Page 55 of Thrones We Steal

Everything is ready.

Everything except my heart.

I’ve been avoiding Henry since that stupid, incredible kiss. And while it’s not too hard to forget about when you’re on the brink of the wedding of the century and preparing to rule a country, the memory still torments me when I’m trying to fall asleep.

As if conjured by my thoughts, a text from him lights up my phone. I’m sorry about everything. I’ll make it up to you, I promise. x

I toss the phone back onto the table. Typical. He thinks everything can be forgiven with a box of chocolates or tickets to a movie premiere. He doesn’t know that I’m just as upset with myself as I am with him.

There’s another ping. I know you’ve been avoiding me. Please don’t let your feelings about me change what you do for Wesbourne.

Damn the man for thinking he can read my mind.

There is a quick knock on the door, and my mother steps inside before I can answer it. “All set?” she asks. One would be forgiven for assuming today is her wedding day, given the colossal smile on her face and her bridezilla insistence on perfection.

“I don’t know if I can do this, Mum.”

She clasps my shoulders in her hands and spins me around so we’re both facing the window. “Do you see those trees out there? The wind is doing everything in its power to destroy them. But look at them.” She squeezes my shoulders. “It’s going to take more than wind to break you too.”

I stroke the lace on my wrist. “Is it silly that I’ve always wanted a fairy tale for myself? Not the falling for a prince part, but feeling like fate smiled down especially on me, giving me a life I don’t deserve?”

“Who says it hasn’t?”

I swivel around. “I don’t want this. I want to marry the man I love, to have a family with him, and to spend the rest of our lives making a difference. That’s the fairy tale.”

“Sometimes we write our own fairy tales.”

“Don’t pretend to sympathize. This is your fairy tale.”

“I’ll admit, I think fate has not only smiled on you, but rained its bounty upon your head.” She spans out her hands. “You’ll make more of a difference as queen than in a thousand lifetimes as anyone else. You can have anything you want.”

“Except the man I love.”

“Love the man you’ve got.”

“Like it’s as simple as that,” I say.

“It’s not as difficult as you might think.”

“How would you know?”

“Because that’s what I did.”

The room swirls around me and I step backward. “You loved Dad.”

“Of course I did.” She shrugs, like we’re discussing which variety of potatoes to have for dinner. “But not at first. Not for a long time.”

“Okay, but at least you didn’t have to marry him before you loved him.”

“My mother would have said I got to marry him. In spite of love, or the lack thereof.”

A desert storm twists through my mouth. “What are you talking about?” I say quietly.

She sighs and sets her mouth into that all-too-familiar line. She’s shoring up for battle. “Your father was a catch. I was not. One does what they must.”

“You seduced him?”

“Let’s just say I hid my lesser qualities and overlooked his.”

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