Oof.Ares felt the words like a blow. He deserved that. He’d made her hate him. Good. She turned and was walking away, through the crowds to the discreet SUV parked at the kerb. And then she was getting inside and the door was closing and the security guy jumped into the front and the car was pulling away and disappearing into the traffic. And just like that…she was gone and at that moment the sun went behind a massive cloud.
London, two days later
Ares was watching the news, specifically a report from Sadat Sur Mer about Crown Princess Cassandra and how she’d appeared in public for the first time in days to allay the rumours and speculation that all was not well in the palace of Mansur de Roche.
She was greeting a crowd, wearing a simple but smart blue dress, colour-toned to match her shoes. Hair up and sleek. Oozing regal elegance. It made him think of her in that white silk dress she’d worn for dinner, in Spetses. How she’d said,‘I’ll never get to wear a dress like this at home.’
She was bending down now to greet a little girl who was shy. Cassie’s smile was so infectious that the little girl reached out to touch Cassie’s cheek and Cassie took her hand and spoke to her, making the girl giggle.
Ares didn’t even realise he’d put a hand to his chest to alleviate an ache. She would be an amazing mother. And queen. The people clearly adored her.
‘Ares…Ares…?’
Scowling at the interruption, Ares turned to find his assistant in the doorway. She looked at her watch. ‘Your flight to New York is ready and waiting at the airfield. The driver is downstairs.’
It was time to move on.
Sadat Sur Mer, The Palace
Cassie opened the button at the top of the blue dress she’d worn for the walkabout. She felt constricted. She wanted to strip naked and dive into cool blue waters. Already, it felt like a dream—her Greek odyssey—and she hated that it was fading.
At night she dreamt of it though, and him, and it was clear and vivid. She’d woken with tears on her cheeks this morning. Pathetic.
There was a knock on her office door and she scooped Zoe up into her arms. The dog licked Cassie’s face just as Pierre walked in and he couldn’t hide his delicate shudder of disapproval.
He had a file under his arm, and Cassie already knew what it was. The dreaded prospective husbands.
‘If these are the same as when I left I’m not interested. None of them were suitable.’
Pierre stopped in his tracks. Cassie knew she was different since she’d come back. Less meek and unsure. Less amenable. But in a fair and firm way. Less smiley. Pierre said, ‘No, these are new candidates.’ He sent her a glance, not sure how to deal with this version of the crown princess.
Cassie sat down and said, ‘You can leave it there. I’ll have a look later.’
‘But—’
She looked at Pierre and he stopped talking. ‘Thank you.’
He cleared his throat. ‘There’s just one more thing, Your Highness.’
‘Yes?’
‘The pre-coronation ball.’
‘Yes?’ The ball would be held the night before the coronation, and would be a chance to welcome all of the VIP guests who’d been invited from all over the world. It would be Cassie’s first properly formal event as almost queen. Her last as a crown princess. The eyes of the world would be on her. She instinctively covered her inner wrist where she’d had the tattoo done. So far she’d manaaged to keep it hidden from view. But Ares had been right, someone would inevitably notice it and her twin sister would no longer belong just to her.
Pierre was saying now, ‘We feel that the ball would be a good opportunity to also invite any possible future consorts…so if you should find someone suitable among the new suggestions, let me know and we’ll invite them.’
Cassie’s insides roiled nauseously at the thought of even looking at another man. She swallowed it down. She was a queen. She didn’t get to have much of a choice in this matter. ‘Fine, thank you, Pierre.’
When Pierre had left, Cassie put Zoe down on the floor and opened up the folder. This was her life now, she had to suck it up.
Much to her dismay, when she looked at the candidates there were at least three who she couldn’t find any reason not to consider. One of these men might one day soon become her husband. She battled the resurgence of the nausea and picked up the phone, saying to Pierre, ‘I have the names of three of the candidates. Are you ready?’
Pierre tripped over his words, he was so obviously ecstatic. ‘Yes, yes, please, Your Highness, I’m ready.’
She rattled off the names and put the phone down. There. Her fate was now all but sealed. Within two weeks she’d be Queen of Sadat and there would be a marriage announcement.
As much as Cassie was genuinely looking forward to taking her place among the kings and queens of Sadat on her coronation day, she felt acutely lonely at the thought of doing it alone.
