It wasn’t as if he had any other children available to take on the title.
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t my favorite Assistant Keeper.”
The warm, friendly voice pulled Odessa from her thoughts as she closed the lion enclosure behind her, wiping the remnants of drool from her hands. The pair of cubs had been particularly playful, having found their second wind after the arrival of their dinner, and they had insisted on using her as one of their toys.
She couldn’t have said no to their big, brown eyes, even if she wanted to.
Odessa looked up and smiled at the dark-haired figure standing in the middle of the gravel path. Prince Dmitri’s hands were clasped behind him, as they always seemed to be when he wandered the menagerie at night, and his brown eyes looked even darker than normal. “If it isn’t my only prince.”
He placed a hand over his heart, as if wounded. The silver buttons on his dark shirt twinkled as they shifted and caught the moonlight. “But not your favorite?”
“It’s hard to say without another prince around to compare. What if I just don’t know what I’m missing?” She peered down the path the way she had come, searching the shadows for Katrin. As if on cue, the silver doe stepped out from under the low branches of a nearby tree. She approached shyly.
“You certainly know how to make a man feel important.” Though the words were critical, there was no real malice in them as Dmitri shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels. Behind him, the waters of the distant lake shimmered in the moonlight.
Odessa winked. “I have to make sure that your head doesn’t get too big for your crown.” Katrin sidled up to her, and she threw an arm over the deer’s withers and leaned into her.
The prince pressed his lips together in an exaggerated pout and sighed. “I have to ask...”
“Do you?” She tilted her head and lifted her eyebrows pointedly. “Do you really have to ask? Or is this a question that it would be better not to?”
Dmitri moved forward a step, extending a hand to stroke the top of Katrin’s nose, and Odessa could feel the deer’s muscles tense under her arm. “Is your lack of manners a result of being cooped up with the animals all day, or do they sequester you with the animals because of your lack of manners?”
Her jaw dropped in astonishment, though she mentally granted him a point for that round. “Rude. Just because I’m not fawning over you like the rest of the ladies seem to do nowadays does not mean that I have no manners. In fact, one could argue that I havebettermanners because I’m not lying to you.”
“They’re not lying.” He dropped his hand and stubbornly crossed his arms.
“They treat you as if you hung the stars in the sky, Dimi. They’re lying at least a little bit.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I’ve known you since before either of us could walk. I’m pretty sure the stars were there before you were,” she drawled.
His shoulders drooped and he exhaled a long sigh. “I meant about them not being sincere.”
Odessa was suddenly filled with compassion for her childhood friend. “I may be sequestered with the animals, but I’m not blind. They’re completely different people when you’re not around to impress.”
He was quiet for a long moment, then, in a rush, the words spilled out. “Mother wants me to get married.”
She lifted a brow. “I don’t know why this surprises you. She’s been talking about it for the last three or four years.”
“It’s not the idea that’s new, it’s the fact that she wants me to find a suitable candidate by the end of the summer.”
Odessa blinked. “Why the rush?”
“It’s the age-old story: my continued bachelorhood is concerning to the people, who want to be assured that the line of succession is secure.” Dmitri blew out a long breath. “Though why that should bother them, I’m not sure. They can always just choose a new king. The crown will fit anyone with a round head.”
“I’m pretty certain it’s not the fit of the crown that’s the concern, but rather the economic, societal, and political upheaval that would result as a loss of the current power structure. What?” she added defensively as Dmitri’s jaw dropped in speechless amazement.
“I just didn’t realize you were suddenly an expert on politics.”
“I’m hardly an expert. I just pay attention to things—like the fact that it shouldn’t be too hard of a challenge to find a wife,because you have women figuratively throwing themselves at you.”
He deflated even more. “I don’t want them to marry me just because I’m a prince. I know it sounds silly, Dessa, but…I wanted something like my parents had.”
“Weren’t they an arranged marriage?”
“Yes.” He rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. “But it was arranged because they were in love, and their parents recognized the advantages of such an alliance. I had always hoped for the same, though I realize now it was probably foolish.”
