“None are as handsome as you.”
“Most women marry for wealth, land, or standing. You aren’t in a position to do otherwise. And all of the men who have offered for you have had at least two of the three in whatever order, or they wouldn’t have had the nerve to approach you in the first place. Would you like me to help you pick one out? I would be happy to if it would mean I won’t have to suffer any more of these visits.”
She’d actually tried to appear hurt when she’d said, “Now you are being cruel, when you know I love you.”
“You don’t feel anything of the sort. You just don’t want to settle for two out of three of the criteria demanded of your family. But I warn you, ten years from now, you will not blame me if you are still unmarried and your offers have dried up. Or must I marry someone else to prove to you that I will never marry you?”
“You wouldn’t!”
“Go home, Nadia.”
She wouldn’t have such confidence that she could change his mind if she hadn’t been told that their families had talked the year she was born about how the two would make the perfect match and should be betrothed. But the Lubinian civil war had ended all such talk, leaving him to make his own decision about a wife. It wouldn’t be Nadia. Her family hadn’t been returned to favor since the war and might never be, considering their ties to the old regime. They had been part of the pack who had encouraged the old king to make such bad decisions that his people finally revolted.
Christoph’s family had also been loyal to the crown, though they had argued against the measures King Ernest had favored that had nearly destroyed their country. Which was why the Beckers had been restored to favor. And why he felt he must do even more to keep it that way.
But Nadia knew how close she had come to being betrothed to Christoph, and she refused to accept that it couldn’t still happen. When they were growing up, he’d even wished it as well because she was turning out to be so beautiful, blond with brown eyes and unblemished skin only slightly darker than his from her Eastern ancestors.
Yes, he had begun to think they might still marry one day. Until he mentioned it to his father and found out why it was no longer a desirable match for him. That knowledge, and seeing how much it still concerned his father, had influenced him to dedicate himself to earning the king’s absolute trust. But then by the time he’d left home, he’d already begun to dislike Nadia’s irritating petulance, which had grown worse as she got older. At sixteen, it quite overshadowed her beauty, making him heartily glad of the political obstacles that had kept him from being tempted by her. Now, he didn’t even like her anymore, she’d become so obnoxious.
“I’m growing tired of waiting for you to change your mind, you know,” she said peevishly now.
“Stop waiting.”
“I’m twenty-two years old this month! Who else from the noble houses will have you and forgive you for taking this commoner’s job? Who else is as well suited to you as I am? It’s not as if there are that many noble houses for you to choose from, Christoph.”
He grit his teeth, his annoyance rising. “Who says I have to marry a Lubinian? Or marry at all, for that matter?”
She gasped. “Why must you be so stubborn!”
He swung around so she could see he’d reached the limit of his tolerance. “We enjoyed our childhood together. As neighbors, we were friends, but that’s all we ever were. And you tarnish even those memories with this persistent campaign that is utterly useless.”
Nadia’s young maid tried to make herself invisible in the corner. Once he wouldn’t have noticed her any more than Nadia did, but because of his work he’d had to train himself to be more observant.
“It’s not useless. If you hadn’t moved here before I even came of age, you know our friendship would have progressed to marriage. Come home now, Christoph. You’ll see. Your family has regained all their lands and titles. What more do you need to prove by staying in the capital?”
She was never going to understand because she didn’t really care. Her family had lost most of their lands, but they still had their wealth. So she had been raised just as she would have been if they hadn’t lost their titles as well.
But he wasn’t going to jeopardize the favor he had dedicated himself to earning for his family by aligning himself with the Braunes, who were still in disgrace. And he didn’t doubt that had more than just a little to do with Nadia’s persistence, encouraged, maybe even directed, by her father. Her family had married before to better their standing, and she was the only one left who could do so again.
He had mentioned this thought to her once before, remarking, “I am already redeeming my family’s honor, don’t expect me to redeem yours as well.”
She hadn’t denied or admitted it, but she had grasped the opportunity to insult him again instead with her scathing reply: “But you do it so humbly.”
A fiasco had ignited the Lubinian civil war, which had changed all their lives, and so unnecessarily. There had been another option, the same one that other small countries and duchies had chosen when Napoléon had demanded money or troops to support his wars on the Continent.
Lubinia should have sent money. They had never maintained an army. It had been ridiculous to create one. But the nobles hadn’t wanted to give up their own money to support the Frenchman who wanted all of Europe under his control. And Nadia’s father’s voice had been one of the loudest in support of sending troops. Nor were the Braunes the only once-noble family still trying to gain forgiveness for that decision. But how do you forgive the kind of stupidity that had nearly toppled a kingdom?
She was still standing there mulishly, refusing to give up. To hell with respect for the past, Christoph decided. They weren’t children anymore, and she’d earned his contempt long ago.
“It’s a shame you don’t listen. I know I’ve made it clear I don’t want you. So must I be even more blunt? So be it. We will never marry, you and I, because I would kill you within a month—or cut out your tongue. One or the other would be inevitable. Now get out.”
She actually just glared at him. Even that she didn’t believe? His patience snapped. He took a step toward her to throw her out, but he was arrested in midstride by the sudden triumphant gleam in her eyes. She wanted him to angrily put his hands on her? Of course she did. She thought it would lead right to his bed, so she could then run home to her father with the tale, her version of it, and the Braunes would then demand marriage as a consequence. Fools, the lot of them. Did they really think he could be led about that way?
Christoph marched out the door instead and sent two guards to escort Nadia out of the palace. She wouldn’t argue with them. They were beneath her notice. Instead she would pretend it was her own idea to leave.
Chapter Eleven
ALANA WAS SHOWN TO a big anteroom in the palace that was furnished with only a few uncomfortable-looking chairs. No one was sitting in those chairs and she didn’t sit either. She was still too nervous to relax, almost sick to her stomach with it. She would be meeting her father, the king of Lubinia, today. Alana knew that the king would be shocked and overjoyed when he learned that she was still alive and he had a legitimate heir after all. She hoped she would be able to keep her distance from him emotionally, so she could return to London without any regrets as soon as the rebellion here was quelled. But what if she and her father were both overcome with familial feelings and instantly took to each other? That would be wonderful—as long as he didn’t expect her to stay in this rather backward mountain kingdom.
