Page 64 of 2 Books in One Bundle
The moment the words left her lips, Helia’s heart began to race.
‘Of course you will.’
There was a look of smug satisfaction on Carissa’s face that had annoyance bursting through Helia, eclipsing her nervousness.
‘Think what you will, Carissa, but unless either of you can get His Majesty to change his mind I’m all you have—and I have my reasons for agreeing.’
Like the fact thatallof Thalonia’s people would be able to count on her, not just the rich and aristocratic, whether they realised it or not. Her every decision would have serious repercussions.
Her pulse hammered and her palms sweated. She tried to focus on her breathing. Panicking wouldn’t help her.
She was still torn. Her whole life had been changed in a matter of minutes. The career she had fought for would be taken from her and replaced with something far more influential and terrifying. She hadn’t really been given much choice, but her traitorous heart still beat just a little faster at the thought of being with Vasili.
Vasili sat in a plush white chair in Leander’s office.Hisoffice. He had hardly ever come in here...the seat of power for Thalonia. He had hated this room with a passion growing up, and had been pleased when Leander had made changes to it. The walls still had frescoes from centuries long past. The blue of the sea was evident on nearly every wall, and the gold accents still glowed as if the metal had been poured straight onto the plaster, but everything else had changed.
Light poured in through the large arched windows, illuminating the white couches and the armchair where he sat. Towards the far end was a meeting table with six chairs, and directly in front of the window, as if all of Thalonia and the sea stood behind the man who sat there, was a behemoth of a desk.
An empty desk.
This office reflected Leander perfectly. How he’d tried to marry his modern views with a traditional past. It wasn’t Vasili.
He leaned his head against a backrest carved in the Rococo style and closed his eyes, uttering a soft curse. He should never have lost his temper. It never helped any situation. But when he thought about Andreas and Carissa trying to foist a bride on him his blood started to boil all over again.
They were loyal to the crown, to Leander. The latter he could forgive, even respect, but the former...? That angered him immensely. Because wasn’t that exactly like his parents? Loyal to the crown to the detriment of him?
Vasili understood that they were unhappy he would have to take over. But he didn’thaveto do anything. Not only had he never been meant to be King, but he also never wanted it—and he could only imagine who his ‘trusted’ advisors would pick for him to marry. Another thing he was simply expected to accept without consideration for how he felt. And for what? To save the crown? Why would he care? He hated it.
That was certainly no secret. All his life he’d wanted out, yet he knew he was stuck in his gilded cage—which was why he’d rebelled just now. As he always did. Except this rebellion made him feel guilty, because he had left no room for argument. He could only imagine how pushy that would have made Andreas and Carissa. The chaos his staff would now be consumed by as they navigated his decision.
A groan sounded through the silent office as he replayed the moment he had chosen the librarian to be his wife. He didn’t even know her name, for pity’s sake! But even in that moment of madness he hadn’t been able to help but notice how stunningly beautiful she was. Entirely arresting. Her eyes had brought to mind the untameable seas around the Kingdom.
He’d made a reckless decision, thinking Andreas would see it for what it was. See that he needed to grieve. He had just lost his brother. That still didn’t feel entirely real. He needed time to come to terms with that...with these massive changes. But they hadn’t seen that, or had simply ignored it, and Vasili knew time was something he was never going to get.
He had awoken that morning with two women in his bed and the thought that today would be like any other day. He had decided to ride down the coast, where a lavish party was planned for the evening.
A part of him still wanted to do that. To turn his back on the palace and forget all of it for a few hours.
He heaved a sigh and walked to the large window, staring out at Seidon. Earlier he had had the thought that he would like to let the crown fall into ruin. He really liked that idea. More than ever the temptation to abdicate seduced him. He wanted to reach out and grab on to that notion with both hands. Leave it all and walk away. He liked his life as it was.
Vasili had just decided a ride on his motorcycle was precisely what he needed when he heard the door open. He knew who it was before he even spoke.
‘Here you are, Your Majesty,’ said Andreas, as he entered and quietly shut the door behind him.
Vasili was struck with a vivid fantasy of throwing the man out. He had seen far too much of him for one day. He wanted to ask if Andreas was done with terrorising the librarian, but he said nothing. While he might not have received quite the same training as Leander, Vasili knew how to use silence as a show of power, and something told him he would always have to wield that power with Andreas.
Turning around with his hands clasped behind his back, he pinned Andreas with a stare that had the older man stopping before he could cross the room all the way.
Andreas cleared his throat. ‘We have spoken to Helia Demetriou, sir, but we need to discuss this decision. She isn’t what this kingdom needs.’
‘I suppose you know exactly what that is?’ Vasili challenged.
‘In this instance, yes. We need a queen who can take the throne immediately. She cannot do that. We have no time. King Leander’s wedding has been planned. Every vendor is confirmed. Every part of his wedding was meant to showcase Thalonia to the world, and people are still relying on us to move forward with the event. As much as it might hurt us, we need you and a queen on the throne. We need the coronation to happen as soon as possible, or we risk damaging our people financially. That takes priority. God forbid, but should something happen to you, Thalonia will be in serious trouble. We need to have faith that the Queen could rule in that situation.’
A spare ruler. Not just that, now he was to be a filler-in at someone else’s wedding. His life truly meant nothing. Vasili was a spare in every way.
All he could do was shake his head.
‘Allow me to speak freely,’ Andreas went on.
