Crowns & Chaos

five

We stepped out onto the front step of the house and were immediately accosted by several camera flashes and at least four people shouting. 

"Evangeline! Look here!"

My gaze followed the sound of the voice only to be met with the dark barrel of a huge camera going off in my face. I blinked,  momentarily disoriented by the bright flash. Someone was still calling my name and I felt my mom's hand grip mine tightly. 

Who knew so many people cared about the Earl of Pembroke? I suppose that a mostly Canadian family becoming part of the British nobility was a pretty big thing. I sighed, knowing that Adriana followed the royal family religiously and that I was going to have some serious explaining to do. 

I realized with a jolt that my father was speaking, talking about his mother and himself taking over the earldom. 

"This news has been shocking for all of us, and we are determined to do the best we can with the new responsibilities we face. We hope everyone will give us time to make the necessary adjustments to this rather large change. That is all for now, thank you."

Theodore was in the way now, ushering us back inside and thanking the paparazzi for their time, asking them to give us space and privacy until we were ready to fully join the public eye. 

I stumbled back inside, hands shaking. 

"Well, that went about as well as one could hope. Good job Windhams."

My mom still had a death grip on my hand that she finally released after we were safely inside the house. I dropped into a chair, raking my fingers through my hair nervously. 

"I don't understand why this is such a big deal to people."

"It's a big story. The son of a long-thought-dead daughter of an earl returned to reclaim the family name. You're from Canada, which is another large news opportunity.  It's almost never happened that foreigners join the nobility, in fact, it's practically unheard of. It's also a fluff piece to get minds off the other unfortunate things happening in the news," Theodore replied, tapping away rapidly at his phone.

"Oh. I guess that makes sense."

My mom reentered the room, yawning. 

"Alright so the jet-lag might finally be catching up to me and all I really want now is to go to sleep. Is that okay, Theodore?"

There was only a hint of sarcasm in her voice when she asked the question, a hint I'm sure only my father and I were able to catch.

Theodore nodded, finally putting his phone down. 

"Thomas, you have a meeting with the other members of the family tomorrow. You'll simply be discussing the matters of the estate. If you wish you can choose to stay in this house for a little while, but at some point you'll be moving into the Wilton house and taking over the Wiltshire family seat."

My dad nodded. He knew about this before. Theodore had given him a thorough rundown of everything he needed to know. Surprisingly, he didn't look too stressed out. 

"What about Mom and I?"

"As the Countess of Pembroke, your mother will have to make appearances at balls and charity events, as will you, Evangeline. Stacy, I might recommend choosing a charity you wish to endorse. It will make things easier if you have something to focus on. Evangeline, you're more than welcome to continue your studies, or look for a job."

I nodded. 

"Cool, got it."

My mom cleared her throat, giving Theodore a piercing stare.

"Of course, I'll just be on my way. Have a good evening, my lord, my ladies."

I blinked at the title usage but realized that it was technically mine now. 

Lady Evangeline. 

It had a kind of good ring to it actually. 

Theodore swept out the door, leaving us to think. 

"That was fun. I'm taking an aspirin and going to sleep now," my mom muttered, clearly as overwhelmed about everything as I was.

My dad followed her up the stairs. I also went into the room I was calling mine, ignoring the several calls from some of my friends and instead, dropping onto my bed. 

Almost two hours later, my mind was still racing. Unable to convince my body to go to sleep, I crept out of my room and back down to the living room. 

Something breezed past my ear, and I wondered vaguely if this house was haunted. I wouldn't be entirely surprised if it was, but I was still really hoping the spirits weren't malicious. 

Dropping down onto the only slightly dusty couch, I pulled the magazine from the plane off the table.  I flipped through it for a few minutes before settling back on the article about Prince Peter. 

"Sources inside the castle say that the pressure for Peter to marry from King Edward and Queen Isabelle. After the widely known abdication of his older brother James, the crown wants to make sure the heir to the throne is stably in place to produce an heir."

I grimaced. That must be kinda rough for him. I'm sure he's probably not allowed to marry whoever he wants either. If I remembered correctly, Isabelle had been the daughter of an Italian ambassador or something, not just a random girl off the street. Probably for financial, social and political reasons. From what I could tell, they loved each other, but still. Not a fun thing for a 25-year-old guy to have to shoulder. 

I glanced at the clock next to me. It read 2:39 am. That was only 6:39 pm in Vancouver, which was probably why my brain was wide awake. I leaned back against the couch, wondering what on earth we'd gotten ourselves into as a family. 

I don't remember falling asleep, but the next thing I knew, my mother was blowing on my face. I jerked upright, falling off the couch in the process. 

"Uh, ow?"

"Morning sleepyhead. Why are you on the couch?"

I looked around, from the open magazine on the floor to my rumpled hoodie. 

"I, uh, couldn't sleep."

"Figures. I couldn't either."

I grinned at her as she helped me to my feet. 

"What are we even supposed to do now?"

She shrugged. 

"Dad's at the meeting about Wilton, and I think we're just on standby until further notice."

I paused, thinking through the possibilities. 

"Wanna go shopping and then watch Titanic?"

She grinned widely at me. 

"You had me at shopping."