CHAPTER 23
Archie
The foal was coming breech.
I stood outside Azzurra's stall, watching Dr. Martens work with the kind of controlled urgency that meant things were serious but not yet catastrophic. The mare was on her side, breathing hard, her coat dark with sweat despite the cool evening air.
"How long has she been like this?" Betty asked quietly beside me.
"About an hour. Dr. Martens said the first foal is positioned wrong. She's trying to turn it manually."
"First foal?" Betty's hand found mine. "There's more than one?"
"Twins. Which is rare for horses and makes everything more complicated." I squeezed her hand, grateful she was here. "I got your text that you were back. I was going to come find you, but then Azzurra went into labor."
"You stayed with her. Of course you did." She leaned against my shoulder, and the tension eased from my chest.
"How did your trip go?”
"I'll tell you after. Right now, let's just focus on making sure Azzurra and her babies are okay."
Dr. Martens looked up from where she was working. "Your Highness, I've got the first foal repositioned. She should be able to deliver naturally now, but I'll need you both to stay calm. Azzurra can sense anxiety, and she needs to stay relaxed."
"We can do that," Betty said, then looked at me. "Right?"
"I can fake it convincingly."
The next thirty minutes were the longest of my life. Dr. Martens talked Azzurra through the contractions with the patience of someone who'd done this hundreds of times. Her assistant stood ready with towels and equipment whose purpose I didn't want to think about too closely.
Betty's hand never left mine.
"There we go," Dr. Martens said finally. "Here comes the first one."
The foal slid into the world in a rush of fluid and flailing legs, a perfect little filly with Azzurra's chestnut coloring and a white star on her forehead. Dr. Martens worked quickly, clearing the foal's airways and making sure she was breathing properly.
"She's beautiful," Betty said.
"One down, one to go." Dr. Martens returned her attention to Azzurra. "The second foal is positioned correctly. This should be easier."
It was. Ten minutes later, a colt joined his sister in the straw, slightly smaller but equally healthy. Both foals were already trying to stand on legs that didn't quite know how to work yet, wobbling and falling and trying again with the kind of determination that made my chest ache.
"Twins," I said, unable to keep the wonder out of my voice. "Healthy twins."
"Rare but not unheard of," Dr. Martens said, checking both foals thoroughly. "Azzurra did beautifully. She'll need monitoring for the next few hours, but I expect a full recovery for all three of them."
I let myself into the stall, approaching Azzurra slowly. She lifted her head to nuzzle my hand, exhausted but alert. "You did so well, beautiful girl. I'm so proud of you."
Betty joined me, reaching out to stroke the mare's neck. "She's amazing. They're all amazing."
We stayed there for a while, watching the foals figure out how to exist in the world. The filly was bolder, already attempting to nurse. The colt was more cautious, staying close to his sister.
"New beginnings," Betty said.
"What?"
"That's what Azzurra's foal was supposed to represent, right? New life, new starts." She gestured to the twins. "Turns out it's new beginnings. Plural."
I turned to look at her, really look at her. She'd been gone less than a day, but it felt longer. "How was Valdoria? How's your grandmother?"
"Dying. She has maybe a year left." Betty's voice was steady but sad. "We talked about a lot of things. Cleared the air."
The stable door banged open.
Viktor strode in like he owned the place, his expression somewhere between triumph and malicious satisfaction. Two men I didn't recognize flanked him, lawyers, based on their suits and briefcases.
"Your Highness," Viktor said, not bothering with the usual pleasantries. "Princess Bettina. How fortunate to find you both here."
I stepped in front of Betty instinctively. "Lord Viktor. I wasn't aware you had business at the Solmarian palace."
"Oh, my business here is quite urgent, I assure you." He pulled a document from one of the lawyer's briefcases. "I've just come from a rather enlightening meeting with the American Congressional oversight committee. It seems there's been a significant irregularity with your marriage."
"What are you talking about?"
"The marriage contract. Specifically, the fraud involved in obtaining Princess Bettina's signature.
" He held up the document. "I have sworn testimony from palace staff that the Grand Duchess deliberately misrepresented the terms of the marriage to the Princess.
Told her it was a temporary arrangement of six months when in fact it was permanent and binding. "
I gasped. "How?"
"How did I know?" Viktor smiled. "I've been the Grand Duchess's chief advisor for fifteen years, Your Highness. I know everything that happens in that palace. Including her desperate lies to secure her granddaughter's cooperation."
Betty's hand tightened on my arm. "You've been spying on her."
"I've been protecting Valdorian interests.
Something the Grand Duchess seems to have forgotten in her obsession with Western alliances.
" He gestured to the lawyers. "These gentlemen represent the American State Department.
They've reviewed the evidence and concluded that Princess Bettina's consent was obtained through fraud and coercion. "
One of the lawyers stepped forward, his expression professionally sympathetic. "Your Highness, we have no choice but to declare the marriage invalid under both American and international law. A contract signed under false pretenses cannot be enforced."
"Invalid," I repeated, the word hollow in my chest.
"The Congressional committee has already voted to suspend the base agreement pending resolution of this matter." Viktor's satisfaction was poorly concealed. "They can't authorize military deployment based on an alliance created through deception of an American citizen."
"You planned this." Betty's voice was sharp. "You've been working toward this from the beginning."
"I've been working toward what's best for Valdoria.
And what's best is not shackling ourselves to a failing Western alliance through a fraudulent marriage to an untrained American barista.
" He turned to me. "I'm sorry, Your Highness.
I know this is difficult. But surely you can see that a marriage based on lies was doomed from the start. "
"Get out." The words came out low and dangerous.
"I can't do that. These gentlemen need Princess Bettina's signature acknowledging the annulment. It's a formality, really, since the marriage is already void."
"I said get out." I moved toward him, and something in my expression must have convinced him I was serious because he actually stepped back.
"Your Highness, I understand you're upset."
"You understand nothing. You've betrayed the Grand Duchess, sabotaged Princess Bettina, and undermined both our countries' security because of your own political agenda.
" I was vaguely aware that Dr. Martens and her assistant had quietly left the stable, taking the foals' welfare equipment with them. "Roberto!"
My head of security appeared in the doorway within seconds. "Your Highness?"
"Escort Lord Viktor and his associates off palace grounds. They're no longer welcome here."
"You can't," Viktor started.
"I can and I am. You have no authority in Solmarina, and your position in Valdoria is about to become very precarious once I inform the Grand Duchess about your activities." I turned to Roberto. "Make sure they leave. If they refuse, call the police."
The lawyers exchanged glances and started gathering their things. Viktor, however, wasn't done.
"This changes nothing, Your Highness. The marriage is still invalid. The alliance is still collapsing. And when the dust settles, Solmaria will have no choice but to pursue alternative arrangements." His smile was poisonous. "I believe Princess Anastasia is still available."
"Out. Now."
Roberto physically moved Viktor toward the door. The former advisor went, but not before delivering one final shot: "The annulment papers will be filed with or without the Princess's signature. You're already divorced in the eyes of the law. Enjoy your freedom, Your Highness."
Then he was gone, and I was standing in the stable with Betty, watching everything I'd hoped for crumble into dust.
"Archie," Betty started.
"He's right." I couldn't look at her. "The marriage is invalid. You're free to go."
"Is that what you want?"
"You should go back to Oregon, back to your life. This was a mistake from the beginning. I tried to force an alliance through a marriage that never should have happened."
"Stop." Her voice cut through my spiral. "Stop deciding what I want."
"Betty, you're free. You don't have to stay trapped in this nightmare anymore. The annulment papers I gave you don't even matter now. The marriage is invalid anyway. Viktor destroyed it."
"Then we'll get married again." She said it like it was the simplest thing in the world. "For real this time. No lies, no coercion, no six-month deceptions. Just us, choosing each other."
I stared at her. "You want to marry me again?"
"I want to marry you for the first time, actually. The first wedding was built on lies. This one will be built on choice." She took my hands. "Marry me, Archie."
"Betty, you don't have to do this. I’ll figure out a way to make the alliance work."
"I'm not proposing because of politics. I'm proposing because I want to marry you." She smiled despite the tears on her cheeks. "Though fixing the alliance and defeating Viktor's plan will be a nice bonus."
"You're serious."
"Completely serious. Will you marry me?"
Behind us, Azzurra nickered softly, the sound of a mother settling in with her newborns. New beginnings. Plural.
"Yes," I said. "God, yes."
She kissed me then, and I tasted salt from her tears.
When we broke apart, she was still holding my hands. "This wedding is happening on my terms. At my coffee shop, the one that Captain Steiner and Lieutenant Commander Vasseur bought me on my behalf."
"Whatever you want."
"And I want to write my own vows."
"Of course."
"This time, our wedding will be small and honest and real. And I'm not wearing some massive princess dress. I'm wearing something I actually like."
"You could wear jeans and I wouldn't care."
She smiled. "Don't tempt me."
We stayed in the stable a while longer, watching Azzurra with her twins, making plans that were probably too ambitious and definitely too fast. The foals had both managed to stand, wobbling but determined, learning how to exist in a world that was bigger and stranger than anything they'd expected.
I knew the feeling.
"Your mother is going to have opinions about an American wedding," Betty said eventually.
"My mother can keep her opinions to herself. This is our wedding, our choice."
"That's very romantic, but she's still the Queen of Solmarina. We probably need to at least inform her."
"Fine. But after I've had a chance to process the fact that you just proposed to me in a horse stable while my mare recovers from giving birth to twins."
"Is that not traditional royal courtship?"
"Shockingly, no."
She laughed, and I closed my eyes in relief. This was real. She was choosing to stay, choosing me, choosing this impossible life we were building together.
"I love you," I said, because it needed to be said without qualifications or excuses.
"I know I've been terrible at showing it, and I know I've made mistakes that hurt you, but I love you.
I have from the moment you told me you were secretly good at Italian and just liked annoying Professore Benedetti. "
"I love you too. Even though you're an arrogant prince who thinks he knows better than everyone else."
"I'm working on that."
"I know you are. That's why I'm marrying you." She kissed me again, softer this time. "Now come on. We have a wedding to plan and a villain to defeat and a congressional committee to convince that we're doing this for real."
"When you put it that way, it sounds almost easy."
"It's going to be a disaster."
"Probably."
"But it's our disaster."
"Definitely."
We left Azzurra resting with her foals and headed back to the palace to start making phone calls and generally upending everyone's day with a rushed American wedding to put on.
But first, I stopped Betty in the corridor, pulling her close.We kissed one more time in the empty corridor, and I thought about Viktor's smug satisfaction when he'd declared the marriage invalid.
He'd thought he was destroying us. Instead, he'd given Betty the chance to choose me freely, without coercion or lies.