by C. J. Miller
* * *
Serena was waiting in the rose garden’s gazebo and stood as King Warrington approached.
He strolled as if he owned the castle and everything in it. She supposed it wasn’t far from the truth. Soon, he would. She would struggle to keep control and fight hard to make her voice, and the voice of her countrymen, heard.
King Warrington sat on the bench across from her. “I won’t keep you. But it dawns on me that we’ve been circling each other. We rarely talk. If we’re to be married, this should be part of our routine, don’t you think?”
What exactly did he mean? “I am not sure I follow.”
“We’ll share information. Figure out our best move.”
Political strategizing was important if they would lead their countries jointly. “That seems reasonable. Did you wish to discuss something in particular?”
He sighed. “I received a call from the president of Icarus this morning. He wanted to discuss a meeting between the three of us.”
DeSante wasn’t showing his hand. What was his angle? “What did you tell him?”
“That I would think about it. Before we meet with him, I want us to present a united front.”
Then King Warrington’s reasons for being here weren’t about their relationship or congratulating her. They were about ensuring she would side with him against DeSante. “On what matters?”
“All matters.”
Unilaterally agreeing with King Warrington wasn’t in her best interest. She didn’t know what matters were most important to him and he didn’t know those closest to her heart. “I think a meeting is a good idea. With my father unable to mitigate, we’ll establish a new means of communicating.”
Samuel ran a hand through his hair. “We need to move past this awkward formality between us. You look beautiful today and usually I am good with beautiful women.”
There was a compliment in his statement somewhere, but she mostly felt uncomfortable.
“I can give you what you want if you’ll just clue me in to what that is. Land. Money. Some heirloom jewelry. My advisers have been pressuring me to lock this down,” he said.
How romantic. He was wrong, though. He wouldn’t give her what she wanted because land and money didn’t matter to her.
How could she be excited about this engagement? Samuel Warrington didn’t love her. She wasn’t attracted to him and he didn’t seem interested in anything about her except her title. “We don’t know each other.”
“We can get to know each other if that’s what it takes to make you comfortable,” Samuel said.
He didn’t want to spend time with her. He had made that clear. He treated her like an obligation he couldn’t rid himself of fast enough. “How would you propose we do that?”
He leaned forward, snagged her around the waist.
“What are you doing?” she asked, pushing against his shoulders.
“Isn’t this how husbands and wives get to know each other?” he asked.
Was he dense? Or maybe sex was how he became close to the women in his life. “This is not appropriate.”
There was an awkward moment when he released her. “Figures you’d be frigid.”
Her back went ramrod straight. “I am not frigid.”
“Then let’s sleep together, get it over with, and then work on the rest.”
A man hadn’t talked to her like this before and she was taken aback. “I am insulted you assume that sex is what I need to become close with you. What about finding common interests? Spending time on mutual hobbies?”
“Who has time for interests and hobbies?” He sounded angry.
According to what she knew of him, he spent much of his time throwing parties and vacationing. “I know this isn’t easy because you cared for my sister. The pressure is making it worse for both of us. We can take things slow.” How much slower, she didn’t know. Perhaps they could start with a few conversations over email. Or text messaging. Become friends, which may lead to attraction.
Was it wrong to think attraction could be cultivated? She could find a trait in King Warrington that appealed to her and focus on that. She hadn’t heard of anyone working that hard at a relationship, but she didn’t know many women who had political marriages.
“We don’t have months to waste. Demetrius DeSante is eager to attack you.”
It wasn’t far from her mind that the president was watching. But Serena hadn’t been to war and her inexperience was a weakness. “I am aware of his intentions.”
“Time is not your friend.”
She didn’t need threats and additional pressure from King Warrington. “I know where my obligations to my country lie. I know what I need to do.”
The king smiled as if he’d won. “I will call on you later this week. Perhaps you can articulate what other terms might make our arrangement acceptable to you.”
He bowed to her. “Good day, Princess.”
Serena watched him retreat down the landscaped paths of the garden.
Her skin crawled with revulsion and that was a terrible emotion to feel for her soon-to-be husband.
Casimir appeared and Serena gasped. “Casimir. How did you know I was here?”
“Iliana told me you were meeting with King Warrington in the rose garden.”
Why did she feel she had been disloyal to Casimir? He knew about her impending arrangement with King Warrington. If he had seen them together a few minutes earlier, he would have seen that nothing happened except an almost kiss, which she had stopped. “He didn’t leave me much of a choice about meeting.”
Casimir said nothing with his words, but his look spoke volumes.
“Say what you want to say,” Serena said.
“I have nothing to say that hasn’t been said before. You said you didn’t want to marry him, yet you’re pursuing a relationship with him.”
Was he hurt? She was unsure where they stood, but his presence renewed her feelings for him. Serena grasped the lapels of Casimir’s suit jacket and pulled his lips to hers. He resisted for a moment, but then he returned the kiss, the heat of his mouth infusing her with a burning desire. She wished she had an extra hour to pull him away and do unspeakable things to him.
When she broke the kiss, she searched for the right words. “Some sad twist of fate has forced me into being queen. If I had my choice, you would be my future. I would be with you. But we know that’s out of my control. I can’t run this country alone. I can’t protect us from Demetrius DeSante and his army without a better military. All I can do is make the best possible decisions for my country, given the circumstances.”
Casimir ran his knuckles lightly down her cheek. “You underestimate yourself. But I am honored to know you would choose me. I know it’s wrong to touch you and kiss you. I know I shouldn’t but I can’t stop myself.”
Serena’s phone chimed. A text from Iliana that she was needed in the solarium. “We will talk about this later. We will meet tonight?”
He didn’t nod or indicate he would meet her, leaving her filled with uncertainty. “Good luck today. Be strong. Be the queen you were born to be.”
His words infused her with confidence. “Thinking of you will get me through today.”
* * *
Coronation Day was a blur of activities. Serena held it together through the procession and the ceremony, the pictures, the questions and endless small talk.
There had been a few incidences where her social awkwardness and lack of grace had been a problem. Serena had forgotten names, confused people and had been too nervous to eat, but she’d forged on, remembering Casimir’s encouraging words.
She’d smiled until her cheeks hurt and waved to thousands of people. This day was about keeping Acacia on the path to a bright future. But Serena could not think of her own future. She could not think about Casimir leaving her, or about her marriage to King Warrington or her fears of what would happen when Acacia united with Rizari.
Prior to today, Iliana had warned the media not to ask questi
ons about King Warrington, Rizari or her father’s and sister’s deaths. The press had complied.
During the ceremony those in attendance, dignitaries and commoners alike, held a moment of silence for their former leader. Serena had kept it together, but barely. At several different moments during the day, she’d felt the urge to burst into tears. The weight of her new title and the importance of this day was heavy on her shoulders.
One of the brightest moments of the coronation had been seeing Dr. Shaw in the front row when she was crowned queen. He had been seated beside his wife in his wheelchair. Though he needed rest and hadn’t stayed long enough for her to greet him, she was pleased he had been in attendance. He was healing and that lifted Serena’s spirits.
The final event of the day was an elegant party in the throne room with the doors opened to the lower level patio, which had been decorated with beautiful potted plants.
Serena needed to change her clothes before the evening’s festivities. It was her seventh clothing change of the day. Iliana was waiting for her in her bedroom and she seemed distraught.
“What’s wrong?” Serena asked. Iliana had planned the ceremony and related events to every last detail. Now that the coronation was almost finished, Iliana should be congratulating herself, having a glass of wine, and taking the next week away from work.
“Nothing.”
Iliana had answered too abruptly. “Iliana...”
“It’s nothing with the coronation. It’s about Demetrius. A personal matter.”
“You can tell me about it if you wish.”
Iliana shook her head, fresh tears forming in her eyes. “I’m not ready to talk about it. Let’s get you into your gown. It is my favorite. The most elegant by far. But it comes with a warning. I know that Casimir is here. Everyone is watching you tonight. Don’t say or do anything that will start rumors.”
Serena hugged her cousin. “Thank you for the reminder. I will be careful.”
* * *
The morning after the coronation, Iliana had planned to sleep in late, maybe spend the day shopping in town or catching up on the errands she had neglected over the past weeks. When she’d received a message that Demetrius DeSante was planning to visit Serena, she rearranged her schedule, showered and beat feet to the castle.
She was upset with him because he had been so distant lately, but she wanted to see him. To confirm that their fling was over? To see if he still cared about her? She was a masochist, seeking out a situation that would inevitably hurt her. But like a moth to a flame...
Demetrius DeSante was waiting for Serena in the solarium on the first floor of the castle. He had finagled another meeting, perhaps by strong-arming any number of people. His official reason for the meeting was to congratulate Serena and formally acknowledge her as queen.
Iliana couldn’t get over it. Serena as queen. Iliana was biased, but she thought Serena would rock the position. She was compassionate and warm and she cared about her country. Once she found her footing and some confidence, she would shine.
But her warm feelings for her cousin didn’t negate her annoyance with DeSante. Demetrius hadn’t informed her he was coming to the castle. She had seen the appointment on Serena’s calendar that morning.
He had been so romantic and sweet in Elion and then Iliana hadn’t heard from him. Being involved in a hot affair one minute, a freezing one in the next wasn’t her jam.
Iliana entered the solarium. Demetrius’s guards were in the room. Iliana nodded to them and they made no movement toward her.
“Good morning, Demetrius.”
If the use of his first name when he was visiting in an official capacity offended him, he didn’t indicate so. “Iliana.”
“You didn’t tell me you were coming by the castle this morning.”
“I utilized the official channels to make this appointment.”
What a load of crap. He hadn’t wanted to see her and that stung. “I am the queen’s personal secretary.”
“Protocol and precedence dictate I book appointments with the queen through the minister of foreign affairs.”
Iliana lifted her head proudly. “I must have misunderstood our relationship.” He had alerted her to his official visits most times in the past.
“What did you understand our relationship to be?”
Iliana wasn’t sure she could say it aloud without sounding like a perfect idiot. “In Elion you said... I mean, I thought we were...friends.” What a weak word to describe what her imagination had led her to believe.
“We are friends. But you didn’t call me,” DeSante said.
“Was I supposed to call?”
“You are supposed to do whatever it is you want to do. You are strong enough to take what you want. I gave you my number to use at your leisure. You did not do the same for me. I would not use your professional contact information to pursue a personal matter.”
He was putting the silence on her. “I coordinated the coronation. You didn’t RSVP.”
DeSante threw his head back and laughed. “You’ll find a way to keep me in line. No infractions are acceptable. Even trivial social ones.”
“That’s right,” Iliana said, unsure if he was making fun of her. “And the coronation was not trivial.” She had spent long, hard and confusing hours planning that event, reading the details of past coronations and official protocols.
“My apologies. I know for you, it was a significant occasion. For me, it was an inevitable event that drew other matters to a head. I was dealing with those matters.”
What did that mean? What was he getting at? “I see.”
“Do you, Iliana? How would you feel if I told you I plan to speak to the queen about you?”
Her heart raced. “And tell her what?”
“That I wish for you to be our intermediary. I find Mitchell Wagner to be dull. I find you to be stimulating and infinitely more suited to negotiate affairs between the queen and me.”
“What makes me more suited to that position?”
“It’s my preference. I think you are glorious. Speaking to you excites me.” He moved toward her like a panther stalking its prey. When he was close, he set his fingertips lightly on her hips. “I mean to have you, Iliana. I will court you and win you over.”
Her legs felt boneless, but she remained standing. She wasn’t a swoon-and-faint type. She was, however, a suspicious type. “Why?”
His eyes studied her face. “You never think of me?”
She’d be lying to deny it. “I think of you.”
“In bed? When you are sleeping alone?”
“What makes you think I sleep alone?”
She expected her words to shock him, but he appeared unfazed. “You are a matter that concerns me and when matters concern me, I make sure I know everything about them.”
She stepped back from him and shoved his hand away. “Are you spying on me?”
“Yes.”
“That is so...rude!”
“For your protection.”
“You know what, Demetrius? In Icarus, maybe women like that high-handed, man-is-king crap, but here, in Acacia, men and women are equals. I don’t need a dictator peeping in my windows at night.”
“I don’t peep in your windows. I have hired parties watching out for you.”
As if siccing strangers on her was any better. “Why? Why are you are so interested in me?”
DeSante inhaled and let out his breath slowly as if mustering patience. “You are of more importance than you know. One day, you will understand. Until then, I will keep you safe.”
She should be creeped out, but he believed she required protection. “If pictures of me in the shower show up on the internet, I will blame you.” Except somehow she knew he would demand lines and boundaries be kept to protect her privacy.
“If pictures of you in any compromising positions show up anywhere, you will see no end to how I will defend your honor and protect you.”
Before Iliana could fully process or respond t
o that, Serena entered the solarium.
* * *
Seeing her cousin and the president of Icarus in intense conversation, Serena felt she had walked into a private exchange. Iliana seemed upset, but she could hold her own, regardless of her emotional state. Serena half expected, and would have found it highly amusing, to see her cousin let loose on DeSante.
DeSante and Iliana looked at her, and both went silent and still.
“Iliana, is everything okay?” Serena asked.
Iliana stepped away from DeSante. “Just confirming the president’s plans.”
Serena knew his unofficial reason for the visit was to pressure her again about merging Acacia and Icarus. Using the guise of offering his congratulations was flimsy.
Serena was firm in her resolve not to allow her country to become a dictatorship, least of all with Demetrius DeSante at the helm.
“I will take my leave,” Iliana said. She glowered at DeSante and Serena hid her chuckle. Later, she would ask her cousin what their conversation had been about. She sensed a certain tension between the two. Perhaps it was the early stages of their relationship and they were smoothing out the kinks.
Serena and DeSante sat. Serena’s steward rolled in a cart of tea and cookies.
“Thank you for meeting with me. I would like to extend my congratulations to you. Our previous meetings have not been productive. I am hoping that will change now that you have power of your own,” DeSante said.
Their previous meetings had been forced by him and she had been unprepared for them. “I do not like to be manipulated.”
“I have an offer for you that you might find more pleasing than others under consideration.”
She doubted he had anything new to bring to the table. She gestured for him to continue.
“We will arrange an alliance without a marriage between us to muddy the water.”
“I would like an alliance. Acacia is not spoiling for war.”
“Neither is Icarus,” DeSante said.
She didn’t believe him. He wasn’t looking for a war, but he would not turn away from any provocation. In her experience, provocation could be anything: a ship drifting too close to Icarus, an unintended flyover by a commercial plane slightly off its route or unfair trade arrangements. “Would our alliance leave me as queen of Acacia and the Assembly in place?”
