Page 11 of Royal Rising

“The way the sun rises over the ocean,” I answer automatically. “Where my parents live, it’s on a ridge and the perfect spot to watch the sun rise. My sisters and I have a thing when we meet a few times a year and watch it.”

“During the solstices and equinoxes?”

“Actually, yes.”

“How very pagan of you.” Mathias lifts his glass to me. “I’ve done research into my ancestors, and the Vikings were aggressive pagans. I’m not sure how one can be an aggressive pagan, though.”

“Sounds blood-thirsty. Rituals and human sacrifices, maybe?”

“You must not think much of your Viking ancestors,” he chides.

“You sound like Odin. He’s always trying to promote Viking history.”

The smile dims a bit. “Are you friendly with all my cousins, or just Kalle? Ah, but you must be, to be in the wedding party.”

I was a bridesmaid purely because Camille didn’t have the friends to fill the ranks, but I’m not about to tell Mathias that. “I don’t know Camille too well, but what I do know, I like. And I’ve sort of grown up at the castle, helping my father when I could, so I know the boys and Lyra from afar rather than being close friends. Except for Kalle. We learned to drive together, and we’ve been friends ever since. What about you? Are you close with your siblings?”

“Honestly, Jonas is an insufferable bore, and Renee is too obsessed with her upcoming wedding to pay any attention to anyoneother than her wedding planner. I used to wish I was closer to my cousins,” he says with a wistful note in his deep voice.

“You don’t spend much family time together?”

“That’s my father’s fault. He holds somewhat of a grudge against his brother.”

“Against King Magnus?” The king of Laandia is always top of the world’s list of most popular monarchies, and even in Battle Harbour, it’s rare to hear a word spoken against him.

“Afraid so.” He spins the tagliatelle around the tines of his fork and I have to wait until he finishes the mouthful for him to continue.

“Long ago,” he begins, and I lean forward, expecting a variation of a fairy tale where two brothers fight over the love of a good woman. “When my grandfather Euan was still alive, my uncle promised to step down in the line of succession. My father was supposed to take the throne.”

I pause because that seems… unlikely. I’ve never heard that before, but then again, I’m not privy to the inner workings of the monarchy. Still, I can’t imagine Laandia without King Magnus. “I didn’t know that.”

“Not many do. Odin’s abdication at his wedding was a sore spot for my father.”

“I’m sure.” My thoughts scrambling, I pull on a thread. “I had no idea. So if this had happened and Magnus had stepped down and your father had become king, then you would be the crown prince instead of Kalle?”

Mathias nods. “King Magnus would have stayed with his band. I’m sure a lot of things would be different.”

From the clipped tone in Mathias’s voice, I get the sense he thinksdifferentequalsbetter.

For the first time today, a little red flag is raised. Not entirely red—more like a dusty rose, but it makes me uneasy. Because of my father’s position, as well as the fact King Magnus is just socoolto have ruling my country, my loyalty toward the royal family has always been a constant. To consider how things might have been different… I don’t want to think about that.

Mathias must read my reluctance on my face. “There’s no sense of discussing things which will never be. I shouldn’t have mentioned it. I take it Kalle has never spoken of this?”

I shake my head. “Would you want to be king?” I have to ask. “If that’s how it had turned out? Kalle…”

Kalle does not want to be king. Everyone knows that.

“I would consider it an honour and a privilege,” Mathias says in a low voice. “Now, is there anything else you’d like to know about me, other than boring information about my family, or should I move on to questions for you?”

“Why me?” I blurt out. When Mathias frowns, I wave a hand between us. “I’m the daughter of a groundskeeper and I’m the manager of a pub. You date women who aren’t managers of a pub. I have to admit, I’m curious—out of all the women at the wedding, why me?”

“Other than the fact you’re a beautiful woman who seems very accomplished for living here?”

I think that’s a slight on Battle Harbour but I let it go. “I don’t paint or sing, and my French is passable at best. I like to garden and I’m really good at bookkeeping and making schedules. I would not consider me accomplished, but thank you for saying so.”

“You sound like you read Jane Austen.”

“And love Bridgerton, so my ideas might be a little skewed.”

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