“And why did Ricardo never come for me?”
“With your father dead, there was no point going after you. Particularly not when you were protected by the royal family and Basilia. I heard, as well, that the king there paid him in political favors to leave you alone.”
Her father had kept Andrei safe. All this time. Even in death. Emerald was shocked.
“I did not expect to find you here,” he said, his voice rough.
“I have nowhere else to go.”
“Weren’t you all at risk?”
She shook her head. “Your father’s death released us all. This place always remained secret outside the scope of the village. He was afraid that would change. But it didn’t.”
“We could’ve simply stayed here.”
She shook her head. “No. You would’ve been trapped here for all your days. Your father never could’ve lived like that. You know he enjoyed…”
“Attention,” Andrei said.
“If you wish to call it that.” Rebecca’s focus turned to Emerald. “And who is the lady?”
“Princess Emerald. Of Basilia. She is pregnant with my child.”
Rebecca did not evince a very big reaction to the news. “Babies are good luck,” she said.
Emerald wanted to tell her that it very much depended on the circumstances surrounding the pregnancy, but she didn’t. She had a feeling that she did not want to be at odds with this woman.
The room they were standing in was a small, cozy kitchen, and the smells were enticing. This was the first time that Emerald had realized she was hungry. But it had now been several hours since her disastrous wedding, and she realized that she was still cold from being thrown into the sea, and now ravenous.
“Take the princess to your quarters. I will serve you both dinner soon.”
She had never seen Andrei take orders outside a security capacity with quite such acquiescence.
“Who is she?” Emerald asked when they were out of earshot.
“She was… Our cook. A nanny of sorts. Like a grandmother. Who worked for us.”
“You love her,” Emerald said.
It came out more of an accusation than she had intended it to be.
“I’m not entirely sure what love is.”
His words were a dagger straight to her heart. Andrei should know what love was. Because she’d loved him all this time.
Except you didn’t show it to him, because you couldn’t. So now it’s all broken.
The house was like something out of a storybook. The walls were gilded, with ornate wallpaper. The stairs had luxe, patterned carpet. There were gold details everywhere, not like the palace in Alabria. It was more quaint. But in an opulent way. He pushed open the door and revealed a bedroom that was fitting for a fantasy princess, rather than for her.
Her own room at the palace in Basilia was quite modern. The one in Alabria had felt like a relic, but this was something else besides.
In the room was an ornately carved fourposter bed, with flowing swathes of fabric cascading down each post. An elegant canopy stretched over the top.
“This is lovely.”
“I’m glad they fixed it to my specifications.” His dark gaze flickered toward the back. “You will find that you have clothing there. If you wish to dress for dinner.”
“Are you going to?”
