Her cheeks were glowing, her green eyes luminous.“I felt like a conquest of war.”
He lowered his forehead to hers.“I’m sorry.I rather lost my head.”
She shivered, and he held her tighter, her bare breasts teasing his chest.“I wasn’t thinking clearly, either.”
His leg moved atop her hip.“We could stay here.Scandalize all of them by remaining in bed.”He kissed her mouth.“Then you’d have to marry me.”
She looked away, her face disconsolate.“Michael, be serious.This is your future.It’s where you belong, and you need to choose a wife who can endure a life such as this.”
He didn’t like the tone in her voice.“And that wife isn’t you?”
She didn’t answer, and he let her pull away from him.With only a sheet covering her, she looked fragile and uncertain.His frustration deepened, for he couldn’t understand why she was so reluctant to become a princess.
He ran his hand over the curve of her body, down to her bottom.“I’m not a man who begs, Hannah.Either become my wife or don’t.It’s your choice.”
Without another word, he dressed and left her bedchamber.
“You have not done as I asked,” the voice said.“The lieutenant must not be allowed to take the throne.I want him removed.”
“I am so sorry, my—”
“Apologies are unacceptable.Either dispose of him or you will not like the consequences.You have a wife of your own, I believe.”
“She is innocent,” the servant insisted.“Please, I beg of you.Don’t bring her into this.”
“You will not presume to tell me what to do.Take care of the lieutenant and use any means necessary.Even Lady Hannah, if need be.Is that understood?”
“It is.”
“Good.The king must not recognize Michael Thorpe as his son.”
The servant bowed.“I will see to it.”
It took all his restraint to allow another man to dress him.Michael stood while the valet helped him out of his afternoon attire and into the formal black cloth coat and white cravat.The Graf had arranged for his belongings to be sent to the Schloss, along with the clothing Hannah had ordered from the tailor.
When he saw the reddened skin on Michael’s arm where the bullet had grazed it, the valet asked, “Do you require a new bandage, my lord?”
“It’s all right.”The minor wound had healed enough that he could put it from his mind.The neck abrasions could be hidden with his cravat.He preferred it this way.It was easier to blend in with the nobles, not drawing attention to himself.
He was going to face a battle of a different sort this evening, though he’d prefer not to do so in public.Tonight would be a test, and he suspected that his half-brother, Fürst Karl, would be in attendance.
But not the king.
Michael tensed at the thought of his earlier audience.It had been brief, for the frail ruler was hardly able to receive guests.When the Graf had whispered to him about Michael, the aging monarch had tried to sit up.With long gray hair and a short beard and mustache, his father appeared far older than he was.But the king’s eyes had held intelligence and curiosity.
An unexpected memory had flashed through Michael.Of apples, strangely enough.Without asking permission to leave the king’s side, Michael had walked toward a bowl of fruit in the corner, retrieving a single apple.
Holding it before the king, he said, “You used to peel these for me.With a jeweled dagger.”
He kept speaking, not knowing if what he was saying made any sense at all.“I used to sit on your lap and you would try to peel the entire fruit in one long piece.You promised that one day you would give me the dagger.”
The king’s expression paled at the story.And then Michael had shown him the scar.
“She was right,” the king whispered, before his eyes closed.“Tell the queen...she was right.”The monarch gripped the sheets, and the palace physicians surrounded him, making conversation impossible.
It bothered him, to have caused the older man further distress.Yet, there was nothing to be done about it.Michael now understood why the Graf had been so insistent on bringing him to Lohenberg with all haste.It was doubtful that the king would live much longer.
A few minutes later, Graf von Reischor arrived at his door.Escorted by two servants, they pushed him forward in the wheeled chair.
