Page 41 of The Forgotten Queen
“Do you like adventure?” the feather hat woman asked. “King Marx is known for his adventurous side.”
Each question came at her like a bullet, shooting down any confidence Sydria might have had.
“If you’ll excuse me, I’d like to get some fresh air.” It was a stupid thing to say. They were already outsideinfresh air, but Sydria needed to escape.
As she left the courtyard, she heard Cheney say, “King Marx might act interested right now, but then he’ll get bored, and eventually he’ll move on.”
She looked back to see Cheney’s menacing smile.
Marx
“I can’t believe you got married,”Kase said, lifting his glass up to his mouth. “I have to be honest—my mind went blank when Sydria was in front of me.” He shook his head. “Like nothing. There was nothing there. I was mush, lost in her dark eyes.”
Marx gave Kase a sharp glare. “I don’t know if I should be irritated with you for drooling over Sydria because she’s my wife or because you’re in a relationship with my sister. But either way, I’m irritated.”
“Forget about me,” Kase said. “You’d better watch out for Warren.”
“Thank you for the obvious,” he said dryly. “But I don’t think the queen is interested in someone like Warren.” The truth was, Marx didn’t know whatSydria was interested in. Hehopedshe wouldn’t be interested in someone like Warren.
Marx glanced around the courtyard, looking for her. He would have thought her white dress would stand out, but all he saw were colorful suits and dresses mixed together with exotic plants and flowers.
“There’s something I need you to do,” he said, turning back to Kase. “I need you to investigate Sydria’s background.”
“Why? Don’t you trust the arrangement your father made?”
“Not in the least,” Marx said, still searching the room. It shouldn’t matter where Sydria was. If she’d fled the castle, that would be a dream come true, but that didn’t stop his eyes from scanning every inch of the garden. He gave up looking for her and shifted his focus to Kase. “I want to know everything about her. Who she is and why my father thought a marriage to her was a good idea.”
Kase scoffed. “All it takes is one look at the woman to know why marrying her was a good idea.”
“No. There’s more to her than just a pretty face, or else my father wouldn’t have made the deal.”
“I know you have a tense relationship with your father, but can’t you ask him why he made the deal?”
Marx rolled his eyes. “Is anything easy with Meldrum McKane?”
Kase shook his head and took a sip of his drink.
“Sydria said she was forced into this marriage by her uncle. We’ll start with him,” Marx said.
“Okay. I’ll dig around, see what I can come up with.”
12
Sydria
Sydria pressed her hips into the stone balcony, staring below at the vast ocean. Her hands rested on the limestone railing, and the short train of her dress lifted behind her with the ocean breeze. Pink streaks were painted across the evening sky as the sunlight faded. She wished she could walk along the sand, feel the grainy softness between her toes, but there was a cliffside standing between her and the beach.
She hadn’t stopped the wedding like she’d planned. She was in uncharted waters now without the slightest clue how to navigate.
“I take it you don’t like wedding parties?”
She looked over her shoulder, catching a glimpse of King Marx walking up behind her. His blonde hair raised with the wind, and the last bits of sunlight danced off his hazel eyes, bringing out their striking green hue.
Sydria turned back to the water. “How did you find me?”
The king stopped beside her, hands in his pockets, head forward. “It wasn’t hard. You asked about ten servants and guards how to get to the beach. I followed your trail.”
“I can’t get to the beach,” she said. “This is the closest they’d let me go.”
