Page 42 of Royal Resistance

But it’s when you look up at night, and see the stars, is when it really takes your breath away.

An endless swath of sparkling lights that seem close enough to touch.

Selene tilts her head up and stares and stares. I watch her.

“It’s so beautiful,” she whispers like she’s unwilling to break the spell. “I’ve never seen stars like this.”

“It’s said that Ragger built his castle here because of them. He thought he would be able to have an audience with the gods if he were close to the sky. Something about being close to Valhalla, too. I’m not up on my Viking trivia as I should be.”

Selene’s eyes are wide and bright as she looks at me. “It’s wonderful. Thank you for showing me.”

“I always think it’s a must-see. The cliffs are that way, through the trees. There’s a bench. Sometimes you can hear the whales. I’ll show you another night, because I need more light to walk through the woods.”

“I’d like that,” she says, and smiles at me.

I would too.

I would like a lot of things.

There’s a pause, and Selene looks at me, almost expectantly.

The moment is… right.

But no.

I should have kissed her then, but I didn’t. I just lead her along the castle wall, and we talk more about the history of the place, and then we go inside, and go to bed, once again, lying next to each other. Not touching.

It takes me a long time to fall asleep that night.

16

Selene

Magnus is as good as his word.

The next day, even before I could say anything to the upstairs maids, Magnus has men from Battle Harbour arrive to start clearing out the sitting room.

The wallpaper is stripped the day after that, and by the third day, Diandra is there to help me pick colours and new furniture.

She helps me design the type of room I want. The first space I have ever called my own.

While I am busy with my new sitting room, Magnus meets with Duncan, and the two of them come up with a list of duties they assign to me. They show me the calendar of events for the next six months and what they think Magnus might need guidance for. We talk interviews, and speeches, and the best ways to find and hire staff.

I teach them both about the protocols and help them adapt to this new life.

It’s so nice to be listened to.

I’ve spent most of my life with men—my father, his chief advisor Bryant, and more recently, Darren. And I like to think I’m as smart and savvy and can handle myself in any company as any man, but I was still put in my place—Princess Selene—more times than I can count.

And when I first told my father that Darren and I were planning to get married, he was happy, but not for the reason fathers should be happy.

“I am so glad,” he said to me. “I know you will be a capable queen, but it will be easier having a man rule beside you.”

“I’m not marrying him so he can be king,” I protested, not realizing at the time that was exactly why Darren wanted to marry me. “I can do it myself.”

“Of course you can, my darling girl, but the world will not expect you to. And honestly, Avelaine will not want you to.”

My father was a good man, a good father, but his priority had always been the crown. That would have been understandable if the king of Avelaine had any real power. Over the years, the legislature had stripped power from the monarchy, in some ways even without my father realizing what they were doing before it was too late.