Page 4 of Enamored
“He has many years of training ahead of him, Your Majesty.”
“Of course.” The king’s gaze flitted to the queen, taking in the eagerness of her expression. “We are celebrating the princess’s courtship week. You will join us for the remainder of the festivities, Maxim. I know the queen would like that.”
The queen smiled at her husband, her eyes radiating her gratefulness.
Maxim bowed his head in subservience. “I would be honored, Your Majesty.”
The king glanced in my direction. “You do remember Elinor, do you not?”
I held my breath and waited for Maxim to look at me for the first time in ten years. What would he think? Would he recognize me? Or would he find me so changed that he wouldn’t be able to hide his surprise?
“I do remember the princess, Your Majesty.” Maxim bowed his head. “I pray her choice of a husband will bring happiness to all the land.”
My nerves tightened with anticipation. What would this reunion with Maxim be like? I’d waited so long for it that I’d lost hope it would ever happen.
Maxim raised his head, but he didn’t spare me a glance and instead kept his focus solely upon the king. Almost as if I wasn’t there. Almost as if he didn’t care.
The spark of indignation that had festered for years flamed inside my chest. He had not once in all the time he’d been gone visited or replied to the many letters I’d written to him. The day Rasmus sent him away was the last I’d heard from him.
An ache swiftly pushed into my throat. I finally had to acknowledge what I’d suspected for years, what I’d tried to ignore.
Maxim no longer cared about me.
When the queen moved down the steps to depart, I tore my attention from him and allowed her to lead me away, vowing to extricate him from my thoughts once and for all, the same way he’d cut me out of his.
Chapter
2
Elinor
The guests waitedbelow for my entrance to the ball.
“You will do well, my love.” The queen pressed a hand to my cheek, her bracelets and rings clinking together. “Do not forget how beautiful, intelligent, and kind you are.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.” I leaned into her palm, grateful for her tenderness and constant understanding.
Donned in an intricately embroidered purple gown that was trimmed in black fur, the queen was still one of the most beautiful women in the land. She wore her golden crown studded with large amethyst and topaz gemstones along with smaller rosettes and pearls surrounded by gold rose leaves.
The king, too, was attired in his royal robe, wearing his taller and more elaborate official crown that matched the queen’s. He took his place in front of me out of sight of the grand staircase, placed both hands on my arms, and appraised me.
“Elinor, though you were born of my sister, I consider you my own flesh and blood.”
His words stirred emotion within me, but I’d learned long ago not to show my feelings and think rationally instead. “You are too kind, Your Majesty.”
“You have become my daughter, and one day you will be a great queen.” His words were filled with warm affection.
I thanked Providence every day for giving me parents like Ulrik and Inge to replace the ones I’d lost. Of course, I couldn’t remember my real family. I’d been but a newborn when my mother disappeared with my sister, only a year older than me.
I was told my father had been frantic with worry, had scoured every corner of the land and followed every clue to find my mother and sister. But tragically, during one of his voyages, a violent storm had assaulted his ship in the Dark Sea. He and everyone aboard drowned.
For years, King Ulrik had continued the hunt for his sister and niece and offered rewards to anyone who found the missing members of the royal household. But in the eighteen years since their disappearance, no one had discovered a hint of their whereabouts.
Eventually the king had given up hope of finding them. But I had never been able to relinquish my desire to learn what had happened. I questioned travelers and visitors who came to the royal court and was always seeking answers about my mother and sister.
For my whole life, their disappearance had been a mystery I couldn’t solve no matter how hard I tried. Logic and rationale pointed to the fact that they couldn’t have survived for so long without anyone’s knowledge.
But another part of me wasn’t ready to let go... the part recognizing that, as the second-born daughter of the king’s sister, I shouldn’t be next in line for the throne. I’d been given the position by default, not because I’d proven myself capable.
