CHAPTER 17
Axel
A t some point, Axel had settled Katy onto a nearby settee. Otto continued to watch them, but Axel had maintained his hold on her until her breathing slowed and she melted against his chest. Not because she had given in to his allure, but because she’d fallen asleep.
Now he was standing outside the door to his father’s study, but his thoughts were still in the sitting room with the exhausted young woman he’d left curled up there, her cloak spread over her and her cousin silently standing guard. He wanted to still be there as well, but he’d made her a promise.
He might as well get it over with.
“Come in,” the king called in response to his confident knock. Tossing a wave to Father’s guards (that they ignored), he pushed the slab of wood away from the doorframe and poked his head in.
“Only me, Father,” he greeted before stepping fully into the room. His father’s eyes flicked up from the papers on his desk. “I’m not disturbing you, am I?”
Father grunted. “What do you need?”
Axel closed the door gently behind his back. He opened his mouth to reply, but the sight of a short man sitting in the corner caused him to let it drift back closed.
“Axel? What did you want?” Father’s voice drew his attention back to the center of the room .
“Sorry, Father,” he hurried to say. Casting his eyes back to the corner, he added, “Are you certain I’m not interrupting?”
Father glanced in the same direction before dropping his gaze back to his work. “Only if you stand there all morning. What do you want?”
Axel dragged his focus away from the advisor camped out in his father’s study. Just because he’d never seen Lord Ulrich during one of his visits didn’t mean the man was never there; it only meant Axel had never encountered him outside of an obvious meeting. “I wished to let you know that I appreciate your desire to see me settled. It is comforting to know that I have a parent so devoted to my welfare.”
“Is that all?” Father grunted again without looking up.
Clasping his hands behind his back, Axel stood a little straighter. “As you are devoted to my welfare, so I feel I should be devoted to that of the woman I am to marry.”
“A fine sentiment.”
“I am glad you agree.” Axel took a deep breath, shoved aside his pain, and plunged in. “Father, she does not wish to marry me. She has made it quite plain to me that doing so would be most disagreeable to her. Can you not free her from the portion of your deal that binds her to me?”
The king picked up a pen and scrawled something on one of his papers. “She is free to reject the marriage and leave at any time.” Axel kept his eyes from widening in surprise. Was it really that easy? But then his father continued. “Of course, if there is no wedding, there will be no wedding gift.”
“You mean her father would still have to pay the money,” Axel clarified, fighting against the tightening muscles in his jaw.
“Of course. That was the deal.”
“This isn’t right, Father,” Axel argued. He unclasped his hands but kept them behind his back so he could ball them into fists instead. “She should have a choice about who she marries. ”
“She had a choice.” Father paused his writing and met Axel’s eyes. “She could have chosen to not ask for the deal in the first place. After I offered it, she could have chosen to spin normal yarn instead of gold. By choosing to spin gold, she chose to marry you.”
“A choice?” Digging his fingernails into his palms, he struggled to keep his voice level. “She asked for a chance to protect her family. You gave her the choice of an undesirable marriage or losing her family’s livelihood. That doesn’t count as a choice!”
His father’s expression changed to a glare. “The lesser of two evils is still a choice, Axel. Someday when you are king, you will often be faced with that kind of choice. Get used to it.”
But I don’t want to be king!
He kept the thought inside, knowing it wouldn’t help his cause. But it had never been truer than at that moment.
The king returned his focus to the document in front of him. “If you want her choice to fit your definition of fairness, there is one thing you can do.”
“And what’s that?” Axel asked. Keeping the surliness out of his tone was difficult.
His father didn’t even look up. “Convince her that the marriage is desirable.”
Feeling the dismissal, Axel gave his father a stiff bow and jerked the heavy door back open. Couldn’t his father simply relent? Why was it so important that he marry Katy?
Because how was he supposed to make her want to marry him without feeling guilty about it? She’d been very clear about her feelings on the matter; to take steps to persuade her otherwise would be selfish. He could tell himself that he was doing it for her own good, but that sounded like his father’s logic.
It was one thing to attempt to win over a lady who was free; it was quite another to attempt to win one under duress. And even with a lady who was free, there was a point at which it was boorish to continue bothering her.
He wished he understood how he had crossed that line between yesterday and today, between when she “had to see him again” and when the prospect of marrying him made her cry.
Although…she had told him yesterday that he should forget about her.
Because she was expecting to be betrothed to…well, him…today?
Or for another reason?
He was still mulling the situation over when he reached the sitting room. Leaning against the doorway, he let his eyes trace her still form. Her left arm had slipped from where she’d tucked her hand under her chin and was now hanging limply over the side of the settee. Her dark curls had likewise shifted, obscuring her face. Otherwise, she was just as he’d left her.
Otto had removed his jerkin, symbolizing his off-duty status, and was sitting on the floor next to her. Leaned up against the settee by her feet, he had rested his arms on his raised knees, and his head was tipped back, eyes closed.
Katy looked like a vagrant curled up on a very fancy bench with her husband dozing while watching over her.
Axel let his head fall against the wooden doorframe with a soft thunk. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. He was supposed to court her first so that she was pleased when he proposed marriage, after which he could bring her triumphantly into the castle as his bride, if not as an honored guest earlier. She would have been radiant, glowing with happiness, and clothed in a dress made by the royal seamstress and fit for a princess.
Instead, she was distressed and exhausted, unconscious in an empty sitting room. She was wearing a travel-stained woolen peasant dress; her hair was messy and tangled; and her dearest hope was that he would return with the news that the wedding into which she was being forced had been called off.
And because he’d failed her, he would court her as an unwilling fiancée.
“You don’t have to lurk in the doorway, Your Highness,” Otto called in a low voice.
Straightening, Axel stuffed his hands into his pockets and ambled toward the guard, whose eyes were still closed. “I thought you were asleep.”
“Just resting,” Otto replied. His lids lifted halfway. “My useless worrying over Kat kept me up half the night.”
Axel dropped next to him and leaned back with a sigh. Katy’s arm hung near his shoulder, but he resisted the urge to reach over and trace patterns on the back of her hand. “If I’d known it was her, I would be in the same condition.” He rolled his head to look at the bit of her chin he could see at this angle. “Maybe I should have been anyway. It wouldn’t have been less terrible for a different girl.”
Otto lifted a shoulder in response. “How did things go with the king?”
“Terrible. He refused to budge.” Axel draped his arms across his own bent knees. “He told me to change her mind.”
“Good luck with that.”
“Thanks, Otto,” Axel said, his voice dripping sarcasm. “You’re a great pal.”
“I’m not your pal, I’m your guard,” Otto grinned back.
Axel’s head drooped forward so that it hung between his knees. “And Katy’s cousin,” he groaned softly. “At present, the only good thing about today is that I now have two people nearby that I don’t have to pretend with because they already know everything.” After a moment, he added, “And that neither is likely to blab.”
“You also have Kat here now,” his guard observed. “Isn’t that a good thing?”
“But she hates me,” Axel sighed, burying his hands in his hair. He twisted his head so that he could watch the few strands of curls that quivered with her gentle exhalations. It was unfortunate that her face was hidden.
“She doesn’t hate you,” Otto contradicted, stifling a yawn. “She’s always a bear when she’s short on sleep.”
Axel didn’t respond, thinking about their interactions since the throne room. He wouldn’t have categorized her words and actions as being a “bear” because of her all-nighters. Although falling asleep in his arms didn’t exactly fit the image of someone who hated him.
“I tried to withdraw the money her father owes,” he said after a while. “I thought I could give it to her so she could walk without hurting her family.”
“Tried?”
He shook his head. “Apparently Father – or maybe Lord Ulrich – anticipated that move. The treasurer has been given very specific instructions. He told me he would handle any bills or contributions I wanted to make. The most I could get out of him was pocket change for the market.”
“Your definition of pocket change is probably quite different from mine,” Otto said with a wry grin.
“Probably,” Axel grinned back before sobering. “But it’s still nowhere near enough.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes. “She’ll appreciate that you tried,” Otto said. “Even if it didn’t work.”
Axel nodded in acknowledgment.
“I imagine she’d sleep better in a bed,” he finally said. “You could have taken her to her room; I would have found her eventually. Shall I carry her there for you?”
He’d tilted his head toward his guard, so he caught the edge of the other man’s glower. Hopefully not because he’d suggested touching her. “Do you know where she’s been sleeping the last three days?”
“No, that’s why I said I would have found her ‘eventually.’” Axel frowned as he watched Otto. “Where?”
“In the same room where she was spinning. A storeroom they emptied on the third floor,” Otto answered, his jaw clenched.
“A—a storeroom ?” His blood began to boil. “My father put her in a—”
“Yes.”
Shoving himself to his feet, Axel strode to the door. “I may not be able to fix the deal my father gave her, but I can fix this,” he growled. “I’ll be back.”
“What if the king gave instructions about that, too?” Otto asked.
Axel spun to face him. “I doubt it. He wants me to make myself desirable, so I can’t imagine him making her stay here miserable.” He clenched his fists. “But it doesn’t matter if he has. I’ll sleep in the storeroom myself and let Katy have my suite if that’s what it takes. If he’s going to insist that she marry me, she’s going to be treated like a princess.”
With that declaration, he resumed his trek to the hallway. He worked on loosening his fists and calming his emotions as he went. Negotiations always went better when he was easygoing; besides, he couldn’t have the castle staff believing he was too obsessed with Katy’s welfare. Not yet.
Not until he could make them believe that his affections for “Heidi” had faded.
It would never do for someone to guess the truth.