A weary Queen Catarina called for reinforcements. She summoned Crown Prince Sebastian to the palace.
"What's the matter now, mother? Another manufactured crisis?"
"Oh no," the Queen told him, "this one is not manufactured. It's all over the papers." She handed him the stack of magazines and newspapers and printouts of online articles.
The Prince laughed. That a sister of his was in the news for scandalous behavior was not news to him. Twenty years earlier, when Princess Francisca disappeared, the papers covered the story for three months straight.
Prince Sebastian's ex-playboy instincts kicked in. "So Alex banged a chick and the girl went to the press to brag about it. Big deal."
"Big deal?" shouted Queen Catarina. "Do you know how embarrassing this is?"
"Yes, embarrassing to you. Just like you were embarrassed when Francisca left."
"This is not about Francisca."
"Ah, but it is. The fact is, just like when Francisca left, this situation is making you look like you've lost control. And you have."
"Sebastian, your sisters -- I don't know what to say about them. They lie, they manipulate, they keep all kinds of secrets --"
"They learned from the best, mother. They learned from the best."
"Please, Sebastian. Talk to them. I can't get through to them. And you know their father, he worships the ground they walk on, so he won't discipline them even in ghost form. He never disciplined them when he was alive."
"Mother, respectfully, that ship has sailed. They're not children anymore."
Queen Catarina sighed with resignation. "I suppose you're right. I suppose the only hope I have is for them to grow up and mature like you did. Even if I'm not around when they do."
Tired of dealing with headline after headline, the palace hired Veronica Schofield, a leading crisis manager and public relations expert, to deal with the fallout from Alexandra's sexcapades. The longterm monarch broke down as she detailed event after event for Schofield. "I don't know where I went wrong with them," she confessed in reference to her twin daughters. "They're outrageous. Completely out of control. One of them, she's a skirt-chasing lesbian, and the other won't even talk to me."
"With Alexandra, how many girls do you think are there?"
"I can't really tell with her, honestly. She keeps so many secrets. Her and her sister both. They lie about everything. I don't know when they're telling the truth, half the time. I know of two for sure, the one at Anastasia's bachelorette party and this young lady from the article. The girl from the article even claims to have a video of them, you know, doing it. Neither she nor her sister have told me the name of the first girl. Anastasia won't even get me access to the guest list. I understand she's protecting her sister, but this is ridiculous. My contacts at the university have told me of a third girl, but that hasn't been confirmed and she hasn't come forward yet. And there was a young man at her father's funeral, but Alexandra won't name him either. We're not experienced with the twenty-four hour media cycle."
Reading through the headlines, Veronica said, "We need to get out in front of this, now. It's about damage control at this point. We need to know just how many other girls are out there, so we can keep them quiet."
"What are we going to do?"
"Well, I'm going to contact the young woman from the article. She's the one who says she has a video, right?"
Queen Catarina shrugged. "I guess."
"We have to get a judge to get some kind of order to stop her from releasing this stuff. Or at least pay her off."
"How much money are we talking about here?"
"Honestly, depends on her. The ball's pretty much in her court. All we have to do is respond. But we do have to get out in front of this. Alexandra has made a start with her statement that she hasn't had contact with her since leaving school. "
The next morning, Alexandra was in court trying to get an injunction against her ex-lover Tiffany Rich. She confidently strode up the steps of the Hidden Springs City Hall, almost certain that she would succeed in getting Ms. Rich not to release any more damaging media. Her new husband, Patrick, stepped right behind her, as well as Ms. Schofield, her agent, and her attorney.
While Alexandra was in court, Anastasia and her husband, Lucian, were enjoying a Simfest at a local coffeehouse. The pair were noted patrons of the arts in Hidden Springs, financing performers and sponsoring talent competitions such as this one. When one of the performers accidentally burned his hand, Anastasia herself poured cold water on it and herself tended to it while the next performer was going on stage.
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