United By Their Royal Baby. Therese Beharrie

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       Chapter One

      Ten years later

      ‘IS HE HERE, CARLOS?’

      ‘I’m afraid not, Your Majesty.’

      For the second time in Leyna’s life, Carlos had brought her news of the last thing she wanted to hear. Now, of course, he was bringing it to her as her private secretary and not as a royal aide.

      But then, her father’s death had changed more than just Carlos’ title. She’d become Queen immediately, and had lost the only man she’d loved. And now the news that King Zacchaeus of Kirtida had not arrived for the State Banquet intended to affirm the Alliance of the Three Isles threatened to be just as life-changing.

      She closed her eyes for the briefest moment and then nodded. Released a breath.

      ‘Please find His Majesty, King Xavier, and ask him to join me in the library.’

      ‘Of course, Your Majesty.’

      When Carlos left, Leyna took another deep breath. And a moment to deal with the feelings tumbling through her stomach. She opened the doors to the balcony of her library and greedily inhaled the fresh air.

      It felt like the only thing keeping her alive.

      The panic came now. Not dull as it had been when she’d first heard that King Jaydon of Kirtida had been overthrown by his son, Zacchaeus. And nowhere near how it had felt when he’d consistently refused her and Xavier’s attempts to discuss the future of the alliance binding their islands together, though she’d believed it sharp then.

      No, the feeling cutting through her lungs now, tightening her throat and making her hands shake, was much worse.

      But she only had a few moments before Carlos returned with Xavier. She forced herself to focus on her breathing, something she’d learnt to do when she’d taken over the crown after her father’s death.

      When her heart, broken from her breakup with Xavier and from her mother fleeing, had beat so hard she thought it would explode from her chest.

      She straightened her spine when she heard the knock on the door, turning in time to see Xavier stride past Carlos into the library. As it always did when she saw Xavier—despite the fact that their relationship now was only a political courtesy—her chest tightened.

      She told her memories to stay where they belonged, but couldn’t help the relief that washed through her at his presence.

      ‘He’s not here,’ Xavier said immediately, and she tried not to wince at the tone.

      ‘He’s not. Which means—’

      ‘That he is renouncing Kirtida’s place in the Alliance of the Three Isles.’

      ‘I’d like to think that isn’t true. That Kirtida is still a part of our alliance.’ She saw a glint in his blue—almost grey—eyes, and tilted her head. ‘But his actions since he overthrew Jaydon speak volumes.’

      ‘Refusing our calls to set up meetings and refusing to see us when we resorted to just arriving at Kirtida in hopes of a meeting?’ Xavier asked gravely. ‘Tonight was the last hope we had that he’s willing to work with us, Leyna. So yes, I think his actions tell us exactly where we stand with him.’

      ‘If we assume he’ll withdraw—’ panic rippled through her chest again ‘—what do we do?’

      ‘We respond accordingly.’

      ‘How?’

      ‘We ensure that Zacchaeus knows the alliance between Aidara and Mattan is still intact. We ensure that our people know it, too.’

      ‘I’m sure there isn’t any doubt about that,’ Leyna said. ‘You are here at the dinner intended to do that very thing after all.’

      ‘It isn’t enough.’

      She saw the determination in his eyes—in each of the once kind, now intimidating angles of his handsome face—and the relief she’d felt steadily ebbed. Her body tensed, and she saw that tension reflected in his tall, muscular frame, too.

      ‘What do you have in mind?’ she asked carefully.

      ‘Something that will leave Zacchaeus and our people without any doubt about the strength of our alliance. Something that will reassure our people that Kirtida’s absence from the Alliance of the Three Isles doesn’t mean they are unprotected.’

      Silence pulsed in the room, and then Leyna said, ‘Tell me what you’d like us to do, Xavier.’

      ‘We should get married.’

      Leyna’s thoughts immediately went back to that day on the beach when Xavier had proposed to her.

      Her knees nearly buckled and she turned away from him and walked straight onto the balcony. She gripped the railing and fought for breath. And then she fought to be free of the memories.

      They were vicious, she thought, and crept up on her when she least wanted them to. She’d only been fooling herself with her hope that they’d stay in the past. But she’d been desperate. Perhaps because she knew every moment she spent with Xavier would threaten to draw her back into what could have been.

      She couldn’t afford for that to happen. She couldn’t afford to think about the hope, the love, that she’d felt on the day he’d proposed to her. If she did, she would inevitably think of the cold feeling that had come over her when Carlos had first called her ‘Your Majesty’.

      She would think about the days she’d spent in a daze of heartbreak, worsened by her mother leaving Aidara the moment they’d buried her father. She would remember the fear she’d felt about ruling alone. How all the warnings her grandmother had given her about Xavier had haunted her dreams.

      And the utter devastation when she’d realised that she couldn’t be the Queen Aidara needed with Xavier by her side.

      She took a minute to compose herself. When she was sure the emotion and memories were as far away as she could push them, she walked back into the library. Xavier’s face was stony, but just above his lip was a twitch Leyna recognised as anger.

      ‘How would that work exactly? Us, married?’

      ‘If we got married,’ Xavier spoke in a careful tone, ‘it would be clear—not only to Kirtida, but to the world—that Aidara and Mattan are united. And with our collective military, our resources, our people, we would be powerful enough to defend against anything Kirtida attempts.’

      ‘Marriages end, Xavier,’ she said in the same tone, and saw the heat of anger flare in his eyes.