Page 51 of Heavy Crown

My mother drops the necklace into the box and snaps it closed. “There is no divorce. Are you certain you don’t want a more active role in this decision?” She searches my face, and her brown eyes are hard with annoyance.

“The three I’m about to name are tolerable to me.” I shrug. “Like any arranged marriage, we’ll have to come to know each other during our marriage.”

“I would think you’d spend time together prior to getting married,” my mother says in exasperation.

“Why? What if spending time with her causes me to change my mind? What then? If we’re married, I’m forced to make it work. If we’re simply engaged, I might decide breaking the engagement is preferable to being married.”

My mother’s pale face loses its natural color, and she turns to Desmond in surprise. “Did you know of this plan?”

“I did not.” Desmond’s voice is tight. “It is a shrewd plan, if not a wise one.” Over the back of my mother’s head, he glares at me.

My plan has nothing to do with whoever I’m doomed to marry and everything to do with Rory. My mother might not have put those pieces together, but Desmond has been privy to conversations and interactions my mother has not.

She sighs. “We’ll discuss how much contact you’ll need to have with your future bride once we’ve chosen her and extended an offer. The public needs to believe this is real, and polling shows they much prefer the romantic notion of royalty marrying for love over some political arrangement.”

“You married for love.” Much like Nick and Jules, my parents fell in love during high school, but they didn’t have the fourteen-year separation my younger brother and his intended suffered. My mother and father have always been excellent communicators. Not a skill they passed on to their middle child.

“We were very lucky to find each other young and to be certain of what we’d found. Your grandmother had a long and relatively happy arranged marriage to your grandfather. They can work if you invest in them.”

I suck in a deep breath. That’s my cue to lay out the three people who are tolerable and good for the country. I’ll make the marriage work but not a minute sooner than I have to.

“Kara Samuels is the only woman of the ten I saw from the island who remotely appealed to me. That union would be complicated considering I dated her sister in secret for several non-exclusive years. But we are both open to it, and her parents are keen to land a royal.” Since I never told them about Anna at the time, they’ve probably been playing catch-up on my association with her. “On my European Tour, Princess Simone of Denmark was satisfactory as was Princess Zuzanna of Luxembourg.”

My mother taps her lips as her mind ticks. “We won’t choose Kara Samuels. While her family is acceptable, we don’t need the scandal should it come out you once ‘dated’ her sister.” She makes air quotes around the word “dated” as though people still use those.

I can’t help a brief chuckle, and I shake my head.

“Simone or Zuzanna. They’re truly exactly the same in your estimation?” She winces. “I can’t believe I just uttered that about your future wife. About my daughter-in-law. This conversation never leaves this room.” She glares at me and then Desmond.

“Noted,” I say. “They’re exactly the same to me. Makes no difference.”

“I’m not sure if I should be pleased or appalled you’re so agreeable.”

“Pleased,” I say. “The alternative is an all-out revolt.”

My mother laughs and then tsks. “You’re not the sort to revolt. I hoped you might end up with a true preference.”

“No preference,” I say, and inside a tinge of sadness takes hold. A preference is emerging, but it’s not one she’ll want to hear, and I don’t need to be told again it can’t happen. “Whatever is good for the country is good for me.”

“All right.” My mother rises with her present from me clutched in her hand. “We’ll confirm at dinner who we’re offering a contract to.”

“Excellent,” I say, and I ignore the dip in my stomach.

She swishes out the door, leaving Desmond and me alone. He drops the bag in his hand on my desk, and then he leaves without saying a word. His action speaks volumes, but I can’t bring myself to be annoyed with him for his silent rebuke. Instead, I rotate my chair so I’m staring out across the fields toward the estate apartments.

Up to now, my friendship with Rory has been ill-advised but not truly dangerous. Tonight when I go to her apartment, I’ll have a future wife out in the world. Should I tell Rory? I’ve already said she and I can’t be anything more than friends. It’s impossible.

Her apartment and the time I spend with her are my only slivers of normalcy. If I tell her about the arranged marriage, a potential leak springs in the palace. Would she ever tell anyone? I doubt it, but part of the agreement with my future wife is absolute secrecy. As far as everyone else will believe, Simone and I or Zuzanna and I will be in love when we marry.

I press the heels of my hands into my forehead and draw them down my face.

I won’t tell her.

For however long I can, I’m keeping her separate from everything royal. For a little while longer, I want to be Alex. Just Alex.

twenty

Rory