Chapter Seven
CHAPTER SEVEN
‘It’s completely outrageous ,’ Annalena repeated into the phone as she stared at the dusk-darkened gardens.
She wished she could be anywhere else but she couldn’t leave until she and Benedikt came to some agreement.
So she’d turned to her grandmother and they’d discussed the situation at length.
It had been a relief talking to Oma. She’d been sympathetic and supportive.
Unfortunately she hadn’t been able to suggest a way out of this mess.
‘Actually,’ Oma said, after a long silence, ‘in some ways it’s an elegant solution, to have you share the throne.’
‘Oma! How can you say that? It’s horrible and—’
‘I know, I know. I was obviously wrong about him, my information was flawed. He’s an appalling man and you hate him. But then he’s Karl’s son. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree and if the tree’s rotten…’
Annalena bit her lip then forced the words out. ‘He’s not like that. I don’t like him but he’s not like his father. He seems genuinely concerned about the country, for one thing.’
‘Ah.’ There was a wealth of meaning in that single syllable. ‘You don’t hate him after all.’
‘Just because I don’t think he’d kill for the throne, doesn’t mean I like him. He’s the most arrogant, infuriating man. He even tried to convince me—’
‘Convince you of what?’
‘Nothing important. It doesn’t matter.’
Annalena was not going to admit how he’d undone her with the touch of his lips to her ear and the caress of his breath. That said more about her dormant love life than about him.
She shifted as that ache started up again deep inside. It had been there all day and every time she remembered those moments in the summerhouse she felt edgy all over again.
It was shaming. He’d merely been playing games while she’d reacted to him as if…
She cut off the thought, unwilling to go there.
‘If you say so, darling. He’s despicable but at least he knows his duty to the country.’
Annalena frowned. ‘Despicable might be a bit too strong. But he thinks his way is the only way. He’s too used to getting what he wants, particularly with women.’
‘Ah, like that, is he? A puffed-up peacock. That’s interesting. I’d heard he was actually quite sensible.’
Annalena didn’t say anything. She supposed he was sensible, when it suited him. The way he’d outlined their situation had been compelling. But that didn’t mean his conclusion was right.
‘But he’s wrong. There must be another way out of this.’
The silence lengthened and her tension grew.
When she was little her grandmother had always been there to comfort her, assuring her everything would be okay.
But she wasn’t a little girl now. She and her grandmother shared a relationship based on love but also honesty.
Nowadays the Grand Duchess didn’t soften the truth to make it more palatable.
It was something Annalena admired, the old lady’s determination to face problems.
Her silence now was a bad sign. Annalena had been so sure she’d have another option to offer.
‘I’m afraid I agree with his analysis.’ The old lady’s tone made Annalena’s stomach drop.
‘He might be conceited but he’s acutely aware of the pitfalls.
This secret is growing too big. There’s no guarantee we can keep it quiet.
If it becomes public knowledge the fallout could be disastrous.
’ She sighed. ‘I’ve lived through uncertain times. I don’t want to see that again.’
Deflated, Annalena leaned against the window sill. ‘But there must be an answer that doesn’t involve marriage and me becoming Queen.’
Another silence, longer this time.
Sharp claws dug into Annalena’s chest, dragging down, lower and lower. She drew in a shuddering breath.
‘I’m not cut out to be Queen. I don’t want to be.’
‘We don’t always get what we want, my darling.’
‘You want this?’
She heard a drawn-out sigh. ‘I’d hoped you’d find happiness. At the same time, this is your destiny. Your right and your duty. It’s what your parents would have wanted, for you to rule the country.’
Annalena didn’t know what to say. It was all well and good to talk about duty but this… Marrying a stranger! Taking a role for which she hadn’t prepared.
‘You know,’ her grandmother said eventually, ‘sometimes things aren’t as they seem. Did I tell you how I met your grandfather?’
Annalena frowned at the ugly gilded clock on the other side of the room, her mind still on Benedikt and his proposition. ‘I don’t think you have.’
‘Ah. I didn’t like him you know, not at all.’
Annalena stiffened, shocked. ‘That can’t be. The way you’ve always talked about him!’ And it wasn’t just what Oma had said but her tone and the soft light in her eyes when she spoke of her dead husband. Everyone knew the pair had been devoted.
‘Oh, I came to love him. He was a wonderful man. But at first… Pfft. I thought him a pompous waste of space.’
An unwilling smile curved Annalena’s mouth. ‘Really? I can’t imagine you giving such a man a chance to make a better impression.’
‘That’s just it. He was a visitor and I had to entertain him, though it was obvious my mother was matchmaking. It’s a wonder he survived. I was sorely tempted to push him into the lake or over a cliff.’
‘He can’t have been that bad.’
‘Well, no. As I eventually found out. But to begin with we rubbed each other the wrong way. Sparks flew whenever we were together. I found him completely infuriating. But first impressions aren’t always right, my darling.
’ She paused. ‘Maybe you should take a step back. Maybe your Benedikt isn’t as bad as you think. ’
He wasn’t her Benedikt but Annalena saved her breath. There was no point protesting. Her grandmother’s take on the situation was completely different to hers.
Soon after, Annalena said goodnight and ended the call.
Far from calming her, talking with Oma had unsettled her more. To the old lady, duty was a given. While she sympathised, she didn’t view a royal marriage and coronation as a disaster. She’d probably be delighted to see her granddaughter as Queen.
Annalena frowned, rubbing her arms.
A wayward thought tickled her brain, stirred by the reference to matchmaking.
Had Oma suspected Annalena’s trip to the capital might lead to this debacle? Surely not. Even her canny grandmother couldn’t have foreseen that.
Annalena stared into the night, wishing she could swap the floodlit gardens and city lights for her familiar view of mountain peaks.
Tomorrow she’d see Benedikt and he’d demand her answer. She wanted to say no. But this had gone far beyond what she wanted personally.
We rubbed each other the wrong way. Sparks flew whenever we were together. I found him completely infuriating.
Oma’s words circled in her head. They were so apt, perfectly describing Annalena’s situation.
Except for two things. First, her Oma had had the freedom to make up her own mind. Annalena’s situation felt like a noose around her neck, tightening with each passing hour.
Second, what she and Benedikt felt for each other wasn’t the beginnings of love.
He was calculating and coldly pragmatic and she had no need for any man to tell her what to do.
That moment of searing connection in the summerhouse, when she’d read something like hunger in his eyes, when the very air had felt charged with awareness—it had occurred after he decided he needed to marry her.
He wasn’t interested in her , just what she represented. She wanted to save Edelforst and he, what did he want? It sounded as if he worried about the stability of the kingdom, yet, at the same time, was he like his father, driven by the need for personal gain?
They were mismatched. Even if their marriage benefited the kingdom, it would be a personal disaster.
‘The Princess Annalena, sir.’
Frowning, Benedikt looked up from his desk. The fact the morning sky was still pink didn’t bode well.
Annalena wouldn’t visit at dawn to bring good news. Yesterday she’d looked at him as if he were something that slithered under the forest leaf litter.
That had stung, not least because he was used to attracting women, not repelling them.
His proposal might be unconventional but it was a perfect solution.
How many generations had sealed a dynastic agreement with marriage?
Though he’d rather avoid marriage, he told himself needs must, ignoring the cold shiver down his spine.
His parents’ marriage and the dysfunctional family in which he’d been raised had given him an aversion to marriage.
But a king needed an heir. He’d even started taking steps in that direction before this disaster blew up. Annalena’s news just made the need to marry urgent.
Yet he recalled her horror when he’d suggested it and felt the spectre of his father stalking his conscience. Was he cornering her into marriage because beneath his lofty ideals he simply wanted the crown for himself?
He shoved his chair back, repelled by the idea. He was on his feet as she walked in and Matthias exited, closing the door.
She looked as if she hadn’t had much more sleep than Benedikt. Yet the sight of her made his pulse quicken and his belly clench.
Because she held the security of the nation in her hands.
But it was more. This woman drew him in ways that had nothing to do with her claim to the throne. That, above all else, raised his hackles in wariness. He didn’t have time for further complications. The situation was already convoluted enough.
‘Won’t you sit?’ He rounded the desk and gestured towards a sofa.
Bright green eyes met his and his chest tightened.
Yet she wasn’t trying to dazzle him. Again she wore casual clothes. Making a point that she wasn’t impressed enough to dress up for him? Or because she hadn’t planned to stay in the palace?
Jeans and a pale blue shirt that complemented her clear skin. In this place where everyone dressed formally, even behind the scenes, she was like a breath of fresh air.
‘Thank you.’