He opened the door for her as he said that, but he didn’t follow her in. She was so aware of him that as soon as she stepped through the doorway, she noticed he wasn’t at her side and glanced back.
“You’re not coming in?”
“I wasn’t invited.”
He smiled and she couldn’t even tell what it implied—tenderness, regret? She couldn’t tell! But then it occurred to her that he was probably just glad to finally have some time away from her. Annoyed with that thought, she said, “Good,” and closed the door on him.
But she had to take a deep breath before she approached her new family, to shake off the bad mood Christoph’s reticence had brought on. He was behaving as if they were strangers now, and she was afraid it was because her identity had been confirmed. Did he consider her so high above his station that he could no longer be himself with her? But this cold, stiff alternative was infuriating her so much, it was making her testy about everything.
Nikola, the current queen, didn’t wait for her to reach the private dining alcove she and Frederick were seated at. She rose and rushed across the room with arms open, a beautiful smile on her lovely face. She wrapped those arms about Alana with warmth and feeling.
“You cannot know the peace your presence gives me, the weight it takes from my shoulders, that I am no longer solely responsible for carrying on my husband’s line.” That was said in a whisper, before Nikola released her and added, “You and I, we are going to be best friends, if you will it.”
Alana grinned. She hadn’t expected to be made that welcome by her father’s wife, but she had no doubt the queen had just meant every word. A new friend. Yes, she felt that, too.
Her father, beaming, insisted they join him, and before he seated her, he handed Alana the miniature of her mother. She began to cry as she looked at it. No wonder he’d known she was his daughter the moment he saw her. The portrait could have been her in an old-fashioned gown, except with blond hair.
“Remarkable, isn’t it?” he said.
“Indeed.” Wiping her eyes, Alana laughed. “If Christoph had just taken me around to find some of the people who had known her, we probably would have met much sooner.”
“We were both convinced—”
“I know,” she quickly assured him. “It’s all right. At least he figured it out in the end.”
“He does deserve the credit, I agree.”
This wasn’t said with glowing praise, and she had the same feeling again that she’d had in the throne room, that her father was angry with Christoph for some reason. She started to ask why, but the door opened again with a new arrival. Apparently this wasn’t to be just a family dinner after all.
She hid her disappointment as she was introduced to Auberta Bruslan, and hid her shock, too, when it became apparent that her father and stepmother considered this Bruslan a dear friend! But she soon found out why. Who couldn’t like such a sweet old lady? And she wasn’t a blood Bruslan, she’d merely married into that family when Ernest Bruslan had made her his queen. Auberta even cried a little, she was so overcome with emotion, genuinely delighted with Alana’s reappearance, and so happy for Frederick to have his daughter back.
The dinner progressed pleasantly, but then Alana was surprised again when the talk turned to the recent attack on the palace that had been perpetrated by Auberta’s relatives! Apparently, most of her family was appalled by it.
“I’m so glad you were understanding today when Karsten spoke with you, Frederick,” Auberta said. “He was so outraged that his men took it upon themselves to avenge him before he even awoke to say who had accosted him.”
“I know Karsten had nothing to do with it,” Frederick assured her. “Those of his men we captured admitted he hadn’t even regained consciousness before they took matters into their own hands. I’ve asked him to come by to meet Alana tonight, if he’s feeling up to it.”
Karsten Bruslan arrived when dinner was almost over. Alana was mortified to see how bruised he was, knowing Poppie had done that to him and she had to keep that information to herself. Despite the bruises, he was still handsome and courtly as he bent over her hand to kiss it. But then his eyes widened, recognizing her from the festival.
“Oh, good Lord.” He laughed. “That barbarian idiot didn’t realize who you were?”
She stiffened over the insult to Christoph, saying immediately, “He was still unraveling the facts. Did you expect him to just take me at my word when others had come before me, claiming to be the princess?”
“Interesting, how quickly you defend him.”
She blushed and returned to her seat. But Karsten didn’t say anything else disparaging; in fact, he was quickly entertaining them with his wit and charm. The man was actually likable, she soon realized, as much as his grandmother was.
But before the evening ended, her father took her aside, hugged her, and confided happily, “I’m delighted to see you and Karsten have taken to each other so quickly. It has already been pointed out what a great political union it will be, if you two marry, but also and more importantly, this will unite our country once more, putting an end to the infighting that has nearly brought us to war again.”
Alana was speechless with shock. Marry her into the very family that had probably tried to kill her? She groaned inwardly. Did her father have to make it sound as if this was his fondest wish? It couldn’t have been worse timing, when right now she felt such a strong desire to please him no matter what. But how could she marry Karsten when she suspected she was already in love with her barbarian—oh, God, was she? Was that why she was so hurt and frustrated that Christoph appeared to want to distance himself from her even though he was forced to still protect her?
Chapter Forty-Seven
AS TIRED AS SHE’D been from such an emotional day, Alana stayed with her father much longer than she should have last night. But she kept putting off leaving because she was afraid Christoph was still out there waiting to escort her back to her room, and she didn’t want him to sense how disappointed she was that she couldn’t think of a way out of marrying a Bruslan without having an argument with her father about it, which was out of the question. Did Christoph know yet what her father was planning? No, of course not. He would have said something. She was sure he would at least have warned her, so it wouldn’t have been such a shock.
Her ploy to avoid seeing Christoph worked because he wasn’t there when she finally left. Two of her father’s guards had escorted her to her room instead.
She still didn’t get right to sleep last night with so much on her mind. Poppie had warned her that her father would pick her husband for her, but he hadn’t thought it would happen so soon, neither of them did. But oddly enough, that wasn’t what was keeping her awake.
