Page 29 of Crown of Hearts
I led her to the nearest study and opened the door, only to find Thatcher calmly reading near one of the windows. He smiled upon seeing me and put down the book.
“Ah, I was looking for you. I was wondering how your—”
He trailed off as Elara walked in behind me and I watched his expression turn curious.
“Thatcher, I would like you to meet Elara, the Queen of Everness.” I gestured to her, and Thatcher quickly got out of his seat and gave a deep bow.
“Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Your Majesty.”
“Lara, I suppose you remember me telling you about my oldest friend, Lord Thatcher?”
“I’ve heard a lot about you.” She gave him a weary smile.
“All bad, I hope.” He gave her a cheeky wink, at which she seemed surprised, and I remembered Elara didn’t have the pleasure of knowing Thatch’s boyishly charming character.
“To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit, Your Majesty?”
Something I would very much like to know, too.
Elara looked in Thatcher’s direction and then back at me. “May we speak?” And then she added, “Privately?”
I opened my mouth to ask Thatcher politely for some privacy, but he was already halfway to the door.
“If you’ll excuse me, Your Majesties, I’d best be on my way. I need to go and find my sister.” Doubtful, but I appreciated his effort.
“Give my regards to Gwen,” I tried to joke, if only to stop the astounding beating of my heart. Elara was here.
Why was she here, and why did she carry such a worried look on her face?
The doors closed behind Thatcher, leaving the two of us alone in the study, with our guards waiting outside. We’d been alone so many times before. But this was different. Our last encounter wasn’t how I’d wanted to leave things between us, and I was sure both of us could sense the clear tension.
“Shall I call for some refreshments?”
Elara shook her head, taking a seat on one of the settees. “No, thank you.”
I sat on a chair opposite her, putting some distance between us.
“I’m sorry about your father,” she said, folding her hands in her lap. I’d never seen her act this proper, not even when she was pretending to be Eloisa. “You must miss him very much.”
“Some mornings I wake up and it takes me a moment to realise he’s not there, that I am now king.”
“Your mother seems well.” They had appeared to be in a discussion when I entered the throne room. I wondered what they had been talking about.
“She has mostly recovered from her illness, but I think my father’s death is taking its own toll.” Most of the time, I believed my mother pretended to be doing better than she actually was.
“It’s going to take time.” Elara offered me a sympathetic smile. I appreciated her condolences, but I doubted she’d come all this way to enquire about my mother’s health.
“You’ve travelled very far.” It was the only thing I could think to say without directly asking her what she was doing in Norrandale, which I feared might come across as a little rude. Did this have something to do with the attempt on her life? Was she in some kind of trouble?
“I haven’t heard from you in a while.” There was a hint of resentment in her tone.
“I didn’t think you’d want to hear from me,” I replied honestly. I’d hated walking out of that palace without a proper goodbye. I didn’t want to leave her to face the unknown obstacles of the new Everness. But she had been so adamant in telling me to leave. I felt I had to respect her wishes.
“I understand you had your mother’s illness and then your father’s death, but I didn’t expect this complete silence from you,” Elara admitted, a trace of hurt in her expression.
“Well, I hardly thought it appropriate, all things considered.” She was the one who’d ended it, and nothing had prevented her from writing to me either.
“All things considered?” she frowned. “What is that supposed to mean? Because I’m queen?”
