Page 16 of Back to Claim His Crown
Zara watched Lucian pull his dagger and begin peeling an apple from the bowl of fruit the servant had brought in.
Pity wasn’t something this cold, clinical man would indulge in. Nor was pleasure, apparently. His claim of virginity still shocked her, yet it also made sense. She suspected self-discipline mattered to him. Proving his self-control. He’d apparently been so patient—biding his time as he’d focused on only one thing—was it revenge?
He’d spoken of his time in banishment, of his mother’s death and of his physical recovery with zero emotion. But there’d been loyalty to Niko, the King of Piri-nu. She’d heard of that beautiful Pacific Island nation of course. She suspected Niko meant more to him than merely being the King he owed. He was Lucian’s friend—which meant he must be less of a block of ice sometimes.
Now he sat there peeling more of the wretched fruit with skilled, swift precision. He was silent, predatory,lethal. Yet she wasn’t afraid of him. Her current adrenalin boost wasn’t based on anxiety.
The realisation that her family had been all too willing to accept her sacrifice churned her innards. Surely her sistersmusthave heard whispers about Anders, given they were so socially connected back in Dolrovia? But even if they hadn’t—even if they were as oblivious as she’d been, shouldn’t they have stayed after that horror in the cathedral to ensure she was safe? She was beyond hurt that they’d simply abandoned her. But her mother was probably still deluding herself that they were some grand, important family and thus had needed to escape quickly. She would now be watching Lucian with eagle eyes.
‘My mother is probably hoping you’ll honourably save my mortification by marrying me yourself,’ she mused morosely.
‘No,’ he responded instantly and uncompromisingly. ‘That wouldn’t be honourable. Besides which, I won’t marry for years.’
Yeah? Well, she wasn’t going to marryat allnow. She’d thought it would be the solution to her problems once and she couldn’t have been more wrong. Lesson learned. But she was momentarily diverted. ‘You have no desire to secure the succession ofyourlineage?’ She suddenly smiled. ‘Oh, no. No desire at all, I forgot.’
‘I have as little desire in me as you do, Sweet Princess.’ He sliced the apple clean through and offered her a piece. ‘Don’t worry, I’ve begun the process to ensure Anders cannot take the Crown. Some other distant cousin will inherit if I die before having heirs of my own. But I won’t be marrying anyone for a decade at least. I need to focus fully on Monrayne and I would never risk bringing children into this tumultuous time.’
He was so very serious and controlled, it annoyed her.
Taking the apple slice, she cocked her head. Periodic cheering could still be heard in the streets. ‘Doesn’t sound that tumultuous to me. They’re out there celebrating.’
He lifted his head coolly. ‘So you think—’
‘That your marriage and subsequent children would only bringmoresecurity to Monrayne.’ She couldn’t resist provoking him a little. ‘So perhaps, for your people, you ought to do that sooner rather than later.’
‘Absolutely not,’ he said softly. ‘Not—’
‘For as long as possible?’ she finished softly.
‘Exactly.’ Implacable and definite, he clearly had a plan and was sticking to it.
His cold, measured certainty was both compelling and aggravating. What if he met someone amazing and fell instantly in love—would he still not marry for a ‘decade at least’?
He returned to the task of peeling and slicing the apple. He offered every other slice to her. It was oddly intimate, though she was quite sure that he didn’t intend it that way. But the gesture gave her the excuse to keep watching him.
She hadn’t thought it possible for him to be better-looking but, even with the ravages of a clearly sleepless night and the weight of a nation on his broad, broad shoulders, he was gorgeous. Yes, it hadn’t been those noisy crowds outside that had keptherawake all night.
‘Where are you going to go?’ he eventually asked.
Unlike him, she didn’t have an eight-point plan perfectly formulated—yet.
‘Where do you suggest?’ she asked a little bitterly. ‘A friend? There’s none of those. My family, who abandoned me in their haste to ensure their own safety? Never. And with what money shall I make my escape? Where was I supposed to go when I left the cathedral, trapped in an enormous dress that I couldn’t escape? So—’ she counted the failings off on her fingers ‘—no funds, no friends, no family, no car, no clothes, no... I’ve got nothing.’ She shrugged. ‘Maybe my marriage might not have been ideal, but at least I had some kind of plan—’
‘With a psychopath.’
‘Maybe I would have had palace support,’ she muttered valiantly. ‘I would have had time to figure something else out once I’d realised.’
‘You have no idea of the danger you were in.’
‘Maybe not then, but I do realise that I’mstillin danger of a sortnow. I can’t go back to my life as it was. It doesn’t exist any more anyway. I’ll always be the frigid, jilted non-princess now. I need time to figure it out, otherwise I’ll end up trapped again and being told what I can and can’t do.’
He glanced up from the apple. ‘So what’s your solution?’
She held her breath in a last attempt to bring inner calm, but then just blurted it out. ‘People are selfish. Most people, in fact. Even you. SoI’mgoing to be selfish. You’re not getting rid of me. I’m staying here.’
He stopped peeling the apple entirely. ‘Pardon?’
‘I’m staying. Here. Just for a little while longer.’ She pressed her lips together.
