He was kind, too. There wasn’t a greedy bone in this man’s body. We both knew he’d spend thousands of gold on this, at the very least. He didn’t seem to care.
“I know of a possibility.”
“Oh? Which one?”
“Sea Cross Hospital.”
His expression lit up. “Ah, yes, the one between the wharf and the market district. Good call. It’s a nice, central place. Everyone knows where that hospital is.”
I made a note. “Upon our return, I’ll send word to the hospital director of your wish for a meeting.”
“Thank you. You know, it occurs to me, you’re the only person at the table who didn’t request something. Isn’t there anything you want for your future country, Edwin?”
He seemed to expect something from me. In truth, every suggestion I had for improving the country, someone else had already pointed out. I had nothing else to suggest, except…well, I was curious. Every time I thought I had Prince James’s measure, he did something else surprising. He was a far more complex man than the shallow humans I’d spent the better part of my life serving.
“I want to know something.”
He made a go-ahead motion with his fingers.
“What doyouwant?”
Prince James looked surprised. “What do I want? Huh. Do you know, I think you’re the first person to ask me that.”
He seemed a bit caught out, not sure how to answer me. I waited, needing this answer. To understand him better, if nothing else.
“I want peace,” he said slowly, framing his answer one word at a time. “I want to live a safe, peaceful life. I want to marry the man I love beyond measure, perhaps adopt a few children to raise as my own, and retire in a villa knowing I have done my very best in this life.”
How eloquently pure. Didn’t we all wish for that? A peaceful life, surrounded by people we loved. My own heart echoed his wish, and for a moment, I didn’t see him as Prince James. I saw him as James, the man. I’d thought him a bit weird since our first meeting, but he wasn’t. Well, all right, still a little weird, but agoodweird. Frankly, he was the kind of weird this world needed the most.
“What do you want, Edwin?”
His eyes were warm with affection, which seemed strange to me. He liked me this much already, after only two weeks? Still, I could feel his sincerity emanating from him. He had a horrible habit of flirting as a way of communicating, which gave me ideas I shouldn’t have, as there was definitely no future between me and a prince. Still, I believed him to be a good person and truly interested in what I had to say. It pried open my mouth as nothing else would have.
“A simple life with a man who loves me at my side is all I really want as well. It’s such a simplistic wish, but for some reason seems very hard to manage.”
Prince James groaned, head dropping heavily forward for a moment. “Truth. Oh gods, the truth of that just pierced my soul. Why is it so hard? I’m not asking for the moon and stars. It shouldn’t be this hard.”
“It just got harder for you, now that you’re a prince.” Why the hell did that teasing line just pop out of my mouth? Mouth, for shame, you know better.
Prince James didn’t take the least bit offense. He groaned again, this time looking pitiful. “You’re right. Well, hopefully you’re wrong. I put that clause in my adoption paperwork for a reason, you know. No political marriages for me.”
My eyes narrowed, speculation whirring inside my mind. “You told Queen Beatrice it was to quiet the naysayers. To make it clear you couldn’t marry Princess Helena.”
“I told her that because I knew she’d not argue the point. That had nothing to do with why I put the clause in there.” A hint of mischief sparkled in his eyes. “I can lie when the occasion demands it.”
This actually relieved me, because politically speaking, we’d all be doomed otherwise.
“So you put the clause in there just to avoid political marriages?”
“Ninety percent of the reason. Other ten percent because my queenly mother might like matchmaking, but it’s quite obvious she sucks at it.”
A startled laugh erupted from my mouth before I could cage it. Mouth, seriously, behave before you get us in trouble! What was it about this man that made me lose control of myself? He was far too good at lowering my guard.
Prince James grinned back at me. “You’ve seen it yourself, of course. That disastrous almost-engagement for Royce is a good example. The rather horribly mismatched pairing of Helena and Lord Gillespie cements it. She’s not good at it. She can’t seem to learn from her mistakes, either.”
“We actually all feel very bad for Princess Helena,” I admitted without qualm. Clearly Prince James wouldn’t scold me forhaving an opinion. “She’s obviously trying to put a good face on but he’s just so…”
“Lacking, I think, is the most generous term we can describe him with. I don’t think the man’s even capable of tying his shoelaces.”
