‘If the Calista royals had found you before we did…’
‘Before… we?’
‘My brother and I.’
‘What would the royals of Calista have done?’
‘They would have brought us down. Hell, Holly, I don’t have to tell you this. I’ve never made a secret of it.’
‘No,’ she said, breaking eye contact to give her head a bit of space. She turned and stared out the car window. They were approaching the palace. Huge tree-lined avenues heralded the approach. They’d swept in the main gates but there was still half a mile to travel before they reached the main residence.
The gates had closed behind them. If she got out now…
‘Look, Holly, I don’t know how long Sebastian intends to keep you here…’
She gasped at that, swivelling back to stare at him again. ‘Sebastian. Sebastian! So it’s not up to us, how long our marriage lasts. It’s not even up to you. It’s up to Sebastian!’
‘He’s your future king.’
‘Your future king,’ she snapped.
‘That’s right,’ he said. ‘You can walk away.’
‘When Sebastian says I can.’
‘Yes.’
‘It’s got nothing to do with you?’
‘Holly, this was never a real marriage. You know that. I have royal obligations and you… you can’t even bear to shut up for one press call.’
‘I can’t, can I?’
‘Holly…’ He hesitated, then held out his hand to her in a gesture of entreaty. She stared down at it—a tanned, finely boned hand, complete with a wedding ring.
He was coaxing her to do the right thing. He’d done the right thing—by the nation. For the royal family. He’d married her in all honour. And then he’d bedded her in spectacular fashion—for why waste a perfectly good wife?
Only now the deed was done, normal life must resume. Stay in the background, shut up and wear beige. No, that was the rule she’d heard for the mother of the groom at weddings. Never for the bride.
But she wasn’t a bride; at least not a royal one. Her husband was holding his hand out to her, commanding her to join with him, commanding her to keep up this pretence.
Fine. She would. But pretence it was. She ignored the hand, and grabbed Deefer who’d been sleeping on the seat beside her. She hugged him to her, holding him like a shield.
‘I need to know how long,’ she muttered.
‘How long what?’
‘Before I can go home,’ she answered angrily.
‘Holly, please…’
‘Look, Andreas, let’s agree. The whole situation is irrational. I hadn’t figured it out until now, but finally I have. All right, Andreas, I’ll stand back, shut up and wear beige. But you and Sebastian had better figure out a time frame to let me go, because wearing beige will make me crazy.’
It got worse. The servants were lined up to welcome them ‘home’. It seemed Andreas had his own apartments in one wing of the vast Castle of Aristo. There were no less than fifteen uniformed servants lined up to receive them. Andreas walked down the line shaking hands, receiving congratulations. Holly followed, but the first time she tentatively went to shake a hand herself Andreas stopped her with a sharp little gesture of rebuke. The servant—a middle-aged woman—took a fast step back.
‘This is Mme Pirentas, our housekeeper,’ Andreas said, formally, and then proceeded to introduce each in turn. Valet, butler, footmen, housemaids, gardeners. Each made a formal bow to her, but she’d learned her lesson now and kept her hands to herself. And her tongue.
They’d just reached the end of the line when there was a stir inside the entrance. Two more liveried servants emerged, ushering out a woman between them. Queen Tia, Andreas’s mother. The elderly queen walked down the steps, grasped Andreas’s hands and kissed him on either cheek.
‘My son,’ she said softly, sounding worried. ‘Welcome home. You are naughty to take your bride away when we needed you.’
‘Three days, Mama,’ Andreas said. ‘Hardly an extended honeymoon.’
‘No, but at such a time, with Alex still away… Sebastian has barely been able to contain himself.’ Tia shook her head, her formal smile of welcome fading as she turned to Holly. ‘Welcome home, my dear. I’ll have someone show you to your apartments. Andreas, Sebastian is expecting you in your father’s study. Now.’
‘I should show Holly—’
‘I’ll organize Holly,’ Tia said in a tone that reminded Holly forcibly of her son. Aristocratic. Determined. And sure that the Red Sea would part for her. ‘You go. You’re needed. Holly will understand, I’m sure.’
And that was that. Andreas disappeared. Holly was left with a dozen servants and the queen.
Holly will understand? No, she didn’t. She should have felt lonely. Deserted and intimidated. Instead she was trying to control a fury that was threatening to overwhelm her.
‘So I’ll see my husband again… at dinner?’ she asked and the queen flashed her an uncertain glance.
‘I’m not sure. I believe Sebastian wishes him to travel to Greece.’
‘Greece,’ she said blankly. ‘Um… with me?’
‘You need to make yourself at home here.’
‘Do I?’
‘My dear…’
‘Oh, you needn’t worry,’ Holly said, seeing dismay wash over the aristocratic features. ‘I’m not about to make a scene. I’ve been told my role here is beige and that’s what you’ll get. So I’ll stay here while my husband goes to Greece. When can I have an audience with Sebastian?’
‘Pardon?
‘It’s Sebastian who pulls the strings round here, right? Then it’s Sebastian who’ll tell me when it’s convenient for my marriage to end.’
‘You mean His Majesty, Prince Sebastian,’ Tia said severely. ‘And I believe my son thinks it might be a good thing if it doesn’t end.’
Holly’s eyebrows did a hike skyward. ‘Really?’
‘It was a lovely performance in church.’
A performance. A performance!
‘That’s nice,’ she said between clenched teeth. She bent down and picked up Deefer. She’d set him down to greet the servants but she had need of his small, plump presence. Her comfort dog.
‘Give the dog to one of the men,’ Tia said, looking uncertain. ‘Is he yours?’
‘Yes,’ she said and her hold instinctively tightened.
‘He can be looked after in the stables.’
‘He’ll stay with me.’
‘My husband’s rule is that we don’t have animals in the palace.’
Her husband? Wasn’t Aegeus dead?
Did the rules made by dead kings last for ever? And did the rules made by dead kings apply to her?
‘That might create a problem,’ Holly said cautiously. ‘You’re saying I have to sleep in the stables?’
Tia glanced nervously at the servants. They were out of hearing. Just. Her tone softened,