Chapter 57
Fifty-seven
James
I gradually woke up, cuddled against a warm chest I knew well, and wanted nothing more than to burrow in deeper. Somehow. Not quite sure how, to be honest, as my nose was almost squashed into his chest already.
The more consciousness returned, the more I cottoned on to my surroundings.
We were still on the floor, under Edwin’s office blanket, next to his desk.
The room was utterly still aside from our breathing and the…
turn of a page? It sounded like Edwin was reading something, which didn’t surprise me; Edwin was always reading something.
How much time had passed? I felt somewhat refreshed, so I didn’t think it’d been a short nap. I tilted my head up to look at him better.
He sensed the movement and blinked down at me. “Ah, you’re awake. Feel better?”
“Yes, I do.” I chose not to move for a moment. “Where is everyone?”
“A long lunch. I told them to take their time.”
When and how had he done that? I’d not heard him say it. My Edwin was clever, and I appreciated him looking out for me when I felt so low.
His eyes roved over my face, but whatever he saw satisfied him. “How about we get up and have lunch ourselves?”
“I do feel hungry. You’re probably famished, waiting on me.”
“I won’t disagree.”
Lifting up, I tossed the blanket back over his chair, then stretched to get the blood flowing again. My right hip felt numb and tingly. I was clearly too old to be sleeping on the floor, but the rest had done me good.
Edwin rose with me, and I realized he had been reading my green notebook. He waggled it as he caught my eye.
“James. What have you not told me? I’m now up-to-date on the monarchs’ stupidity and what they hope to do to skate by in this situation. What else am I missing? If you’re not up to talking about it now, that’s fine, but please find a way to tell me later. I feel like I’m going off half-cocked.”
Considering my reaction from last night until this afternoon, he asked a very fair question. One I found hard to answer. It was hard to articulate how bad my marriage had been.
The office door opened, and to my surprise, Helena swept through. She looked fit to be tied, eyes snapping with anger. Royce followed right behind her. He looked more concerned, though—less anger and more confusion.
“James.” Helena beelined straight for me, her heels like a war drum against the floor. “What the hell is up with that bitch?”
Ah. Seemed the she-demon had already pissed off Helena. That hadn’t taken long. “Do you want the list alphabetically, categorically…?”
“Start anywhere.” She stopped in front of us, hands on hips, looking quite ready to pick up a weapon and commence with the stabbing. “I hate her already and only spent three hours with her. You, on the other hand, look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
I let out a long sigh and tried to find the words to explain.
“Valentina is quite possibly the worst narcissist I’ve ever seen.
I think she’s a sociopath as well. She has no empathy, nor can she even feign it very well.
A few times, she had this running game where she would do everything she could to keep me awake all night, and then when I went in for normal council meetings and such, she would sleep the day away.
I grew so sleep-deprived at one point, Edwin hijacked me from the meetings and whisked me away to a folly so I could sleep for two days. ”
“Psychological warfare,” Royce murmured. “Like she was deliberately trying to break you.”
“I think she was, in retrospect.”
Edwin took my hand in his, eyes asking What else? And because it was him asking, I could answer.
“She employed a great deal of manipulation and emotional cruelty. She’d make me crazy, telling me I was wrong about something when I was right, emotionally guilt-tripping me, and insulting everything about my person.
Including the color of my hair, as stupid as that sounds.
I couldn’t do anything right, according to her.
It was hell being around her for more than five minutes.
At the time, it felt more like I was married to Victor, but with more ambition to be cruel.
Victor’s saving grace is that he’s lazy and doesn’t target people, he’s just completely self-absorbed.
Valentina likes to mentally and physically destroy people for laughs.
She once slept with me, claimed she was pregnant, and then took a potion to abort the child right in front of me.
It turned out to be a hoax, she was never pregnant to begin with, but I almost killed her for even acting like she’d destroy my child just to get back at me over some kind of petty argument.
I had an incredibly hard time keeping people safe from her, myself included. ”
“Gods above,” Edwin whispered, his expression horrified as he looked up at me. “Beloved, I’m so sorry. Now I understand why you don’t want to talk about her. I’m sorry for even asking right now and dredging up such painful memories. No wonder you’re so adamant. I mean, me aside—”
I almost took offense because I had literally sacrificed everything to have him. But I also knew him well enough to take his meaning.
“—no one in their right mind would want a spouse like her. I’m appalled you were forced into marrying her once.”
“She’s not getting her hooks into you,” Helena said, backing Edwin up with a firm nod in his direction, like a silent vow of alliance. “Or you, Royce.”
Royce startled a bit, surprised she’d mention him, then grinned. “Aww, sis, you do love me.”
“I certainly do. Too much to let that banshee have either of my brothers.” Helena let out a growl.
“I heard out of my mother’s own mouth her grand idea of shuffling the throne and that bitch princess over to you.
I’m livid on your behalf. I swear they brought you in to clean up Victor’s mistakes.
Instead of, you know, actually parenting and dealing with their son themselves. ”
She wasn’t wrong. I had been. “Still, there’s limits on what I’m willing to do.”
“After hearing what you’ve told me and seeing what my parents are willing to do to you, I’m amazed you even entered the family again. I wouldn’t have, in your shoes.”
Well, she had a point. But I had goals to reach, one of them being my Edwin. I had to come into the family again. Although there were times, like now, when I wished it wasn’t so challenging. It seemed no matter what I did, this life would be a series of trials to overcome.
Helena got her thinking face on before asking, “Has anyone even tried to talk to the monarchs of Ascor about this?”
It was a good question I had no answer to. “Not that I know of?”
“Aren’t my parents assuming a lot right now? Victor wasn’t even supposed to escape the naval ship for another year, yet he returned in a month. How do we know Valentina didn’t also escape? She’s only been here a night. Do we know if she’s here with their blessing?”
“I would find it strange if she was.” Edwin tapped the notebook with a finger as he thought aloud. “She barely had any kind of real entourage. This smacks of a clandestine trip. She didn’t even have a letter from her parents to yours explaining anything. She had nothing, which I find very odd.”
He made a good point as well. “You think she eloped?” I asked.
“In essence? Victor’s already proven to be a degenerate who has no problem bedding children, so he likely didn’t blink when she approached him,” Helena said.
“It’s just so odd, this whole thing. A marriage between two countries should have a good year of conversation between the parents ahead of time, visits, and courting gifts—not this out-of-nowhere announcement. ”
Helena wasn’t wrong. It did suggest Valentina was here on her own agenda and one not backed by her parents.
“I have to agree with the assessment. If that’s the case, though, agreeing to even think about me marrying her instead of Victor will further solidify a marriage.
We must hijack this idea before it becomes more firmly planted. ”
“I say we make a preemptive strike.” Helena’s expression turned shrewd, mouth curled in a wicked manner.
“Let’s send an ambassador to Ascor and tell them how their princess showed up with no warning and ask what it means.
Our ambassador should be coached to explain Victor’s a waste of space, already disinherited from everything, and the absolutely wrong match for their teenage daughter. I think they’ll backpedal immediately.”
“I see no harm in trying. I have dispatched messages to my spies in Ascor, but we may as well go the official route, too.” I glanced at Edwin, wanting his take on this. “Lenville?”
“He’s my first choice,” Edwin agreed. “I know he’s near retirement, but I think that’ll be to our benefit. He knows all the players involved and has the common sense to be direct when the situation calls for it. This situation definitely calls for it.”
“Let’s send him, then. I won’t ask for permission first, we’ll just dispatch him.”
Edwin gave me his speaking look. “Forgiveness easier than permission?”
“It’s a fucking motto in this place. We’ll speak with Lenville right after lunch. I must eat first before my stomach revolts.”
“We’ll join you.” Helena looped arms with me and tugged me toward the door. “While we’re eating, let’s come up with a plan B in case our first one doesn’t work. Also, for my information, are you comfortable sharing everything with Lucien?”
I was rather taken aback by the question. “Do you want me to tell him?”
“He took note of your reaction at the ball, which was hard to explain away, especially since I only had a surface level understanding. You did say he’s a very close friend and reliable, so I thought I should ask.”
He was, and absolutely the type to keep a secret, so I felt we could speak to him. “Let’s arrange for the right time to do so. I want him in the know so he can help offset things as he sees them.”
“I think it wise. Now, where do we get lunch?”
We all had ideas of where to go, of whether to stay in or go out, and while I did respond, my mind wasn’t really present.
It was on the possibility of booting Valentina out of this country before she could wreak havoc.
Could I really do that? Could I avoid the stress, the heartbreak, the exhaustion of Valentina this time around?
Gods above, please say yes. Honestly, I didn’t think I could survive that woman a second time.