Page 27 of The Forgotten Queen
“Is he an amiable man? Someone who listens to others’ opinions?”
Idella sighed. “He’ll find his way…eventually.”
What did that even mean? Could the woman be any more vague?
“Are you implying that the king is somehow lost?”
Idella paused brushing and looked off in the distance, caught up in her thoughts. “Marx McKane has always been a little lost, but the last year-and-a-half since Prince Palmer died have been hard on him.”
Sydria looked at her maid through the mirror. “Who’s Prince Palmer?”
“He was Marx’s younger brother.” Her maid shook her head with pity. “They were best friends.”
That was sad.
Sydria had lost her parents, but she didn’t know or remember them, so it was a different kind of pain. Losing a brother—someone who was a best friend—would be devastating.
“King Marx needs something to help ground him. I suppose that’s where you come in.”
Despite the king’s loss, Sydria had no intention ofgroundinghim. Whateverthatmeant.
“Don’t worry, dear. The king will be a good man. He just needs a little nudge in the right direction.”
Willbe a good man…meaning that hewasn’ta good man now.
Fabulous.
No wonder the king needed to purchase his bride. He probably couldn’t get anyone else to agree to marry him.
It sounded like this was a marriageanda service project.
Sydria
There was something odd about walking down the halls of a foreign place wearing a wedding gown. The simple silk dress hung over Sydria’s body, sweeping across the floor. The dress’s neckline showed off her collar bones but was high enough that she wasn’t self-conscious about her scar peeking out. As she followed Idella, she noticed how the dress blended with the white marble floor and walls. She could press herself up against the walls of the castle, and no one would be able to find her. Perhaps that could be part of her escape plan if convincing the king to call off the marriage didn’t work.
“Where are we going?” Sydria asked her maid.
“It’s time to meet the royal family,” Idella said.
This would be her chance. She wiped her damp hands on the sides of her dress as Idella opened a wooden door, ushering her inside the room. She took a deep breath and stepped in, hoping that she would make a good impression. The room was empty.
“You can wait here, in the greeting room.” Idella closed the door, leaving Sydria all alone.
How appropriate. The royal family had an entire room devoted to occasions like this—greetingpeople they’d purchased. She looked around, taking in the crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling, the pristine couches, the greenery, the dark oak coffee table, and large windows.
Sydria didn’t dare touch anything for fear that she might get a smudge on the perfectly white room. She stepped toward the windows, hoping to catch a glimpse of the ocean. She glanced down to a beautiful courtyard full of pink flowers and lush green bushes. In the center of the yard was a large cylinder wrapped in glass with bubbling water inside. Fish of every kind swam through the blue water in a circular motion, around and around. So this was the royal family’s aquarium.
She pressed her hand against the glass window as she watched the fish, each of them in its own kind of cage, on display for everyone to see.
Her eyes watered, and she blinked back the moisture. It seemed silly that something like that could upset her so much, but the aquarium mimicked her life in a heartbreaking way.
“Miss Hasler?” a voice said behind her.
Sydria jerked around, glancing at the man and woman watching her.
“I see you’ve found our aquarium.” The man beamed. He looked to be in his early fifties, tall and thin. His light hair and his sharp features commanded attention. “Isn’t it incredible?” he asked.
The aquarium wasn’t incredible. She hated it, but at the moment, all she could think about was pleasing the man who seemed so pleased with his glass fish cage. “It’s lovely.”
