A Brief(ish) History of Cara & the Royal Family

In 1848, Irish sailor Tadhg O'Grady rescued King Frederick VII of Denmark after pirates attacked their ship near the Faroe Islands. In gratitude, the king granted Tadhg the southernmost island in the chain.

Tadhg named the island Cara, the Irish word for friend, and the O'Grady family has ruled the small North Atlantic kingdom ever since.

 

The Modern Royal Family

King Diarmuid O'Grady has ruled Cara for forty-three years. Now eighty-two and recovering from his third heart attack, his attention has turned to the future of the throne.

That future was once simple.

His son and heir was killed in a car accident twenty-one years ago, making Diarmuid's eldest grandson, Declan, next in line. But at eighteen, Declan abdicated, moved to the United States, and walked away from both his title and his family.

He never returned.

Instead, he built a multibillion-dollar company and became an international celebrity. While Cara waited for its lost prince, Declan created a life of his own, one with wealth, freedom, and far fewer rules than the crown would have allowed.

With Declan gone, the line of succession passed to his younger brother Torin. Unfortunately for Diarmuid, Torin proved just as stubborn. After proposing political reforms the king refused to consider, he also abdicated and left Cara. Their sister Fiona and younger brother Cian followed him abroad.

Years later, Torin eventually returned and reclaimed his place in the succession, while Fiona and Cian found their passions and true loves in the US and settled there.

Which should have solved everything.

But… it didn’t.

Because Kings can be very difficult about not getting their way.

 

The Drunken Poker Game That Changed Everything

Twenty-five years ago, King Diarmuid and his best friend Alfred Olsen got drunk and played poker.

Very drunk.

At some point, Diarmuid ran out of money and wagered something considerably more valuable: one future grandson. Exactly which grandson was never specified.

Alfred's plans for this future prize were surprisingly straightforward. One day, the chosen O'Grady grandson would marry one of Alfred's granddaughters, uniting the two families and securing their shared future.

The agreement was written on the back of a playbill, stained with whiskey, signed by both men, and witnessed by several equally questionable (and drunk) friends.

Under normal circumstances, this would be laughed out of existence. Unfortunately, Cara is a monarchy. And in Cara, the king’s word is the law.

There is only one problem. No, that’s not true. There are several. But mainly, the issue is that the grandchildren have plans of their own. Including falling in love—real love—with other people.

And according to a detail hidden in the fine print, the marriage wasn’t the only objective. The baby was. No one knew there was supposed to be a baby. No one except the king and his now dead best friend.

And that complicates everything. Because of course it does.