“Now you sound like my husband.”
I glance up from my palette. “Is that a compliment or a criticism?”
“An observation.” Her gaze drifts toward the window, toward the gardens beyond. “He’s always been the romantic one. I’m a pragmatist. It’s why we work.”
“Maybe Louis needs that too.”
She turns back to me. “He will eventually find it in Tatiana.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
“That’s not my concern. Love doesn’t protect a nation. Alliances do. Trade agreements do. Strategic marriages that unite powerful families do.” She sounds tired again, like she’s had this argument a thousand times, mostly with herself. “Many royals marry for duty, Miss Cross. Many learned to love their husbands after the vows were spoken. Louis will do the same.”
“Did you have to learn to love your husband?”
“No. I was fortunate.” She lifts one shoulder in a small shrug. “Louis will find contentment and respect from his wife. How long have you known one another? A month? Please, Addison. We both know that’s not long enough for him to change his entire life. Neither of you has ever had a long relationship. This is lust.”
“That’soffensive.”
I add more paint to the canvas as the silence lingers. She’s notwrong about duty and alliances and the weight of a crown. I understand that intellectually. But understanding something and accepting it are different, and I can’t accept a future where Louis spends the rest of his life with a woman who doesn’t fulfill him emotionally.
“You saw what she did to him, and you’re willing to ignore that,” I say.
The queen’s expression changes. “I saw a complicated situation.”
“Complicated? You’re downplaying what happened.” I keep my voice steady, even though my hands want to shake. “She climbed onto his lap without permission. She put her mouth on him without consent. He sat there frozen because he didn’t know what else to do, and when it was over, he filed a harassment complaint because he understood that what had happened to him was wrong.” I meet her eyes. “You dismissed his complaint. Now you’re asking him to marry the very woman who violated him. How is that protecting your son?”
“Tatiana made a mistake?—”
“Tatiana knew what she was doing. She had no idea I existed. She’s a liar, and only a fool would believe her.” My words are meant to cut.
“You couldn’t begin to understand the pressure she’s under,” the queen says, but her voice has lost some of its certainty. “Louis knew what his future held if he wasn’t married by thirty-five. We gave him one additional year. He took the gamble, and unfortunately, he lost. This must be done.”
“Things can change.”
“They don’t and won’t. Believe me when I say, you are not an option, Miss Cross. You deserve more than being a paramour.”
I can’t focus on painting and this conversation at the same time. “This isn’t about anything other than an alliance.”
The queen’s jaw tightens, and I watch the way her fingers press harder against each other in her lap. “You’re walking on very thin ice, Miss Cross.”
“I’m aware.” I hold her gaze without flinching. “But someone needs to be honest with you instead of allowing you to sit in your echo chamber full of yes men. What Tatiana did was wrong. Dismissing Louis’s complaint was wrong. Forcing him to marry her when he’s in love with meiswrong.”
“Oh, Addison. You believe Louis is in love with you?” Now her eyes look sad. “Sweetheart, all of his relationships have gone like this.”
“Then why haven’t they worked out?”
“Because he only dates women who are forbidden. The ones who he can never have. It’s the allure, like a fetish. Especially Americans. I believe you’re in love with him. But I don’t believe he’s in love with you.”
Her words are meant to sting.
“Okay,” I say, not concerned. “That’s your opinion, one that I disagree with.”
The queen stares at me, and I can see she expected that to hurt. She wanted to upset me, to make me question everything, to wonder if I’m another name on a list of women Louis has used to rebel against his parents. But I’ve spent enough time with him to know the difference between performance and truth. What we have is real.
“You’re very confident,” she says.
“His Highness told me he always gets what he wants.”
