Chapter 8
“Mother, do you have a favorite?”
She watched Brolin push his vegetables around his plate.
“A favorite vegetable?” she asked him.
Her youngest son giggled. “No, a favorite contender.”
Aestus chimed in, “We do!”
“Oh, really?”
“Santiago,” they both said.
Brolin added, “We like him. We want him to win.”
“He was kind to us.”
Knowing her sons liked Santiago made it even more clear that her choice had already been made. Now if only God would choose him for her and her sons too.
“Have you met any of the others?”
“That horrible prince. He was here before, and you sent him packing,” Aestus replied.
“He is terrible,” Brolin added.
While she was inclined to agree with them, all she asked was, “Why do you say that?”
“I didn’t like how he looked at you or how he talked about you,” Aestus said.
Her beautiful boy. Always protective of his mother.
“He was mean-spirited. He tried to hide it, but I could tell,” Brolin added.
“Well then, we will pray God decides he is not for us. What of the others?”
“Captain Leander is nice, but Santiago is better,” Brolin said.
Katarine laughed. “He is nice.”
But Katarine knew that although he was a handsome and well-built man, she felt nothing but gratitude for the captain of her guardsmen.
“And Blacksmith Jargel is funny. But Santiago is better.”
“Is Santiago better than all of them?”
“Yes!”
At least we all agree on one thing.
“We shall pray for him to succeed to the finalists.”
“Do you like him best too?” Brolin asked.
She covered his hand with hers on the table. “I do.”
The day of wits came too early—at least for Katarine. Her restless night of sleep had wholly been because she missed the presence of the man with whom she had grown accustomed to spending every evening.
Her advisers had concocted quite the test, involving riddles, logic puzzles, and questions about nature and the sea, to test the mental faculties, logical reasoning, and knowledge of the contestants.
It thinned the field much faster than the day of strength.
At the end, only four men were left in competition—Santiago, the blacksmith, the prince, and the captain of her guardsmen.
As she congratulated them all on a day well proven, she felt her heart beat faster as she walked past Santiago.
She missed him. It was plainly obvious to her that he was the only choice possible for her husband and king consort. And knowing her children agreed made the decision even more effortless. But it was out of her hands.
Have faith, Katarine. Just have faith.
“Queen Katarine,” the prince said, “if I may have a moment of your time.”
While she did not wish to grant it, she paused. She was nothing if not a magnanimous hostess. “Of course, Prince of Kydon.”
He took her arm and led her away from the other contestants she had been congratulating.
“What may I do for you, Prince?”
“I find my accommodations in the barracks are lacking in comfort. I cannot perform to my highest abilities under such conditions. I am accustomed to sleeping in a palace, not a bunk.”
“I beg your pardon and offer my humblest apologies. We would never wish to offer lackluster hospitality.”
Katarine paused. She didn’t want him anywhere near her palace, but she knew she had an opportunity.
“Let me speak with Freen, and we will find any contestants who desire alternative lodgings somewhere else to stay. Thank you for raising the issue.”
He stopped her with a squeeze of her arm that Katarine did not like at all. “You misunderstand me, Queen Katarine. What I want is my audition in your bed.”
They had walked farther away from the others than Katarine realized. And no part of her liked being alone, even at this distance, with the prince, especially since he felt free to be vulgar with his words.
“I must have misheard you, Prince.”
“You’re not deaf, and I need to know if this spectacle is worth it or not. Two days of performing like a monkey in front of a crowd leaves much to be desired, and if I am to continue this farce of a competition, I desire to know if the reward even justifies the effort.”
Katarine wasn’t certain she’d ever been so insulted in her life, but instead of being offended, she wanted to breathe a sigh of relief.
He’s thinking of quitting. Thank God.
Katarine chose her words carefully. “Under no circumstances is your request welcome, and if you feel it may not be worth it to continue, then I urge you to follow your instincts, Prince of Kydon. This contest truly is not for you.”
“I am a prince.”
“And I am a queen. Even if you were to win, I would always outrank you, and my word is law in these lands. Think very carefully, Prince. Because if you were to win the prize you seek, I would become your master, and your decisions would only happen under my authority.”
“You’re a feisty bitch, aren’t you? You were more polite the last time as you told me to get out. That’s why I came back, you know. No woman turns me down. And no woman will ever lord over me. I will take you, and I will break you. You understand, Katarine?”
Katarine straightened and glanced over his shoulder. She saw Santiago watching them, and it was clear he was not pleased.
“You will never break me. And you will never marry me. Do you understand, Prince of Kydon?”
He straightened. “I will win just to spite you. And then I’m going to marry you and make you wish you’d never turned me down to begin with. To the victor go the spoils.”
He dropped her arm, spun, and strode away.
Her son had been all too right. Mean-spirited man. Never would she marry him. Never again would he touch her. She prayed to God for mercy that it would never be so.
As she strode to her horse, Santiago did as well.
Standing with her beautiful mount as a shield from prying eyes, he asked, “What did he say to you?”
Katarine shook her head, unable to speak, as her throat felt like it was coated with ashes. “Not here. Not now.”
“I will come to you tonight. We have no contest tomorrow, to prepare for the test of will.”
“You can’t.”
“Watch me.”
He lifted her up onto her horse. “My Queen, only say the word, and I will kill for you.”
She shook her head. “You can’t. We have strict laws protecting the sanctity of all life. He must leave of his own will, lose, or disqualify himself somehow so we may ask him to leave.”
“Consider it done.”
“Take care, Santiago. We are all rooting for you.” She nodded at him, wishing he could climb up behind her and they could ride away from all of this and simply wed on the dawn after the full moon.
Why did I propose this contest anyway?
Katarine wished she could take it all back, but the die had been cast, and a decision was always followed by consequences.
As her guardsmen fell in alongside her for the ride to the palace, Katarine hoped Santiago did risk coming to her. She needed him like she had never needed anyone before.