“She was loud and boisterous and took up so much space in the room and life, and he was quiet and insightful. Together they were an unstoppable pair. It would be impossible not to feel their loss. They were amazing parents. But as monarch and consort, there aren’t very many who can match their greatness. They passed on an incredible legacy to me and my sister.”
She peered up at him, carefully assessing him as she spoke. “This legacy thing really is important to you, isn’t it? You wanting an heir isn’t just an act of ego?”
He leaned down and ran his finger over the gold plate at the base of his mother’s statue. Sometimes, if he stared long enough at the statue at just the right angle, he swore he could almost see her form overlaid over the mold.
“Make no mistake, I do want a child. My desire aside, however, it really is my job. Securing the monarchy isn’t just about wanting to enjoy royal trappings. We come from a line of people who have dedicated their lives in service to this land and its people. Fulfilling all those duties in the best way I can is my sole focus as king.”
“Your people are lucky to have you.”
“No, I’m lucky to serve them.”
He took her hand and moved her further into the room, stopping to share interesting facts about his home and its history until they stopped in front of a large oil painting of a man with the same Mediterranean features Aléx bore and a darker-skinned woman with a large, tightly coiled Afro that stood as proud as the crown on her head.
“This is King Nikos. He was my fourth great-grandfather. The beautiful woman beside him is my fourth great-grandmother,Queen Nairobi, princess of Nyeusi, third daughter of King Amir of the House of Adebesi.”
He could see her doing the calculations in her head, watching the intense concentration on her face as her mind took in all the factors and came to the inevitable conclusion.
“You and Jasiri share an ancestor?”
“We share three, in fact.” When she opened her mouth to speak, he held up his hand. “All in different generations and different centuries. Queen Nairobi is our closest shared relative.”
“Was your family here when Nyeusi was formed? Were your people part of The Trade?”
A chill ran down his spine as she stared directly at him, silently demanding his answer.
By her use of “The Trade,” he knew she was referring to the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Nyeusi had become a nation when enslaved people from the 1741 New York Slave Conspiracy were wrongfully accused of sabotaging military bases and were sentenced to enslavement in the Caribbean or death in the colonies. Those brave souls overpowered their captors and were saved when they found themselves on an uninhabited island where they could live out the rest of their lives free.
“No, we weren’t.” His voice rang out strong in the room, echoing off the various monuments to his ancestors as if they were answering with him in unison.
“Some of those men who’d attempted to enslave Nyeusi’s ancestors washed up on our shores. Our people took them in, unaware of who they were. We offered them food and shelter until Obsidians realized they were slavers. When they finally revealed themselves to be in search of an alliance in their unholy cause, we took them back to Nyeusi and turned them over for justice at the hands of those they’d wronged. From that moment,Obsidian Island and Nyeusi have been allies. We still are, even if I think their king is an arrogant tool.”
“Hey, that’s your cousin and my brother-in-law. Don’t talk about him like that.”
“He is my very distant cousin, this is true. We grew up together. Our parents were very close, and we were too.”
“Were? Are you not close now?”
Aléx stepped closer to the painting of Queen Nairobi. With her uncompromising beauty and countenance, she made a fierce queen. Although they shared no blood, he could see the same qualities in Regina.
Refocusing on her question, he answered her. “Jasiri was raised very differently from me. His parents encouraged him going out into the world and experiencing life as a man and not an heir to a throne. It made him a bit wild and careless at times. I was raised to only focus on duty, to forget the self. Carelessness isn’t something I easily give in to.”
He wanted so badly to finish that sentence, to tell her of the one time he had been careless, and the consequences that unfolded as a result. Consequences he was still paying for to this day with a piece of his soul. Instead, he took the coward’s way out and let quietness fill the room as thoughts of Jasiri filled his mind.
They had been fast friends as children. Jasiri had always brought a lightheartedness to Aléx’s world he’d missed dearly when they began to grow apart.
You mean, when you distanced yourself from him, right?
That was the truth. He had pulled away once he’d learned that Jasiri would be allowed to live in America as a Nyeusian ambassador after he’d completed university. When Aléx had finished university, he’d been summoned home to take on more royal responsibilities so that when he ascended to the throne, hewould already be familiar with the process and the protocol of ruling.
Instead of being man enough to own his jealousy, he’d removed himself from Jasiri’s life until the two men rarely spoke. Aléx isolated himself until he was left with nothing but his work and his immediate family.
That same sort of pettiness had cost him everything that mattered to him. When his ex, Farah, had left him, he’d slowly pulled away from her too. If he’d just had the courage to step outside her rejection of him, things might have worked out very differently, and he wouldn’t have a blood debt marking his soul.
He would not make that same mistake with Regina. He would keep her close no matter what.
She slid her hand into his palm, and he sheltered it there. More and more he was finding he always wanted to shelter her. When he’d found her upset in her apartment, something ugly and possessive had churned inside him. His automatic response was to make sure she was okay and protect her from anyone who would dare hurt her, including her twin sister.
He’d question himself later about why that was. In this moment, like last night, he just wanted her to feel cared for, supported. From what little he’d gleaned about her relationship with her sister, he got the distinct impression that Regina’s needs and wants were never brought to the center.
