Chapter 2 #2
The few murmurs in the crowd completely dissipated.
Kaid hated the amount of eyes that were locked on him, the pregnant silence filling the massive ballroom, but noticed a pair of familiar green eyes through the onlookers.
It was the same blonde woman he had met in the hall, though she was now casting him an icy gaze.
Kaid gave her a complacent grin and nodded to the crowd.
The guests resumed conversing, eating and dancing a moment later. King Botmar approached from across the room, so Kaid and Halsten walked to meet him. Kaid bowed to the white-haired king, Halsten bowing a moment later, then returning to ogling at the surrounding women.
“Welcome to Orntali, Lord Kaidian. We are pleased to have you here, and pleased to have you join our family,” King Botmar said as he gestured around the room.
Kaid held in his laughter. He was amazed that the king so willingly threw around the word “family,” as though the scandal with his eldest daughter hadn’t nearly torn his family apart.
To the public eye, the king was a man who made a mistake and conceived a bastard child with an unknown woman, but had done the honorable thing in taking in his daughter and treating her as full royalty.
To the nobility, they could see the rest. That he had hurt his wife so deeply they slept in separate suites for months.
That they only conceived their own child to put on a united front for their kingdom.
That the salvation child was what had killed Queen Else during the baby’s birth.
That the king had drunk himself into oblivion most nights since, permanently damaging his memory in the process.
Reigning in his amusement, Kaid replied, “It is my greatest honor, your majesty. I would like to thank you personally for providing such generous accommodations for myself and my chief courtier.”
Halsten’s gaze snapped to Kaid, clearly realizing that the mention of his position was Kaid’s way of reminding him to at least act like he was paying attention.
The king grinned widely. “Now, what you’ve been waiting for. Come, meet my daughters.”
King Botmar marched back across the dance floor and Kaid and Halsten followed, ignoring all the eyes that were now locked on them.
When Kaid realized who they were walking toward, he halted abruptly, causing Halsten to crash directly into him.
He prayed to every god and goddess he could think of that the blonde woman was not his betrothed.
He distinctly remembered his father describing Princess Maren as copper-haired.
Kaid felt Halsten push him, urging him to continue on. Luckily, the king didn’t notice the slight stumble. However, now that Kaid’s attention was on the blonde woman, he could tell that she had witnessed his hesitation by her smirk.
King Botmar stepped to the side and to Kaid’s relief, a petite ginger-haired woman appeared. She smiled kindly and stepped forward, holding out her gloved hand. She spoke softly. “Princess Maren Enrathi.”
Kaid gently pressed a kiss to her fingers, then bowed. “Princess Maren, words cannot express how appreciative I am that you have agreed to this arrangement. I hope I will live up to any expectations you have for a partner.”
The blonde woman scoffed, and Maren flashed her a wide-eyed glare. Kaid stared at the woman, wondering who she was to the royal family. There were multiple women surrounding the princess and king. Was she a courtier? A lady-in-waiting?
Maren slipped her hand away from Kaid’s grip.
“I look forward to getting to know you more over the next few weeks, Lord Kaidian.” She stepped back and placed a gentle hand on the blonde woman’s shoulder blade, nudging her forward with a dainty grunt.
The blonde woman leaned her weight backward, allowing her slippers to skid on the floor. “This is my sister, Princess Asta.”
Even though Kaid wanted to let his jaw drop to the finely polished floor, his face remained indifferent. This cynical woman was to be his sister-in-law, not some employee that he could hopefully be rid of someday.
Asta whipped her hand out and Kaid grasped her fingers, kissing them briskly before letting go. Kaid put on his most charming grin and was pleased to see Asta scowl in return as she wiped the back of her hand on her gown.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Princess,” Kaid said. “I have a feeling that we will get along just fine.”
Pleased with how the introductions had gone, King Botmar excused himself to speak with one of the dukes.
Asta watched the king, waiting for him to be out of earshot before she spoke.
“Then you, Lord Kaidian, are not only a prick, but also an idiot.” She threw him a fake smile and Halsten covered his mouth to hide his laughter.
“Sister!” Maren interjected, and Asta winced. “Please go get Svanhild and let her know I will be in need of a short retreat soon. But first, I will dance with my husband-to-be.”
Maren smiled, holding out her hand for Kaid. He contemplated the dynamic between the sisters. Asta had such strong, blunt words, but winced when Maren reprimanded her. He found that peculiar, but pocketed the information for later.
Kaid gently took Maren’s delicate hand and led her to the dance floor.
Even though Kaid was usually quite charming, he was struggling with Maren. He had never had to charm a woman he didn’t exactly want to pursue. Most of his charisma was utilized on women he wished to bring back to his rooms or fellow nobles he was trying to manipulate.
Nobility was a game, and Kaid was a star player. Duke Aerik, his father, handled the paperwork, the residents and the politics. Kaid, however, handled the social interactions. Even with his notorious reputation, he found that everyone he encountered seemed to love him.
Everyone except for Princess Asta, apparently.
Kaid spun Maren to the melody, her mint green dress billowing out in a circle around her, and he used that moment to glance over at the jade-eyed she-devil standing at the edge of the dance floor. She seemed to be chuckling at something Halsten said, but she kept her eyes pinned on Kaid and Maren.
Maren smiled fully, a small gasp escaping her as Kaid pulled her back to him.
That was what he needed to finally get her attention.
He seized the opportunity in the song to dip her dramatically, his strong hold on her never wavering as she fell back, and then pulled up again.
This time, she wasn’t smiling. But her large, brown eyes were locked on him, a fire burning within.
At that moment, Kaid knew he had her, and could easily keep this up for a few weeks.
But could he do this for his entire life?
He supposed he might grow to love her. Someday. A very, very long time from now. But he didn’t want to love anyone. He didn’t want his happiness to rely on anyone but himself.
Kaid saw the struggles his father still went through regularly for having to live out the rest of his life without his true love, Kaid’s mother. He sometimes felt guilty for his father’s sorrow, even though he couldn’t have stopped his mother passing away during childbirth.
Kaid’s gaze drifted to Asta again, the other person in the room who had unintentionally killed their own mother. He wondered if she ever felt that same guilt.
Likely not, he thought to himself. She seems too heartless to care about such a thing.
“It is customary that you dance with my sister as well, Lord Kaidian,” Maren stepped back, “I will send her to you. Thank you for the dance.”
Before she could walk away, Kaid pulled her fingers to his lips once more and lingered seconds longer. He pulled his eyes up and saw that her face was rosy, accentuating the freckles peppering her nose and cheekbones.
“I look forward to our first date. Tomorrow?” Kaid asked.
“Tomorrow,” Maren replied, trying not to look too eager.
She floated off toward her sister, her steps weightless. Her face turned serious as she spoke to Asta, and then Maren was escorted out by a brunette woman. Kaid assumed the woman must be Svanhild, her lady-in-waiting.
Asta stalked toward Kaid, leaving Halsten standing with a woman with light auburn hair in a sky blue dress. The two were awkwardly shifting on their feet and not speaking.
Kaid was shocked when Asta grabbed his arms and placed one of his hands in the proper position on her waist and his other hand in hers. He was even more shocked to feel the well-developed calluses of her grip.
“No spinning, no dipping, no frills,” Asta mumbled through gritted teeth.
Kaid gripped her tightly and pulled her closer to him as he began leading their motions. He dipped his head down to her, keeping his voice low. “As you wish, Princess.”
Asta rolled her eyes but let him take the lead. Kaid was amazed at the amount of muscle he could feel through the fabric of her dress, the delicate lilac color hiding what fury lurked within. How did a princess become so strong? They danced quietly for a few moments, the air thick between them.
Kaid gestured toward Halsten with his head. “Who have you left my chief courtier with?”
“Linnea, my lady-in-waiting.” Asta glanced over at the odd pair. “I made sure she knew exactly where to kick him if he tried anything with her.”
Kaid barked a laugh. “He would probably deserve it.”
They danced mutely for a few moments.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Asta blurted.
Kaid acted clueless, though he knew where this conversation was going. He wanted to see how much further Asta could dig herself into a hole. “Say anything about what?” He quirked up an eyebrow.
Asta stopped moving with the music. “When we first met in the hall, obviously. Why didn’t you mention who you are? Why didn’t you stop me?”
“What better way is there to learn what people think about you than hiding your identity? Though you didn’t teach me anything new.” Kaid smirked.
“You won’t be marrying her.” Her voice was stern and unyielding, her face expressionless.
“I most definitely will. And I’ll win you over, too.” Kaid pushed on Asta, a reminder for her to keep dancing.
Asta howled a humorless laugh. “Not even when I’m dead will I have an ounce of respect or liking for you. Go back to Haalberg and drink yourself to death, as you seemed so fit to do before my father made this ridiculous arrangement.”
“Drinking seems to be more of your father’s hobby, is it not?” Kaid smiled, keeping his voice light, but he knew how much his words stung.
Asta used the long skirts of her dress to conceal her foot as she stomped on Kaid’s toes, and pain shot up his leg. Her voice remained innocently sweet as she said, “Oops, it seems I forgot the steps for a moment.”
Kaid held back a wince and tightened his jaw. He had never met someone so challenging, so absolutely infuriating. But he needed to go through with this to keep Haalberg from desolation. “I’ve never met someone who dislikes me so strongly before,” Kaid admitted, though he wasn’t sure why he said it.
Asta smiled, a gleam of victory glowing in her emerald eyes. “I’m honored to be the first of what I suspect will be many in your lifetime.”