Page 33 of A Ring to Claim Her Crown
‘You don’t have to be the only one in this. Go to him. Let him make that choice for himself. Figure it out together.’
Liro stood at his office window and watched the kingdom of Arqaleta disappear behind him. He hadn’t intended to leave today but, with a large storm set to come in tonight, his crew needed to pay a visit to the mainland. Truthfully, after a long day of arguing in a boardroom alongside Magnabest’s corporate team, he needed space.
Since his identity had become known, he had felt more of an outsider than ever. His CEO had even attempted to bow to him when they had first met in the hallway. He had known the man for years, but it seemed hiding one’s true identity under a persona made people upset. A fact he supposed he understood, even if he knew he had his reasons.
Still, he had done his part in ensuring that Minerva’s future was made up of choices rather than just duty. He had seen the faces of the men and women who ran the parliament and had seen how they’d known instantly that their plans had been felled. And he had never been more glad he had trusted his own instincts.
She was free now, safe in the knowledge that she did not have to appease anyone by marrying in order to secure her crown. It was hers without question.
Maybe that was why he had chosen to remain aboard when his staff had informed him of their need to return to the mainland for the afternoon. The grand ball was to take place in a matter of hours, and he would wait and watch while the Queen announced her imminent abdication to the world. Minerva would become Queen immediately, but in essence she already was at this very moment. He had watched as the Prime Minister had signed it into existence.
And with it he had felt something within him tighten. Some deep-seated knowledge or old pain that, once she knew she didn’t have to marry him, she would be relieved. He knew that she had not been false in her emotions during their night together. He was confident in her physical attraction to him, and their chemistry together. But as for her heart... She had never mentioned love to him, not once. She had never alluded to the fact that their relationship was anything more than just sexual, passion and freedom.
When she became queen, she would have no need for his adventures and freedom. She would be required to have almost every moment of her day accounted for and planned. She had prepared for this moment for her entire life and, while he was brimming with excitement for her and full of confidence that she would do amazing things, a small, selfish part of him still rallied against what he had done. He had almost had everything he wanted, and he had quite literally signed it all away when he had made the deal on behalf of his shipping company, ensuring Minerva had a choice in her life.
He was so lost in his own thoughts that he hardly noticed when the movement and the noise of the waves slowed, almost as though had they had begun to stop. He looked out and sure enough there was something amiss. A loud siren blared from outside as he opened up a porthole and stuck his head out to investigate. What he saw shocked him to his core.
Four Coastguard ships had surrounded them, the grand Arqaletan coat of arms emblazoned on their sides. Sirens blared along with a voice commanding them to come to an immediate stop and prepare to accept boarding. Liro pressed his intercom directly to the captain’s cabin.
‘What is the meaning of this?’ he demanded.
‘They are ordering us to return to shore,’ the captain shouted over the noise of sirens.
Furious, Liro bounded out onto the deck in the direction of the part of the vessel nearest to their unwelcome visitors. He’d had quite enough of the government of Arqaleta trying to have its say in his business. He had absolutely no patience for this happening now. Rain had begun to fall hard and fast but he ignored it, climbing the emergency ladder to get to the captain’s board fast.
It was only once he was high up on the top level that he looked down and saw a sight that sent his blood running cold.
‘Minerva.’ He breathed.
She was standing out in the rain, her blue sundress billowing in the gusts of wind as a team tried and failed to aim a rope-bridge device towards his yacht. She shouted something he couldn’t hear, putting her hands out to take the device herself even as the men shook their heads.
‘Don’t you dare,’ he hissed under his breath, frozen in place as he watched her take stance and aim. The rope bridge unfolded and she looked up, meeting his eyes with triumph.
‘No, Minerva, stay there.’ He launched himself down the ladder, determined to reach her before she began the dangerous journey across. It was a short distance, but still the slippery rope and plastic were treacherous and all it would take was one wrong foot...
Terror striking his heart, he bellowed again for her to remain on her side, but she had already begun to make her crossing.
Minerva could just barely hear Liro shouting over the noise of the wind, the waves and her own frantic heartbeat as she tried to be graceful in navigating her way across the rope bridge they’d secured between the two ships.
‘Stay where you are, damn it!’ Liro roared, his voice reaching her on a gust of wind. She looked up to see him climbing down from the top deck like a madman as a handful of his staff watched.
Minerva looked back towards the Coastguard ship to find it was much further away than she’d thought. She was pretty much halfway now. Her knees buckled as her hands slid across the wet ropes, holding on tight with all the strength she had. She gritted her teeth, looking down at her sandalled feet moving one step at a time, until a wooden ledge appeared under her feet and she realised she had finally reached the other side. She barely had a moment to stand up before strong arms grabbed her, pulling her head up against a warm, hard chest. She didn’t need to look up to know who it was—she knew Liro San Nicolau’s heartbeat better than she knew her own.
‘I told you to stay.’ He growled, his hands in her hair as he tilted her head up to face him. ‘You could have fallen to your death! You should have waited for me.’
‘I’m the one who sent the full Arqaletan Coastguard to stop you from leaving me—the least I could do was let them stay dry.’
‘You thought I was leaving you?’
‘Well yes, considering arrived down at the dock to find your huge, hulking yacht disappearing into the horizon.’
‘So you armed your own armada to stop me?’ His eyes were wild. ‘My crew needed supplies from the mainland before the storm hit—we were only planning to be gone for a couple of hours.’
‘Oh.’ Minerva grimaced. ‘I suppose I overreacted slightly?’
Liro stared down at her for a long moment, then he laughed, deep, barrelling laughter that eventually made her laugh too. The wind whipped her hair across her face and Liro pulled it away, studying the long curls that swirled loose around her shoulders with a sudden thoughtfulness. For a moment, she wondered if he planned to kiss her, but then his hands dropped from her face and he took a step back. ‘Tonight is a big night for you, for your mother... I know we argued, but I wouldn’t have missed it.’
‘She told me what you did today. What you’re risking.’ She watched as his eyes darkened and felt a sliver of fear in her chest. A hint of doubt that maybe she had been foolish to assume he’d done all this for her out of love.
