Regardless of the reason, it seemed to Jake that Catherine had something on her mind that couldn't necessarily be explained by that fact alone. Before long, he was going to have to figure out what he should be doing as a working royal.
The meeting with the PR Department was the first time he'd heard someone refer to him as the prince.
It was... surreal.
He should probably figure out what causes were close to his heart. Education obviously. Preservation of history.
What about a project collecting stories of those who had been around a long while? Maybe find some young people - teenagers? - and match them with adopted grandparents for that purpose as well as companionship on both sides. Something he should look into and get more information on.
The beginnings of an idea began to form along the outer edges of his mind, but he knew from experience it would take a while to coalesce.
Didn't the king of Terralago’s father also take the throne at a fairly young age? Older than Catherine, but still young. Could how his regency turned out be part of the reason Prince Anthony pushed so hard to be Catherine's regent?
When Jake reached the archives, Madeleine was nowhere to be found. Issy was looking through documents on the computer.
She'd changed her appearance since the last time he saw her a few days earlier. Her normally dark brown hair was nearly black with bright pink and purple highlights.
She looked up at him. "How did the meeting go?"
"Fine." He shrugged. "Public opinion is better than expected, so that's good."
"Of course it is. Everyone wants Kinsey to be happy. The pictures they released point to that."
Jake hadn't seen the photos yet.
"What kinds of things does Catherine like to do outside of the palace?" Surely her sister would have some ideas.
Instead, Issy shrugged. "She doesn't leave very often. We usually go to church on Sunday mornings, but other than that, only for business really. Not many public appearances without a very specific, work-related reason."
Jake took a seat next to her, learning in to get a better look at the document on her screen. "Why do you think that is?"
"She's a homebody introvert at heart." Issy clicked to zoom in on one section. "At least that's always been my impression. There could be more to it, but if so, I don't know what it is."
Something in Jake's gut told him there had to be more. He'd have to see what he could find out. "Does she like music? Theater?"
Issy shrugged again. "We've never been very close. I was young when Mum died. Kins had to grow up fast, despite Papa's attempts to make sure she didn't have to."
How could he find out? Surprising her with a night out to a traveling Broadway or West End show didn't seem like the best plan. The royal family had a box at the Vesperi Skye Hall for the Performing Arts. The Vesperi Skye Symphony played there as well, but they had a fairly short season and it wouldn't start for a few more weeks. Could they watch a recorded stage play? There were several. He'd have to think about it some more. He'd search the streaming service while he made their dinner in a couple of hours.
While dinner was in the oven, Jake did just that. He found several recordings of shows -Hamilton,Come From Away,Waitress, two Trilunium musicals -Land of the MoonsandOrigins. He found the first half of theWickedmovie adaptation, with the second set to release near the end of the year.
Did being royalty mean they could get access to an early copy of it? Or at least one they could watch at home without needing to go to an actual theater? He was, allegedly, supposed to get an assistant in the next few days. He had no idea what to do with one, but maybe he could ask them to find out about that kind of thing.
He'd heard of palaces having theaters. Did this one?
Something Jake was fairly certain of... he'd never get used to all of this, and he had no idea how to hire an assistant so hopefully someone else would do it for him.
He turned the oven off but didn't remove the dish. Catherine would text him when she left her office. She hadn't, so she must be running a few minutes behind.
Curious to see if theWickedmovie lived up to the hype, he turned it on. About the time Glinda admitted to knowing the Wicked Witch of the West and equivocating about being her friend, the text from Catherine arrived. He'd need to see if she wanted to watch it and find out what it was all about. All he'd been able to tell was that it was an origin story of some kind. That Glinda knew the Wicked Witch explainedthe sometimes conflicted look on her face as all of Munchkinland rejoiced over her death.
One thing he'd learned about his wife - she liked to be comfortable. Yoga outfits or cozy pajamas were her preference in the cottage. If he hadn't been so preoccupied looking for shows to watch, he would have changed as soon as dinner was in the oven. Instead, he waited until after she did.
While they ate, they discussed a little bit about their days, but not much beyond the superficial.
Catherine offered to clean up while Jake changed. They met back in the living area.
"We finished the last of the Trilunium universe last night." She pulled her favorite quilt out of the basket. "What's next?"
