universe. And so they bundled her out into this
locked dungeon with the softest mattresses and coziest pillows.

The
poem was titled 'The Golden Cage'.

She
rang Cate.

"Hey
Catie," she said into the receiver.

"I've
decided to go with
The Golden Cage
."

"I
knew you would," her friend replied.

"It's
very powerful."

"Now
let's keep our fingers crossed."

"Oh,
not to worry, I'm sure you'll win the special jury prize," assured Cate.

"Well,
really," said Addie.

"I'm
not concerned about winning. If I could get my message across, about this divide
between royalty and the middle class, I would think my job done."

"Addie,"
chimed in Cate.

"Are
you trying to be a crusader or something?"
"No way."

"Don't
forget, you're now part of the same royalty that you criticize so much."

"So?"

"So
nothing. Just don't come across as a hypocrite."

Cate
had a point.

"All
right, point noted."

"You
also have protocols to worry about... Maybe you should check with your
mum."

"Mum?
I haven't seen her in ages."

"Why,
don't you meet each other at least once a day?"

"No."

Addie
was silent for a while.

"See,
this is what I mean."

"Yeah
but Addie, you can't expect to live your former life now. Things have changed
drastically."

"Yes,"
said Addie, thoughtful.

"Things
have changed."

"Anyway,
all I'm saying is, be careful. You can't be footloose and fancy free like
before."

"Why,
is that a privilege of only the menfolk in the royal family?"

She
was referring to her new wild stepbrother, Kenrick, of course.

Cate
laughed.

"I
know what you mean," she said, deftly steering Addie clear of that
sensitive topic.

"I
think your governess might be a good bet. Get her view on this."

"Good
idea," agreed Addie.

"I
will talk to her and let you know what she feels."

"Do
it quick. You have just a day."

"Okay."

Addie
hung up.

*****

The
princess waited for the afternoon. That was when Mrs. Bradford was relatively
free, finishing her quotidian chores.

"Mrs.
Bradford, Beverly," she called her governess.

"Would
you please come and sit with me for a moment."

The
old lady knew that this was something critical. The request to sit next to
Princess Adelaide meant an important question was coming her way.

"Yes,
my sweet."

She
sat in the chair at her table without protesting like last time. She was
learning the ways of this down-to-earth, simple, princess-next-door.

"Mrs.
Bradford, a question as usual," said Addie.

"Yes,
my child."

"Do
you think… it's okay to speak against royalty?"

"For
you, my child?"

"Yes."

"No."

"Why,
are there any protocols to that effect?"

"Yes."

"Oh."

"Also,
in your case," the governess cleared her throat.

"You're
not a born royal. You were chosen from millions of commoners to become a royal
– which adds even more responsibility."

"Oh."

"The
royal family expects you to be obedient, faithful and loyal. It is included in
the covenant you signed when assuming the title of Your Royal Highness, and
when you became Princess Adelaide."

"Oh."

Mrs.
Bradford stayed silent, having answered Addie's question comprehensively. It
was not of her business to ask why or to know what it was the princess was
planning. If the princess opened up on her own accord, finding Mrs. Bradford to
be a worthy confidant, that was a different matter entirely.

"I
wanted to read out a poem for my university's Annual Day," Addie opened up
of her own accord.

"It
is, in places, rather critical of royalty."

"I
understand," said Mrs. Bradford, appreciating Addie's gesture.

Adelaide
was quiet, lost in her thoughts.

"Is
it about a particular royal personage?" the governess asked.

The
recent visitor to Addie's chambers was at the top of her mind.

"No,"
answered Addie.

"It's
on royalty in general. And the chasm between them and their subjects. Because I
feel strongly about it. I've always thought that they live on another
planet."

"Okay."

"Would
you like to read it, Mrs. Bradford?" asked Addie, reaching for her leather
folder.

"If
you want me to, my child."

The
old woman was guarded as always.

"Oh
Beverly," Addie was almost heartbroken.

"Please
don't talk like that. You still treat me like an outsider."

"My
dear," her governess's eyes were moist.

"Affection
is one thing, duty is another. And there's a fine line between the two."

That
was so profound, Addie wanted to note it down somewhere.

"Mrs.
Bradford," she said in the tone of a request.

"Please
don't, for a moment, think that I'm this high and mighty princess this or that.
I'm just
Addie
. So please read this
with an open mind, and give me your objective views."

She
handed her a sheet of paper. It had scarcely eight lines on it.

Mrs.
Bradford took it and removed her spectacles. She wiped her lenses with a
handkerchief and put her glasses back on again. Then she read the poem.

Addie
watched her governess. This lady must have, like her, lost her freedom when she
entered the palace premises. The only difference between them was Addie was
'part' of the family, and she was a member of the palace staff. But their
situation was the same. Both were trapped in the confines of this luxury
resort.

But,
Addie had to agree that she was better off. Her so-called privileges protected
her to a large extent, and if she so wished, she could call the shots. But it
was not in her nature to be high handed or haughty. She was really just a plain
Jane, who loved it that way.

Not
for her were the arc lights or preferential treatment. She liked it best when
she was left alone and she could curl up in her bed with a book, or when she
could shut herself in her room and write something. This kind of constant
hounding in the name of royal protocols was exasperating.

There
was another way she was fortunate – fortunate enough to override the huge
fortune of being inducted into the royal family. She was free to leave it all
behind and migrate elsewhere; say, to another country. She could live there
like a free individual, away from the fetters of royalty. It was something that
was always in the back of her mind. For now, of course, it was her mother's
emotional blackmailing that bound her to this place.
For as long as it was possible
, she told herself.

"I've
read it," confirmed the governess, waking up Addie from her daydreaming.

"Great,"
said Addie.

"And
what do you think?"

"Go
ahead and read it on your Annual Day."

It
would be easy.

But then again,
everything
was easy
for Prince Kenrick. All he had to do was instruct one of his many assistants
for a report on Princess Adelaide. In a matter of hours, he would have a folder
on his desk. And then he would know everything there is to know about his new
stepsister.

Hold on!

Kenrick
stopped himself from thinking any further. His hand had almost reached the
button to ring for his assistant.

This
was a sure recipe for disaster. In his capacity as prince and heir apparent to
the throne of the kingdom, he could not initiate a request for a report on his
own stepsister! That would be enough grist for the rumor mills and the tabloids
to go ballistic on that!
It was a strict
no-no.

In
fact, this secret need of his MUST remain a secret. It could not be taken out
of the four walls of his heart. This was
that
kind of a mission.

That
wanker Pat. He could have done this for Kenrick. He already knew of Kenrick's
little thing for his new stepsister, and he could have been trusted with this
task. But the bastard had to leave
just
then! And Kenrick did not even know where he was headed.

He
could call him, but… lately Pat had been getting on his nerves, and now with
his mental state in a state of disarray, the last thing he wanted was his best
friend throwing tantrums at the wrong time.

No,
he had to do it himself. He had to do this on his own.

That
was the problem with something as secretive as this. It simply could not be
entrusted with anyone else.

If I were to die today
, thought Kenrick,
this secret would go with me to my grave
.

He
went into his study. The study of Prince Kenrick was a lot bigger than Princess
Adelaide's. It had a large room with bookshelves towering along the walls, with
a central area that had chairs and tables.

Obviously,
it was not meant for one person. The prince could, if he so wished, bring in
any number of his friends, and all of them could be accommodated in the study.
And he himself had an anteroom where he could pore over world problems – if
only he wished.

That
was a big
If
.

Today,
of course, he was not only alone in the large brown room, he was also alone in
his task. He sat at his large mahogany desk with his MacBook Pro open. He
clicked on the Google icon.
 

This
was the first time he had clicked on Google in more than ten years.

That
was a loaded statement, and it was true. Kenrick always had people to do things
for him that normal people would do themselves. Even a simple, everyday task
like Googling something was delegated to someone else. For most people,
browsing the Internet was a pleasure. For Kenrick, of course, there were other
things FAR more pleasurable.

For
a moment, Kenrick thought he forgot how to search. Or even how to browse.
Naturally, all he had to do was key in the words 'Princess Adelaide' in the
little box provided, where a small cursor was blinking.

In
his panic, he even worried about his ability to type. Desperate, he tried
one-finger typing and somehow managed to type in the two words required.

To
his utter surprise, a million pages were returned in nanoseconds.
How had his stepsister become so famous?!

And
to his anger, a whole set of photos opened under the heading 'Princess Adelaide
images'. He clicked on them quite inadvertently, and several prompts opened:
Princess Adelaide hot
,
Princess Adelaide topless
,
Princess Adelaide nude
,
Princess Adelaide extreme
. He clicked
one of these at random, and there opened tons of revealing pictures of his
stepsister – obviously Photoshopped.

"What
bollocks!" Kenrick shouted, appalled.

"Is
there no way to control this kind of shit?!"

"Focus,
Kenrick, focus," he told himself under his breath.

Now
was the time to keep his eyes and mind on the job at hand. He could always go
back to the Photoshopped pictures at leisure, flag them and report them to
Google. Or get someone under him to remove them.

For
now he had to know who this animal was. This animal called Princess Adelaide.

*****

For
the next six hours, Kenrick was lost in the world of the new princess. For the
record, it was the longest he'd sat in one place in his entire life.

He
got up, and every bone in his body was aching. That was also a first. His whole
body had never ached this way ever before. But then again, he had never
embarked on a project this unique.

He
stretched his body. Cracked his knuckles. Did a few quick pushups. All of this
business of getting to know his stepsister, he was neglecting his gym time as
well. How it had turned his world upside-down!

Nothing about Adelaide
was easy
,
he mused. Not even pouring over information about her! It took him all that
time, but quick learner that he was, he absorbed every bit of data and stored
it in the superfast CPU that was his brain.

And
having now understood almost everything about her – at least on paper; digital
paper, that is – he appreciated her even more. This here was not your ordinary
girl; she might have been middle class, but there was nothing middle class about
her thinking. Her thoughts, her beliefs and convictions, her life philosophy –
it was all up there with the finest intellectuals of the time.
And to think she was so young!

To
be honest, Kenrick was afraid. Very afraid.

Adelaide was not one bit as he had imagined. He had thought her to be chalk –
she turned out to be cheese.

And
what a piece of fine cheese she was! She intimidated him, and that added yet
another dimension of magnetism to this incredible girl.
What a woman she was, and what fun it would be to conquer her!

She
was more than six years younger than him, he realized. And light years ahead.