by Nikki Steele
“Hello Katherine.”
“Your Majesty.” I hastily curtsied.
“It’s time we had a little chat.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
She led me, with a wave, to a small table that had been set with cakes, scones, and an array of fruit in one corner. Two crystal goblets sat before two straight backed chairs.
“Sit.”
I sat.
We stared at each other across the table. She was slender; and maybe slightly taller, too, with coiffed hair and the same blue eyes as Xander. I could see where he got his looks from—she was an attractive woman, though her beauty was marred somewhat by worry lines that creased the outside corners of each eye.
“So you’re the gold digger who has ensnared my son.”
I blinked. Did she just call me a gold digger? “I may be many things, Your Majesty. But a gold digger is not one of them.”
“Yes. So my son says. But tell me, you’ve just been shopping, yes?” Her tone was condescending.
“You can see the bags.”
“Whose credit card did you use to purchase the contents? Your own, or my sons?”
“Your Majesty, I understand your concern-”
“Just answer the question. I don’t have time for excuses.”
“And I don’t have time for women that make assumptions!” I snapped back. I forced myself to take a deep breath. “My apologies.” I pulled out my purse, opening it on the table before us. “But to answer your question, I used my own.” I handed her a receipt.
The queen raised an eyebrow. “I see,” she said, passing it back without a glance. “And that diamond around your neck. I guess that’s yours too?”
I shook my head. “You know it’s not. It was made by your late husband, who I hear was a wonderful jeweler.”
“But my son gave it to you,” she persisted.
I shook my head again. “He tried, but I wouldn’t accept it. I wear it on loan, because it’s special to him.” My hands reached to the back of my neck, undoing the clasp. “I love it, I truly do. But I’m not here because of your son’s wealth. This is yours, and I’m very happy to give it back.”
I proffered the necklace to her.
The queen took it, considering, but then returned it. “It seems I misjudged you.” She hesitated. “If my son wanted you to have this, take it. My husband made beautiful pieces.”
I nodded, slightly confused. There had been a test of some sort, and I had passed, though I wasn’t sure what it had been.
“What’s your story, child. Why are you here?”
“My name is Kate.”
“Kate. Why are you here?”
“Because I love your son. Because I tried to live without him, but I couldn’t.”
Her fingers steepled. “That’s exactly the same thing Alexander says to me each time we argue.”
“Ma’am. If you could just tell me what’s going on, maybe I could help.”
She shook her head. “You wouldn’t like the answer.”
“Well I don’t like what I’m getting so far,” I said, voice rising an octave. “It couldn’t be any worse than leaving everything behind, only to find you’re not welcome at the destination.”
She drew a sharp breath. “You’re not suitable marriage material for my son.”
“Marriage?” I spluttered. “We haven’t even discussed that!”
“You’re an intelligent girl, Kathr… Kate. My son wouldn’t have asked someone to do what you have done if there wasn’t a potential future together.”
I didn’t know how to answer that. We hadn’t talked about it. But I had thought about it a lot. A love this strong didn’t go away, it only grew stronger. Even during the rough patches. Even over the last week.
“Do you see yourself as Queen one day?” she asked. “How do you think that would go? Let’s put aside the fact that you’re not from Alonia. Let’s put aside, even, the fact that you’re a commoner.”
She looked at me. “What was the name of our last Prime Minister?” I didn’t know.
“How many articles are in our constitution?” She waited for an answer that never came again. “Here’s an easy one—how many knives and forks are in a table setting at a royal dinner?”
I opened my mouth, then closed it.
“You need to be comfortable talking politics,” the Queen continued relentlessly. “You need to make state visits. You need to open Parliament, approve Orders in Council, sign Acts, meet dignitaries and commit Investitures.” She shook her head. “You’re not a royal, and you never will be.”
My head bowed. I didn’t even understand some of those words.
But then I looked up. “I can learn,” I said quietly.
“I beg your pardon?”
“I can learn,” I said more forcefully. “I don’t come from a royal family. And I don’t know any of those things—we don’t have royalty in America. But I love your son. And because of him, I can learn. I promise you that. I’d do anything for him.”
The queen closed her eyes. When they opened again, they were sad. “Would you really do anything for my son?”
I nodded, biting my lip.
“Then for his sake—if you truly love him—I ask that you leave.”
“Why?”
“It’s better if you don’t know.”
“Why?”
“I’m not going to-”
“I know about the diamond,” I blurted.
Her eyes narrowed. “Which diamond?”
“The Star of Succession.”
“Who told you that? Was it Xander?”
I shook my head. “Who told me is not important. What I want to know is what it has to do with me.”
There was a long pause. The queen poured herself a glass of deep red wine from a crystal decanter. After a moment’s hesitation, she poured a glass for me too. “Very well,” she said. “Perhaps you deserve the truth.”
She took a deep breath. “On the day of my husband’s death, Alonia lost two treasures. The first was my husband. He was a good man; passionate for what he believed in, and a strong ruler. Alexander takes after him in more ways than he knows.”
She took a sip from her goblet. “The second treasure was the Star of Succession. The cradle holding the blue diamond had come loose; my husband was the best jeweler in the country.
“It was transported in secret because of certain clauses in Zurenstein’s constitution. You wouldn’t-”
“Whomsoever holds the Star of Succession bears the right to ascend the throne,” I interrupted. “I know.”
The Queen raised an eyebrow, but continued. “Then you also understand that King Fredrick was afraid of a neighboring country stealing the jewel while it was outside the kingdom’s borders. I saw it the day it arrived. Unfortunately, that was the last time anyone saw it. Anyone alive, that is. Its whereabouts were lost with my husband’s death.”
“You’ve got the best jewelers in the world. Can’t you just make another one?” I asked.
The queen shook her head. “The amulet, yes. But the diamond—it was one of a kind. I’ve been looking for 20 years and never found another that came close in either beauty or size. Blue diamonds are incredibly rare. There may not be another that size on this earth.”
“Well it would have to be somewhere on the castle grounds then, right? Have you looked anywhere he might have put it?”
The Queen levelled a stare at me.
“Right. Sorry. Of course you’ve looked. You’ve probably been looking since the day your husband passed away.” My brow furrowed. “But that still doesn’t explain what this has to do with me.”
She shook her head. “Child, it doesn’t have to do with you. It has to do with my son.”
I looked at her blankly. “I don’t understand.”
“Think about it. They’ve kept this secret all these years. But when Fredrick’s daughter takes the throne, the Star of Succession will have to make a reappearance. If it doesn’t, every country that Fredrick has ever offended�
�and there have been many—will have an open invitation to invade.”
She looked me in the eyes, resolute. “His daughter needs legitimacy to take the throne. When my husband died, and we discovered the stone was missing, Fredrick wanted to take that legitimacy by force.”
She paused, taking a deep breath. “For the sake of my country, I negotiated another way to give him what he wanted.”
My face paled. I knew where this was going. “No,” I whispered.
“There are two ways to become royalty,” the Queen said.
“If you can’t inherit the title…”
“You marry into it,” I breathed. She’d promised him her son.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The Queen’s words haunted me long after she’d left the chamber.
“My son was young. He doesn’t remember. But war is not a pleasant thing. People die. And they die in such vast quantities that no morgue can house them, or hospital treat the injured. People stand in the streets with terrible injuries, begging you for help… and you can’t do a thing.”
Her hands had formed into fists, her glass rattling as she put in on the table. “You watch the people you love, and people you don’t even know, die right before you. I had the power to prevent this. So I did.”
She’d looked at me then. “Tell me—Alexander says you’re a nurse.”
I’d nodded.
“What price do you put on life? If you could save even one person from dying, would you?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Then your decision should be clear. I’m not asking you to save just one person. I’m asking you to save a country. My son needs to marry this other woman. And for that to happen, you need to leave.”
* * *
He was on the ramparts, his hair blowing back as he looked out into the distance.
I paused, fixing the image of him in my mind; of his strong stance and powerful arms leaning against the waist high castle wall. How had I not known from the very beginning that this was who he was? He held himself like a king.
I approached him, resting a hand on his shoulder. “Hi.”
He turned.
“Thinking about the future?
He shook his head. “Thinking about you, actually. I haven’t been myself this last week.”
My eyebrow arched. “Really? I hadn’t noticed.”
“I deserved that. I wanted to say I’m sorry.”
“There’s no need. You’ve been under a lot of stress.”
He pulled me beside him, arm wrapping around my back as we both looked out at the view. “I’ll explain why, someday soon, when I find a solution. For now, just know that I love you.” He looked to me with a wry smile. “And I promise I’ll try to be less grumpy in the future.”
I snuggled into his side. “Thank you for saying that.”
We were silent for a long while, enjoying each other’s warmth amidst the view of fields and forests. He was such a strong, solid presence beside me. Should I tell him that I knew? Would it do any good, or make things worse?
I breathed deeply of Xander’s scent. He smelled of cinnamon and citrus today. It reminded me of the last time we’d been close like this. It had been in the treasure room.
I shifted, pressing into him just a little more. I knew one thing that would help him. One thing that would relieve some of his tension.
“Do you know we haven’t had sex in a week?” I asked. “156 hours, not that I’ve been counting.”
He turned to me. I eased my breasts against his chest.
A twinkle returned to his eyes that I hadn’t seen for some time. His hand slipped down to grab my backside, taking the bait. “We should rectify that sometime soon.”
“Why soon? Why not now?” My fingers began to toy with his top button—there was no one around.
I opened my mouth to speak again, but he suddenly pushed me back against the castle battlements, lips locking mine. I returned his kiss fiercely. This was what I’d been missing—this passion, this ferocious need that made me feel wanted, and treasured. This need that made the last seven days just melt away.
My hands went to his head as our tongues explored each other’s mouths and then when that wasn’t enough, I lifted my dress as he unzipped his pants and entered me, hard and fast and unprotected atop the castle walls.
Our eyes grew wide as we each felt the ecstasy we’d both been missing; an electric embrace. It was an instant shock to my system, a bolt of lightning that commanded I sit up and pay attention.
My hands pulled his lips harder against mine as our hips did the same. We began to grind into each other, urgent, my back pressed up against the wall.
His hands slid up from the sin of my hips, caressing my breasts. I lifted a leg to his hip, allowing him deeper, and he didn’t disappoint. He began to slide into me further and further with each motion, his shaft slick with my desire.
I wanted him even deeper.
I pushed him off and turned around, bending at the hips to lean against the top of the battlements. It was just the right height. I felt him lift up my dress.
Electricity zigzagged in a bolt of lightning through my body as he entered me from behind. His first deep thrust drove the breath from me. He followed it with another, and another.
From this vantage point I could see directly below us. The front entrance, with its gate and guards on either side, was several stories down.
I tensed, causing Xander to groan in pleasure. “There are people down there!”
He didn’t stop. In fact, his efforts became more intense. “Then you’ll just have to be quiet, won’t you?”
I bit my lip as his movements had the effect he’d wanted; driving shivers all the way up my spine. I could feel him so deep inside. I could feel every inch of him as he buried himself over and over into my core. I let out a sob of pleasure.
He slapped my exposed backside. My eyes widened in shock, and I looked back to find him grinning mischievously. “Don’t forget you have to be quiet!”
His went deeper. I lowered my head, squeezing my eyes shut in an effort to keep the noises in.
He felt so big today! Whether it had been the week since we’d last made love or something else, every time he drove into me, my whole body became electricity. I could feel his need in the bounce of my breasts and my hard nipples. I could feel it in my legs, which rocked under the pressure of his movements. I could feel it in my fingers, clasped against the stone in white knuckled pleasure.
I couldn’t help it—little noises began to escape each time he rocked me forward.
He slapped me again. A moan forced itself from between my lips.
“Now, now,” he growled. “Do I have to spank you every time you make a noise?”
I nodded urgently, trying so hard to be quiet, but at the same time hoping I wasn’t. Each slap was a spike of pleasure-pain that heightened everything else that followed.
He leant forward slightly and reached between my thighs. Now there were two sources of lightning. Now the pleasure was increasing at twice the speed.
I moaned again, and he slapped me again. I couldn’t be quiet. Not when he was doing this to me.
There was only one thing for it—do it to him, too. I braced my arms against the castle wall and began to thrust back into him. His response was immediate—a gasp as the motion drove him deeper than ever before. Our pleasure began to build. We moved faster, the need to be quiet becoming less and less important as other needs took priority; our flesh meeting in a quickening rhythm that echoed louder than our moans.
My legs started to weaken. I was being pushed forward into the brickwork now, hanging over it. I wanted to feel him release within me. I wanted that warmth between my legs. His breathing was getting faster. I knew it would be soon.
He slammed into me harder and harder, the pleasure one long rush through all of my body as we both approached our climax. If only I could only hold on. If only…
His breathing suddenly became ragged. His body stiffened. His ha
nds went to my hips and he drove himself deep into me.
I let myself go.
My eyes rolled back as heat exploded throughout my body. I cried out over and over again, voicing my pleasure in a full throated cry that echoed across the lake in front of us.
I collapsed, panting onto my forearms when we were done, Xander slowing to collapse on top of me too.
“Look,” I whispered with a quiet giggle. I pointed down. The two guards were looking left and right wildly for the source of our noise.
We lay like that for several minutes, enjoying each other’s closeness. Then he eased himself from within me, pulling my dress down and fixing himself up before kissing me deeply. I kissed him again, then pulled back, biting my lip. “You made me cry out.”
“I was a little noisy too…”
“Yes, but if they’d looked up, I was the only one that would have been seen.” My finger trailed down his shirt, tracing his thick chest and hard abs. I stopped at the zip to his pants.
“What are you doing?”
“I think it’s time for you to know how it feels.” My hands pulled the zip down.
He raised his eyebrows. “Really, and how exactly do you intend to do that?”
I pushed him with one hand back against the battlements. Then I sunk to my knees. “Try not to cry out now,” I whispered.
His member was already swelling again by the time I pulled it out. It was beautiful, growing just for me—silken and smooth, with a softness that became firmer and firmer as it enlarged. I slid it into my mouth before it could fully form, enjoying the ease with which I could swallow his entire length and wrap my lips around the hilt. The motion obviously pleased, him. I had to pull back as he grew longer rapidly, my tongue curling to slide along his underside.
One hand went to his hips. My other went to his hard stomach, bracing myself. I pulled myself all the way off, then slid back down.
I felt, rather than heard, his soft groan. I pulled all the way off him again. “Remember to be quiet now!” I admonished. Then I winked, and slid back down. He felt good in my mouth; like my lips had been formed to do just this—to suck and lick and slide upon him. My long motions slid me down his saliva slicked surface, then up in bobs that soon had his hands gripping my shoulders in appreciation.
