HRH Prince Richard of Arcadia
Mount Royal Palace, Washington, Kingdom of Arcadia
Monday 18th December 2017, 0900hrs Local Time
“I did say that I didn’t want any fuss made, Father.”
Almost before the words were out of his mouth Prince Richard George Andrew Harrington could see from the expression on his father’s face that they were in vain. His father, King William V of Arcadia, was a shrewd and cunning politician but he was also a doting father and husband with a playful streak to say the least. The self-satisfied grin the man was wearing as he sat opposite his son in King Andrew’s Tower was enough to know that he was already set in his decision and no amount of arguing was going to change matters. Of course, deep down Richard could understand why; having recently graduated of the Royal Arcadian Naval Academy on Kodiak Island, and being commissioned as a Lieutenant (Junior Grade) following the completion of his Midshipman’s Cruise aboard the frigate HMS Seattle over the summer, he had truly come of age. As recognition for his achievements, most notably gaining a military commission through merit rather than patronage, Richard was to be rewarded with the traditional title of the heir’s apparent to the Arcadian Throne when they came of age; that of Prince of Cascadia. It was not so much the title that Richard minded as the means by which his father intended for him to receive it.
“You are the Heir to the Throne of the Kingdom of Arcadia, my son, your coming of age is an important day for this nation and should be celebrated properly,” King William replied with a broad smile. “We may not be the most powerful Kingdom on the planet, but we should not be ignored, nor should your importance to this Kingdom be ignored.”
“You are correct, as always, Father,” Richard conceded with a mock grimace. “I’d just gotten used to being treated as just another Officer Cadet at the Academy.”
“I know, and that humility will serve you well when you are King,” William replied, like his son the King had served his time in the Royal Arcadian Navy back in the day. “However, you must also understand the grandeur and stature of the Crown, and your place within it.”
“I see,” Richard said. “I presume my sisters thrilled about all of this.”
“Ecstatic,” William grinned.
Richard had two younger sisters; eighteen-year-old Princess Sophie and fourteen-year-old Princess Astrid; both took their Royal duties very seriously, particularly Astrid in her own way, but both were still, ultimately, teenage girls and Richard was sure that they were both absolutely thrilled about the idea of a Royal Ball. The extravagant dresses of the women of high society, and the opportunity to rub shoulders with the highest echelons of the Kingdom’s social structure.
“I’m sure,” Richard replied, rolling his eyes. “Will this be a domestic affair, or will we be inviting the entire foreign Ambassadorial corps?”
“We’ll be inviting invitations to all Foreign Embassies who may send whoever they wish; one day it will be you that they are dealing with, not me, and in our Kingdom, where the Crown maintains such concrete power, it is important that you build those relationships now,” William explained firmly. “It is the Crown that maintains continuity in the Kingdom; Prime Ministers come and go but the Crown remains, and in many respects, it is with the Crown that foreigners ought to place their highest stock; introducing you now starts that process.”
“You have a point, as always, Father,” Richard conceded after a moment. “I guess I could not run away from it forever.”
“No, you couldn’t, as much as you might have tried to over at Kodiak Island,” William replied.
Richard nodded slowly; the Royal Arcadian Naval Academy on Kodiak Island, Alaska, had been built specifically to be as isolated as possible in order to allow the prospective officers of the Royal Arcadian Navy to concentrate on their studies as much as possible; with the sole exception of Kodiak City itself. Although he would never openly admit it, Richard knew that he had enjoyed his time at Kodiak Island because of its isolation from the attention and expectation of life in the Royal Palace. Hell, that was part of the reason why he had wanted to join the Navy for his military service; deployed at sea he would be able to have as normal a life as possible for as long as possible before he had to take up his birth right, whilst still allowing himself to serve the Kingdom. And yet the circumstances of his birth were always going to catch up with him, and attending the Naval Academy, and serving in the Royal Arcadian Navy, could only delay that fact for time before he would have to take up the Crown he had been born to wear.
“Indeed not,” Richard sighed heavily. “Very well, make your preparations, I will attend, of course.”
King William nodded and, after a few minor points about the nature of the diplomatic ball that would follow Richard’s instalment as Prince of Cascadia, took his leave. Richard, having stood respectfully as his father departed, sunk back into the comfortable high-backed seat with a heavy sigh. He was only alone with his thoughts for a few moments before he heard a flurry of footsteps and before he could open his eyes he felt a thump as his fourteen year old sister, Princess Astrid, jumped onto his knee. It was fortunate perhaps that Astrid was petite to say the least; for his devoted sister still liked to act like she was a little girl. But then compared to her older sister, Sophie, who was calm, reserved and elegant, Astrid was energetic, optimistic and far from elegant. Richard would never admit to loving one of his sisters over the other, but he knew he had a soft spot for Astrid over Sophie; he could never stay mad at his youngest sister whilst he and Sophie had regularly feuded growing up.
“You’re getting far too big for that, little wolf,” Richard said wryly, his nickname for his youngest sister was a reference to the animal at the centre of his family’s coat of arms. “You’ll hurt yourself… or most likely me.”
“The latter matters less to me,” Astrid teased.
‘Gee, thanks for your concern,” Richard rolled his eyes. “This is about the ball, I take it?”
“Of course, I want you to persuade father to let me choose my own dress; the dresses my ladies in waiting always choose are so dreary and conservative; I’m not a little girl anymore,” Astrid complained earnestly. “You know as well as I do that all the other ladies will be wearing the most extravagant dresses they can find, and I’m going to be rubbing shoulders with them in a few years, I need to start being more than just your youngest sister.”
Richard nodded thoughtfully; at first he had thought her complaint was just to get a nicer dress, but by the end he could see her real concern. She knew that in a few years she would have to join high society in the course of her Royal Duties, and simply but she wanted to be taken seriously. It was perhaps a few years earlier than she needed to truly worry about that, her titles as Princess would go along way in any event, but he could at least see where she was coming from.
“You want to be taken seriously,” Richard commented.
“I do,” Astrid nodded quietly.
“I’ll talk to father,” Richard promised. “Have you given thought to what you want to do in a few years?”
“I want to be a pilot,” Astrid replied immediately and with a broad smile.
Richard laughed and rolled his eyes. The young Arcadian Princess had always watched the King’s Birthday Flyovers with great interest, but she had been absolutely enamoured with the Royal Arcadian Air Force ever since the RAAF Centenary Airshow at the RAAF Academy in Colorado Springs the previous year. Ever since Richard had been expecting her to come out with a desire to serve as an Air Force pilot; he could understand the desire, however; as a pilot, she might be able to serve in a combat role; an option that would not be open to her in, say, the Royal Arcadian Army. Her older sister had no interest in undertaking military service, instead preferring to shoulder other tasks for her Royal duties, but Richard had always known that Astrid would follow the example of her brother, father and uncles.
“You’ll have to work hard, the RCAF only takes the best on as its pilots,” Richard said firmly “Your family name would get you a commission, but only dedication and hard work will get you your wings.”
“I understand…” Astrid nodded seriously. “Do you think I’d be able to take some flying lessons?”
“That I can arrange, my roommate at Kodiak was the son of Vice Admiral Nicholas Wright, COMNAVAIR” Richard smiled as Astrid grimaced at the mention of the RAN. “It won’t the RAAF, but the basic flight curriculum is the same, and will certainly make you stand out.”
“I would appreciate anything you can do, brother,” Astrid said graciously. “When do you think we could do this?"
“Next summer; flight training is intensive and you won’t be able to do anything else over the break, but if you realistically want to be a pilot, and you want a step up on your competitors then you’re going to do it properly, and not just trade in on your family name,” Richard said firmly, of the three siblings he laid down the law. “I’m sure father will add additional conditions on your behaviour at school, but my biggest concern is that we, the next generation of royals, do not be seen to be taking advantage of our name and the circumstances of our birth; we serve the people every day of our lives for the luxury we live in and the deference we receive.”
“I understand,” Astrid nodded, if she was fed up of hearing this lecture from Richard she didn’t show it.
“Good,” Richard smiled. “Now run along, I’ll talk to father tonight.”
“Thank you,” Astrid replied with a small smile, that Richard could never say now to, and hopped off his lap and departed the room.
Richard chuckled softly to himself before standing, leaving his breakfast neatly on the coffee table for one of the footmen to remove and departed the room. He made his way from King Andrew’s Tower, heading for the corridors until he reached the working wing of the Palace and his own personal office, nodding his acknowledgement to each of the footmen, maids and other servants that bowed as he passed. He found his Private Secretary, Catherine Knowles, already at her desk. Catherine looked up and smiled as Richard entered, but unlike pretty much everyone else did not have to stand due to an existing arrangement between her and the Prince; they worked too closely together for her to have to stand every time he entered the room. Catherine was responsible for managing his office and co-ordinating his Royal duties with his military ones, as well as his own desires for his spare time. It was by no means an easy job, but Catherine had a great deal of experience at Mount Royal and was the big sister that Richard had never had in many respects; where his younger siblings came to him for advice he went to Catherine when he could not go to his parents for whatever reason.
“Good morning, Catherine,” Richard said with a smile.
“Good morning, Your Royal Highness,” Catherine smiled back. “Have you seen the King?”
“Did everyone know of this damned thing except for me?” Richard asked wryly
“I think so, pretty much,” Catherine grinned. “Someone from the King’s Office dropped off a full briefing pack for you, it’s on your desk.”
“Great,” Richard sighed, resigned to his fate. “Anything else for me this morning?”
“An Admiralty yeoman dropped by a short time ago with your formal orders to report to HMS Fearless on the Second of next month to assume your post as a Junior Surface Warfare Officer,” Catherine explained. “Whether due to your presence aboard or not it looks like you’re on a global tour; Fearless is going to be heading for a few parts of the world that hasn’t seen an Arcadian ship for a while, if ever.”
“Should of known,” Richard grinned. “And guess which junior officer is going to playing an unusually active role in the diplomatic side of things.”
“You can’t blame the Admiralty,” Catherine smiled. “You give the Navy a massive amount of clout.”
“I’ll be sure to remember that, when I’m King,” Richard said wryly. “Alright, I’ll start reading that briefing pack; let me know if you need me.”
