Page 90 of The Forgotten Queen
Flowers.
Dark curly hair.
Dread.
Then everything went dark again.
“Sydria?” Dannyn asked. “Are you okay? You look pale.”
She shook her head, smiling back at her. “I’m fine. I just…”
She couldn’t tell Dannyn about the memory she’d had.
How do you explain to your sister-in-law that you think you might already be married to someone else?
Marx
Marx stepped into the royal sitting room. Dannyn and Sydria sat on the couch talking. They hadn’t noticed him yet, which gave him a second to see them interact together. He leaned against the doorframe, watching as they laughed and smiled at each other. Marx’s heart expanded. They were the only two women he’d ever cared about besides his mother. He’d been unprepared for this fake relationship. He’d had no idea Sydria would touch every place in his heart. If Marx knew who she was, where she came from, then maybe he could understand the feelings growing inside of him, maybe he couldallowthem, but he didn’t know that. He hoped Doctor Moore would be able to answer some of his questions.
He cleared his throat.
“Look, Sydria, it’s your long-lost husband,” Dannyn said. She gave a knowing smile to Marx and stood, stretching her arms out. “You two have fun together. I’m going to go take a nap.”
“A nap?” Marx questioned. “It’s one o’clock in the afternoon.”
“Isn’t this usually when you wake up?” Dannyn teased as she walked past him. She hit her shoulder into his arm on her way out.
Sydria stood too. “Have you really slept in until one o’clock?”
Marx placed his hands in his pocket. “If it’s going to make you think less of me, then my answer is no. I’d never do that.”
The truth was, he used to do that all the time. But lately, he’d actuallyattended the meetings that he was supposed to. He’d dove headfirst into his responsibilities as king, to the surprise of everyone around him. His father had bristled when Marx had walked into the High Rulers meeting a few days ago. But then the High Rulers had addressedhim, not his father. They had looked him in the eye when asking questions or addressing concerns. It was as if they finally took Marx seriously, like they no longer viewed him as the reckless young man from his youth. It was amazing what a marriage could do for a man, the way it could mature a person in a matter of a week and a half.
“Did you have a good morning?” Sydria asked, walking toward him.
That was the second time she’d asked him a question like that.
Nobody had ever asked Marx about his day or how he’d slept.
Nobody had ever cared that much.
“Uh, good. I sat in on a few meetings. What about you?”
“Dannyn and I rode horses along the beach.”
Marx lifted his brows. “You ride?”
A shy smile formed at the corner of her mouth. “At first, I wasn’t sure if I could do it, but once I hopped on the horse, everything came back to me. Almost like muscle memory. I’m actually quite skilled.”
Riding a horse wasn’t exclusive to the ruling class. Sydria could have learned to ride anywhere. It wasn’t necessarily a clue to her past, but Marx noted it anyway.
“Great,” he said, trying to keep his voice even. “Are you ready to go see Doctor Moore?”
She swallowed and glanced down.
“Hey,” he said, running his thumb across her cheek. “You have nothing to be nervous about. We’re just trying to gain more information.”
She looked up, nodding. “I know.”
