Page 20 of The Forgotten Queen
“You’d be doing this for Cristole,” his father said with a sigh, “and forme.This marriage is important to me. I’ve never asked anything of you, but I’m asking now. Will you do this and finally make your father proud?”
Finally make his father proud?
That’s all Marx had been trying to do his entire life.
His mind raced through all the moments where he’d sat and watched his father beam at Palmer, pat him on the back, and say to himI’m so proud of you, son.Marx had always wondered what it would feel like to have his father say those same words to him. Deep down, he longed for that. It wasn’t that Meldrum McKane was incapable of being a proud father. He was just incapable of being proud ofhim.
Marx looked at his father, studying his light brown eyes that matched his own. What did it matter if he got married? It wouldn’t mean anything to Marx, but if it meant something to his father, maybe he could suffer through it. And it would be a good way to escape the expectations of all the women in the kingdom like Cheney—the women who wanted him to be something he wasn’t.
“Fine,” he said, shooting his eyes to the ground. Even as he conceded, he doubted that he could ever do anything that would actually make his father proud of him.
“You’ll thank me for it later,” his father said.
Marx doubted that. He turned his back to leave.
“Marx?” his father called after him, but he didn’t stop.
“Plan the wedding,” he said as he walked out of the room.
“Good.” His father’s voice reached down the hall to him. “The wedding will take place tomorrow.”
Tomorrow?
A sick feeling filled his stomach.
Marx picked up his pace, as if he could somehow outrun his inevitable future.
Meldrum McKane
“You’re getting to bed late,”Malory said as she rolled over to greet McKane in the dark. “Did I wake you?” he asked his wife as he lifted the sheets wide enough to get his body into bed.
Malory sat up, leaning her back against her satin pillow. “No, I wasn’t sleeping. I can’t stop thinking about Marx and the wedding.” She turned her head to face him, the moonlight from the window highlighting her delicate features. “Are you sure we’re doing the right thing? I thought we said we were going to lethimchoose his wife.”
McKane wanted to close his eyes and go to sleep, but he needed his wife on board with the marriage if he was ever going to be able to convince Marx to take it seriously. He reached his hand up, using his thumb to trace his wife’s cheek.
“Darling, I’m worried about Marx too. That’s why I arranged this marriage.”
She sighed. He would need more to convince her, but he couldn’t tell her the real reason. He couldn’t tell her the girl Marx was marrying was the assumed-dead princess from New Hope and that he planned to use her to get revenge on King Bryant.
Bryant had overlooked their family eleven years ago. He’d turned his nose up to a marriage alliance with Palmer, as if Ezra Trevenna was so much better than McKane’s youngest son. Nobody was better than Palmer. Now, Bryant would pay the price for his complete dismissal of them. If the princess became the queen of Cristole, fell in love with Marx, gave him a child and heir, then she’d be tied to Cristole forever. When she found out her true identity, her life in Cristole would be so set in stone that she wouldn’t want to go back to New Hope. She’d be McKane’s bargaining chip to get into the good graces of the Council of Essentials, to gain the power that was rightfully his. Every kingdom would want to align with Queen Seran. She’ll elevate Cristole to where it should have been before Palmer’s death and before King Bryant had slighted them all those years ago. New Hope would be bound to Cristole forever, and Bryant would be forced to open up his circle and include the McKane family in it.
It was the perfect plan.
Unless Stoddard inserted himself and ruined everything. Perhaps McKane shouldn’t trust him, but he was too excited about his plan to change his mind now. Besides, Stoddard had nothing left. He wouldn’t ruin this. All he wanted was the money.
McKane drew a soft smile. “Marx needs a woman who will influence him, help him leave his recklessness behind, and show him how to be a good king.”
“I don’t see how another woman will be able to change him when his mother couldn’t.” Her chest filled up with air then she let out a long breath.
“You’ve done all you could.” He dipped his chin lower so he could see into her moonlit eyes. “It’s time to try something else.”
“And you think this woman will be a good influence on him?” she asked, swiping away a lock of light hair from her face.
“Darling, you’re going to love her. She’s everything that we want our son to marry.”
Aside from the fact that she doesn’t remember who she is.
“Okay. I trust you.”
