Page 10 of Falling for the King

‘Yes,’ the little girl replied shyly. A conversation followed with two top buns close together, one so fair that even on this icy overcast afternoon it shone bright, the other black with a plastic looking tiara pinned on front. In an excited high-pitched squeal, she told Katerina she was four, her name was Evie, she had a baby brother called Christopher, and that she loved kittens and Princess Katerina. The last was obvious from her look of total adoration, not to mention the K-shaped brooch pinned onto her cardigan.

Katerina had tried to include him in the conversation but Evie was having none of it. She was only interested in the princess. He’d been completely overlooked much to his amusement, yet judging by the shifting feet around him, that feeling was not shared. He shook his head at an official’s attempt to intervene, Katerina was handling this and he’d survive being ignored.

Finally, Evie handed over the flowers and then wrapped her arms around Katerina, pressing her face into her shoulder. Enveloping her into a hug Katerina closed her eyes and something shifted inside him. She was a natural with children, which he couldn’t say for himself. He liked them well enough just never had anything much to do with them. Katerina, in the early days of her relationship with Max, had gushed during interviews about how many children they’d have. Three if he remembered correctly, but there had been no pregnancies, and by their first wedding anniversary no talk of children or anything other than her charities and official duties. The media had had a field day, both the marriages of the king and his younger brother had been childless. Unease settled over him before Katerina, with her miniature glued to her side, rose and he banished all thoughts of heirs and spares out of his mind.

Xavier stood and met Katerina’s eye over the top of Evie’s head whose hand was clasped in hers.

‘I’m going to take her over to her mother, would you like to join us?’ Katerina asked.

‘Definitely.’

The three of them walked over to a dark-haired woman and after an embarrassing number of curtsies, a few photos and a tearful goodbye from Evie, he and Katerina moved along to the barriers holding back the crowd. Taking the lead he began the slow journey towards the waiting car, shaking hands, receiving condolences about his brother and heartfelt good wishes for himself. A sense of excitement permeated the air despite the chilly weather which he knew, in no small part, was because Katerina was accompanying him on her first visit to the region.

A security detail shadowed them both, as usual, yet he kept Katerina in his line of sight. He was responsible for her after all and insisted she join him and was keeping her as far away from Edgar as he could. That’s why he could spot her so easily, despite her diminutive height and the people on both sides of the barriers that surrounded her. The officials, reporters and the public all wanted a piece of her. The wind picked up, still she didn’t hurry past those who’d obviously waited hours. She stopped to chat, receive flowers, pose for photos, always with a smile and kind word. It was like she had all the time in the world, even though they both knew how packed their schedule was. Seasoned at this as he was, he slowed his pace giving her time to catch up as an elderly woman seated in a wheelchair and wrapped in a blanket reached for his hand.

‘I met you last time you were here. On your first tour as king, I still remember it like it was yesterday,’ she said, her grip surprisingly strong as he bent down to hear her.

‘You’ve got a very good memory, that was sixteen years ago.’ He’d crisscrossed the country over a three-month period, pushing himself to the brink of exhaustion as he tried to undo the harm caused by his father’s reign. He’d wanted to show that he wouldn’t be an invisible ruler, so caught up in his personal dramas that he neglected his duty, his people, his country.

‘I also remember when your father was born, when you were born. It doesn’t seem that long ago either.’

‘You don’t look old enough to remember such things.’

She laughed. ‘I’m more than old enough and I want to be alive when your son is born. Make an old lady happy, the country happy, have one soon.’

He heard the sudden intake of breath around him. It was a topic of conversation often brought up by the public when he’d been married, not at all after his wife had died, but now with Max gone it was only natural it would start again. The press, of course, had been fixated on it for years. What they didn’t know was his plan to be married by the end of this year and have a child by the end of the following one. None of which he would be revealing at this point in time. Last night, rather than go to bed he’d gone through the list of potential brides Frederick had put together and picked his top three. During the next month, tour or not, he was making arrangements to begin the personal vetting process.

He gave a non-comital answer, his stock standard response to any personal questions and steered the conversation to other subjects.

Although his focus remained on the old woman he knew the moment Katerina caught up to him. Standing up to his full height he turned towards her, towering over both of them.

‘Princess Katerina, let me introduce you to Mrs Bessette who has lived in this region her whole life, she also was kind enough to come see me last time I visited here.’

‘What a pleasure to meet you,’ Katerina replied shaking her hand.

‘You’re even more beautiful in person. And those eyes, we don’t see that colour in Maynet, ours are usually dark like mine and the king’s.’ Katerina kept smiling but Xavier saw a flash of colour run up her cheekbones. ‘I’d love a photo of you, I have a scrapbook full of the royal family.’ Mrs Bessette picked up the camera that’d been sitting in her lap, waving it in front of herself.

‘Of course.’ Katerina moved forward.

‘No. no. Not with me in it. A photo of you two young people together.’ Xavier inwardly cringed. Young? He didn’t feel young, especially not compared to Katerina who still radiated youthfulness, innocence, despite all that she’d been through, which he couldn’t remember ever possessing himself. ‘The king and the princess together, what a pair.’ He felt himself stiffen, years of training deserting him as her words hit. They weren’t a pair. Most definitely not a couple.

Katerina stood beside him, close enough that the wind wrapped her coat around his legs, entwining them in a way that although completely innocent, felt intimate, thrilling. And for one heart stopping moment, it was as if they were in fact a couple.

Stepping forward, he purposely shattered the illusion as cameras continued to flash from all angles and gave himself a soundless talking to. What had got into him? He was not prone to lapses into the ridiculous, especially not with countless lenses trained on him, and a suddenly silent Katerina next to him.

‘It’s been lovely to see you, thank you for staying out in this weather to talk to us,’ Xavier said.

‘It’s been worth the wait to see you both. And you’ll find another beautiful wife from Resleigh like you did before. You always do the right thing. Don’t worry, the next one will give you babies, lots of them, I’m sure of it.’

He caught Katerina’s look of surprise and for one unguarded second her troubled eyes met his, before she glanced away.

‘Thank you,’ Xavier replied keeping his voice steady despite the tightening of his throat at Katerina’s reaction and his own. After issuing instructions for Mrs Bessette to be transported home, he continued his journey to the waiting cars following Katerina. All the while aware this was only the first leg of a month-long tour and he needed to get his head together. Not something he ever had to remind himself of, but as soon the words had left the elderly woman’s mouth, it was an image of Katerina he had visualised not any of the ten women on his list. And that was never going to be an option. Ever.

Chapter 4

The car door closed and Katerina repressed the urge to lean her head against the leather upholstery, close her eyes and breathe a sigh of relief. That would be premature, this was far from over. She gave a final wave as the car moved out of the airport onto the highway leading into the city.

‘You’re freezing,’ Xavier said from beside her and instructed the driver to turn up the heating.