Page 43 of His Highness's Hidden Heir

“Mom.”

“What? Don’t be stupid, Lexi. I presume he’s making you give up your career. You’d better protect yourself.”

Rhonda wasn’t a bad person, merely ambitious. If an opportunity presented, she wanted a piece of it. And having watched the spikes and dips in Lexi’s career, she knew things could change in a blink.

Always keep something for a rainy daywas her motto.

“Are you?” Rhonda asked. “Giving up acting?”

“I’ve spoken to Bernadette,” Lexi admitted reluctantly. “I told her I should be able to keep my funding in place, but that I can’t commit to the role.” Lexi had plenty to invest now. Magnus was covering her expenses and the prenup left all her previous assets in her own hands. Plus, it made arrangements for her support moving forward. It was actually very generous, not that she told her mother any of that.

“You’re not sleeping.” Rhonda spied the shadows beneath Lexi’s eyes despite the cover-up she’d applied. “Nerves? It’s one day. One performance.”

Is that all this wedding was? Why was she agonizing then?

The performance part of it didn’t bother her, even though the “family only” guest list had bloated to over a hundred and fifty dignitaries from Isleif and neighboring countries. The ceremony was being broadcast internationally and a parade was planned so the people of Isleif could glimpse their future queen in the flesh.

But that was Rhonda.It doesn’t matter if you’re running a fever. The show must go on.

“This is a lot of power, though,” her mother mused as she cast another concerned look at the mural on the ceiling and the hand-carved molding and the portrait of the queen on the wall. “What if you decide to leave? What if they decide they don’t want you here?”

“Magnus wouldn’t throw me out. He wouldn’t do that to our baby.” She felt confident in that, at least. He had made it clear that he wanted their baby to know both its parents and he had confided how cut off he felt from his own family. “If he wanted to get rid of me, he wouldn’t be marrying me.”

“Or he’s cementing his position.”

“Mom.Don’t be so cynical.”

“You know better than to be naive about something like this. What happens to the baby if you divorce him?”

“The baby grows up here. It’s their heritage. I respect that.” She did. And she understood that meant her baby would always be here so she should be here, too.

What would happen if she didn’t marry Magnus? Would he marry someone else who would not only be his queen, but would have influence over their child’s life?No.That didn’t sit well with her at all.

She didn’t get a chance to talk privately to Magnus again. She saw him at dinner, but it was a small but formal thing with her mother, the queen, and a handful of royalty who were visiting for the wedding. The day before the wedding, Lexi entertained those wives while Magnus was in talks with their husbands. Queen Claudia, the one Lexi had been so awestruck by in Paris, along with Queen Cassiopeia—“call me Sopi”—and Princess Amy of Vallia were all delightfully down-to-earth, which reassured her that maybe she could rise to the station Magnus was offering her.

Ifhe was still offering it. He’d been very cold yesterday.

I will be at our wedding, he had said. But would he?

After such a busy day, she couldn’t keep her eyes open and fell asleep before Magnus got back to their suite. Suddenly, she was waking to a light breakfast and more fussing than any red carpet she’d ever walked.

Her mother did her makeup and praised the A-line gown as “perfection” with its lace sleeves and chiffon overlay on the skirt. Queen Katla had provided a tiara to hold the veil and Magnus had gifted her beautiful teardrop diamonds for her ears.

When it came to the ceremony itself, Lexi hadn’t weighed in much. She’d been letting Magnus make all the decisions while she had stubbornly sat on the fence. As a result, he’d chosen a traditional vein and she was told that most of it would be performed in Isleifisch.

At the last second, she sent him a note with a request.

She didn’t receive a response. She was only told that he’d seen it.

They arrived at the chapel and Lexi was an uncharacteristic mass of nerves. It was worse than any stage fright she’d ever experienced, but it had nothing to do with the crowds or the unfamiliar words or the huge step she was taking.

Would he do as she’d asked? It felt hugely important that he make this one small concession. Would he?

The music began and his niece led the procession of bridesmaids out the door. Prince Sorr was supposed to escort her down the aisle. She could have asked her mother, but Lexi had grown up as something that her mother lent out. She didn’t want to be “given away” by anyone. She didn’t want to become something that Magnus acquired.

So Prince Sorr was already at the front of the chapel next to the queen. Lexi was forced to take on faith that her future husband understood her at least a little and would be waiting to walk down the aislewithher.

She stepped out of the anteroom, breath held, and there he was, acutely handsome in a green military-style jacket with blue cuffs and collar. It had gold epaulets and he wore his sash with various medals and other regalia. The hilt of a long sword sat against his hip.

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