“I’m coming.” Without another word or even a cursory glance in my direction, the king leaves, and I blow out a relieved breath. I can’t tell what he knows, but he’s suspicious of me. That much is obvious.
After one last visual inspection, I head toward the front door of the palace through a long corridor and into the entry foyer, which is more like a historical art museum than a foyer. There’s a painting of the royal family with the previous queen in it. She’s holding a tiny baby Zayer, and the two girls are young.
Queen Nora is beautiful. Stunning really. Her girls are so much like her.
I don’t want to hate Nora.
I don’t want to look at this beautiful queen, who was so beloved in this country and to her family, and think ill of her. I don’t know what her relationship was like with the king, other than what Samil told me.
All I know is that Samil loved her. That their affair continued for years and years. That she’s the reason all of this happened. She betrayed the king. Isn’t that what the curse is based on? The betrayal of Messalina with her husband, Emperor Claudius? Maybe Nora started all of this again for them.
Bellamy mentioned that her love with Sebastian is what she hopes broke the curse. But what if there is no curse? What if it’s just the follies of humans, their betrayals, their jealousies, their love? Enormous tragedies have befallen this family. But does that make them different than anyone else? Being hateful or furious with dead people is futile. But I’m furious with my brother. Possibly even a little hateful too.
I turn my back on the painting and saunter out the frontdoor to where the ambulance is. Emily is being carted off the back on a gurney, annoyance all over her face and in her folded arms. That only grows as Bellamy comes racing over to her, fussing over every small detail.
“I’m fine, Bellamy. I’ve been up walking and everything. This is just a precaution and a bit overdramatic,” Emily says. “Honestly, all of this is ridiculous. They could have put me in a wheelchair.”
“Let us take care of you,” Bellamy admonishes. “You take care of everybody. We want to return the favor.”
Emily sighs, finally giving in.
Javier snickers. “Naturally, you relent for the queen.”
“I like her more than I like you.”
“You must,” he teases, an indulgent gleam in his eye. “She gave the nurses and doctors hell.”
It makes all of us laugh.
“I did not. I simply don’t like being fussed over. Ah, Marcella. Perfect. Just the person I was hoping to see. You’ll talk work with me, won’t you? Your texts have been vague and simply telling me what I want to hear. Don’t think I wasn’t on to you.”
“You needed your rest with no aggravation or work on your mind,” I reply.
She rolls her eyes as the paramedics wheel her along the gravel path. “Except I’m home now.”
“And you still have to focus on your recovery.”
“Has it been that bad?”
I laugh lightly. “Not at all. Honestly, other than a few small hiccups and a couple of situations, everything has been fine. I promise, once you get settled, I’ll tell you everything. But just as the family needs you to take care of yourself, your staff does too. We need you to return to your job.”
So I can take this as my résumé builder with a nice recommendation and leave.
“Okay, fine,” she relents, allowing the ambulance drivers to push her in on the gurney until she reaches the front doors. “Please, please, let me switch to a wheelchair. I don’t like being on this thing.”
No one can say no to her, and a wheelchair is brought around. They help her down into it. Her movements are rigid and her body is stiff. Every time she winces, Bellamy, whose hands are clenched in tight balls in front of her mouth, does too. I suspect being in pain is relatively normal after having a hip replacement.
She’s wheeled down the hall to her room, and we all follow her in there. Javier does a brief sweep of everything, and Emily starts to tear up. “I can’t believe you did all this for me.”
“I would have created a hospital in here if you had needed it,” Sebastian tells her plainly. “Rowan wanted to, and he’s also planning several improvements to the palace we’ll tell you about.”
The way Rowan takes care of his people tickles my heart and heats my cheeks. It’s one of the things I love about him. Last night he took care of me. He carried me in from the storm and held me, and after we had sex, he washed and dressed me, then held me. It was the best night’s sleep I think I’ve ever had.
But if it’s love that drove Samil to madness, I’m not sure that’s something I’d like to explore. His blood runs through my veins, and I’m already in way over my head with a man I have no future with. I’m bad for him. Poison for his family.
I’m the villain in the latest page of their saga.
For that reason, more than anything else, I say, “I’ll let you get settled. I’ll be back later to talk.”
