Page 63 of 2 Books in One Bundle
Helia’s fingers curled in her skirt. Their tight grip was the only thing stopping her from hyperventilating. Her career was everything to her. She was a librarian, not a queen! What did she know about ruling?
Her stomach roiled at the thought.
She had spent two years among the palace’s books and archives. Had scraped and clawed her way from nothing to end up here in the palace library.
Following her father’s sudden passing when she was just a teenager, she had moved in with her uncle, her father’s brother and business partner. He was meant to be her guardian, to take care of her, but he had only done so when it served him. Helia’s father had left her a substantial inheritance—a nest egg meant to provide security for her when he could not—but she had never seen a penny of it as her uncle had cunningly taken it from her. And once he’d been in possession of it he had promptly dropped her off at the local orphanage. At a time when she had needed her family the most, she had been abandoned. Left to fend for herself. To deal with her grief and her anger alone.
She had found solace in books. Not that the orphanage had had very many. But they had filled her with a quiet happiness.
It had been no surprise to anyone, least of all herself, that she had become quiet and withdrawn. She hadn’t been able to find it in herself to be the happy, effervescent person she had been with her father. She had been lost to her misery.
Only a single solitary spark had brightened those long, dark days.
While at school she had spent every free moment in the library. Until the librarian had taken pity on her and had allowed her to assist during breaks and after school. Bit by bit, in those dusty stacks, she had slowly come back to life. It was then that she had decided what she wanted to do with her life. She wanted to spend it among the books that had become her family and her escape. And she didn’t want to be just a librarian at an underfunded, somewhat forgotten school. Oh, no, she wanted much more than that.
So she had earned herself a scholarship, and studied at one of the best universities in Thalonia, and immediately after that had gone to work at the city library in Seidon. Every day she would glimpse the palace on her commute to work and think to herself that one day she would work there. When the job she had dreamed of had finally become available, Helia had pounced on the opportunity. Now, at only twenty-eight, she was head librarian at the grandest library in the Kingdom, home to Thalonia’s archives. It was a job she was immensely proud of.
They had another think coming if they thought she would take any of this lying down.
‘What if I don’t agree to this marriage?’ she asked, interrupting their conversation.
Andreas dropped his hands to the carved armrests of his chair, staring Helia down. ‘I don’t want you to, Ms Demetriou. You are not the right queen for this kingdom. It goes against our traditions, not to mention brings us the nightmare challenge of getting you anywhere near ready to be a royal. But unfortunately for all of us King Vasili has decided, and none of us has the power to overturn his decision.’
His words were like a red rag to Helia, but she knew he was right. She wasn’t ready to be Queen, and that would be a challenge, and Vasili had in fact picked her. His gaze had been intense. Filled with intent, but also grief and anger.
‘I still haven’t agreed.’
‘Why wouldn’t you agree?’ Carissa very nearly sneered. ‘Women don’t often get the chance to become Queen.’
She’s right, Helia thought to herself.
Most women never became Queen or gained any kind of power or influence, but the position had been presented to her now. It might not have occurred in a way she would have chosen, but surely there was an opportunity for her to make a difference.
Helia thought of those years at the orphanage, when funds had been low but there had been mouths to feed and growing bodies to clothe. When the temperature had dropped but they’d only been able to make do with what they had. When the children would talk about their dreams knowing they probably would never achieve them—because who would pay for their tuition?
She had come from among the forgotten citizens of not just Seidon, but Thalonia at large. Those without a voice who often just fell through the cracks. She remembered wishing she had the power to change things. Hoping that one day she would find a way to help. She had been volunteering at the orphanage whenever she could for years. A lot of those kids felt like her own. They were the closest thing she had to family.
Now there was a chance for one of the forgotten to sit on the throne, so maybe fighting this would be a mistake. It would be foolish of her to squander this opportunity—even if saying yes did mean that she would have to deal with attitudes like those of Andreas and Carissa every day.
Helia was conflicted. She didn’t want to lose her career. It was all she had. All she loved. But she cared about the kind of children she’d grown up around...and beyond that there was Vasili.
She still remembered the day she had arrived at the palace. He had been the first royal she had seen. His beauty had rendered her speechless. With his short dark brown hair in soft, wavy curls and his golden-brown eyes, he had been a sight to behold. Let alone the fact that he had been climbing onto a black motorcycle at the time, clad in leathers.
He was the most unusual royal, and over the years she had noticed him more and more. Each time she did, a small attraction for the Prince grew. While she had almost never had any reason to directly interact with the royals, she’d noted how different he was compared to them. He always had a bit of time to chat to staff who were mostly treated as if they were invisible. He had a smile for everyone except when no one was watching him. But she did.
Helia was not delusional. She was entirely ordinary, and he had never once noticed her. Why would he? She spent all her time in the library that he never visited.
Now she felt foolish for feeling hopeful about being tied to him.
Her heart had skipped a beat when he had walked into the library today, in suit trousers and a button-down shirt that was open at the neck, but her appreciation had been halted by the expression on his face. He’d seemed to be caught somewhere between weariness and anguish...
Still, appreciating the Prince—or rather the King—didn’t mean she could be a queen.
The mere thought had her hands trembling, and instilled a very real fear in her. She was confident around books, but had no idea how to navigate a royal court. She came from nothing. But didn’t that make her perfect in a way? Vasili had been born to this life. He knew precisely what he was supposed to do. Could she show him what heshouldcare about?
They were opposite forces, but together they could be something special. The thought filled her with equal parts trepidation and excitement.
‘I’ll do it.’
