Royal Weddings. Joan Elliott Pickart

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      An excruciating parade of seconds went by. Finally, the Viking said, “Yes.”

      “And what did he say, when he gave you your orders?”

      “I have told you what he said. That he wanted to see you, that he would explain all once you were at his side.”

      “But why does he want me there?”

      “He didn’t tell me. And there is no reason he should have told me. A king is not obligated to share his motives with those who serve him.”

      “But he must have said something.”

      Hauk had that look again, that carved-in-stone look. The one that told her she’d gotten all the information she was going to get from him.

      Well, too bad. She wanted some answers. And maybe, if she handled this right, she could make him give them to her. “You’ve said more than once that you are at my service.”

      “And so I am, Princess Elli.”

      “Wonderful—and I want you to know, I do understand that, while you serve me, you serve my father first.”

      “Yes, Your Highness.”

      “So that would mean, if something I ask of you doesn’t affect your ability to do what my father wants, you would do my will. You would, as you said, serve me.” She waited. She knew, eventually, he would have to say it.

      And eventually, he did. “Yes, Princess Elli.”

      A slow warmth was spreading through her. She knew she had him now. “And when my father gave you the order to bring me to Gullandria, did he also instruct you not to tell me what he had told you?”

      “No, Princess. He didn’t.”

      “Then, since what I ask does not conflict with my father’s wishes, I want you to serve me now and tell me what my father said to you when he ordered you to come for me.”

      Oh, she did have him. And yes, he did know it.

      He sat ramrod straight in the chair. “His Majesty’s instructions were brief. I was to be…gentle with you. First, I was to ask you to come with me. I was to tell you what I have told you, that your father wished to see you, to speak with you, that he would explain everything once he had you with him.”

      She knew the rest. “And if I said no, he told you to kidnap me and bring me to him, anyway.”

      Hauk looked offended. “Never once did he use the word kidnap.”

      “But that is what he expected—I mean, it’s what you’re doing. Right?” For that she got a one-shoulder shrug. She sat forward. “But why didn’t he at least call me? Why couldn’t he ask me himself?”

      “Highness, you ask of one who has no answers. As I told you before, a king doesn’t concern himself with ‘whys’ when giving orders to his warrior. Your father has said that all will be revealed to you in time and His Majesty is a man of his word.”

      “But I don’t—”

      “Your Highness.” Those frosty blue eyes had a warning gleam in them now.

      “Hmm?” She gave him bright, sweet smile.

      He looked as if a series of crude Norse oaths was scrolling through his mind. He said softly, “Patience is a quality to be prized in a woman. It would serve you well to exercise a little of it.”

      In a pig’s eye. “Think about this, Hauk. Just think about it. My father told you he would prefer that I went willingly. And I am seriously considering doing just that.”

      “You’re considering.”

      “Yes. I am. I truly am.”

      He might be the strong, silent type, but he wasn’t any fool. He knew where this was headed. He said bleakly, “You’re considering, but there is a condition.”

      “That’s right. And it’s a perfectly reasonable one. I want you to call my father and let me talk to him.”

      Chapter Three

      She wanted to talk to her father.

      Hauk couldn’t believe it. The woman was too wily by half. She’d led him in circles until she had him right where she wanted him—with his head spinning. And then she’d made the one demand he wasn’t sure he could refuse.

      It was removing the gag that had done it. He never should have made such a fool’s move. But his lord had tied his hands—as surely as Hauk had tied hers.

      Bring her, but do it gently. Coax her, but use force if you must.

      The instructions were a tangle of foggy contradictions. And that put Hauk in the position of abducting her—and also having to listen to whatever she had to say.

      The cursed woman was still talking. “Hauk, come on. I know you have to have a way to get in touch with him—a beeper? A phone number? A hotline to Isenhalla? It’s so simple, don’t you see? I want you to call the number, or whatever it is, and let me speak with my father.”

      Hauk didn’t know what to do, so he did nothing. He sat still in the chair and said not a word.

      Silence and stillness didn’t save him. Princess Elli rattled on. “My father wants me to come to him, period. But first and foremost, he hopes I’ll come to him voluntarily. And that’s perfectly understandable that he would want that—any father would, after all. And if a phone call will do that, will make me agree to go, then wouldn’t it be my father’s will that you call him and let me speak with him?”

      Why wouldn’t the infernal woman shut up? Though Hauk had never before questioned the actions of his king, how, by the ravens of Odin, could he help but question them now?

      The king’s orders echoed in his head. First ask the woman to come—and then force her if she refuses. And don’t forget—be gentle about it.

      The king must have believed that she would refuse, or else why send his warrior to get her? Perhaps if she’d had need of a bodyguard…

      But there had been no mention of an outside threat. Therefore, if His Majesty had truly believed the girl might come willingly, he would have chosen someone other than a fighting man to fetch her, someone with a honeyed tongue, someone who knew how to coax and cajole, someone who could outtalk the woman sitting opposite him now.

      “First and foremost,” the irritating princess repeated for at least the tenth time, “he wanted me to want to come. So what could it cost you to call? Nothing. But if you don’t call, and later my father learns that all I wanted to come voluntarily was a chance to—”

      “All right.”

      Elli couldn’t believe her ears. Was he saying what she thought he was saying? Had she actually gotten through to him? She gaped at him. “Uh. You mean, you will? You’ll call him?”

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