CHAPTER 21 #2
This had to stop.
"Princess Anastasia, I'm sorry, but I have other commitments this morning."
"Of course! I've been monopolizing your time talking about horses. How rude of me." She stood gracefully. "Thank you so much for seeing me. And Princess Bettina, it was lovely to meet you. I hope we'll have a chance to speak again."
Betty stood as well, her smile brittle. "I'm sure we will. If you'll excuse me, I've just remembered I have an appointment."
She left before anyone could respond, her exit polite but unmistakably a retreat.
Viktor's smile widened slightly.
"Your Highness," Anastasia said, oblivious to the undercurrents. "I hope I didn't say anything to upset the Princess. Sometimes I get carried away talking about horses."
"You were fine, Your Imperial Highness. The Princess has had a difficult few days."
"I heard about the sabotage incidents. How dreadful." She looked genuinely sympathetic. "Please give her my regards, and let her know if there's anything I can do to help."
After Anastasia and Viktor left, Viktor still looking far too satisfied, I stood in the receiving room trying to decide whether to follow Betty immediately or give her space to compose herself.
Space. Definitely space. She'd hate me seeing her vulnerable right now.
I waited fifteen minutes, then headed to her rooms. Empty. The guest room in my apartments. Also empty.
The stables. Of course.
I found her in Azzurra's stall, sitting in the corner with her knees pulled up to her chest, tears streaming down her face. The mare stood nearby, occasionally lowering her head to snuffle at Betty's hair as if trying to comfort her.
"Betty?"
"Go away."
"I'm not going away." I let myself into the stall and sat down beside her in the straw. "Viktor is a manipulative bastard, and that was a setup from start to finish."
"She's perfect." Betty's voice was thick with tears. "She's everything I'm not. Beautiful, sophisticated, trained from birth to be royal. She probably knows which fork to use without having to think about it."
"She's also not you."
"That's the problem! I'm not, I can't." She gestured helplessly. "She speaks five languages and breeds champion horses and curtsies like she was born doing it. And I make coffee and barely passed community college and I've been here three weeks and I still can't remember half the rules."
"I don’t care."
"Yes, you do. You lit up talking to her. You never talk to me like that. About horses and bloodlines and things you have in common. The two of you come from the same world. You and I are nothing alike." She wiped at her tears angrily.
"You're wrong."
"I saw it, Archie. I saw you connect with her over something you love. Something I can't give you because I don't know anything about breeding programs or competition standards or whatever the hell you were discussing."
"Anastasia is easy to talk to about horses because horses are all we have in common. It's safe. Superficial. I can be enthusiastic about bloodlines because it doesn't matter if I bore her or say the wrong thing."
"That doesn't make sense.”
"With you, everything matters. Every word, every gesture, every conversation.
Because you're not some visiting princess I'm making polite conversation with.
You're the woman I'm in love with, the woman whose opinion actually affects me.
" I ran a hand through my hair. "I'm careful with you because I care what you think. Because I don’t want to say the wrong thing and have you pull away even further. "
She was staring at me now, tears still on her cheeks but her attention fully focused.
"I don't love Anastasia," I continued. "I don't want Anastasia. She's beautiful and knowledgeable and perfectly trained, and I don't care. Because she's not you."
"She'd be a better princess."
"I don't want a better princess. I want you. But I don’t want you forced to accept this marriage." I pulled a folder from my jacket, the documents Lord Renaud had sent over an hour ago. "Which is why I'm giving you this."
"What is it?"
"Annulment papers. Legal documentation that would dissolve our marriage and release you from all obligations to Solmarina and to me."
Her mouth opened. Closed. "What?"
"You were right about the permanent marriage being a betrayal.
I took away your choice, your agency, your ability to decide your own future.
This gives it back." I handed her the folder.
"If you want to leave, really leave, not just the palace but the marriage itself, you can. These documents make it possible."
She opened the folder with shaking hands, scanning the legal text. "This would end the alliance."
"Probably."
"Viktor would push for the Russian option. For Anastasia."
"Let him try. I'll fight him and anyone else who wants to align Solmarina with Russia." I met her eyes. "I'd rather have no alliance than the wrong one. And I'd rather lose you to your own choice than keep you trapped in a marriage you never truly consented to."
"But you need this alliance."
"The political situation will have to be resolved some other way.
Betty, I'm not asking you to stay for the alliance.
I'm not asking you to stay for duty or politics or any of that.
I'm giving you the option to leave so that if you choose to stay, it's because you want to.
Because you choose me, not because you're trapped with me. "
She was crying again, but differently this time. "Why?"
"Because I love you. Because you deserve to have choices.
Because taking away your agency was wrong, and I can't undo it, but I can give you this.
" I took a breath. "If you sign these papers, the marriage ends.
You're free to go back to America, or to stay in Valdoria with your grandmother and get to know the country you were stolen from.
You'd still be a Valdorian princess, that's your birthright, no one can take that away.
But you wouldn't be bound to me or to Solmarina. "
"The Grand Duchess threatened my parents if I didn’t marry you."
"I've already arranged for their protection.
No charges will be brought against Bob and Linda Montclair.
I'll use every resource I have to guarantee their safety, regardless of what you decide about our marriage.
" I shifted closer. "They raised you, loved you, gave you the childhood you should have had with your birth parents.
They deserve protection, not prosecution. "
Betty stared at the documents, tears dripping onto the pages. "If I leave, Viktor wins. Anastasia becomes the solution."
"No. If you leave, you win. You get your life back, your choices back, your future back.
" I reached over to brush a tear from her cheek.
"And for what it's worth, I will never, never, align with Russia.
No matter how beautiful Anastasia is, no matter how qualified, no matter how much pressure Viktor applies.
I'd rather Solmarina stand alone than partner with a regime I fundamentally oppose. "
"Maybe she’s just a pawn."
"And maybe she isn’t. Viktor brought Anastasia here thinking he could make you feel inadequate, make you want to leave so he could position her as the better option." I smiled without humor. "What he didn't count on was me loving you enough to give you the freedom to go."
"This is insane. You're offering me an annulment because you love me?"
"I'm offering you an annulment because keeping you trapped is wrong.
What you choose to do with that freedom is up to you.
" I stood, brushing straw from my jeans.
"You don't have to decide right now. Take the papers.
Think about what you want. Talk to your parents, talk to your grandmother, talk to whoever you need to talk to. And when you've decided, let me know."
"Archie..."
"There's one more thing." I paused at the stall door.
"If you do choose to stay, not out of obligation or political necessity, but because you actually want to, I promise I'll spend the rest of my life proving you made the right choice.
I'll be honest with you about everything.
I'll include you in every decision that affects your life.
And I'll never, ever take away your choices again. "
"And if I choose to leave?"
"Then I'll help you pack. I'll make sure the transition is as smooth as possible.
I'll protect your parents and make sure you have everything you need to build the life you want.
" I met her eyes. "And I'll spend the rest of my life regretting that I lied to you about something so fundamental that I destroyed any chance we had. "
I left her in the stall with Azzurra and the annulment papers, my heart somewhere around my shoes.
This was either the best thing I'd ever done or the thing that would haunt me forever.
Possibly both.
Roberto found me in my study an hour later, staring at nothing and trying not to think about Betty signing those papers and walking out of my life.
"Your Highness, Lord Viktor is requesting another meeting."
"Tell him I'm busy."
"He says it's urgent. Regarding the Princess's security situation."
I looked up sharply. "What about her security?"
"He didn't specify. But he seemed... concerned."
Concerned. Right. Viktor's version of concern usually involved manipulation and strategic positioning.
"Fine. Send him in."
Viktor entered looking appropriately worried, which immediately made me suspicious.
"Your Highness, I've just received some troubling information from our intelligence contacts."
"What information?"
"There's been chatter about a potential threat to Princess Bettina. Nothing concrete, but enough to be concerning." He pulled out a folder. "Given the recent vandalism and threats, I thought you should be aware."
I took the folder and scanned the contents. Vague reports about "foreign actors" and "potential security risks" and exactly zero specific information.
"This is remarkably nonspecific," I said.
"Intelligence often is. But combined with the previous incidents..." He trailed off meaningfully. "Your Highness, I wonder if perhaps it would be safer for the Princess to return to America temporarily. Until we can assess and neutralize the threat."
There it was. The real reason for this meeting.
"No."
"What about the Princess’ safety?"
"It’s my top priority. Which is why she's staying here where I can protect her, not halfway around the world where I have limited resources." I handed back the folder. "Was there anything else?"
Viktor's expression flickered with frustration. "I simply thought you should be aware of the situation. The Princess's wellbeing is important to both our countries."
"Which is why I'm keeping her here." I stood, making it clear the meeting was over. "Thank you for the information, Lord Viktor. I'll have Roberto increase security."
After he left, I sat back down and pulled out my phone. Texted Roberto: Viktor just tried to convince me to send Betty back to America. Check his intelligence sources. I want to know if this threat is real or manufactured.
The response came quickly: Understood. Sir, the Princess is still in the stables. Should we,
Leave her. She needs space.
I turned back to my computer, pretending to work on the policy reviews that had been sitting untouched for days. But my mind was in the stables with Betty, wondering if she was reading those annulment papers or using them to start a fire in Azzurra's stall.
Wondering if I'd just given away the only thing that mattered because I'd been too much of a coward to give her choices from the beginning.
My phone buzzed. A text from Betty: Still in the stables. Still thinking. Don't send anyone to check on me.
I smiled and typed back: Take all the time you need. Azzurra is excellent company.
She doesn't judge me for crying.
Horses rarely do. It's one of their better qualities.
She also doesn't offer me annulment papers and make everything impossibly complicated.
That's definitely a point in her favor.
A pause. Then: Thank you. For the papers. For the protection for my parents. For all of it. Even if I'm furious at you for making this decision even harder.
You're welcome. And I'm sorry.
You're always sorry.
I'm always wrong. It tracks.
Another pause. I need more time.
I know. I'll be here whenever you're ready.
I set down my phone and returned to staring at my computer screen, trying not to calculate the odds of her choosing to stay versus choosing to leave.
Trying not to think about what my life would look like if she signed those papers and walked away.
Trying not to remember the way she'd looked at me in the stables when I'd told her I loved her, like she wanted to believe me but wasn't sure she could.
This was what love looked like. Giving someone the power to destroy you and hoping they chose not to use it.
I'd never been particularly religious, but I found myself hoping that whoever was listening would convince Betty that staying was worth the risk.
Even if I didn't deserve it.
Even if I'd spent the last three weeks proving I wasn't worthy of her trust.
Even if the smart choice, the safe choice, was to sign those papers and run as far from me as possible.
I hoped anyway.
Because hope was all I had left.