Page 24 of Falling for the King

‘Xavier, Edgar has rescinded his proposal. We were on our way out.’ She stepped around Edgar and pulled down on her right earring, the signal they’d worked on. Proposal rejected; no threats made. Xavier’s eyes remained glued on her as she moved to stand beside him.

Edgar pivoted to face them.

‘Yes, I’ve decided Katerina doesn’t suit me after all. It’s not part of the treaty that I have to choose a wife from Maynet. It’s a one-way arrangement on your side. I was doing you a favour but I’m no longer obliged and have fulfilled my neighbourly duty. You’ll soon marry someone from my country and you’ll be stuck with your brother’s widow forever.’ Edgar glared at them both. ‘But that’s your problem now.’

She shifted slightly hopefully telegraphing to Xavier, Don’t let him goad you.

‘Katerina isn’t, nor has she ever been, a problem. She’s a great asset to this country,’ Xavier said with a low growl as she looked up at him.

Edgar opened his mouth like a fish then closed it.

‘Did anything else occur that I need to know?’ He drilled Edgar with a look she was glad she wasn’t on the receiving end of.

‘No,’ Edgar said.

‘That’s right. Neither of us will mention it again and there will be no repercussions for the strong alliance between the countries. Isn’t that right, Edgar?’ Katerina clarified.

‘Yes, that’s correct,’ Edgar said shortly. ‘There’s no need to keep rehashing this, it’s over. Now I have more important things to attend to.’ He stepped around them giving as wide a berth as the room afforded and walked out.

Xavier swung around to her.

‘You okay?’

She smiled. ‘Absolutely. I’ll give you the full run down after the Ball.’

He reached out then dropped his hand.

‘Thank you.’

***

‘You still feel up to a debrief tonight?’ Xavier asked hours later as the two of them walked back up the staircase, their security detail trailing behind.

‘Yes.’ A tension headache pounded as jubilance had trickled down to exhaustion. All she wanted to do was get to her suite before the nervous energy that had fuelled her evening ran to empty, but she needed to get this out of the way.

‘Your sitting room?’ he asked.

‘That works.’ It was far better than going back to his rooms, that would never happen again.

Arriving at the sitting room allocated to her Xavier reached past her to open the door, his sleeve brushing against her gloved arm. She jerked knocking against the wall like she’d received an electric shock.

‘Steady,’ he said taking her arm.

Steady. It was the last thing she was as his unique scent scrambled all her common sense and played havoc with her barely held resistance. He stilled for a heartbeat, for two, before letting her go and stepping away.

Blinking slowly, her feet finally caught up with her brain and she moved past him into the room as Kerrie sprung from her chair at the desk set up in the corner.

‘How was your night?’ Kerrie asked her. ‘Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t see you, Your Majesty,’ she added hastily upon noticing Xavier who followed Katerina into the room.

‘Good evening, Kerrie. Would you please leave us?’ Xavier requested.

‘Of course,’ she replied quickly looking back and forth between the two of them.

‘Thanks, Kerrie, I won’t need you any further tonight,’ Katerina said, not wanting her to wait up any longer, it had been a long day and tour for all of them. Yet a part of her wanted her to stay and be her chaperone as old fashioned as it was. It might be the only way to prevent her doing something she might regret, like revealing how affected she was by Xavier. Last night, when she’d finally returned to her rooms visibly shaken, she’d invented an excuse for Kerrie. Tiredness, a headache to cover what was really wrong, her responsiveness to him despite everything. And her unaccountable devastation at his rejection.

Needing a minute to gather herself and get her head back to Edgar and away from Xavier she took in the room she used as a makeshift office. Although a substantial fireplace ran along one wall no fire blazed in its generous hearth and the low hum from the central heating was the only sound. Like the rest of the governor’s residence it was decorated in a mix of creams and filled with more furniture than necessary, making it feel crowded. No that wasn’t right, that was because of Xavier. He made a stark contrast against the bland setting bringing a vibrancy and energy which made the room seem smaller than it was.

Catching sight of the pot of tea Kerrie always made her shoulders eased a fraction.