She refused his royal proposal...

...but will she let him unlock the passion within?

King Theodosius must find a queen to keep his throne, but his less-than-romantic proposal letter leaves sheltered Princess Moriana cold. So Theo decides to make Moriana an offer she can’t refuse—if she’ll consider becoming his bride, he’ll heat things up by initiating his innocent queen into the pleasures of the marriage bed...

KELLY HUNTER has always had a weakness for fairy tales, fantasy worlds and losing herself in a good book. She has two children, avoids cooking and cleaning and, despite the best efforts of her family, is no sports fan. Kelly is, however, a keen gardener and has a fondness for roses. Kelly was born in Australia and has travelled extensively. Although she enjoys living and working in different parts of the world, she still calls Australia home.

Also by Kelly Hunter

Claimed by a King miniseries

Shock Heir for the Crown Prince

Convenient Bride for the King

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Convenient Bride for the King

Kelly Hunter

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-07187-1

CONVENIENT BRIDE FOR THE KING

© 2018 Kelly Hunter

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

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Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Extract

CHAPTER ONE

PRINCESS MORIANA OF ARUN wasn’t an unreasonable woman. She had patience aplenty and was willing to give anyone the benefit of the doubt at least once. Maybe even twice. But when she knew for a fact she was being passed around like a Christmas cracker no one wanted to pull, all bets were off.

Her brother Augustus had said he wasn’t available to speak with her this morning. People to see, kingdom to rule.

Nothing to do with avoiding her until she regained her equilibrium after yesterday’s spectacularly public jilting...the coward.

So what if Casimir of Byzenmaach no longer wanted to marry her? It wasn’t as if it had ever been Casimir’s idea in the first place, and it certainly hadn’t been hers. When you were the progeny of kings it was commonplace for a politically expedient marriage to be arranged for you. And yet...inexplicably...Casimir’s defection after such a long courtship had gutted her. He’d made her feel small and insignificant, unwanted and alone, and, above all, not good enough. All her hard work, the endless social politics, the restraint that guided her every move, had been for what?

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Arun’s royal palace was an austere one, mainly because Moriana’s forefathers had planned it that way. Stern, grey and never quite warm enough, it invited application to duty over frivolous timewasting. It chose function over beauty, no matter how much beauty she found to hang on its walls. It favoured formal cloistered gardens for tidy minds.

Her brother had taken residence in the southern wing of the palace in the gloomiest rooms of them all, and not for the first time did Moriana wonder why. Her brother’s executive secretary—an elderly courtier who’d been in service to the House of Arun since before she was born—looked up as she approached, his expression smooth and unruffled.

‘Princess, what a pleasant surprise.’

She figured her appearance was neither pleasant nor a surprise, but she let the man have his social graces. ‘Is he in?’

‘He’s taking an important call.’

‘But he is in,’ she countered and kept right on walking towards her brother’s closed door. ‘Wonderful.’

The older man sighed and pressed a button on the intercom as she swept past. He didn’t actually speak into the intercom, mind. Moriana was pretty sure he had a secret code button set up just for her—doubtless announcing that Moriana the Red was incoming.

Her brother looked up when she walked in, told whoever he had on the phone that he’d call them back, and put the phone down.

Damn but it was cold in here. It didn’t help that the spring just past had been a brutal one and summer had been slow to arrive. ‘Why is it like an ice box in here?’ she asked. ‘Have we no heating you can turn on? No warmer rooms you could rule from?’

‘Or you could wear warmer clothes,’ her brother suggested, but there was nothing wrong with her attire. Her fine wool dress was boat-necked, long-sleeved and fell to just above her knees. Stockings added another layer to her legs. She was wearing knee-high leather boots. Had she added a coat she’d be ready for a trip to the Antarctic.

‘It is a perfectly pleasant day outside,’ she countered. ‘Why do you choose the coldest rooms we have to call your own?’

‘If I had better rooms, more people would be tempted to visit me and I’d never get any work done.’ His eyes were almost black and framed by thick black lashes, just like her own. His smile was indulgent as he sat back and steepled his hands—maybe his whole I’m in charge of the universe pose worked on some, but she’d grown up with him and knew what Augustus had looked like as a six-year-old with chickenpox and as a teenager with his first hangover. She knew the sound of his laughter and the shape of his sorrows. He could wear his kingly authority in public and she would bow to him but here in private, when it was just the two of them, he was nothing more than a slightly irritating older brother. ‘What can I do for you?’ he asked.

‘Have you seen this?’ She held up a thick sheet of cream-coloured vellum.

‘Depends,’ he said.

She slammed the offending letter down on the ebony desk in front of him. Letters generally didn’t slam down on anything but this one had the weight of her hand behind it. ‘Theo sent me a proposal.’

‘Okay,’ he said cautiously, still looking at her rather than the letter.

‘A marriage proposal.’

Her brother’s lips twitched.

‘Don’t you dare,’ she warned.

‘Well, it stands to reason he would,’ said Augustus. ‘You’re available, he’s under increasing pressure to produce an heir and secure the throne, and politically it’s an opportunistic match.’

‘We loathe each other. There is no earthly reason why Theo would want to spend an evening with me, let alone eternity.’

‘I have a theory about that—’

‘Don’t start.’

‘It goes something like this. He pulled your pigtail when you were children, you gave him a black eye and you’ve been fierce opponents ever since. If you actually spent some time with the man you’d discover he’s not half as bad as you think he is. He’s well-travelled, well-read, surprisingly intelligent and a consummate negotiator. All things you admire.’

‘A consummate negotiator? Are you serious? Theo’s marriage proposal is a form letter. He filled my name in at the top and his at the bottom.’

‘And he has a sense of humour,’ Augustus said.

‘Says who?’

‘Everyone except for you.’

‘Doesn’t that tell you something?’

‘Yes.’

Oh, it was on.

She pulled up a chair, a hard unwelcoming one because that was all there was to be had in this farce of a room. She sat. He sighed. She crossed her legs, etiquette be damned. Two seconds later she uncrossed her legs, rearranged her skirt over her knees and sat ramrod-straight as she stared him down. ‘Did you arrange this?’ Because she wouldn’t put it past him. He and their three neighbouring monarchs were close. They plotted together on a regular basis.

‘Me? No.’

‘Did Casimir?’ He of the broken matrimonial intentions and newly discovered offspring.

‘I doubt it. What with burying his father and planning a coronation, the instant fatherhood and his current wooing of the child’s mother... I’m pretty sure he has his hands full.’

Moriana drummed her fingers on his ugly wooden desk, partly because it gave her time to digest her brother’s words and partly because she knew it annoyed him. ‘Then whose mad idea was it?’

He eyed her offending fingers for a moment before casually pulling open his desk drawer and pulling out a long wooden ruler. He held it up, as if gauging its reach, before bringing the tip to rest gently in his palm. ‘Stop torturing my desk.’

‘Or you’ll beat me? Please,’ she scoffed. Nonetheless, she stopped with the drumming and brought the offending hand in front of her to examine her nails. No damage at all. Maybe she’d paint her nails black later, to match the desk and her mood. Maybe her rebellion could start small. ‘You haven’t answered my question. Whose idea was it?’

‘I’m assuming it was Theo’s.’

She looked up to find Augustus eyeing her steadily, as if he knew something she didn’t.

‘It’s not an insult, Moriana; it’s an honour. You were born and raised for the kind of position Theo’s offering. You could make a difference to his leadership and to the stability of the region.’

‘No.’ She cut him off fast. ‘You can’t guilt me into this. I am through with being the good princess who does what she’s told, the one who serves and serves and serves, without any thought to my own needs. I’m going to Cannes to party up a scandal. There will be recklessness. Orgies with dissolute film stars.’

‘When?’ Augustus did not sound alarmed.

‘Soon.’ He didn’t look alarmed either, and he should have. ‘You don’t think I’ll do it. You think I’m a humourless prude who wouldn’t know fun times if they rained down on me. Well, they’re about to. I want the passion of a lover’s touch. I want a man to look at me with lust. Dammit, for once in my life I want to do something that pleases me!’ She’d had enough. ‘All those things I’ve been taught to place value on? My reputation, my sense of duty to king and country, my virginity? I’m getting rid of them.’

‘Okay, let’s not be hasty.’

‘Hasty?’ Princesses didn’t screech. Moriana dropped her voice an octave and gave it some gravel instead. ‘I could have had the stable boy when I was eighteen. He was beautiful, carefree and rode like a demon. At twenty-two I could have had a sheikh worth billions. He only had to look at me to make me melt. A year later I met a musician with hands I could only dream of. I would have gladly taken him to my bed but I didn’t. Would you like me to continue?’

‘Please don’t.’

‘Casimir’s not a virgin,’ she continued grimly. ‘He got a nineteen-year-old pregnant when he was twenty-three! You know what I was doing at twenty-three? Taking dancing lessons so that I could feel the touch of someone’s hand.’

‘I thought they were fencing lessons.’

‘Same thing. Maybe I wanted to feel a little prick.’ All these years she’d denied herself all manner of pleasures others took for granted. ‘I have waited. No romance, no lovers, no children for Moriana of Arun. Only duty. And for what? So that today I could wake up and be vilified in the press for being too cool, too stern and too focused on fundraising and furthering my education to have time for any man? I mean, no wonder Casimir of Byzenmaach went looking for someone else, right?’

Augustus winced. ‘No one’s saying that.’

‘Have you even read today’s newspapers?’

‘No one here is saying that,’ he amended.

‘What did I do wrong, Augustus? I was promised to an indifferent boy when I was eight years old. Now I’m getting a form letter marriage proposal from a playboy king whose dislike for me is legendary. And you say I should feel honoured?’ Her voice cracked. ‘Why do you sell me off so easily? Am I really that worthless?’

She straightened her shoulders, smoothed her hands over the skirt of her dress and made sure the hem sat in a straight stern line. She hated losing her composure, hated feeling needy and greedy and hard to love. She was wired to please others. Trained to it since birth.

But this...expecting her to fall all over herself to comply with Theo’s request... ‘Theo’s uncle is making waves again and questioning Theo’s fitness to rule. I do read the reports that come in.’ She read every last one of them. ‘I understand Liesendaach’s need for stability and a secure future and that we in Arun would rather deal with Theo than with his uncle. But I am not the solution to his need for a quickie marriage.’

‘Actually, you’re an excellent solution.’ Augustus was watching her carefully. ‘You’ve been looking forward to having a family for years. Theo needs an heir. You could be pregnant within a year.’

‘Don’t.’ Yes, she wanted children. She’d foolishly once thought she’d be married with several children by now.

‘You and Theo have goals that align. I’m merely stating the obvious.’

Moriana wrapped her arms around her waist and stared at the toes of her boots. The boots were a shade darker than the purple of her dress. The pearls around her neck matched the pearls in her ears. She was a picture-perfect princess who was falling apart inside. ‘Maybe I don’t want children any more. Maybe keeping royal children safe and happy and feeling loved is an impossible task.’

‘Our parents seemed to manage it well enough.’

‘Oh, really?’ She knew she should hold her tongue. She didn’t, and all her years of trying and failing to please people bubbled to the fore. ‘Do you think I feel loved? By whom?’ She choked on a laugh. ‘You, who would just as soon trade me into yet another loveless marriage in return for regional stability? Casimir, who never wanted me in the first place and was simply too gutless to say so? Theo, with his form letter marriage proposal and endless parade of mistresses? Do you really think I’ve basked in the glow of unconditional parental love and approval for the past twenty-eight years? Heaven help me, Augustus. What planet are you living on? Not one of you even remembers I exist unless I can do something for you.’

She felt stupid. Stupid for putting her life on hold for a decade and never once calling into question that childhood betrothal. She could have asked for a time frame from Casimir. She could have pressed for a solid commitment. She could have said no to many things and got over trying to please people who didn’t give a damn about her. She gestured towards Theo’s offending letter. ‘He doesn’t even pretend to offer love or attraction. Not even mild affection.’

‘Is that what you want?’

‘Yes! I want to be with someone who cares for me. Why is that so hard to understand?’

‘Maybe he does.’

‘What?’

‘Theo. Maybe he cares for you.’

‘You don’t seriously expect me to believe that.’ Moriana looked at him in amazement. ‘You do. Oh. You must think I’m really stupid.’

‘It’s a theory.’

‘Would you like me to disprove it for you?’ Because she had years and years of dealing with Theo to call on. ‘I can count on one hand the times I’ve felt that man’s support. The first was at our mother’s funeral when he caught me as I stumbled on the steps of the church. He made me sit before I fell. He brought me water and sat with me in silence and kept his hatred of women wearing black to himself. The second and final time he was supportive of me was at a regional water summit when a drunk delegate put his hand on my backside. Theo told him he’d break it if it wasn’t removed.’

‘I like it,’ said her brother with a faint smile.

‘You would.’

‘He knows where you are in a room full of people,’ Augustus said next. ‘He always knows. He can describe whatever it is you’re wearing.’

‘So he’s observant.’

‘It’s more than that.’

‘I disagree. Maybe he’s wanted me a time or two, I’ll give him that. But only for sport, and only because he couldn’t have me.’ She plucked the form letter from the desk and folded it so that the offending words were hidden. ‘No, Augustus. It’s a smart offer. Theo’s a smart man. I can see exactly what kind of political gain is in it for him. But there’s nothing in it for me. Nothing I want.’

‘I hear you,’ Augustus replied quietly.

‘Good.’ She sent her brother a tight smile. ‘Maybe I’ll send a form letter refusal. Dear Applicant, After careful consideration I regret to inform you that your proposal has been unsuccessful. Better luck next time.’

‘That would be inviting him to try again. This is Theo, remember?’

‘You’re right.’ Moriana reconsidered her words. ‘Better luck elsewhere?’

‘Yes.’ Her brother smiled but his eyes remained clouded with concern. ‘Moriana—’

‘Don’t,’ she snapped. ‘Don’t you try and guilt me into doing this.’

‘I’m not. You’re free to choose. Free to be. Free to discover who and what makes you happy.’

‘Good. Good chat. I should bare my soul to you more often.’

Augustus shuddered.

Moriana rounded her brother’s imposing desk and kissed the top of his head, mainly because she knew such a blatant display of affection would irritate him. ‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered. ‘I like what Theo’s doing for his country. I applaud the progress and stability he’s bringing to the region and I want it to continue. There’s plenty to admire about him these days, and if I thought he actually liked me or that there was any chance he could meet my needs I’d marry him and make the most of it. I don’t need to be swept off my feet. But this time I do want attention and affection and fidelity in return for my service. Love even, heaven forbid. And that’s not Theo’s wheelhouse.’

Augustus, reigning King of Arun and brother to Moriana the Red, watched as his sister turned on her boot heel and headed for the door.

‘Moriana.’ It was easier to talk to her retreating form than say it to her face. ‘I do love you, you know. I want you to be happy.’

Her step faltered, but she didn’t look back as she closed the door behind her.

Augustus, worst brother in the world, put his hands to his face and breathed deeply before reaching for the phone on his desk.

He didn’t know, he couldn’t be sure if Theo had stayed on the line or not, but still...the option to do so had been there.

Mistake.

He picked up the phone and listened for a moment but there was only silence. ‘You still there?’ he asked finally.

‘Yes.’

Damn. ‘I wish you hadn’t heard that.’

‘She’s magnificent.’ A thousand miles away, King Theodosius of Liesendaach let out a breath and ran a hand through his short-cropped hair. He had the fair hair and blue-grey eyes of his forefathers, the build of a warrior and no woman had ever refused him. Until now. He didn’t know whether to be insulted or to applaud. ‘The stable boy? Really?’

‘I wish I hadn’t heard that.’ Augustus sounded weary. ‘What the hell are you doing, sending her a form letter marriage proposal? I thought you wanted her co-operation.’

‘I do want her co-operation. I will confess, I wasn’t expecting quite that much no in response.’

‘You thought she’d fall all over the offer.’

‘I thought she’d at least consider it.’

‘She did.’ Augustus’s tone was dry—very dry. ‘When’s the petition for your removal from the throne being tabled?’

‘Week after next, assuming my uncle gets the support he needs. He’s close.’ The petition was based on a clause in Liesendaach’s constitution that enabled a monarch who had no intention of marrying and producing an heir to be removed from the throne. The clause hadn’t been enforced in over three hundred years.

‘You need a plan B,’ said Augustus.

‘I have a plan B. It involves talking to your sister in person.’

‘You heard her. She’s not interested.’

‘Stable boy,’ Theo grated. ‘Dissolute film star. Would you rather she took up with them?’

‘Why are you any more worthy? A damn form letter, Theo.’ Augustus appeared to be working up to a snit of his own. ‘Couldn’t you have at least shown up? I thought you cared for her. I honestly thought you cared for her more than you ever let on, otherwise I would have never encouraged this.’

‘I do care for her.’ She was everything a future queen of Liesendaach should be. Poised, competent, politically aware and beautiful. Very, very beautiful. He’d dragged his heels for years when it came to providing Liesendaach with a queen.

And now Moriana, Princess of Arun, was free.

Her anger at her current situation had nothing on Theo’s when he thought of how much time they’d wasted. ‘Your sister put herself on hold for a man who didn’t want her, and you—first as her brother, and then as her King—did nothing to either expedite or dissolve that commitment. All those years she spent sidelined and waiting. All her hard-won self-confidence dashed by polite indifference. Do you care for her? Has Casimir ever given a damn? Because from where I sit, neither of you could have cared for her any less. I may not love her the way she wants to be loved. Frankly, I don’t love anyone like that and never have. But at least I notice her existence.’

Silence from the King of Arun.

‘You miscalculated with the form letter,’ Augustus said finally.

‘So it would seem,’ Theo gritted out.

‘I advise you to let her cool down before you initiate any further contact.’

‘No. Why do you never let your sister run hot?’ Even as a child he’d hated seeing Moriana’s fiery spirit squashed beneath the weight of royal expectations. And, later, it was one of the reasons he fought with her so much. Not the only one—sexual frustration had also played its part. But when he and Moriana clashed, her fire stayed lit. He liked that.

‘I need to see her.’ Theo ran a hand through his already untidy hair. ‘I’m not asking you to speak with her on my behalf. I’ve already heard you do exactly that and, by the way, thanks for nothing. What kind of diplomat are you? Yes, I’m being pressured to marry and produce heirs. That’s not an argument I would have led with.’

‘I didn’t lead with it. I mentioned it in passing. I also sang your praises and pushed harder than I should have on your behalf. You’re welcome.’

‘I can give her what she wants. Affection, attention, even fidelity.’

Not love, but you couldn’t have everything.

‘That’s your assessment. It’s not hers.’

‘I need to speak with her.’

‘No,’ said Augustus. ‘You need to grovel.’

CHAPTER TWO

PUBLIC FLAYING OR NOT, Moriana’s charity commitments continued throughout the day and into the evening. She’d put together a charity antique art auction for the children’s hospital months ago and the event was due to start at six p.m. in one of the palace function rooms that had been set up for the occasion. The auctioneers had been in residence all day, setting up the display items. Palace staff were on duty to take care of the catering, security was in place and there was no more work to be done beyond turning up, giving a speech and subtly persuading some of the region’s wealthiest inhabitants to part with some of their excess money. Moriana was good at hosting such events. Her mother had taught her well.

Not that Moriana had ever managed to live up to those exacting standards when her mother was alive. It had taken years of dogged, determined practice to even reach her current level of competence.

The principality of Arun wasn’t the wealthiest principality in the region. That honour went to Byzenmaach, ruled by Casimir, her former intended. It also wasn’t the prettiest. Theo’s Liesendaach was far prettier, embellished by centuries of rulers who’d built civic buildings and public spaces beyond compare. No, Arun’s claim to fame lay in its healthcare and education systems, and this was due in no small measure to her ceaseless work in those areas, and her mother’s and grandmother’s attention before that. Rigidly repressed the women of the royal house of Arun might be but they knew how to champion the needs of their people.

Tonight would be an ordeal. The press had not been kind to her today and she’d tried to put that behind her and carry on as usual. The main problem being that no one else was carrying on as usual. Even Aury, her unflappable lady-in-waiting, had been casting anxious glances in Moriana’s direction all day.

Moriana’s favourite treat, lemon tart with a burnt sugar top, had been waiting for her at morning tea, courtesy of the palace kitchens. A vase full of fat pink peonies had been sitting on her sideboard by lunchtime. She’d caught one of her publicity aides mid-rant on the phone—he’d been threatening to revoke someone’s palace press pass if they ran a certain headline, and he’d flushed when he’d seen her but he’d kept right on making threats until he’d got his way.

There’d been a certain lack of newspapers in the palace this morning, which meant that Moriana had had to go online to read them.

She should have stayed away.

There was this game she and her lady-in-waiting often made out of the news of the day. While Aury styled Moriana’s hair for whatever function was on that evening, they’d shoot headlines back and forth. On a normal day it encouraged analysis and discussion.

On a normal day the headlines wouldn’t be proclaiming Moriana the most undesirable princess on the planet.

‘Too Cold to Wed,’ Moriana said as Aury reached for the pins that would secure Moriana’s braid into an elegant roll at the base of her head.

‘No,’ said Aury, pointing a stern hairbrush in the direction of Moriana’s reflection. ‘I’m not doing this today and neither are you. I stopped reading them so I wouldn’t choke on my breakfast, and you should have stopped reading them too.’

‘Jilted Ice Princess Contemplates Nunnery,’ Moriana continued.

‘I’m not coming with you to the nunnery. They don’t care what hair looks like there, the heathens,’ said Aury, pushing a hairpin into place. ‘Okay, no, I will give you a headline. Byzenmaach Mourns as the Curse Strikes Again.’

‘Curse?’ Moriana had missed that one. ‘What curse?’

‘Apparently you refused to marry King Casimir in an attempt to avoid the same fate as his mother. Namely, being physically, mentally and verbally abused by your husband for years before taking a lover, giving birth to your lover’s child, seeing both killed by your husband and then committing suicide.’

‘Ouch.’ Moriana caught her lady-in-waiting’s gaze in the mirror. ‘What paper was that?’

‘A regional one from Byzenmaach’s northern border. The Mountain Chronicle.’

‘Vultures.’ Never mind that she’d accidentally overheard her parents discussing a remarkably similar scenario involving Casimir’s parents. She’d never repeated the conversation to anyone but Augustus and she never would. ‘Casimir doesn’t deserve that one.’

‘Byzenmaach Monarch Faces Backlash over Secret Lover and Child,’ said Aury next.

‘That one I like. Serves him right. Do we have the run sheet for the auction tonight?’

‘It’s right here. And the guest list.’

Moriana scanned through the paperwork Aury handed her. ‘Augustus is attending now and bringing a guest? He didn’t say anything about it to me this morning.’

Not that she’d given him a chance to say anything much. Still.

‘Word came through from his office this afternoon. Also, Lord and Lady Curtis send their apologies. Their granddaughter had a baby this afternoon.’

‘Have we sent our congratulations?’

‘We have.’

‘Tell the auctioneer to put my reserve on the baby bear spoon set. They can have it as a gift.’ Arun might not be the wealthiest or the prettiest kingdom in the region but its people did not go unattended.

‘I put the silver gown out for tonight, along with your grandmother’s diamonds. I also took the liberty of laying out the blood-red gown you love but never wear and the pearl choker and earrings from the royal collection. The silver gown is a perfectly appropriate choice, don’t get me wrong, but I for one am hoping the Ice Princess might feel like making a statement tonight.’

‘And you think a red gown and a to-hell-with-you-all attitude will do this?’

‘It beats looking whipped.’

‘The red gown it is,’ Moriana murmured. The Ice Princess was overdue for a thaw. ‘Now all I need is a wholly inappropriate date to go with it.’ She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. ‘Actually, no. I’m not so merciless as to drag anyone else into this mess. I’ll go alone.’

‘You’ll not be alone for long,’ Aury predicted. ‘Opportunists will flock to you.’

‘It’s already started.’

‘Anyone you like?’

‘No.’ Moriana ignored the sudden image of a harshly hewn face and glittering grey eyes. ‘Well, Theo. Who I’ve never actually tried to like. It never seemed worth the effort.’

Aury stopped fussing with Moriana’s hair in favour of looking stunned. ‘Theodosius of Liesendaach is courting you now?’

‘I wouldn’t call it courting.’ Moriana thought back to the form letter and scowled. ‘Trust me, neither would anyone else.’

‘Yes, but really?’

‘Aury, your tongue is hanging out.’

‘Uh huh. Have you seen that man naked?’

‘Oh, yes. God bless the paparazzi. Everyone has seen that man naked.’

‘And what a treat it was.’

Okay, so he was well endowed. And reputedly very skilled in the bedroom. Women did not complain of him. Old lovers stayed disconcertingly friendly with him.

‘You’d take me to Liesendaach with you, right?’ asked Aury as she started in on Moriana’s hair again, securing the roll with pearl-tipped pins and leaving front sections of hair loose to be styled into soft curls. ‘I can start packing any time. Say the word. I am there for you. Of course, I am also here for you.’ Aury sighed heavily.

‘You should have pursued a career in drama,’ Moriana said. ‘Arun’s not so bad. A little austere at times. A little grey around the edges. And at the centre. But there’s beauty here too, if you know where to look.’

‘I know where to look.’ Aury sighed afresh. ‘And clearly so does Theodosius of Liesendaach. Be careful with that one.’

‘I can handle Theo.’

Aury looked uncommonly troubled, her dark eyes wary and her lips tilted towards a frown. ‘He strikes me as a man who gets what he wants. What if he decides he wants you?’

‘He doesn’t. Theo’s been reliably antagonistic towards me since childhood. And when he’s not prodding me with a pointy stick he’s totally indifferent to my presence. He’s just...going through the motions. Being a casual opportunist. If I turn him down he’ll go away.’

Aury sighed again and Moriana could feel a lecture coming on. Aury had several years on Moriana, not enough to make her a mother figure, but more than enough to fulfil the role of older, wiser sister. It was a role she took seriously.

‘My lady, as one woman to another... Okay, as one slightly more experienced woman to another...please don’t be taken in by Theodosius of Liesendaach’s apparent indifference to events and people that surround him. That man is like a hawk in a granary. He’s watching, he’s listening and he knows what he wants from any given situation. More to the point, he knows what everyone else wants from any given situation.’

‘He doesn’t know what I want.’

‘Want to bet?’ Aury sounded uncommonly serious. ‘Yes, he’s charming, he’s playful, he’s extremely good at acting as if he couldn’t care less. But what else do we know of him? Think about it. We know that for the first fifteen years of his life he never expected to be King. We know that for ten years after the death of his parents and brother he watched and waited his turn while his uncle bled Liesendaach dry as Regent. The young Crown Prince is indifferent to our plight, the people said. He’s bad blood, too busy pleasing himself to care about the rape of our country, they said. We can’t look to him to save us. He will not bring an end to this. That’s what his uncle thought. It’s what everyone thought. It’s what he wanted them to think.’

Aury reached for another pin. ‘Do you remember the day Theodosius of Liesendaach turned twenty-five and took the throne? I do. Because from that day forward he systematically destroyed his uncle and squashed every last parasite. He targeted their every weakness, he knew exactly where to strike, and he has fought relentlessly to bring his country back to prosperity. That’s not indifference. That’s patience, planning, ruthless execution and fortitude. He was never indifferent to his country’s plight. I don’t trust that man’s indifference one little bit.’

‘Point taken.’

‘I hope so.’ Aury finished with Moriana’s hair and pulled the make-up trolley closer. She rifled through the lipstick drawer and held up a blood-red semi-gloss for inspection. ‘What else are we thinking?’

‘I’m thinking smoky eyes and lipstick one shade lighter. It’s a charity auction, not a nightclub.’

‘Boring,’ said Aury.

‘Baby steps.’ Moriana had already chosen a dress she wasn’t entirely comfortable with.

Aury found a lighter shade of lipstick and held it up for inspection. ‘What about this one?’

‘Yes.’ Aury rarely steered her wrong. ‘And Aury?’

‘Yes, milady?’

‘I’ll be careful.’

* * *

Augustus was a deceitful, manipulative son of Satan, Moriana decided when he stepped into the auction room later that evening with his guest in tow. It wasn’t a woman. Oh, no. Her brother hadn’t done anything so lacklustre as bringing a suitable date with him to the event. Instead, he’d brought a neighbouring monarch along for the ride. Theo, to be more precise. He of the hawkish grace, immaculate dinner suit and form letter marriage proposal.

Theo and Augustus had been thick as thieves as children. They’d grown apart in their teens when Theo had flung himself headlong into reckless debauchery after the death of his family. Augustus had only followed him so far before their father, the then monarch of Arun, had reined him in. Theo had experienced no such constraints. Lately though...now that Theo bore the full brunt of the Liesendaach Crown... Moriana didn’t quite know what kind of relationship Theo and her brother had. They’d been working together on a regional water plan. They trusted each other’s judgement in such matters. They still didn’t socialise together.

Much.

That they were socialising now, the same day she’d refused Theo’s offer, spoke volumes for Augustus’s support of the man.

So much for blood being thicker than brotherhood.

She turned away fast when she caught her brother’s gaze because this betrayal, on top of Casimir’s rejection, on top of Theo’s demeaning form letter, almost brought her to her knees. So much for men and all their fine promises. You couldn’t trust any of them.

The chief press advisor for the palace appeared at her side, his eyes sharp but his smile in place. ‘Your Highness, you look pale. May I get you anything?’

‘How about a brand-new day?’ she suggested quietly. ‘This one’s rotten, from the core out.’

‘Tomorrow will be a better day,’ he said.

‘Promises.’ Her voice was light but her heart was heavy.

‘I promise we’re doing our best to shine the brightest light we can on everything you do for us, milady. The entire team is on it. No one dismisses our princess lightly. No one has earned that right.’

‘Thank you, Giles.’ She blinked back rapid tears and looked away. ‘I appreciate your support.’

And then two more people joined them. One was Theo and the other one was Augustus. Years of burying her feelings held her in good stead as she plastered a smile on her face and set about greeting them.

‘Your Majesties,’ she said, curtseying to them, and something of her hurt must have shown on her face as she rose because Augustus frowned and started to say something. Whatever it was, she didn’t want to hear it. ‘What a surprise.’

‘A pleasant one, I hope,’ said Theo as he took her gloved hand and lifted it to his lips.

‘Oh, we all live in hope,’ she offered. ‘I live in hope that one day the people I hold dear will have my back, but that day’s not here yet.’

‘Yes, it is; you just can’t see it,’ Theo countered. ‘I’m here, welcome or not, with the ulterior motive of being seen with you in public.’

‘Indeed, I can see the headlines now. Ice Princess Falls for Playboy King. Liesendaach Gives It a Week.’

‘Perhaps.’ Theo didn’t discount it. ‘Or I can give your publicity officer here a quote about how much respect I have for you as a person and as a representative of the royal family of Arun. I can mention that it’s no hardship whatsoever to continue to offer you my friendship, admiration and support. I can add that I’m not at all dismayed that you’re now free of your ridiculous childhood betrothal to the new King of Byzenmaach. And we can see how that goes down.’

The press advisor melted away with a nod in Theo’s direction. Theo and her brother stayed put.

‘Damage control, Moriana. Look it up,’ Theo said curtly.

‘Well, I guess you’d know all about that.’

‘I do.’ But he didn’t defend his wild past or the chaos he occasionally still stirred. He never did. Theodosius of Liesendaach didn’t answer to anyone.

A small—very tiny—part of her respected that.

‘So,’ she said. ‘Welcome to my annual Children’s Hospital Charity Auction. Have you seen the catalogue?’

‘I have not.’

‘I’ll have one sent over.’ She nodded towards some nearby display cases. ‘By all means, look around. You might see something you like.’

‘You won’t accompany me?’

‘No, I’m working.’ He’d dressed immaculately, as usual. No one wore a suit quite the way Theo did. He was broad-shouldered and slim-hipped. Tall enough to look down on almost everyone in the room. His cropped blond hair was nothing remarkable and his face was clean-shaven. It wasn’t a pretty face. A little too stern and altogether too craggy. Lips that knifed towards cruel when he was in a bad mood. His eyes were his best feature by far. She might as well give the devil his due. They were icy blue-grey and often coolly amused. They were amused now.

‘I have other duties to attend and people to greet,’ she continued bluntly. ‘How fortunate Augustus is here to take care of you. What a good friend.’

‘Indeed he is.’ Theo’s gaze had yet to leave hers. ‘I like it when you wear red. The colour suits you and so do the pearls. My compliments to your wardrobe mistress.’

‘I’ll be sure to let her know. I mean, it’s not as if I could ever be in charge of my own clothing choices, right? Who knows what I’d come up with?’ There was something different about Theo tonight. Something fierce and implacable and hungry. She bared her teeth right back at him. ‘Any other underhand compliments you’d like to shower me with before I take my leave?’

Augustus winced. ‘Moria—’

‘No!’ She cut him off. ‘You don’t get to diminish me either. All your fine talk this morning of supporting my decisions, of letting me be. I believed you. Yet here we are.’

‘Your brother’s not at fault,’ Theo said smoothly. ‘Moriana, we need to talk.’

‘About your proposal? My reply is in the mail, seeing as that’s your preferred method of communication. Seeing as you’re here, I dare say I can give you the highlights. I refuse. It’s not you, it’s me. Or maybe it is you and all those other women I’d have to live up to, I don’t know. Either way, my answer’s no. I am done listening to the two-faced, self-serving babble of kings. Now, if you’ll both excuse me.’

‘Go. Greet your guests. We can talk after you’re done here. I’ll wait,’ said Theo the Magnanimous. ‘I’m good at waiting.’

Moriana laughed. She couldn’t help it. ‘Theo, you may have waited for your crown but you’ve never waited on a woman in your life.’

She was close enough to see his jaw clench. Close enough to see hot temper flare in those eyes that ran more towards grey tonight than blue. ‘Oh, Princess. Always so wrong.’

It wasn’t easy to turn away from the challenge in his gaze but she did it, more mindful than ever of Aury’s warning. This wasn’t the boy she remembered from childhood or the teenager who’d poked and prodded at her until she’d snapped back. This was the man who’d watched and waited for ten long years before rising and taking his country back. This was the hawk in the granary.

And maybe, just maybe, she was the mouse.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, after personally greeting all the guests in attendance and seeing that they were well lubricated, Moriana looked for Theo again. Not that she had to look hard. She always knew where Theo was in a room, just as she always tracked where her security detail was, and where her brother was. It was an awareness that would have made a seasoned soldier proud and she’d been trained for it since birth.

Know your exits. Know where your support is. Know where your loved ones are at any given moment. Theo wasn’t a loved one but he’d always been included in that equation for he’d been a treasured child of royalty too. The last of his line and therefore important.

Casimir, her former intended, had also been the last of his line and she’d always tracked his whereabouts too, whenever they’d been at functions together. She’d misplaced Casimir on occasion—no one was perfect. She’d misplaced him on several occasions.

Many occasions.

Moving on.

Theo didn’t look up from the display he was browsing as she made her way to his side. He didn’t look up even as he began to speak. ‘You’re good at this,’ he said.

‘Thank you.’ She wanted to believe he could pay her a genuine compliment, not that he ever had before. ‘I’ve been hosting this particular fundraiser for the past seven years and I have it down to a fine art, pardon the pun. Collecting the auction items, curating the guest list, knowing what people want and what they’ll pay to have it. Knowing who else they might want to see socially. People say I have a knack for fundraising, as if I simply fling things together at the last minute and hope for the best, but I don’t. I put a lot of work into making sure these evenings flow like water and do what they’re meant to do.’

‘I don’t doubt it,’ he said, finally turning his gaze on her. ‘Hence the compliment.’ He tilted his head a fraction. ‘You’re an exceptional ambassador for your people and you’d have been an exceptional asset to Casimir as queen consort. It’s Byzenmaach’s loss.’

He wasn’t the first person to say that to her tonight and he probably wouldn’t be the last. ‘I doubt Casimir’s feeling any loss.’ She didn’t like how thready she sounded. As if she’d been stretched too thin for far too long.

‘He hurt you.’ Three simple words that cracked her wide open.

‘Don’t. Theo, please. Leave it alone. It’s done.’

She turned away, suddenly wanting to get away from the sedate auction room and the gossip and the expectations that came with being a Princess of Arun. Perfect composure, always. Unrivalled social graces. A memory trained to remember names and faces. She had a welcome speech to give in fifteen minutes. Who would give it if she walked out?

He stopped her before she’d taken a step. The subtle shift of his body and the force of his silent appraisal blocked her retreat. ‘You’re not coping,’ he said quietly. ‘Tell me what you need.’

She didn’t know why his softly spoken words hurt so much, but they did. ‘Damn you, Theo. Don’t do this to me. Don’t be attentive all of a sudden because you want something from me. Do what you usually do. Fight. Snarl. Be you. Give me something I know how to respond to.’

He stilled, his face a granite mask, and she had the sudden, inexplicable feeling she’d just dealt him a brutal blow. And then his gaze cut away from her face and he took a deep breath and when he looked at her again he wore a fierce and reckless smile she knew all too well. ‘I’ll fight you mentally, physically, whatever you need, until we both bleed,’ he promised, his voice a vicious caress. ‘Just as soon as you stop breaking in front of me. I know your family trained you to hide weakness better than this. It’s what you do. It’s all you do. So do it.’

Yes. This was what she needed from him, and to hell with why. No one said she was the most well-balanced princess in the universe.

Thread by thread she pulled herself together, drawing on the anger she sensed in him to bolster her own. Build a wall—any wall. Anger, righteous indignation, icy disdain, attention to duty, whatever it took to keep the volcano of feelings in check.

‘Have you seen the Vermeer?’ she asked finally, when she had herself mostly back under control. ‘I thought of you when it first came in. It would round out Liesendaach’s Dutch collection.’

He studied her for what felt like hours, before nodding, as if she’d do, and then held out his arm for her to claim. ‘All right, Princess. Persuade me.’

* * *

Moriana carved out the time to show Theo the most interesting pieces in the auction. She made her speech and the auction began. And by the end of the evening a great deal of money had been raised for the new children’s hospital wing and Theo had almost purchased the Vermeer for a truly staggering sum. In the end the painting had gone to a gallery and Moriana dearly hoped they needed a tax write-down soon because they clearly hadn’t done their sums. That or they really wanted to support the children’s hospital.

‘I thought you’d lost your mind,’ she said when only a handful of guests remained and he came to congratulate her on the evening’s success. ‘Not even you could justify that amount of money for a lesser Vermeer.’

‘But for you I tried.’

His smile reminded her of young boys and frog ponds and sultry, still evenings, back when Theo’s parents had still been alive. Augustus had always caught his frogs with quick efficiency and, once examined, had let them go. Theo, on the other hand, had revelled in the chase. He’d been far more interested in which way they jumped and where they might try to hide than in actually catching them. To this day, Moriana didn’t know what that said about either Theo or her brother.

‘Are you ready for that drink yet?’ he asked.

‘What drink?’

‘The one we’re going to have tonight, when you graciously reconsider my proposal.’

‘Oh, that drink. We’re not having that drink any time soon. You’re getting a form letter rejection in the post, remember?’

‘You wouldn’t.’

‘I did. You’ll receive it tomorrow, unless you’re still here. I assume Augustus has offered you palace hospitality?’

Theo inclined his head.

Of course. ‘Then perhaps you should find him. I’m about to retire for the evening.’

‘You said you’d give me five minutes of your time.’

‘I said nothing of the sort. And yet here I am. Giving you my time.’ If she’d worn a watch she’d have glanced at it.

‘I gave you a fight when you needed one earlier.’ Since when had his voice been able to lick at her like flames? ‘I didn’t want to, but I did. Here’s what I want in return. One kiss. Here or in private. Put your hands on me, just once. You have my permission. I’ll even keep mine to myself. And if you don’t like touching and kissing me I’ll withdraw my pursuit at once. Does that not sound fair and honest? Am I being unjust?’

Gone was the teasing menace of her childhood and the reckless philanderer of her youth. In their place stood a man in pursuit, confident and dangerous.

He’d been waiting for her when she’d finished her speech, approval in his eyes and a glass of champagne in hand that he handed to her. Faultlessly attentive. Silently supportive.

Tell me what you need.

A fight. A snarl. Barbed compliments. His attention. Something other than rejection to focus on.

‘One drink. One kiss,’ he murmured. ‘Do you need to collect a coat of some sort? Because I’m ready to leave.’

‘Why would I leave with you? Why would I indulge you in this?’

‘Because I have something you want. Several somethings.’

‘No, you don’t. If you had anything I wanted, I’d be giving your proposal all due consideration.’

‘Position.’ His eyes never left her face.

‘Yawn.’ She was Princess of Arun.

‘Passion. You’ve never felt it but you want it, nonetheless.’

‘Maybe.’ She was honest enough to concede his point. ‘But you’re not the only man to inspire passion in a woman. Plenty do. I can find passion without you.’

His eyes flashed silver.

‘Temper, temper,’ she said.

‘Commitment,’ he offered next.

‘We all exercise that. I’m already committed to various causes, not to mention my country and my family. Some would say I’m blindly overcommitted to many things and receive little in return, and they’re probably right. Commitment is overrated.’

His eyes never left her face. ‘Commitment to you.’

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