Chapter Three #2
She didn’t really want to. It was one of her least favorite parts of royal life.
Any of the times that she had been called upon to be part of the face of her country.
Not because she didn’t love her country—she felt deep affection for it, but she did not enjoy being in front of people.
Still, the idea that he had, to present some kind of stony announcements to all the citizens of the country, with her sitting silently beside him like exactly what she was—a trophy representative of the revolution, and not a human being—was not going to do what he hoped.
“I think that we should say you and I have been working together on diplomacy. On easing things between our countries, healing divides. Even my father won’t want to come and make trouble if I do that.
I think that’s been part of the problem.
He hasn’t known how to extricate himself from what until now had proven to be a very unpopular regime.
Now that you’re back, and you’ve had so much success, it’s incredibly obvious that he would’ve been making a mistake marrying me off. I can fix that for him.”
“And you want to do that?”
“No. I don’t. But what I would like to do is make sure that my freedom is assured.
By doing that, I need to bring my father on board with this arrangement.
And I truly believe that we might be able to do that if I say the right things now.
If I make it clear that my father supported your revolution, even if quietly. ”
“It is a lie.”
“Of course it is,” she said, moving up closer to his desk.
“Of course it’s a lie. But I was raised in this.
This backstabbing, treacherous life. What I learned when I was taught manners and elocution was to look for the truth and meaning between the words.
Manners hide all types of sins. They make it so a person can smile at your face while stabbing you in the side.
I did not make it this far in royal life without understanding that. ”
At least here that could matter. At least now she could use it.
She felt a small measure of power now, in this moment.
To finally be able to use the skills she’d honed and hidden in the palace.
She was not the Fern she’d found at the convent now.
But she was not the Fern she’d been in Cape Blanco either.
It was like the two were coming together, and were stronger for it.
“A trade. We make your father look better than he is, and then he will not be able to interfere negatively with the marriage without damaging the reputation that you’ve created for him.”
“Exactly. You and I have been working together on diplomacy.”
She took a step closer, and for some reason her heart began to beat faster. “We began to develop feelings for each other. You are a man who has sworn to protect his country above all else.”
“Won’t that make our divorce more difficult?”
Her breath hitched. “Yes. It will. But I think it will also make everything seem like a better story. You don’t want to present yourself as a man made of ice.”
He shifted slightly, then stood up from where he was sitting. She had truly forgotten how large he was. She barely came up to the center of his broad chest. He looked like a relic from another time. One of his Viking ancestors brought forward to this moment. All he was missing was a broadsword.
“I do not mind my enemies thinking that I am made of ice. You will be seen as a vulnerability—you realize that, don’t you?”
“Do you have faith that you can protect this country?”
“Of course.”
“Then you must have faith that you can protect me. People would prefer if you had a vulnerability. It makes you that much more human. You said yourself, your ancestors initially brought their women here to keep them safe.”
“I believe that was more about possession than feelings.”
“Why do you think that? Humans have always found a way. Through all of history. We are a testament to that. We’ve found so many ways to survive.
Even when it seemed pointless. As for me, I found a way to dream, even though my future seemed certain.
Wouldn’t you rather know that a leader had a spark of passion inside of him? ”
He turned toward her, and even though there was still space between their bodies she felt enveloped by him.
His presence was nearly overwhelming. Magnetic.
He looked like a king. Like a man who was born to sit on the throne.
The truth was, he was the kind of man that would instill confidence in anyone.
Looking at him, it made her want to vow loyalty to him.
To hide underneath his protection. Very suddenly, the idea of freedom felt frightening.
Don’t falter now.
She took a sharp breath. “Don’t be afraid to show them your humanity. It is the lack of true humanity in the man who ruled before you that made him frightening. The ability to turn it on and off. You don’t need to be charismatic. Be you. With a hint of a beating heart.”
The truth was, he was charismatic. Just not in the way that many would define it. Perhaps magnetic was the better word.
“I will let you tell the story of us, then.”
He gestured toward two chairs by the fireplace, where there was a stand in place for a camera.
“It is already hooked up to the broadcast channels, and to official online accounts. You and I are set to go on in one minute.”
She didn’t have time to protest, because he put his hand on her lower back and led her to the chair.
His hand was large, hot against her lower back, and she couldn’t recall if she had ever had such close contact with a man as she had with him.
In fact, she had seen no man at all for the last three years, and she would have said that was a boon.
But suddenly she was very aware of him. The press of that palm against her back. And then she turned away from him and sat in the chair.
He sat beside her, and put his hand over the top of her arm, her hand.
His skin against hers electrified her.
And for the first time, she felt something that was truly like fear.
What was this?
But she didn’t have time to question herself, because then the light on the camera turned on. He began to speak in Icelandic, and she did not know the language. She was suddenly very nervous, because they hadn’t discussed what she was supposed to do.
They spoke English to one another, the common language between them, and that was going to have to be okay now. She imagined it was more likely that the people in this country would understand that, rather than her native Spanish.
She did her best to smile and to respond when she felt like it was appropriate.
“My fiancée will address you in English.”
She felt a sweep of relief that he answered the question.
“Yes,” she said, looking into the blank, dead eye of the camera. She was so aware of him touching her. And then he moved his thumb across her knuckles, and her heart leaped up high in her throat.
“Yes. I just wished to address all of you and say I am honored to be here. And to be part of this nation, and its new future. I have been working with the king for three years now, easing diplomatic ties between his country and mine. Over that time, he and I began to develop feelings for each other. So though this feels quick, I know, it is actually just a visible bloom on a seed that has been growing for a very long time.”
“Our wedding will be this afternoon,” he said, still speaking English.
“We will wed on the large terrace at the front of the palace, and whoever wishes to attend may come and watch. This will usher in a new time. A new era. As we continue to work for the betterment of all people in our country. And with Queen Fern by my side I know that I am assured of this future.”
The light on the camera went off, whoever was monitoring the broadcast clearly right on cue.
“Perfectly done.”
“You don’t believe in giving anyone much time to prepare.”
“Nothing about you has suggested to me that you need extra time to prepare for anything.”
She felt warmth, pleasure, spreading in her chest and she looked away. “Are you talking about the fact that I almost got away from you yesterday?”
“You didn’t. But you tried. And then you skillfully renegotiated the terms of this arrangement. Somehow I knew that you would manage to do so again.”
“That’s a lot of confidence in a woman you only just met.”
“When I was putting together my army—such as it was—to reclaim the country, I had to become an excellent judge of character. I couldn’t afford to trust the wrong people. If the wrong word went into the wrong ear, the revolution would have been over before it began.”
“So you’re saying you’re an excellent judge of character, and you have judged me to be excellent?”
“In a sense.”
His hand was still resting on hers; she drew it back. And without thinking, brushed her fingers over his knuckles.
Those blue eyes met hers, and she felt something spark low inside of her.
Of all the things.
She had been immune to men all this time. Mainly because they had been adversaries to her.
She didn’t respect them, didn’t like them, so how could she ever want one?
Like marriage, romance had felt very much like it didn’t fit into her life in a conventional way.
She wasn’t certain that what she was feeling for him now was romance. No. It felt like something altogether more…earthy.
“The wedding will be in three hours,” he said.
“Three hours?”
Suddenly, she imagined him pulling her into his arms and kissing her. Weddings had kisses. She felt very suddenly panicked about that.
“What am I supposed to expect with this wedding?”
“It will be quick.”
“Okay. Anything else?”
“A traditional Aslandian wedding.”
“I don’t know what that is.”
“Of course not. Because in these last twenty-five years my culture was nearly wiped out. Though I was living with villagers who still held to the old ways. And that’s why I feel such a strong connection to those ways now.
It is very much a warrior’s wedding. There are vows, and then rather than a kiss, the husband cuts through his cloak and gives a piece of it to the wife.
Binding both their hands with it to symbolize the union.
But she has taken up his cause, and he has offered his protection. ”
It felt so grave. But it was a relief that she wasn’t going to have to kiss him.
“You’re not a very romantic people,” she said. She said it to make herself feel better.
The space between his brows creased. “Do you not find that romantic? Perhaps it is because my life was marked by betrayal that I find the swearing of loyalty to be the deepest, most romantic concept there is.”
“Do you?” Those blue eyes hit her hard. “I mean, do you feel that it’s romantic?”
“No. I don’t feel it. But I don’t feel much of anything. Still, I recognize it for what it is.”
“I guess that proves that I’m right, about the lack of romanticism here.”
“I suppose that it does. But we will see just how much that is true by how many people come.”
“Somehow I have a feeling that the crowd will turn out in force for their king that they thought long dead, especially now that they think he’s found love.”
He laughed, that cold, chilling laugh again. “It is best they don’t know the truth. I might not have died that day, but most of me did. It will be a show. But as long as we put on a good one, I suppose it doesn’t matter.”