“It’s not your fault,” Falkor reassured her.
“You ought to listen to your wife,” the queen said coldly, sending a chill down his spine. “Show the other one.”
“This aired this morning.” The king activated another holovid.
Chapter Fourteen
Wasn’t the queen the kinder, gentler monarch? This cold woman with the icy glare was not the maternal sort her sister had described or the generous woman who’d sent her on a vacation. It took every ounce of bravado to stand tall and not curl into a protective ball.It’s like they blame me for the exposé.
She did feel partly,indirectlyresponsible. If she hadn’t entered the picture, there wouldn’t have been strife between the two men, and the scandal wouldn’t have occurred. Butshehadn’t gone to KCN. And Falkor had founded Kaldoronics long before he met her.
As the air over the holodeck shimmered, her husband reached out and took her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.We’ll get through this together,he seemed to say. She flashed a small, grateful smile.
Light flickered over the holodeck, and the now-familiar mystery woman from the café materialized again. If she’d gotten a better look in the eatery, she would have been able to place her sooner.
Bynti sat at a desk in the KCN studio. “In this exclusive report, Kaldor Celebrity News has learned thatkarmais about to bite the Prince of Scandal in the backside,” she reported in a gleeful tone. “Reliable sources say His Highness’ hasty, hush-hush marriage is teetering on the rocks. His new wife, Karma Kennedy of Earth, has been having an affair with the prince’s secret business partner, Soton!”
Shocked into speechlessness, she gaped. “That’s not true!” she finally burst out, her gaze darting from Falkor to his parents.
He squeezed her hand. “Turn it off!”
The holocam pulled back to show Soton seated next to Bynti. “Is it true that you and the prince’s wife have been seeing each other?” she asked him.
“Not for long, but yes, that’s true.”
The liar! Oh, Goddess.
“How did you meet?”
He shrugged sheepishly. “The prince introduced us. But as soon as Karma and I laid eyes on each other, we recognized we had something special, that this kind of mutual chemistry doesn’t happen very often. When she contacted me and asked me to meet her, I was reluctant.”
Contacted him?
“Prince Falkor is a very dear friend, but she assured me their marriage is over for her. Karma and I haven’t been together long, but our relationship has been pretty…intense, if you catch my drift.” For an instant, his expression shifted from sheepish to smug.
If the queen’s face got any harder, it would shatter. The king appeared ready to explode. Karma felt the blood drain from her face and dizziness envelope her.Don’t pass out. Don’t pass out.Oh, Goddess, this is bad.Falkor gripped her hand so tight, her fingers went numb.
“He’s lying!” Her voice came out a hoarse whisper.
The scene shifted to the hall in the café—where she stood, back to the wall as Soton leaned in, in an intimate, almost-sexual clinch.Oh, Goddess. I’m going to throw up.Her palms were on Soton’s chest, and she lifted her face as if to kiss him.
No! She’d been warding him off, trying to reclaim her personal space.
“You’re beautiful when you smile,” Soton intoned. “You and I have some…unfinished business.” Watching it like this, she could hear the suggestiveness in his tone.
“Our marriage was a huge mistake. I don’t love Falkor. I married him to stay on Kaldor.”
Her voice.Nother words. Using her image, replicating her voice, Bynti and Soton had fabricated an entire holovid.
Falkor threw her hand away as if burned.
“We’re done. I’m going to tell him the marriage is over.”
“I never said that!” she cried. She grabbed Falkor’s sleeve, but he jerked away.This can’t be happening. He has to believe me.
“I don’t want to hurt Falkor,” Soton was saying.
“Better a little hurt now—than a bigger hurt later,” her voice said. On the holovid, they were still in a passionate-appearing clinch in the hall.
