16. 16
Selene
Magnus is as good as his word.
The next day, even before I could say anything to the upstairs maids, Magnus has men from Battle Harbour arrive to start clearing out the sitting room.
The wallpaper is stripped the day after that, and by the third day, Diandra is there to help me pick colours and new furniture.
She helps me design the type of room I want. The first space I have ever called my own.
While I am busy with my new sitting room, Magnus meets with Duncan, and the two of them come up with a list of duties they assign to me.
They show me the calendar of events for the next six months and what they think Magnus might need guidance for.
We talk interviews, and speeches, and the best ways to find and hire staff.
I teach them both about the protocols and help them adapt to this new life.
It’s so nice to be listened to.
I’ve spent most of my life with men—my father, his chief advisor Bryant, and more recently, Darren. And I like to think I’m as smart and savvy and can handle myself in any company as any man, but I was still put in my place—Princess Selene—more times than I can count.
And when I first told my father that Darren and I were planning to get married, he was happy, but not for the reason fathers should be happy.
“I am so glad,” he said to me. “I know you will be a capable queen, but it will be easier having a man rule beside you.”
“I’m not marrying him so he can be king,” I protested, not realizing at the time that was exactly why Darren wanted to marry me. “I can do it myself.”
“Of course you can, my darling girl, but the world will not expect you to. And honestly, Avelaine will not want you to.”
My father was a good man, a good father, but his priority had always been the crown.
That would have been understandable if the king of Avelaine had any real power.
Over the years, the legislature had stripped power from the monarchy, in some ways even without my father realizing what they were doing before it was too late.
He didn’t question much.
Even knowing Magnus for such a short time, I can tell he’ll be better at looking after his country than my father ever was.
And already, I can tell I’ll have more to do here in Laandia than I ever would back in Avelaine.
Duncan spends most of his time at the castle and usually joins us for dinner. And it’s not awkward with the three of us. In fact, it’s the opposite—having someone else in the room makes it more comfortable to be with Magnus.
What I know about my new husband, I like, but there still is a lot that I don’t know.
Duncan helps me find out more.
They tell me stories of touring with the band.
How they started out thinking of each other as rivals, but soon grew to be as close as brothers.
They bounce ideas off each other, finish each other’s sentences, and have a way of silently communicating that I might be jealous of, had I not become so fond of Duncan.
He’s smart and charming, well-spoken, and so attractive.
But he’s not Magnus.